The documentary Accidental Courtesy [2016] is nothing short of miraculous witnessing to how race relations and social dysfunction in our time might heal. One person respectfully talks with another, differences put aside. The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step—and maybe one eventually changed heart--at a time.
The documentary subject, professional keyboardist Daryl Davis, is possessed by a single question, How can anyone hate me, given the color of my skin, without even knowing me? A seeming conundrum, a plague on mankind. Daryl Davis goes where others avert their eyes. You see, Mr. Davis has actively met and befriended members of the Ku Klux Klan.
For twenty-five odd years, Davis has had respectful dialogues--highlighted in this documentary--with many Klan members and others affiliated with the white supremacy movement. Klan members have been so convinced that in the person of Daryl Davis they have experienced the gift of dignity and respect, and from an unexpected source--a black man--they drop their prejudice. They've offered the ultimate confession and quit the Klan. Gladly, they give Davis Klan robes and hoods, knowing Davis collects these and other memorabilia as evidence of the American experience. Daryl Davis hopes one day to open a "Museum of the Klan."
Davis's quest might seem quixotic, but the more we learn about Davis's life, the more we realize the mission is probably inevitable, and above all, just.
Before he was ten years old, Davis lived all over the world, developing an acceptance [and empathy] of others' religion, culture, and race. His father worked for the U. S. Diplomatic Corps. Only when Daryl came to the U. S. were his parents forced to tell him others could hate him because of the color of his skin, not the content of his character [to paraphrase Martin Luther King, Jr.]. But discrimination in America did not hold back Daryl Davis. He went on to become a top-flight professional musician, sharing the stage with greats, beginning with Chuck Berry and Little Richard. Daryl Davis has never misunderstood what he was about: He knows success.
Still in his patient, engaging way, he's pursued yet more meaning in life, one changed heart at a time. The message is not hard to get. It begins with respectful dialogue, pre-judgements off the table. Putting that dialogue into action is harder. In these fractious times, with so many people silo-bound & echo-chambered, this documentary is a badly needed tonic for our collective soul. Watch it!
Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America, firstrunfeatures.com, 2016, 96 minutes, color, UPC 7-20229 91728-5.
Image credits: vimeo.com
Read Charlie Dickinson's story collection [and feel free to share with a friend] The Cat at Light's End, as an ebook in these downloadable formats:
.mobi (Kindle)
.epub (most other readers)
.pdf (for PCs)
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