Dear President Trump, For some reason I didn’t include the phrase “radical empathy” in my letter to you the other day when I told you about Susan Lanzoni’s WP piece about how white people’s failure of empathy significantly contributes to racial bias and racism. I did use it to title several of the letters in … Continue reading Unpacking radical empathy (Part 4)
empathy
Radical empathy and lack thereof (Part 2)
Dear President Trump, When someone gets hurt in your presence of do you involuntarily wince and feel a zing almost as though it was you who was injured? I honestly don’t know whether narcissistic sociopaths have that capacity, but I rather doubt it so maybe you don’t know what it’s like to feel your stomach … Continue reading Radical empathy and lack thereof (Part 2)
Radical empathy (Part 1)
Dear President Trump, I suppose it doesn’t matter too, too much where I start, no matter what angle one approaches it from, it’s sad, infuriating, and overwhelming. But it does feel important to get the story straight and to tell it reasonably well since it’s one that so many of us white people have a … Continue reading Radical empathy (Part 1)
Gillette and identity politics
Dear President Trump, When we watched the new Gillette ad last night, Laura pointed out that there were about 220k likes and 530k dislikes and now this evening the numbers are 343k and 724k, respectively. The likes are gaining a bit, but that’s still proportionately and numerically an awful lot of dislikes. Seems Gillette struck … Continue reading Gillette and identity politics
Bullies are losers
Dear President Trump, Would you prefer we go with “Happy Holidays” this year after all? I’m thinking you’d rather not have your base remember how you hosed everyone just before, the day of, and for an as-yet-unknown time after Christmas day, so probably best to skip the “Merry Christmas” greeting enforcement this year. You’ve managed … Continue reading Bullies are losers
“Jagged edges”
Dear President Trump, The sermon on Sunday was delivered by one of our associate ministers, a woman in her late 60s or early 70s who went to divinity school just a few years ago after her husband died. The title of her sermon was “Fully Human: Our Jagged Edges.” The premise of the message was … Continue reading “Jagged edges”
Make it so
Dear President Trump, Yesterday I went to a writing class for people who want to become better allies both through their writing and in real time encounters. I left quite humbled and feeling as though I have a lot of remedial work to do. One of the exercises involved writing a manifesto framed by the … Continue reading Make it so
Please watch Fred Rogers’ 1969 congressional testimony
Dear President Trump, There are a lot of beautiful scenes in “Won’t you Be My Neighbor,” the movie about Fred Rogers, but my favorite covers his 1969 congressional testimony in support of continued funding for PBS. I was all of six years old at the time so I wasn’t aware that President Nixon wanted to … Continue reading Please watch Fred Rogers’ 1969 congressional testimony
Peacemaker
Dear President Trump, The other day Laura was late getting home from an outing that seemed unlikely to stretch long so I was pretty sure there would be a story, and there was. On a main arterial that crosses over a deep ravine she saw a young woman standing in the middle of the bridge … Continue reading Peacemaker
We voted not to spit in your food
Dear President Trump, Laura’s dad was an old guy in the early 1990’s, but he had a pin that said “I’m surrounded by idiots.” I wish we still had that pin. Even more, I wish we still had Laura’s dad. He and I got along really well. We’d sit quietly for hours in his screened-in … Continue reading We voted not to spit in your food
Daily Trump Letters 