A musician who has played alongside legends such as Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis, Daryl Davis has attracted international attention for his efforts to make friends with members of the Ku Klux Klan. Over 30 years, he has collected about 200 of their robes. (Photo courtesy Lyrad Productions)
Supporters call Daryl Davis inspiring. Critics say he's going about addressing racism the wrong way: Why would an African-American man go out of his way to make friends with white supremacists?
In response to the 2016 documentary “Accidental Courtesy,” one viewer wrote, “Mr. Davis' project is a grating exercise for modern Black folks because he assumes that it's his job to prove his humanity to white people.”
Another expressed a different take, saying, “I think it’s a great strategy and metaphor for what [Democrats] and [Republicans] need to do now after this last [presidential] election. If we all got off our phones and out of our Facebook bubbles to meet more face to face, we would actually agree about things a lot more.”
Davis, 59, sees it as doing his part to build a better society.
The blues and rock 'n' roll musician has struggled to understand racism since he was a child. He says he was first confronted with the reality of it while marching in a parade with his Cub Scout troop in Belmont, Massachusetts. He was pelted with rocks and bottles from the audience as he carried the American flag. When his parents tried to explain that he'd been a target because of his skin color, he was stunned. How could someone who didn’t even know him feel so much hate?
Years later, he was inspired to start exploring the question again. While playing a gig in a Maryland lounge, he received a compliment and struck up a conversation with a man he later found out was a member of the Klu Klux Klan — a group that has long terrorized people who look like him. Since then, he has traveled the United States attempting to build relationships through similar conversations. Along the way, he has gained national recognition for persuading Klan members to disavow their group and amassing a collection of surrendered KKK memorabilia, with which he hopes to create a museum.
Two Richmond-area churches are teaming up to present a community conversation with Davis. The event, "Richmond, Race and Reconciliation," is part of an effort to promote a dialogue about race relations, according to Ryan Ahlgrim, pastor at First Mennonite Church of Richmond, one of the sponsors. The talk will be held at Speaking Spirit Ministries, 4205 Ravenswood Road, on Saturday, March 17, at 6 p.m. The event is free, though donations are requested. Davis spoke with Richmond magazine ahead of his appearance.
Richmond magazine: I’ve seen you described as a “race ambassador.” If you had to put your work reaching out to Klan members into your own words, what would you call yourself and how would you describe what you do?
Daryl Davis: Perhaps a communications facilitator. I’m just a rock ‘n’ roll piano player who sees a lot of things in our society that are wrong and that need to be addressed and I want to do my share to address these issues because I feel that our society can only become one of two things — what we let it become, or what we make it. I choose the latter.
RM: What does your work do?
Davis: My vision of society it to make it where people of all backgrounds can come together and get along without losing their sense of identity or individualism. Those who wish to mix, that’s fine. Those who wish to stay to themselves, that’s fine, too, but they must respect those who wish to integrate. We all have a lot to learn, we all have a lot to teach and we are all Americans and this country is great because of the sum total. Not because of any one particular group that happens to live here.
RM: I’m sure at this point in your work, there are some common criticisms you receive about the way you go about trying to address racism, right?
Davis: Yes, of course. Anytime you are the first or amongst the first to do something that is not commonplace or not status quo, you will automatically draw a set of detractors. I point out this happening throughout history when everybody believed the world was flat and one guy said, “No, it’s round,” and all of the sudden he had all these detractors until he proved it was round … when you are a pioneer, you will definitely attract your share of detractors.
RM: I figure one of the most common criticisms is probably that as a black person, it’s not your job to go and fix other people’s racist attitudes. What do you say to people who bring that criticism up?
Davis: It is my job. It is everybody’s job. We all need to be our brother’s keeper. [Women] are still making 79 cents on a man’s dollar for the same amount of work. Women are not going to be able to change that on your own. You’re going to need men to participate with you to bring about that change … I would rather sit down with my enemies and talk than to be out there fighting in the streets. My theory is if two enemies are talking, they’re not fighting and it’s when the conversation ceases that the ground will become fertile for violence, so let’s keep the conversation going.
RM: What does your family think about your work?
Davis: My mom had already passed. My father is very proud. My dad was a U.S. diplomat, so his job was to go to foreign countries and better relations on behalf of the U.S. As a kid I saw that, and I saw things that you would never even imagine here in this country — strange rituals and customs and all kinds of stuff, but I accepted it and respected it. So, in addition to my father teaching me to treat everybody how I want to be treated, being exposed to these cultures showed me that at the end of the day, they’re still human beings just like us. That’s how I view anybody and everybody … my wife is concerned for my safety. I get threats every now and then, but I’m still here, and I’m doing what I feel I have to do make my contribution to bettering society. If one person changes, they change on their own and I’m willing to be the impetus for it, it changes a generation.
