Spreading the Message
If you’re reading this, you’re probably at least already sympathetic to Mass 50501’s cause, and more likely you’re actively engaged in the movement. This is fantastic and we’re thrilled to have you because we need absolutely everyone with the capacity to engage in order to meet the magic 3.5 percent (or so) of the population that we’re aiming for. This 3.5 percent of people need to be consistently engaged in resisting authoritarianism through nonviolent action—it’s not enough to get out into the streets once—so we’ll need to keep strong even in the face of disappointment and accelerating escalation from the administration. Not everyone has the fortitude and clarity of purpose (not to mention the material resources) to persevere in these conditions, and some people will filter in and out over time—which is expected and natural and doesn’t diminish our purpose.
Even some people who are “on our side” in opinion and values won’t always be willing and able to join us in the visible resistance we’re engaged in, for a whole host of reasons including physical constraints (like disability or needing childcare or lacking transportation) and mental constraints (like having too much on their plate already to also spend a significant amount of time organizing protests, or even a lack of conviction that what we’re doing can make a difference). This is fine too—we only need 3.5 percent of us to do the boots-on-the-ground resistance. But in order to support those 3.5 percent, we need a much larger proportion of the population to back our cause. We need to have the popular consensus on our side; we need a political mandate for resistance.
So how do we achieve this? We must make ourselves visible to those who don’t see us, and we must convert those who would support us “if only,” and if we’re really successful, maybe we can even convince some of those who actively oppose us to oppose us a bit less actively. So here’s what the movement needs from you, and the Fourth of July is a great time to start flexing this muscle: Exit your political bubble and go out into your neighborhood, go to your family, go to your friends, and do the scary thing you’ve always been told is rude in polite company: Talk about politics. We’ll explain how this helps us succeed, and we’ll give you some tips for how to think about these conversations. But before we get to that, let us preface with a personal anecdote from one of our volunteers.
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Today’s political climate is testing more than just our institutions, our faith in our fellow citizens, and our Constitution. It’s testing our bonds to friends and family. The hard work of rebuilding relationships and shared sense of humanity with those from whom we differ is key to our movement’s success. Let me share what I learned from my own family.
My brother is a Trump voter. He does not like him, but he perceived the opposition as scornful and dismissive of people like him. The Democratic Party’s habit of anointing candidates rubbed him the wrong way, a not uncommon complaint even among allies. This was combined with a distrust of identity politics that many Americans share, for better or for worse. This has caused some acrimony in our relationship, but we promised to each other that we would never break our bonds of brotherhood over this disagreement—and we kept that promise.
It is easier for me perhaps because I am a moderate—but Trump is so obviously malignant and evil, and a betrayal of every principle that I ever believed that I find it difficult to even communicate the malice my brother and Americans like him are permitting, and I am still processing some resentment. I felt it was important we got this election right. We didn’t and now the country's institutions, economy, and alliances are being destroyed. This isn’t something that just happened to us—the people made a choice, and I believe you should be accountable to the consequences of your choices.
My brother is conservative temperamentally but not particularly ideological and he is very much a pragmatist. He likes clean distinctions and simple rules. He is quite intelligent and has flashes of brilliance. He works with his hands, but he also has a talent for managing people. He has done some equal opportunity work in the military and has dealt with actual racist acts committed by subordinates to others with clarity, grace, and wisdom. He is a family man and dedicated to it to a degree that is rare, raising four well-adjusted children, one of whom is in college and who is going to be an officer in the U.S. Army. He is a model citizen in all the ways that matter. A nation of men like him would be healthy, vibrant, and strong.
Four months ago—a few days after a fight over politics, where my brother made excuses for some of Trump’s worst behavior and excesses—I told him that I’m getting involved in activism. He said to me, “Free Speech is sacred. I support what you are doing.” This was shocking to me because part of the reason I did this was my conviction about what far-right propaganda had done to him, and I was resolved to fight that force at its source. Since then, he tells me that he is proud of me for doing this every time he talks to me.
I still do not know what to make of it, but there is a lesson to take from this. The people in our lives may have done a truly terrible thing with their vote, and I still believe that they must reckon with the destructiveness of that choice if this nation is to ever heal. However, what drives people to the choices they make is not some set of facts, some policy preference, or some irredeemable character flaw, but a value that feels threatened by a force in our heads that most of us—if we are honest—do not fully understand.
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Almost certainly, you have someone in your life—a cousin, a neighbor, a co-worker—who just doesn’t see eye-to-eye with you, but like our volunteer and his brother here, you’d like to be able to have a conversation with them. Here’s the challenge, though: When reaching out to people to change their views, we need to meet them where they are. That means taking the time to empathize and understand their beliefs and perceptions. After all, we’re all people. For some of us, this may mean empathizing with our MAGA relatives. For others, this may mean trying to understand why we haven’t seen our liberal coworkers show up at any protests yet.
Let’s apply a little bit of theory to help us do this. We can use a tool called the Perception Box, taken from The Path of Most Resistance. Originally developed by political strategist Paul Tully, the Perception Box asks us four questions about ourselves and the people we want our message to reach:
What do we believe about ourselves?
What do we believe about them?
What do they believe about us?
What do they believe about themselves?
Answering these questions helps us understand what beliefs we have in common with the people we want to convince, what beliefs we have in contention, and what misconceptions we have about each other. The goal of the exercise is to establish common ground, dispel misconceptions, and bring the other party closer to our own position. We may not completely change their position to our own, but we may still be able to change their behavior. Let’s consider a friend who supports Trump’s immigration policy, and answer the Perception Box questions accordingly.
“We about Us”
We want to protect our neighbors from being terrorized by ICE.
These are peaceful families who have been in our community for years.
Everyone has a right to due process.
“We about Them”
They hate immigrants because they’re racist.
They believe the corporate media’s anti-immigrant propaganda.
They don’t care about due process.
“They about Us”
They sympathize with violent criminals.
They start riots, assault law enforcement officers, and disrupt the peace.
They hate America and carry foreign flags.
“They about Them”
We want peace and order.
We don’t want violent criminals staying in the country illegally.
Immigrants should follow the law and obtain citizenship legally.
We start a conversation by meeting people where they are with our “They about Them” answers. Most people are not naturally hateful; people resort to hate when they are afraid, so it’s important to listen and validate their feelings. We may even learn that some of our “We about Them” answers are misconceptions.
In the course of conversation, we want to move toward our “We about Us” answers, and dispel “They about Us” misconceptions. In this process, we can ask them to change their behavior. While we may not be able to get them to support the movement, we can try to move them one step away from the regime and one step toward us.
The message we want to convey can take the form of talking points:
We all want immigrants to follow the law and obtain citizenship legally.
Trump promised to focus on deporting violent criminals: “the worst of the worst”.
But ICE is targeting lawful residents who have lived in the communities for years.
The problem is not deportation, but the lack of due process, causing mistakes that traumatize families, including American citizens seeing their parents torn away.
We should be careful about believing what the White House says about who they are deporting and try to understand why communities are responding so emotionally.
We can’t always expect others to see our perspective and join the movement, especially when corporate media like Fox News have been spreading far-right propaganda for a generation. But if we can get them to see a little bit of our perspective, that is the seed for bigger change.
In this example, we may not be able to convince our friend that ICE raids must be stopped. But maybe we can convince them to think more carefully about what they see and hear about the deportations in regime propaganda. Maybe we can show them that the people being disappeared aren’t violent gang members, but people like the small restaurant owner down the street whose children go to school with theirs. Maybe we can plant a seed of doubt about the regime in their head—sooner or later, that seed may grow into a revolution.
This is what the movement needs: people talking to people. For our July 4th day of action, we're asking you to go out and use this information with the people in your lives; start thinking about this theory of the Perception Box and how it can apply to the people in your life, and keep an eye out for another blog post on the 4th with some more specific advice about opening up the conversation.
‘Til next time,
Mass 50501 Newsletter Team
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