Do you know of any private online groups...

[OneGrassRoot]

6. In my experience... (w/edit)

Last edited Wed Aug 14, 2013, 08:56 PM - Edit history (1)

people tend to be more civil and more open to seeing things differently...opening up to other perspectives...when it's a small group of people having a private discussion, like sitting around a kitchen table. Having an actual back-and-forth discussion rather than just broadcasting, trying to convince someone else of their views.

I want to learn more about others' experiences and viewpoints.

Public, online forums are a free-for-all. If you don't word every single comment or question perfectly, you're open to attack and it derails the whole conversation. I swear, most online forums have people who lie in wait to attack others. DU is no different. I'm really weary of the whole thing, to be honest, but I still long for authentic conversations with people from all over the world, and these intertubes make that possible.

I should clarify that I'm white, but having lived with racists up close and personal my entire life -- and having witnessed the horrific effects of that racism -- it's a subject I've never shied away from.

I fully realize that my perspective is very, very limited, as a white female, immersed in a white-centric country. There's a lot I want to explore and learn, but I prefer to do so in private, because it could be a very awkward process on my part. Plus, I'm one of those lucky people who is stalked rather frequently online, so I am always super aware of what I say on public forums.

EDIT TO ADD: I would, ideally, love to discuss, not only racism, but various forms of institutionalized bigotry. Unfortunately, I haven't seen that ever go very well; it seems that, for some reason, discussions of bigotry somehow end up being used to diminish (whether intentionally or not) the atrocities of racism.

I find that very odd but it's definitely a pattern.