Here's my "Republican experience" on why it is so hard to reach Republicans like my family, and what it might take to reach them.
From my life, the bulk of Republicans, the older people, like my parents, aunts/uncles, and grandparents, etc. They rarely use anything outside of Facebook. Most of their world view is carved from Fox and local news. The rest is mailers, emails, and robo calls from Republican leaders.
I was the same, even as a younger-ish Republican.
So, how do I reach them? 1/x
When I talk to people like my sister, who I am trying to pull out of the Republican bubble:
I tell her stories of the people the people I meet. I humanize them, without giving her any background on their politics. Just funny life stories, etc.
As I tell her stories about people, she gets interested in them. As she goes, I slip in more details like they are gay without making it a fight. Just a passing comment about their life.
I humanizing people she "don't like" through mundane stories. 2/x
Through this story telling and her own provoked interest, she begins to connect the dots that "these are people like me, with struggles like me".
Through the shared struggles, the layers of hate get shedded and shredded, slowly, one by one.
I know this method works, because it's what some of my friends did for me, sometimes, paving a way for me to see my own injustices.
I couldn't be told, directly. I had to be shown, connected, through stories of people that I heard and saw.
3/x
If anything had been told to me with a "Democratic" take, I would have rejected it then. Just dismissed it without listening.
So, if you have a Republican friend, or family member. Just share stories of people you know; good ones, funny ones, sad ones. Don't give it any political side. Let the stories sink in, slowly, let them relate.
I promise you, it will help in the long run. It's hard, it's not easy, and you might have to listen to yucky retorts. Just, tell them the stories.
4/x
@quinnsentialOne I'm an ex-Republican and exposure to people and thoughts I didn't understand was critical to my conversion to reality. We were encouraged to only spend our time and money with those like us because a cult will want to isolate you from anything that makes you think for yourself.
@VenomousHeroine This is, exactly, how it was for my family.
There's so many things I still have to learn about people.
And there's things I'm ashamed to say I still have trouble with, but I am trying my hardest!
@quinnsentialOne It sounds to me like you're killing it. 🤘
If they have any unspoken questions or thoughts or reservations. Let them confront those on their own. They, like me, like I had to, have to willingly step outside of the comfort bubble.
And most importantly, it's not about manipulating them. The stories have to be real, they have to have heart. Share the lives of your friends, their realities, their happiness, and only their struggles when they ask their own questions.
It's what I'm doing for my sister, brother, cousins, younger Republicans.