Empathy is the Secret Weapon

Having the ability to combat hate requires skills that are also necessary of mediators and other conflict professionals.  One such skill is empathy. It is important to note empathy does not require agreeing but more importantly it gives you insight as you move from the way you “see” things to “see” the situation or issue from a different perspective. 

Empathy is not just a powerful tool for mediators- it is being used with social media to inspire young people.

It is a bold task to attempt to fight hate with the tool empathy.

Hours Against Hate, started in 2010, is a project co-launched by U.S. Department of State Special Representative To Muslim Communities Farah Pandith, to inspire young people to combat hate based on race, religion, gender, ethnicity, having a disability or being a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or being transgender.

Having the ability to combat hate requires skills that are also necessary of mediators and other conflict professionals.  One such skill is empathy. It is important to note empathy is about understanding the perspective, emotions, and motivations of others.  It does not require agreeing but more importantly it gives you insight and understanding of others as you move from the way you “see” things to “see” the situation or issue from a different perspective.  Lack of empathy often can lead to misunderstanding, confusion, and even more unfortunately, violent conflict.

Read the rest of the article [HERE]

========

Special Representative Pandith is the 2013 keynote speaker at the annual ACR-GNY Annual Conference: http://acrgny.org/annual_conference

Follow Special Representative Pandith on twitter: https://twitter.com/Farah_Pandith
Hours Against Hate: http://www.state.gov/s/2012hoursagainsthate/
Visit the Hours Against Hate Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/2012HoursAgainstHate
Coca-Cola Journey: Taking Global Action To Fight Hate: http://www.coca-colacompany.com/opinions/taking-global-action-to-fi...