Search Results: trust your friends

I am a white guy but I have made a lot of minority friends and acquaintances over the years. Particularly Latino friends and few black friends. Nothing I sought out to do just to be “progressive” or something. I judge people on how they treat me, the values they hold and simply if we can just get along. Coincidentally some of those people are minorities. All good.

However will admit it really does take more initial effort to really get to know someone from a different race. That in itself is not a “racist” characteristic. But people do have different life experiences and their ethnicity/race will influence that for better or worse. It takes effort and time to understand that.

However sometimes I see my minority friends making bad decisions and/or having the wrong belief systems that I know from an outside perspective isn’t good for them. However I find myself usually erring on the side of caution when it comes to giving them “tough love” advice. I get the impression that harsh but necessary criticism can be mistaken for ignorance or even prejudice.

Also the whole BLM movement only made this astronomically worse in my opinion. Sometimes white people give harsh criticism to minorities because they ultimately want to see them do better not because we enjoy being condescending.

Anyway the trick with “tough love” is it needs to be timed right. You have to trust and know the person cares for you. The have to trust the other person understands you and your situation. They have to know the right moment to deliver it. You also have to know they take no enjoyment criticizing you.

I’ve gotten tough love in the past both from white friends and even some of my minority friends. I know the didn’t enjoy criticizing me too. They were trying to slap some sense into me when I needed it.

But why is vice versa so much tougher with my minority friends?

Of all the men and women you've known in life: friends, partners, family members etc who tend to be better listeners?

Here's some advice on how to be a better listener:

"Show You Are Listening

Part of really listening is responding in a way that shows the other person we are paying attention. We can demonstrate we are truly listening in four different ways. For example, if a coworker comes to you and complains about their micromanaging boss, you could show you are listening by:

Reflecting back the content
Example: As you see it, your boss is micromanaging you…

Reflecting back the feeling
Example: So you feel frustrated because…

Reflecting both content and feeling
Example: You feel frustrated because your boss is micromanaging you…

Being silent and attentive
A helpful phrase to show you are listening might be:

So you feel ___________________ because ______________________.

Other helpful phrases might include:

You seem…
You sound…
What I’m hearing is…
As you see it…
Tell me more…
Is there anything else…
Not only is listening to others a key life skill, it can also have a tremendous impact on building trust in a relationship. When we take the time to listen, we show the other person that we care—that we are interested in understanding their perspective. That can go a long way toward building, or rebuilding, a relationship.

“The purpose of life is to listen – to yourself, to your neighbor, to your world and to God and, when the time comes, to respond in as helpful a way as you can find … from within and without.” ~ Fred Rogers