I have always been a positive and hopeful person, but the 21st century has challenged my ability to focus on the good in the world. As I write this, it is the summer of 2020 and the COVID-19 coronavirus is changing our lives. The murder of George Floyd by the police in Minneapolis has led to protests around the US and the world, supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. Although these crises have created a sense of linked fate for many of us, the political divides in our country remain. Racism continues to rear its ugly head, with Asian Americans being blamed and attacked for a virus that appears to have started in China. Politics continues to divide the country in a variety of ways.

In this era of stark political divides, it is clear that racial divisions can get in the way of empathy. I define “empathy” as the ability to see the world from another person's perspective, in order to understand their feelings and life experiences. “Radical empathy” takes this a step further, encouraging each of us not only to understand the feelings of others, but also to be motivated to create the change that will allow all of us to benefit from economic prosperity and develop the social relationships that are beneficial to our emotional wellbeing. Racial divides can cause us to see economic and societal benefits as a zero-sum game. Empathy allows us to see the humanity in others, and radical empathy moves us to work towards social justice and change that will benefit us all.

It is important to understand that we can all contribute to change. As Jennifer L. Eberhardt states,

Issues of race are complicated in the US, but over our history, the most consequential racial division is between Whites and Blacks (acknowledging that native Americans have also suffered loss of life and land in the United States). In 2016, race was a decisive factor in Donald Trump's presidential campaign.