The Power of Personal Connection
If asked what needs to be accomplished in order to reach an end to discrimination, Darsh would likely reply “personal connection,” just as he did to me. When racist memes using a famous picture of Darsh in uniform during a game emerged on social media years later, nearly one hundred comments soon followed. Many of these comments were written by people who personally knew Darsh through family friends, high school, college, etc. The support received by those that knew who Darsh really was, independent of his physical appearance, spoke volumes. By really getting to know people and seeing for oneself what someone’s true character is like, slowly these false perceptions might diminish.