Black History Month 2026: Darryl Davis and the Myth of the Marketplace of Ideas
Day 18
I really don’t like talking about Darryl Davis. The only reason I’m talking about him is because every time Black people protests, there’s always someone who brings him up as the “right” way to combat racism. Like MLK Jr., he’s often used as a club to beat Black people into silence/compliance.
For those who don’t know who Davis is, he’s a Black man who has supposedly convinced 200 people to leave the KKK since the 1990s [1]. While the only proof we have of this specific number is his own words, he does have the robes of over twenty klansmen he’s convinced to leave [2]. I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but the number doesn’t matter. I will get to that.
Davis is popular because he satisfies a fantasy. Many people believe in the “Marketplace of Ideas.” This is a belief that when two ideas collide, the more factually correct idea will always win. In the case of Darryl Davis, he “proves” the superior idea of anti-racism beats the inferior idea of racism. It’s a nice thought, but’s not grounded in science. The reality is people’s willingness to accept an idea has little to do with how true it is. People are more willing to accept ideas that make them feel good, support what they already believe, or reflect what they want to be true [3]. You can convince some people by asking them, “What evidence can I provide that will change you mind?” but many people will claim nothing will change their mind [3]. In this case, polite thing to do would be to move on, or…you can shock them.
That’s right, one way to convince people to accept a new idea is to shock them into it [4]. As proof of concept, the shock of the Great Depression allowed FDR to implement the New Deal. The shock of the economic crash of the 1970s allowed Reagan and Thatcher to (unfortunately) make the fringe idea of Neoliberalism mainstream [4]. This brings me back to protests.
Protests are meant to shock people. It’s to show people a situation is so bad, others are willing to take to the streets to express their dissatisfaction. They’re so upset with the status quo they are willing to disrupt “business as usual” to make their point. Protesting is a very effective way to make people aware of an issue and convince them to take action. Davis may have been able to convince 200 people to leave the KKK in thirty years, but Black Lives Matter convinced MILLIONS of people police brutality was a problem in only a decade. Between the two, it’s clear which one was more effective.
Sources:
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daryl_Davis
[3] “Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know” by Adam Grant
[4] “Utopia for Realists” by Rutger Bregman
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