How the Charrette Process Resolves Conflicts
Inspiration from "The Best of Enemies"
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"Because that's what I had always been looking for, an opportunity to be heard, to be something."
C.P. Ellis
Assalamu alaikum and welcome!
These are the words that introduce the movie "The Best of Enemies". In order not to give too much away (in case you want to watch the movie yourself), I will only go into the plot very briefly. The movie is based on a true story and took place in Durham in America. It's about discrimination against black people in the 70s and how C.P. Ellis, a former Ku Klux Klan president, and Ann Atwater, an African-American civil rights activist, are forced to work together in a charrette trial.
A charrette is a gathering of diverse people who are supposed to represent the entire population and who participate in urban or regional development. And I find this method very interesting because I think it also has the potential to counteract discrimination.
It has been scientifically proven that bringing together people with different characteristics dissolves the barrier between them. People are "forced" to interact with each other through group assignments such as the charrette process. And one commonality is already visible: anyone who agrees to a charrette process in order to participate in urban development is therefore pursuing the same goal as every other citizen involved. And by coming together, you also realize how much you have in common. After all, everyone faces challenges in life, regardless of their origin or skin colour.
And the insecurity you feel about something foreign gradually disappears. The more you open up, the less afraid you are of it. And the more similarities you discover. I believe that we humans make many things more difficult than they actually are.
In the movie "The Best of Enemies", discrimination against black people was a central theme. But very often people are also hostile to each other because of other nationalities. We spend our lives looking for differences to divide us into groups. But I think that diversity is what brings us forward. The fact that we are divided into women and men, into different cultures, personality traits and individual strengths and interests offers us so many opportunities to develop further. We all benefit from each other and should also take advantage of this. In the Qur'an, Allah (swt) says: "O mankind, indeed We have created you from a male and a female, and We have made you into nations and tribes that you may know one another." (Surah 49:13).
And through the coming together of the aforementioned varieties, we can achieve a great deal. Which was also achieved through the charrette process.
What the movie also made me realize is that racism does not necessarily have to be fueled by a belief in the ideology of racial segregation, but also by a sense of belonging to a group. I introduced the article with a statement by C.P. Ellis: "Because that's what I've always been looking for, an opportunity to be heard, to be something."
No one wants to be lonely. But everyone wants to belong. Wants to be recognized for who they are. Wants to be seen. To be heard. And this need can sometimes be so strong that you join a group without following its ideology from the heart. You believe that you identify with the respective values. This shows how important self-reflection is.
What values do we represent? Why do we join a group? It is not wrong to feel that you belong to a group. The sense of community can be very strong, and you can achieve a lot as a group. But I think it's also important to be aware of what you really want beforehand. And that you don't follow an ideology that represents immoral values.
To sum up, I would just like to say how easy it can be to resolve discrepancies. To deal with each other peacefully. Not only to be able to prevent discrimination, but also to remedy it. Knowing that there are possibilities can take away some of the burden we feel. It can motivate us to take action to solve the problems in society.
I hope this article has inspired you too and maybe even motivated you to start something similar. Please let me know what thoughts and/or experiences you have about the charrette process. I look forward to your messages! :)
Your MindfulMuslima