Yup.
Stuff like this always reminds me of that lady probation officer that turned one of her charges from a nazi by basically treating that person like a human being. Or that black musician, I think, that turned like a whole bunch of KKK members by befriending them.
And then I come over here, and I see people claiming that the only way to change people is through violence or treating those people like shit. It's cathartic, I'll grant you that, but I'm personally starting to doubt if that even works at all. When I think about someone trying change my opinion about something, not even remotely as deep-seated as I imagine racism to be, I don't think shouting at me or treating me like shit will ever manage to change my mind.
Maybe it works on a population-scale, with stuff like marches or even riots, to get the conversation kickstarted. In fact, I definitely think it works to get the conversation started. But when that conversation's kickstarted, I think it's far more productive and long-lasting to treat the individual like a person, and try to change their mind through kindness, even if that's really difficult to do. It's definitely not for everyone, so thank god we have people like the one in the OP doing it for us.
