Ignorance, Birthers, and Trump: What can we do?

Today a man in was in my house doing some work. He was friendly, and we struck up a conversation. When he learned that I had lived in California, he mentioned that he had been to the San Francisco Bay for vacation almost exactly a year earlier. After being vaguely and overly politely positive about his experience, he related disappointment regarding the high cost of parking at his hotel. This admission seemed to free him up to make others. First he talked about the weather. Then he mentioned he was bored. Finally, he told me that there were simply too many homeless people and Asians. I nodded my head, and immediately began to debate with myself. Should I have just nodded? Should I have asked him why he was disturbed by being near a lot of Asian? Should I have lied and said my sister was adopted from Vietnam and launched into a lecture dripping with annoyed condescension? Am I just completely out of touch with real Americans? I can’t help thinking that regardless of the answers to these questions, something needs to be done. It seems pretty clear that allowing ignorance like this to remain unchallenged allows opportunists of all stripes to prey upon it to further their own agendas and careers. Donald Trump and the Birther controversy is just the latest example. The problem is clear, but it’s not clear what should be done about it. You don’t change opinions with lectures from on high. You don’t change them by calling the people who hold them ignorant. You also can’t throw everyone who appeals to ignorance and fear in jail, although it is tempting. You have to, somehow, enable people to discover on their own how much they don’t know. I’m not sure how you do this, but I do know it has to be done … and not just to help more people appreciate the charms of Northern California.