Going home for the holidays means something different to everyone. For some it’s exciting to gather with loved ones you haven’t seen in a year, but for others it’s just a chore.
But for some, it invokes feelings of anxiety and stress, especially if your political, social or economic views don’t match up with the rest of your family’s.
"How are you going to respond if someone makes an off color joke, how are you going to respond when your cousin tells you who they voted for?"
Ann Binstock and PittsForward organized the event “Racism and the Holidays: Making the Most of Holiday Gatherings” being held this evening at the Pittsford Public Library. They hope to help people have these tough conversations.
Binstock said as a group they don’t have all the answers, but they’re providing the space to ask the questions.
"Where community members can come together and share best practices and kind of talk to each other about - well here’s what I’m going to say, here’s what I experienced at Thanksgiving or here’s my strategy, here’s what our family has decided to do."
The point of this event isn’t to force people to have these conversations if they don’t want to, Binstock said, but to help people decide what their family dynamic is and how to best address it.
"Families are at all different places and have different comfort levels with conflict and spirited discussions, and we as individuals have different comfort levels. But I think this is an opportunity where if you wanted to figure out what to say and you weren’t quite sure how to say it, this is a chance to talk to someone else in your community who might be struggling with that same question."
Binstock said what they’re doing isn’t all that special, they’re sparking conversations and providing the space for shared ideas and strategies, but she said that you could practice having these conversations with your friends and neighbors and other community members, and eventually family members as well.