But on the odd occasion that people are exposed to each other as people, as at the rally in Washington, othering is hard to maintain. And that is the rare moment when human compassion and empathy can break out.

This phenomenon is well documented in social science research. In a canonical 1934 study, the sociologist Richard LaPiere traveled the United States with a Chinese couple, observing the service they received at 251 hotels and restaurants. His objective was to see how people treated them at a time when racism against Chinese people was common and overt. To his surprise, Professor LaPiere found that the couple was denied service only once.

But that wasn’t the most surprising part of the study. Afterward, Professor LaPiere sent questionnaires to all 251 establishments to ask whether they would serve “members of the Chinese race.” Among all the responses, only one establishment said it would; 92 percent said they would not; the rest were uncertain.

We often assume that people are less bigoted in theory than they are in practice. The LaPiere experiment shows just the opposite: People are more hostile to others in the abstract than when they meet them in person. This explains many phenomena, including the endorsement of gay rights that often occurs when people realize they have gay relatives and colleagues.

So what can we do to make compassion and empathy less rare and random in America today? Be like Tommy Gunn, and without repudiating your own views, invite the “other” onto your stage (whatever your stage is). Be like Hawk Newsome and go where people are hostile and tell them what is in your heart. Reject the homogeneity and anonymity of social networks.

Let’s go even further and make this into a national movement of American renewal. Celebrate leaders who go where they ordinarily wouldn’t be welcome. Support institutions dedicated to a respectful competition of ideas. Patronize news outlets that find ways to combat anonymous hatred, no matter how profitable that hatred is.

Sound crazy? Watch the rally for yourself (video can be found on YouTube). It might just be possible.