Race Dialogues

"An extraordinary, timely, and unreservedly recommended addition to school district, college, and university library Teacher Education instructional reference collections." --Midwest Book Review "As a college professor and consultant who specializes in teaching others how to engage in or facilitate conversations about race inside and outside the classroom, I find Race Dialogues: A Facilitator's Guide to Tackling the Elephant in the Classroom to be an essential resource in my tool-kit. Despite empirical evidence of pervasive racial inequality in the United States, White America continues to cling fiercely to an ethic of colorblindness, an ideology that functions to rationalize and perpetuate racial injustice. These issues have become even more visible within the current political climate where President Trump and other leaders have made overtly racist and xenophobic statements, leading to a rise in racially motivated hate crimes on and off college campuses. Thus, the ability to effectively facilitate conversations about race/ism is an urgently needed skill for educators and racial equity consultants. However, the training that K-12 teachers and college professors receive focuses primarily on content knowledge, not on how to deliver this knowledge effectively. The strategies and techniques provided in Race Dialogues can help fill this professional development gap for persons who wish to become better skilled at facilitating conversations about race within multiracial settings." --Teachers College Record

Donna Rich Kaplowitz is the co-director of the Program on Intergroup Relations at the University of Michigan. Shayla Reese Griffin is the equity, diversity, and school culture consultant for the Washtenaw Intermediate School District in Michigan. Sheri Seyka is a public education teacher in East Lansing, Michigan with 22 years of teaching experience.

Contents Foreword Patricia Gurin ix Acknowledgmentsxiii Introduction1 Scope and Content2 Dialogue: A Tool for Creating a Participatory Democracy3 Note4 1.Why Is There a Need for Race Dialogues? A Brief Primer on Race in The United States5 What Is Race? Its Complicated6 Why Does Race Matter? Understanding Racism 9 Racial Inequality in Education 11 Conclusion15 Notes15 2.What Is Intergroup Dialogue?17 Where Did Dialogue Come From?20 What the Research Shows20 Intergroup Dialogue Models21 Our Research Findings22 Conclusion24 3.Setting Up an Inclusive Dialogue Space25 Dialogue Nuts and Bolts25 Preparing for Dialogue: Key Concepts and Activities27 Conclusion36 Note37 4.Dialogue Facilitation: A Science and an Art38 Facilitating a Dialogue vs. Teaching: A Freirean Model of Education39 The Role of the Facilitator40 Facilitation Training and Facilitator Models40 What Good Facilitators Do43 What Good Facilitators Do Not Do51 Conclusion52 5.The Power of Sharing Stories 54 The Importance of Storytelling54 Vulnerability54 Multiple Ways of Knowing55 Expect and Name Emotion55 Find Learning Edges57 Connecting Personal Experiences with Structural Inequalities57 Conclusion61 6.Asking Good Questions and Responding to Participant Comments 62 Asking Better Questions62 Responding to Participant Comments67 Conclusion71 7.Co-facilitation 73 Selecting Co-facilitators74 Best Practices in Co-facilitation76 Debrief Prompts for Facilitators79 Conclusion79 8.Encountering Conflict and Resistance 81 Why Is There Resistance?82 Preparing for Pushback86 The Art of the Apology91 Conclusion93 9.Responding to Conflict and Resistance 95 Immediate Response 95 Concrete Actions 101 When There Is Disruptive Behavior102 Conclusion104 10.Managing Resistance Among Different StakeholdersOur Story: A Case Study 106 Program Development106 Resistance107 The Big Lesson Learned112 11.Race Dialogues Curriculum 113 Dialogue Structure114 How to Structure a Dialogue Session114 Debriefing117 Participant Journal 118 Grouping118 Time Constraints119 A Note for High School Educators120 Lesson 1: Why Are We Talking About Race?121 Lesson 2: How Do We Engage in Dialogues About Race?124 Lesson 3:Developing Group Norms131 Lesson 4:The History of Racism136 Lesson 5: Understanding Social Identities 140 Lesson 6: Interpersonal Racism and Microaggressions146 Lesson 7: Individual Racism: Implicit Bias and Cycle of Socialization151 Lesson 8: Exploring Group Privilege and Oppression156 Lesson 9: Institutional Racism161 Lesson 10: Caucus Groups and Fishbowls164 Lesson 11: Hot Topics167 Lesson 12: Allyhood IInterrupting Individual Racism169 Lesson 13: Allyhood IIHow to Be an Aspiring Ally175 Lesson 14: Adjourning the Dialogue 177 Conclusion180 Appendix A. Social Justice Concepts183 Appendix B. Icebreakers/Community Builders187 Appendix C. Closing Activities190 Appendix D. Values List192 Appendix E. Facilitator Feedback Form193 Appendix F. Privilege Walk Statements194 Appendix G. PASK: Facilitator Personal Assessment Chart196 Appendix H. The PALS Approach198 Appendix I. Videos200 References203 Index212 About the Authors223