How to Have an Honest Conversation about Racism
by Maria Lee
Courageous Conversations Defined
Glenn E. Singleton, author of Courageous Conversations about Race, defines Courageous Conversations as a formal structure or protocol that utilizes “the agreements, conditions, and compass to engage, sustain, and deepen interracial dialogue about race in order to examine schooling and improve student achievement” (p. 26-27) Glen specifically says Courageous conversation has three functions:
Engage those who won’t talk.
Sustains the conversation when it gets uncomfortable or diverted.
Deepens the conversation to where authentic understanding and meaningful actions occur.
Singleton sets up four agreements for educators entering courageous conversation is to commit to practicing the four agreements:
Stay engaged.
Speak your truth.
Experience discomfort.
Expect and accept non-closure.
Singleton goes in-depth into Courageous Conversations in his book. But I will touch on the basics of how to have an honest conversation about racism. I encourage you to read this book. The book is helpful in understanding racism for educators.
Addressing the Elephant in the Room = Racism
In this powerful article, 10 Things Every Teacher Should Know about When Talking About Race, Angela Watson, the author, confronts the elephant in the room by addressing white people because around 83% of teachers in the U.S. are white. She believes conversations about race are “super prevalent” and for many white people, it feels like stepping into a minefield. Watson states, “Teachers are smart, thoughtful people tasked with raising up young people to be leaders. We cannot be ignorant about race or avoid talking about it.”
Watson does not presume to speak on behalf of people of color, but she thinks it is not fair to ask a person of color to be the spokesperson for his or her race or bear the burdens of marginalization, but also educate white people on why it happens and how it is so harmful.
Watson notes people of color have no choice but to think about and understand race daily. It is really up to us as white people to educate ourselves to the same level. She wants every white teacher, particularly those who teach black and brown students, to understand some fundamental truths. She emphasizes, “These principles can completely transform your relationship with your students, their families, and the communities you teach.” Watson hopes you will be open to her words considering that.
10 Things Every Teacher Should Know About Race
In the article mentioned above, Watson shares information for those who are not sure and frustrated with conversations about race, and those who want to have unpleasant conversations, support their students, and step up as advocates and allies, but they may not know how to talk about racial issues and are afraid of saying the wrong thing. Watson hopes the information will help you feel more confident in having those tough conversations that are so important and empower you to be a more culturally responsive teacher.
The author shares 10 things teachers should know when talking about racism:
Racism is not necessarily about holding hate in your heart toward other people, or consciously believing you are superior because you are white.
There is no such thing as reverse racism.
There are different rules for white people and people of color when talking about race.
It is not racist (nor is it “creating division”) for people of color to talk about how they experience the world differently than white people. Color blindness is not a thing to aspire to.
If you have been told that it is racist to see or talk about color, that was probably when you were pointing out race in a completely irrelevant context.
Use descriptors of race that are both inclusive and empowering.
Develop a listen-first ethic when a conversation turns to race, rather than insisting that race is irrelevant.
You can prevent knee-jerk defensiveness by actively working to de-center your experience as a white person in conversations about race.
When someone hits a sore spot and you realize you’ve said, done, or felt something that you didn’t realize could be insensitive, avoid rationalizing your actions.
The solution is not to “stop making everything about race” and just all come together as one. We have to be anti-racism, not anti-talking-about-race.
My Thoughts
There are so many crucial points Watson wrote in her article, but I like to highlight a few points that really resonate with me:
Racism is a systemic issue. I like how Watson is so blunt about this. She states, “If you are complicit in policies and systems that are oppressive to people of color, you are contributing to racism in this country. If you look the other way or deny that these systems exist, you are part of the problem.” This is so true. I believe if we have heartfelt conversations about racism, we can eventually become anti-racist.
The bare minimum we can do is avoid invalidating people of color experiences and silencing them by seeking to ignore or deflect any mention of race. Watson is right to say develop a listen-first ethic when a conversation turns to race because your perception of when race applies is going to differ from a person of color’s perspective.
This quote resonates with me, and every teacher should keep it in mind.
“The internal work of self-education and self-examination is the foundational piece that many white people skip in an eagerness to fix everything and begin righting wrongs. Make it your goal to instead self examine and understand how your benefit from support and uphold white supremacy; only then you will be equipped to help dismantle it.”
You can read and listen to her podcast.
Preparing Conversations about Race and Racism
Lisa Hollenbach provides helpful suggestions for teachers to help their students to unpack race and face history. She wants teachers to create a space for students to have conversations and learn history. In her article, Are You Prepared to Talk About Race?, Hollenbach lays out these three steps:
Step 1: Recognize that you have a powerful opportunity to help students reflect on tough social issues and grow into informed, engaged citizens who work to fight injustice and discrimination when you keep controversial matters at the center of discussions, rather than avoiding the dissonance and discomfort.
Hollenbach, like Angela Watson discussed above, also encourages white teachers to talk about race with their students. In Step 1, she believes “it is our responsibility to educate ourselves, to listen more than we speak, and to work to build a culture of honesty, trust, equity, and critical thinking in our classrooms in the hope that our students will carry the same into the world.”
Hollenbach suggests a few resources to help educators learn some basics and help you think about how you will begin:
6 Things You Can Do Right Now To Promote Unity In Your Classroom
Facing History: 3 Teachers Share their First Days Back to School
Step 2: Reflect on your own personal views on race and society. Examine your bias - both implicit and explicit- as well as areas of privilege and intersectionality. Keep an open mind and make a commitment to examine the way your biases and privilege play out in everyday life.
Hollenbach mentions 4 ways to prepare yourself for engaging in conversations about race:
Begin by examining your own implicit biases. Once you are aware of them, you can begin the complex work of reducing them.
“Challenge yourself to be open to results, as biases form the foundations of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination.”(pg. 4) Lisa quoted this from Catherine Thompson in Teacher’s Voice blog post, Do Now: What is Whiteness?
Audit your classroom, school, and community. Analyze the climate and assess the way race and oppression are already operating in your environment.
Culturally Responsive Teaching. Multicultural Education and Social Justice Education, while related, are not interchangeable. Take some time to learn the difference.
Step 3: Build your own repertoire of social and emotional skills so that you can successfully support your students as they grapple with challenging political, social, racial, and economic issues. Then think about strategies for cultivating the same skills in your students.
Hollenbach mentions three ways to build your own repertoire of skills to support your students as they grapple with political, social, racial, and economic issues.
Empathy is key. You will want to build your own “empathy muscles” as a way to create more equitable experiences for your students.
Design Thinking. This can be a powerful tool for teachers in the development of a more equitable classroom. She suggests checking out The Teacher’s Voice blog for 5 more resources to get your class more equitable.
Think about innovative instructional strategies you can use to cultivate empathy and understanding in your students.
A Teacher’s Reflection on Teaching Racism
Catherine Thompson, author of Do Now: What is Whiteness?, shows how she pushed her students past their discomfort about what is Whiteness. She told her students to answer the question and wrote on the board as their “Do Now” at the start of class.
Thompson describes her students’ initial reactions this way, “Some students giggled. Other made faces — perplexed, overwhelmed, entertained. A few began to chat with classmates. Some looked at me hoping for guidance.” Her co-teacher, having just entered the room, said, “That’s a great question!”
Thompson gives her students time to react. Afterwards, she asks her students to think about it. There are no right answers, but they should draw upon their own lives and learned experiences. Thompson expects her students to respond.
This is what her students said after a few minutes passed:
“Whiteness is skin color.”
“—- privilege.”
“—-a social caste system.”
“—-history.”
“—-people of European descent.”
“—-respect.”
Thompson states, “As conversation continued, — one student talked about bloodlines and the idea of racial purity in the United States. Another noted that the definition of whiteness had shifted historically, and named the inclusion of the Irish, Italians, and Germans within the category. Another connected skin color to the dominant standards of global beauty—.”
Thompson spent at least 20 minutes unpacking whiteness with her students. They paused and looked at the board to process the conversation. She laughed and reminded her students of their initial discomfort. Thompson’s conclusion is “Clearly they had a lot to say — once they pushed past their discomfort.”
Thompson wrote this article in the wake of the 2016 presidential election. Given the immediate rise in hate crimes and white nationalism, she urges educators to guide students into conversations surrounding race and whiteness. She told her readers that the overarching goal of her unit on race is for her students to develop a critical consciousness around race. The unit lasted for six weeks, and her students did just that. She outlined her unit like this: Study social construction of race, Race’s Codification into law, and the efforts to preserve distinct racial groups in the United States during times when racial hierarchy was challenged.
Thompson encourages teachers to prepare themselves for the challenge because such lessons can only begin once educators consider their own bias.
Thompson’s own initiative impresses me. She puts together a race unit and guides her students to explore their own critical thinking on race. She works on her own biases and encourages teachers to do the same. She wants educators to take time and reflect. Catherine suggests asking yourself a few questions to guide you through your thinking:
How has your thinking changed?
How have your beliefs been confirmed?
What promises are you going to make to yourself?
What goal will you make moving forward?
I know what my goal is: to keep on writing to help, inspire, and teach.https://educationblogdesk.com/best-practices/best-practices
References
Singleton, Glenn E. (2015). Courageous Conversation. Corwin A Sage Company.
Watson, Angela. (2017, September) 10 Things Every Teacher Should Know When Talking About Race.
Hollenbach, Lisa. (2017, August 18) Are You Prepared To Talk About Race?. Retrieved from
Thompson, Catherine. (2017, March 15) Do Now: What is Whiteness?. Retrieved from