Race Dialogues

Drawing on decades of research and examples from their own practices, the authors provide best practices in race dialogue facilitation. Through concrete lesson plans and hands-on material, both experienced and novice facilitators can immediately use this inclusive and wide-ranging curriculum in a variety of classrooms, work spaces, and organizations with diverse participants.

"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, "An extraordinary, timely, and unreservedly recommended addition to school district, college, and university library Teacher Education instructional reference collections." --Midwest Book Review

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.