Anti Racism Discussion Guide

ANTI-RACISM

DISCUSSION GUIDE

Naꢀonwide uprisings against police brutality and movements like Black Lives Maꢁer have brought systemic racism to the forefront—making it imperaꢀve for district and school leaders to culꢀvate anꢀ-racist school systems. Historically, district leaders have focused on mulꢀcultural literacy and implicit bias training, but the naꢀonal conversaꢀon has catalyzed a focus on anꢀ-racism.

District leaders across the country are asking how they as individuals can (a) examine their own beliefs and acꢀons and (b) foster an environment in which they can push conversaꢀons about race, racism, and other equity issues. Although conversaꢀons about race pull individuals out of their comfort zones and, at ꢀmes, lead to conﬂict and tension between parꢀcipants, it is important to lead producꢀve discussions about equity issues in your districts and schools. We created this discussion guide to help leaders eﬀecꢀvely navigate these topics by establishing goals for equity discussions, brainstorming quesꢀons for holding construcꢀve conversaꢀons, and idenꢀfying acꢀons to take as a result of the perspecꢀves and informaꢀon shared.

I idenꢀfy how I

may unknowingly

beneﬁt from racism

I promote & advocate for policies & leaders

that are anꢀ-racist

DEFINE WHAT YOU HOPE TO EXAMINE

I recognize racism is a present & current problem

I seek out quesꢀons

that make me uncomfortable.
I sit with my discomfort
I deny racism is a problem

There are several frameworks available in surrounding anꢀꢁracism research; therefore, it is criꢀcal for districts to deﬁne what they hope to examine. Topics range from understanding how members of the community feel about a raceꢁrelated issue to exploring how students from diverse racial and ethnic groups can beneﬁt from sharing their experiences. Without a clear focus for the discussion, facilitators won’t be able to provide the most impacꢂul, educaꢀonal, and open conversaꢀon, and may miss an opportunity to bring stakeholders together.

I speak out when I see

racism in acꢀon

I avoid hard

I understand my

own privilege in ignoring racism.

quesꢀons

Becoming

Anꢀ-Racist

FEAR ZONE

LEARNING ZONE

GROWTH ZONE

I educate myself about race & structural racism
I strive to be comfortable
I educate my peers how racism harms our profession
I talk to others
I am vulnerable who look &
I don’t let mistakes

deter me from

being beꢁer

about my own biases & knowledge gaps think like me
I listen to others who think & look

diﬀerently than me
I yield posiꢀons

of power to those otherwise marginalized

Source: U.S. Department of Jusꢀce

I surround myself with others who think & look

diﬀerently than me

Source (right): Adapted from a ﬁgure by Dr. Andrew M. Ibrahim, which is inspired by the wriꢀng of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi.

THE ALLY CONTINUUM

Districts are using the Ally Conꢀnuum to facilitate allyship among key stakeholders.

APATHETIC

AWARE

ACTIVE

ADVOCATE

NO UNDERSTANDING
OF THE ISSUES
KNOWS BASIC CONCEPTS, NOT
ACTIVE ON BEHALF OF
SELF OR OTHERS
WELL-INFORMED,
SHARING AND SEEKING
DIVERSITY WHEN
COMMITTED, ROUTINELY
AND PROACTIVELY CHAMPIONING

ASKED/PROMPTED

INCLUSION

Source: Adapted from a ﬁgure by Jennifer Brown

1

GLOSSARY

Race: A human group deﬁned by itself or others as disꢀnct by virtue of perceived common physical characterisꢀcs that are held to be inherent. Determining which characterisꢀcs consꢀtute the race is a choice made by human beings; neither markers nor categories are predetermined by any biological factors.

ESTABLISH GOALS FOR THE CONVERSATION

Ethnicity: A sense of common ancestry based on cultural aꢃachments, past linguisꢀc heritage, religious aﬃliaꢀons, claimed kinship, or some physical traits.

Once you have deﬁned what you are working toward, you should prepare goals for your discussion about the inequiꢀes in your district.

Source: Stephen Cornell and Douglas Hartmann

CONSIDERATIONS FOR ORGANIZING A FORMAL DIALOGUE ON RACE

COMMUNITY DYNAMICS AND INDIVIDUAL CONCERNS

PARTICIPANTS AND THEIR NEEDS

Facilitators should consider historical and current community contexts and issues related to race that might be addressed in formal

conversaꢀons. Possibiliꢀes include:

Facilitators should consider which stakeholder groups will parꢀcipate in the dialogue, as this will inﬂuence the topics addressed during the conversaꢀon. Possible parꢀcipants include:

ꢀ Sharing of cultural knowledge between diﬀerent racial and

ethnic groups;

ꢀ District and school staff (e.g., administrators, teachers, instrucꢀonal support staff, operaꢀons staff);

ꢀ Addressing a historical or current event or problem in the

community or the naꢀon at-large; and

ꢀ Community members (e.g., elected oﬃcials, business partners, representaꢀves of local nonproﬁts); and

ꢀ Exploring implicit biases and systemic injusꢀces or inequaliꢀes.

ꢀ Students and their families.

IMMEDIATE AND LONG-TERM GOALS

DISCUSSION FORMAT AND CADENCE

Facilitators should consider their objecꢀves in hosꢀng a formal conversaꢀon around race or speciﬁc racially-focused events and issues. Possible goals include:
ꢀ Building relaꢀonships between parꢀcipants of diﬀerent races and ethniciꢀes;

Facilitators should consider how they wish to organize and structure the discussion to best achieve outlined goals. Possible formats include:

ꢀ Small group meeꢀngs with a limited number of speciﬁed parꢀcipants (e.g., a high school class, a commiꢁee meeꢀng);
ꢀ Open forums that can be aꢁended by any interested individuals or groups; and

ꢀ Learning empathy for the challenges faced by a historically or currently disadvantaged racial group; and

ꢀ Ongoing working sessions that occur on a set schedule.

ꢀ Planning acꢀons to address problemaꢀc community dynamics.

Source: Community Relaꢀons Service, U.S. Department of Jusꢀce

2

ESTABLISH GOALS FOR THE CONVERSATION

Facilitators should first consider local climate, national events, historical contexts, and the experiences of individuals from different races to generate potential foci for the

discussion. They should research how “race remains a key predictor of access, opportunity, safety[,] and wellꢁbeing” and how this dynamic plays out within their local school community. Such reﬂecꢀons can encompass how speciﬁc groups or individuals within the district, including the facilitators themselves, face disadvantages, prejudice, or bias due to their race and, conversely, how others may experience unearned

privileges and advantages due to their

the external construcꢀon of racial

idenꢀꢀes (i.e., how others perceive an individual of a certain race) and its internal manifestaꢀon (i.e., how individuals idenꢀfy and deﬁne themselves). Relatedly, facilitators need to consider their own racial idenꢀty and the disadvantages or privileges that accompany it—as well as parꢀcipants’ interpretaꢀon of those disadvantages or privileges—to appropriately frame their individual experiences and maintain conscious consideraꢀon of how their race impacts their ability to lead a raciallyꢁ focused conversaꢀon. race. Knowledge of racial issues and dispariꢀes and how they manifest in schools and the community will allow facilitators to begin brainstorming ways in which raciallyꢁfocused conversaꢀons may challenge those issues and dispariꢀes and the narraꢀves surrounding them.

These exploraꢀons should also emphasize the speciﬁc concerns of those groups or individuals that will parꢀcipate in the conversaꢀon. In parꢀcular, facilitators should anꢀcipate parꢀcipants having diﬀerent percepꢀons and experiences with

DISCUSSION GOALS TO ADVANCE RACIAL JUSTICE AND EQUITY IN EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

AWARENESS

CAPACITY-BUILDING

ACTION

Build parꢀcipants’ awareness of equity issues and their ability to understand and examine those issues criꢀcally. As such, the conversaꢀon will help normalize reﬂecꢀve dialogue about race and related issues.

Develop a speciﬁc skill or knowledge set for parꢀcipants to leverage in their daily work around racial equity. Moreover, the conversaꢀon may introduce speciﬁc strategies or resources for parꢀcipants to use immediately.

Iniꢀate a parꢀcular acꢀon plan, policy shiﬅ, or program to combat insꢀtuꢀonal racism and advance racial jusꢀce. These conversaꢀons focus on coordinaꢀon of parꢀcipants’ eﬀorts and the resources at their disposal.

3

TIPS FOR FACILITATING THE CONVERSATION

Facilitators must also consider how to structure criꢀcal conversaꢀons about race. Logisꢀcal items such as distribuꢀng preꢁreading or reference data, scheduling a meeꢀng ꢀme, selecꢀng quesꢀons and prompts for discussion, and outlining rules and procedures for administering the discussion (e.g., managing talk ꢀme, dealing with increased tensions) are an important part of these consideraꢀons. Facilitators must also determine how to structure these criꢀcal conversaꢀons so that they are construcꢀve and focused on goals. This includes intenꢀonal framing of conversaꢀons around intended goals and results. norms. Facilitators will generally want to emphasize empathy, respect, the session. Conversaꢀons about racial injusꢀce can oﬅen center on the Black community; while this is a criꢀcal focus point, these conversaꢀons may fail to make space for the ﬁrst Americans to experience racism: Indigenous people. Facilitators should name the Indigenous territories where the discussion is taking place, explain why this is important to acknowledge, and address the relevance of Indigenous rights to the subject maꢃer of the discussion.

conﬁdenꢀality,

acceptance

with

discomfort, and conﬂict management when seꢄng rules.

Here are a few examples facilitators can use to start the conversaꢀon:

“Share the airspace.” “What is said here stays here; what is learned here leaves here.”

“Challenge ideas, not people.”

Finally, facilitators should include a land acknowledgment at the start of

Source: Amnesty Internaꢀonal

In addiꢀon, at the start of any formal conversaꢀon around race, racial equity, and social jusꢀce, facilitators should work with parꢀcipants to formalize and codify norms and expectaꢀons. Ideally, facilitators will collaborate with the parꢀcipants to establish these norms and expectaꢀons, though facilitators maysimplyneed to present parꢀcipants with a set of guidelines that they must adhere to—if ꢀme constraints prevent group collaboraꢀon around

4

QUESTIONS TO GUIDE THE CONVERSATION

POTENTIAL QUESTIONS RELATED TO INDIVIDUALLY LIVED EXPERIENCES

1. What is your racial, ethnic, and/or cultural background?
What aspect of your racial or ethnic identity makes you the proudest?
2. When were you first aware of your race? What

ACTIVITY

circumstances drove this recognition?
3. How often do you think about your racial or

A helpful way for facilitators to ask this quesꢀon is to write down parꢀcipants' answers on a ﬂipchart or index cards. The facilitator can then place the answers around the room randomly and allow parꢀcipants to do a "gallery walk". This can ease parꢀcipants into being more willing to share their perspecꢀves openly.

ethnic identity?
4. In what ways does your race impact your personal life?
Your professional life?
5. Does racial or ethnic identity enter in your process of making important or daily decisions? If so, how?
6. How much and what type of contact do you have with people of other races or groups? What is the nature of these relationships?
7. Have you ever felt “different” in a group setting because of your race/ethnicity? How did this affect you?

BYSTANDER INTERVENTION

8. Have you ever experienced a situation where your race or ethnicity seemed to contribute to a problem or uncomfortable situation?

The bystander eﬀect is “the concept that when there are a group of people that witness an incident, that we as individuals are less likely to respond.” Facilitatorscandiscusshowparꢀcipantscanadvocate forvicꢀmsinthesesituaꢀonsbyintervening—helping to remove them from the situaꢀon, distracꢀng the insꢀgator (e.g., taking them aside to ask an unrelated quesꢀon), and, if in a workplace or similar seꢄng, reporꢀng the abuse to a leader.

9. Have you ever witnessed someone being treated unfairly because of their race or ethnicity? How did you respond?
10. How would you answer the question of where we want to go in race relations as a community?
11. What things have you seen that give you hope for improved race relations?
12. What are some steps you could take to improve race relations in our schools and community?

Source: Kelly CharlesꢁCollins

5

QUESTIONS TO GUIDE THE CONVERSATION

POTENTIAL QUESTIONS RELATED TO
COMMUNITY AND SCHOOL EXPERIENCES

1. How would you describe the overall state of race relations in our community?
2. What problems do you see in the school community that are related to race and ethnicity?
3. What racial groups tend to be socially isolated from one another in our community?
4. Are there any specific factors (e.g., language, socioeconomic status, neighborhood segregation) that compound issues related to race?
5. What are some of the underlying conditions and hindering forces negatively affecting race relations in our community?
6. In what ways do we agree and/or disagree about the nature of our racial problems, what caused them, and how serious they are?
7. How do racial divisions adversely impact individuals from specific races and the communityꢁatꢁlarge?
8. If we had excellent race relations, what kinds of things would we see, hear, and feel in the community?
9. What are the main changes that need to happen to increase understanding and cooperative action across racial lines?
10. What are some steps we could take to improve race relations in our schools and community?
11. Should we continue and expand this dialogue to get more people involved? How could we do that?
12. What will we do to ensure followꢁup to this conversation?

6

CLOSING THE CONVERSATION

Facilitators should recognize and explain to parꢀcipants that a single or even a series of raciallyꢁfocused conversaꢀons may sꢀll result in more work needing to be done to accomplish target goals. Relatedly, every individual parꢀcipant maynot be enꢀrelysaꢀsfied with the end result of a conversaꢀon, so it will fall on facilitators to highlight progress made toward goals at the conclusion of a given discussion. For instance, the facilitator may take the following acꢀons to provide some sense of closure to the conversaꢀon in the absence of or in addiꢀon to a measurable representaꢀon of goal achievement: and offer space for others to share how the conversaꢀon impacted them;
Indeed, facilitators should reiterate that parꢀcipants have learned something from the conversaꢀon while also encouraging individuals and the whole group to complete any planned or proposed acꢀon derived during the conversaꢀon, whether those acꢀons are undertaken at the personal or the insꢀtuꢀonal level. This might mean encouraging parꢀcipants to learn more to build on knowledge and skills acquired during a given conversaꢀon or educaꢀng others in the school community. Conversely, facilitators may ask parꢀcipants to implement a series of acꢀons which they outlined to alter organizaꢀonal policies or modify individual behaviors as they relate to racial equity.
ꢀ Encourage parꢀcipants to share an appreciaꢀon for the group process or of someone in the group;
ꢀ Ask parꢀcipants to share what they learned about themselves or what they took from the conversaꢀon;
ꢀ Prompt parꢀcipants to follow up with another parꢀcipant for deeper dialogue to conꢀnue learning and personal discovery;
ꢀ Inquire if there are any acꢀons people are inspired to take as a result of the conversaꢀon; and
ꢀ Schedule a future conversaꢀon or an ongoing meeꢀng ꢀme with the same parꢀcipants.
ꢀ Extend graꢀtude to everyone for their courage and willingness to parꢀcipate in a difficult—but necessary—conversaꢀon;
ꢀ Share how the conversaꢀon impacted themselves personally,

7

SOURCE LIST

DEFINE WHAT YOU HOPE TO EXAMINE