The white ally toolkit workbook: using active listening, empathy, and

THE WHITE

ALLY TOOLKIT

WORKBOOK

USING ACTIVE LISTENING,

EMPATHY, AND PERSONAL

STORYTELLING TO

PROMOTE RACIAL EQUITY

BY DAVID W. CAMPT, PHD

THE WHITE

ALLY TOOLKIT

WORKBOOK

USING ACTIVE LISTENING, EMPAT H Y,

AND PERSONAL STORYTELLING TO

PROMOTE RACIAL EQUITY

ADVANCE EDITION RELEASED FOR

THE APRIL 2018 WHITE PRIVILEGE CONFERENCE

GRAND RAPIDS, MI

BY DAVID W. CAMPT, PHD

The White Ally Toolkit Workbook: Using Active Listening, Empathy, and Personal

Storytelling to Promote Racial Equity

transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other

electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher,

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews and

certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests,

please contact the publisher.

I AM Publications

(617) 564-1060

[email protected]

www.iampubs.com

Printed in the United States of America

Advance Edition, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-943382-02-6

IN APPRECIATION

Anyone on a journey through difculties needs allies. It is important to pause

to directly express thanks for the special kind of support that many folks have

given so this workbook could come to be:

To Mike Novogratz and Katie Weitz, for giving the resourceful guidance that

forward thinking philanthropists can;

To Lucky Lynch, Paige Eaves, Judith Mowry, Sybil Madison, and Ivan Cutler,

for picking up the phone now and then and being the cheerleaders vitally

needed so that a vague and fuzzy vision could become something concrete;

To Mike Barney, Monica Butler, Lisa Thompson, and Beth Castle for the

reminders of the value of emotional support;

To Theo Brown and McCrae Parker, for being willing to talk about the

intricacies of dialogue repeatedly and well into the early morning;

To Ngozi Robinson and Matthew Freeman, who each exquisitely combine the

central roles of thought partners and “do” partners;

To caregivers Steven Neal, Mary Chatman, Margaret Stewart, and Willie

Walker, whose teamwork in allyship in parental caregiving was essential in

creating a year with the least number of nights in the hospital as any in the

past half-decade;

To Vietta and Arnai Johnson, whose perseverance through trials is one of

many reminders of the need of discipline, focus, and the never ending need

for keeping an calm eye on the prize;

To James and Geraldine Campt, whose amazing positivity still fuels, and

whose lessons about the importance of good communication have driven my

lifelong passion for dialogue

And nally, to all who serve humanity by actively being spending their

precious human energy on causes bigger than their own.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION I

APPROACH OF THE ALLY CONVERSATION TOOLKIT I

USING THIS WORKBOOK IX

PART 1: WHITE ALLIES….KNOW THYSELF 1

WHITE ALLY PRIORITIES RANKING TOOL 3

WHY WHITE ALLIES MUST TAKE OVER THE WORK OF “WOKING” 9

ALLY LISTENING SELF-ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS 18

CREATING YOUR LISTENING BEST PRACTICES TOOL 38

THE WHITE ALLY RESPONSE ASSESSMENT TOOL 44

PART 2: USING THE RACE METHOD TO ENGAGE RACISM

DENIAL 57

THE RACE METHOD – AN OVERVIEW 58

HOW THE MODULES ARE EXPLAINED 80

COMBATING RACISM DENIAL – THE MODULES 87

MODULE 1:

“RACISM MEANS HAVING INTENTIONALLY NEGATIVE VIEWS

OF OT H E R GROUPS. SO IF I DON’T H AVE CO N S C I O U S NEGATIVE INTENT, I

DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT BEING RACIST.”

MODULE 2:

“NOWADAYS, THERE ARE VERY FEW ADVANTAG ES TO B E I N G

WHITE. I AM NOT ‘PRIVILEGED”.

MODULE 3:

“VERY FEW PEOPLE ARE CONSCIOUSLY RACIST ANYMORE.”

MODULE 4:

“SLAVERY AND SEGREGATION WERE A LONG TIME AGO. WE

SHOULD NOT TALK ABOUT THEM ANYMORE AND JUST MOVE ON.”

MODULE 5:

“THE ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF P EOPLE OF COLO R ARE

PRIMARILY DUE TO THE BAD CHOICES THAT THEY MAKE.”

MODULE 6:

“IF PEOPLE OF COLOR WOULD JUST ACT PROPERLY, LAW

ENFORCEMENT WOULD TREAT THEM FAIRLY.“

MODULE 7:

“IT IS VITAL THAT AMERICA DRASTICALLY REDUCE THE LEVEL

IMMIGRATION SO THAT WE CAN RETURN TO OUR CULTURAL GREATNESS.”

MODULE 8:

“THOSE ATH L E T ES AND OTHERS PROT ESTING SH O U L D BE

GRATEFUL THAT THEY LIVE IN AMERICA AND SHOULD NOT DISRESPECT

THE NATION AND THE FLAG BY KNEELING DURING THE NATIONAL

ANTHEM. “

PART 3: THE ALLY COACHING CURRICULUM 171

THE PRIMER - KEY CONCEPTS ON INTERPERSONAL RACISM 172

RACIAL ISSUES – THE COLLECTIVE CONCEPTS 183

OTHERING

UNCONSCIOUS BIAS

ATTRIBUTION ERROR

RACIAL ANXIETY

UNEARNED RACIAL ADVANTAGE (COMMONLY CALLED WHITE PRIVILEGE)

RACIAL THREAT

RACIAL BACKLASH AND RACIAL DENIAL

INSTITUTIONAL RACISM

STRUCTURAL RACISM

RACIAL INEQUITY/RACIAL EQUITY

PART FOUR: ODDS AND ENDS 227

PAST EXPERIENCES OF PEOPLE TRYING TO INFLUENCE EACH OTHER 230

CONTINUUM OF RETORTS 233

SHAME: DOES IT AFFECT YOUR WORK AS AN ALLY? 235

CHOOSING SKEPTICS TO ENGAGE 238

CREATING AN INFORMAL ALLY PRACTICE GROUP 242

CREATING FORMAL PRACTICE GROUPS WITH A FACILITATOR 245

USING INSIGHTS ABOUT CONSERVATIVE AND LIBERAL MORAL

FRAMEWORKS AND ORIENTATIONS 246

WHY ANTI-RACIST PROGRESSIVES NEED TO SUPPORT

CONSERVATIVES 253

CLOSING ENCOURAGEMENTS 257

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 267

Don’t be in such a hurry to condemn a

person because he doesn’t do what you do,

or think as you think or as fast.

There was a time when you didn’t know

what you know today.

– Malcolm X

The White Ally Toolkit Workbook

INTRODUCTION

PURPOSE OF THIS WORKBOOK

For too long, the call for an “honest dialogue about race” has been thought

about as a conversation between white folks and people of color (POC). As

important as that conversation is, the idea behind this workbook is that

some progress on race relations is best achieved through conversation

among white people. According to public opinion polls in 2017, about 55%

of white people think that racism against white people is as big of a societal

problem as racism against people of color. Unless white public opinion is

shied, it will be difcult to create initiatives that address the signicant

problems related to racial equity.

The goal of the project this workbook springs from - Ally Conversation

Toolkit, or ACT - is to ip this 45/55 split by 2025. For this to occur, many

things are needed, such as better articulation about racism from diverse

political and corporate leaders, better messaging about race in mass and

social media, and more sophisticated talk about race in our education

systems, to name just a few. What is also needed is more and more

effective one-on-one conversation between white people who know that

racism is a special burden on the lives of people of color and the more than

half of whites who think that racism affects every group equally.

It would be neither fair nor feasible for POC to carry the burden of having

these conversations. There are not enough POC - or alternatively, there are

too many white folks – for that to work. And POC are increasingly fatigued

by educating white people; they are already dealing with the additional

burden of actually coping with racism. Of course, some of that educational

work by POCs to whites is much needed; open-minded white folks need

to hear the stories from POCs about what racism looks like in modern day

America. It is time to shi some of the burden of educating racism denying

white folks away from POCs and on to people who might be considered

white comrades in the ght against racism.

This workbook and the ACT project is based on the idea that allies to a

manifestation of societal oppression (i.e. and “ism”, like racism, sexism, or

homophobia) need to community in a very mindful way in order to have

The White Ally Toolkit Workbook

INTRODUCTION

effective conversations with others who are slao not direct targets of that

“ism.” (To clarify, when the “ism” in question is racism, the work of the

Ally Conversation Toolkit is oen referred to as the White Ally Toolkit). To

do that, these white folks need to prepare for these conversations by doing

some reective work of their own – by themselves, in groups with other

like-minded white people, and preferably both.

This workbook

will help with

that reective

work. In

addition,

white people

who think

anti-POC

racism

matters also

need to have a

conversational

strategy for

discussing

racism that

is designed

to counter

the tendency

to deny racism exists. To put it directly, white people who care about

addressing racism need to learn how to do a version what people of

color have been doing for centuries, which is code switching. This term

refers to a practice of speaking differently in different settings in order

to increase one’s effectiveness. The approach to discussing racism in

such a conversations with those who are not like-minded about racism

needs be done to be very differently than the way racism is discussed in

settings where people have a shared understanding that racism exists. This

workbook is designed to foster the deep reective internal work that is

needed, to describe a strategy for this code switching, and to give guidance

about how to apply it in a variety of situations.

oo many white folks readily talk

about “checking their privilege”

to their POC friends and other whites

who are “woke” without having the

long, slow, frustrating, and socially

risky series of conversations with

their Cousin Hannah or Uncle

Tristan (to use a couple of white

names) who don’t think racism

against people of color is real.

The White Ally Toolkit Workbook

INTRODUCTION

iii

White allies need to be much more serious about the how they view the

work of having effective conversations with people who deny racism than

many of them are now. In the view of this project, it is not enough to go

to white ally meetings, or to work with people of color on institutional

change. Of course, these are very important activities. But too many white

folks readily talk about “checking their privilege” to their POC friends and

other whites who are “woke” without having the long, slow, frustrating,

and socially risky series of conversations with their Cousin Hannah or

Uncle Tristan (to use a couple of white names) who don’t think racism

against people of color is real. Besides taking this obligation seriously,

white allies need to more deeply analyze what is working and not working

as they try to change the perspective of whites in their circle of inuence.

The goal of this project - including the website www.allyconversationtoolkit

that is attached to it – is to help white allies see the task of using their

inuence to bring other whites along (i.e. “woking” others up) as part

of their lifelong mission in dismantling racism. This project also hopes

that as part of that goal, white allies who are somewhat “wokish” will join

together in learning communities dedicated to woking others.

The approach to racial equity work by this project is well within the

progressive anti-racism tradition. However the approach taken here does

embody some differences than the stance of many racial equity advocates

today. It is useful to li some of these differences up explicitly.

PROPHETIC VOICE V. DIALOGIC ENGAGEMENT

The core approach of ACT is that white allies should try to engage people

who deny -isms and listen to them without judgment, share stories that

build trust, and try to expand their sense of how the -ism works through

stories, data or useful concepts. As mentioned, this will usually not happen

in a single conversation. (In a few paragraphs, the research that backs this

approach to engagement will be briey reviewed).

This empathetic listening approach is in sharp contrast to the way many

racial justice advocates approach conversations about race with people

who are not on board with their point of view. Partly out of frustration

The White Ally Toolkit Workbook

INTRODUCTION

with the slow pace of progress on racism, many racial justice advocates

only talk about racial issues in a way that that uses what could be called

a “prophetic voice.” This approach to discussing racial topics emphasizes

unvarnished truth telling, calling out the hypocrisies of others, sharing a

deep analysis of racial power, and confronting people with the hard truth

of racism and how it harms people of color.

The prophetic voice is a vital part of social change, especially when

trying to motivate and organize people. When trying to mobilize people

against an opponent, it is important to draw sharp distinctions, to portray

opponents as deeply awed, and to diminish the sense of ambiguities in

the situation. Such portrayals – especially in groups settings - can be very

energizing to existing allies, and sometimes to people who are on the

fence.

However, this

prophetic voice

tends to be less

helpful in one-

on-one and

small group

conversations.

Moreover,

the prophetic

voice is not just

unproductive

when talking to people who disagree with you, it is oen

counterproductive.

This project is based on helping people who think anti-POC racism matters

cultivate a set of communication strategies that are more akin to a coach

guiding a novice player than a prophet speaking to a congregation. When

coaching someone, it can be important to demonstrate patience and

empathy, and to purposefully choose moments, topics, and strategies that

are adapted to the moment. When trying to inuence people who doubt

the reality of racism, it is more effective to listen to them, and to draw out



people who doubt the reality

of racism, it is more effective

to listen to them, and to draw

out how they feel about race,

racism, and issues related to it.

The White Ally Toolkit Workbook

INTRODUCTION

how they feel about race, racism, and issues related to it. (See the section

below titled “Why White Allies Should do the Work of Woking”). This way

of engaging could be described as one that calls upon an ally’s skills in

dialogic engagement, instead of their ability to capture the prophetic voice.

TERMINOLOGY

Every term involved in social justice work has been deconstructed,

analyzed, and almost inevitably found problematic. Some people don’t like

the term “ally” for a variety of reasons, many of which make sense. For

the sake of this discussion about how to move white public opinion, this

terminology is not particularly important. The use of the term “white ally”

in this workbook is meant as a shorthand for any white person who thinks

that racism against people of color is a special problem and who thinks of

themselves as sometimes taking specic action to combat it. As noted, this

is slightly less than half of adult white Americans.

Similarly, we will use the term “white skeptic” or “racism skeptic” to refer

to the slightly more than half of white folks who think that racism against

people of color is no worse that racism against whites, and who don’t think

that they or society should feel a special obligation to address this problem.

WHITE FRAGILITY

In the past few years, “white fragility” has emerged as a concept to try to

explain different ways that some white people can become dysfunctional

within conversations about race, typically when interacting with one or

more people of color.

Examples of white fragility are excessive tears,

anger, frustration, and questioning well-established facts in a way that

tends to derail a conversation. Part of the idea of labeling this behavior

“fragility” is to make two points: 1) it is sometimes very difcult to keep

some white folks engaged in a meaningful race conversation, and 2)

the emotional reaction of that some white people have that is counter-

productive to conversations is oen not primarily a function of the

behavior of the people of color who are present.

1 This term was coined by Robin DiAngelo, The International Journal of Critical

Pedegogy, Vol. 3, Number 3, 2011.

The White Ally Toolkit Workbook

INTRODUCTION

Despite deep misgivings about whether this term is the best way to label

this behavior, this project takes white fragility very seriously. Arguably, the

core motivation for this project is to gure out a way to make large-scale

progress on racial attitudes while not putting the burden on people of color

to have to work around this white fragility. The expectation is that white

folks will be noticeably less fragile when they are talking about race with

another white person, and when they are not in a large group situation.

Even so, this fragility is real, and can be an obstacle to looking racism

square in the face.

This project suggests that the best methods for inuencing racism

skeptics are to to take very gradual, non-confrontational approaches to

conversation, and to do this in ways that are less likely to activate their

fragility. To do that, you should not think of yourself as attempting a quick

conversion. Although now and then people have epiphanies aer poignant

and logically tight sermonettes about racism, allies should not count on

this. Racial skepticism has a deep background in America, and has been

long brewing in individuals. When it comes to working with skeptics, an

ally needs to be always ready, but never in a hurry. This is long and slow-

going work.

POLITICAL IDEOLOGY

For a variety of reasons, many racism skeptics are on the right/conservative

side of the political spectrum, and many white allies are on the le/liberal

side.

Of course, this is not universally true, as there are allies who are

conservative and skeptics who are liberal. But realistically, if the white

ally population is going to attempt to reduce the number of skeptics out

there, there will have to be lot of conversations between liberals and

conservatives. It is worth noting that if people can gure out how to have

such conversations successfully, it might have additional benets outside

of the race context.

2 According to a 2017 survey by Pew Research, 75% of Republicans think that

blacks who can’t get ahead in the US are responsible for their own condition, while

66% of white Democrats said that racial discrimination is the reason that blacks

can’t get ahead. http://www.people-press.org/2017/10/05/4-race-immigration-and-

discrimination/

The White Ally Toolkit Workbook

INTRODUCTION

vii

This project does not take the position that bringing white skeptics out of

their denial of racism necessarily means getting them to abandon their

conservative beliefs. In fact, trying to shi a skeptic’s general worldview

is much too big of a project, and may undermine your attempt to reduce

their denial about racism. Political worldview is deeply ingrained,

and people are oen extremely attached to their perspective. (Some

implications of political worldviews will be explored in the Odds and

Ends section). The materials of

this project are not designed to

assist with turning conservatives

to liberals. If enough liberal

allies are successful in bringing

conservatives out of racism

denial, the conservative

movement will have to grapple

with how to expand anti-racist

discourse within political

conservatism. That is a healthy

project that progressive allies

should support.

ANECDOTES FROM PEOPLE OF COLOR

As the idea of white allies against racism has grown in recent years, the

number of groups that have emerged to support white allyship have

increased, as have the amount of literature. Much of this literature has

focused on how white allies and people of color can work in healthy

partnership toward changing institutions and creating multi-racial

settings of common sense of community. Groups such as Showing Up

for Racial Justice, Coming to the Table AWARE-LA, the YWCA and others

are to be admired for their efforts that result in productive encounters

across racial lines. When such cross-racial encounters occur, there are

many complexities to manage. Issues of bias, privilege, stereotypes, and

structural advantage can remain challenges even if everyone has the same

basic belief that racism matters.

his project does not

take the position that

bringing white skeptics

out of their denial of

racism necessarily means

getting them to abandon

their conservative beliefs.

The White Ally Toolkit Workbook

INTRODUCTION

viii

This workbook acknowledges that these challenges in encounters across

racial lines can be complex and difcult, and that allies will benet from

thinking about these topics. However, this workbook will not address the

complexity of creating such settings or managing these difculties.

Nevertheless, there is recognition that white allies will be more effective

if they have some reasonable degree of emotionally honest contact with

people of color, both as

personal friends and as a

part of a culturally diverse

group that encourages the

discussion of racism. These

friendships will hopefully

nurture white allies, as

well as provide occasional

feedback for their ongoing

journey as anti-racists.

These friendships are

important for an additional

reason. Specically, the

conversational approach

suggested in this workbook

is grounded fundamentally

in listening and sharing stories. Every person has a race, so we all have

stories about how race has affected us. This applies to white folks too, even

if they will need to do some introspective digging to unearth the stories.

But it will be useful to have stories from people of color whom you know

personally and with whom you have relationships of mutual trust. At the

right time, deploying a secondhand story from a person of color you trust

may be very effective.

TONE AND PERSPECTIVE

As this project has delivered workshops to boost white ally effectiveness

across the country, many people of color have participated. Most

have found the material useful in helping understand the dynamics

hite allies will be more

effective if they have

some reasonable degree of

emotionally honest contact

with people of color, both as

personal friends and as a

part of a culturally diverse

group that encourages the

discussion of racism.

The White Ally Toolkit Workbook

INTRODUCTION

of inuencing people we disagree with. Similarly, people of color are

welcomed to spend time with this workbook.

Even though the basis of the tools offered in this workbook is ndings from

social psychology and cognitive studies and persuasion science that are

applicable to everyone, the tools themselves are specically aimed at white

anti-racism allies. Accordingly, the tone will sometimes speak to the reader

as “you,” with the presumption is that the reader is a white person.

The expectation is that this workbook will be used primarily by individuals,

but some white ally groups may make inuencing racism skeptics an

important part of their collective work. In several places, we will provide

additional guidance for processes that groups can use to deepen people’s

understanding of the material. As this project goes forward, it will produce

a Discussion Leaders’ Guide that will be useful for people wanting to guide

a group through a multi-session program to deeply integrate the content

into their personal ally practice.

USING THIS WORKBOOK

This workbook is primarily a set of worksheets designed to help you

prepare for encounters with racism skeptics. Sprinkled among the

worksheets are guidance and explanations of the thinking behind the

worksheets, essays and commentary, references to research materials, and

a few lists that may be useful in different situations.

The workbook is arranged in four parts; each with a number of separate

elements that will be briey described below.

The White Ally Toolkit Workbook

INTRODUCTION

White Ally PRIORITIES Ranking Tool

KNOWING YOURSELF

Ally Listening SELF-ASSESSMENT Instruments

Creating Your LISTENING

Best Practices Tool

The White Ally RESPONSE

Assessment Tool

PART ONE:

This tool helps white allies take an honest look at areas of allyship they are focusing on, balancing

eort spent and results gained. The tool covers a number of dimensions of white allyship, even though

the rest of the workbook only focuses on the specic dimension of working with racism skeptics. This

section is particularly useful if you are not clear that you want to spend a greater portion your ally

energy on engaging skeptics.

This interactive instrument is a set of four worksheets augmented by commentary that encourages

you to look clearly at your listening patterns. In addition, some listening tips that other white allies

have found helpful are provided. This section is particularly useful if you are not sure that your

listening skills are maximally eective.

This subsection reviews some best practices in

listening and encourages you to create a best

practice list personalized to you. Knowing your

own best practices will be useful when you get

frustrated with racism skeptics.

This tool helps allies notice what they tend to do

when people say or do racially problematic things

in their presence. It turns out there are some

common patterns. This section is particularly

useful if you have not done much thinking about

how you tend to respond in these situations.

Part 1 helps white allies gain more discernment as they take a

detailed look at several aspects of the history and current practice

of interacting with racism skeptics.

Why white allies must take over THE WORK OF “WOKING”

This subsection reviews dierent lines of argument about why white allies should increase their

energy toward the burden of changing other white folks’ minds, and why they should engage their

peers very dierently than they often do now. This section is particularly useful if you need to

be reminded of reasons why white allies should spend more time engaging skeptics and why it is

important for them to do so by in a manner that emphasizes empathic listening.

The White Ally Toolkit Workbook

INTRODUCTION

PART TWO:

This part of the book focuses on preparing you to address racially

problematic statements that emerge from time to time.

USING THE RACE METHOD TO

ENGAGE RACISM DENIAL

This subsection explains the core strategy of dialogic engagement that the White Ally Toolkit advocates.

This explanatory section explains the general method that will reappear and be adapted to specic

racism-denying statements in the modules sections.

The RACE Method – An Overview

STRUCTURE of the Modules

This reviews how the modules will be presented and guidelines about when dierent aspects of the

modules will be helpful to you.

Combating Racism Denial - THE MODULES

These short pieces provide detailed guidance of how white allies can use the primary method of the

project (called the RACE Method) to turn racially problematic statements into opportunities for dialogue

and learning. There are eight of these modules, each based on specic racism-denying statements that

skeptics often make. Over time, more of these modules will be created and will appear on the project

website and in future editions of this workbook. The modules are:

1. “Racism means having intentionally negative views of other groups. So if I don’t

have conscious negative intent, I don’t have to worry about being racist.”

2. “Nowadays, there are very few advantages to being white. I am not ‘privileged”.

3. “Very few people are consciously racist anymore.”

4. “Slavery and segregation were a long time ago. We should not talk about them

any more and just move on.”

5. “The economic problems of people of color are primarily due to the bad choices

that they make.”

6. “If people of color would just act properly, law enforcement would treat them

fairly.“

7. “It is vital that America drastically reduce the level of immigration so that we

can return to our cultural greatness.”

8. “Those athletes and others protesting should be grateful that they live in

America and should not disrespect the nation and the flag by kneeling during

the National Anthem.“

The White Ally Toolkit Workbook

INTRODUCTION

xii

THE ALLY COACHING CURRICULUM

The PRIMER

PART THREE:

This section is intended to serve as a lesson plan for allies who want to try to intentionally engage

someone in a series of focused conversations. The primer focuses on the key phenomena in race

relations that can be directly experienced by individuals and provides reection questions for you

to examine your own experiences with some discernment before you ask the skeptic to do so. Each

topic provides multiple potential paths you might take in upgrading the skeptic’s awareness.

This part of the book prepares allies who want to intentionally focus

on a person’s racial awareness and strengthen it over time.

Racial Issues - THE COLLECTIVE CONCEPTS

This essay highlights key concepts about race that are largely collective concepts that cannot as

easily be observed through individual experience. To see these concepts, it is generally necessary to

use statistics, data, and other lenses.

The White Ally Toolkit Workbook

INTRODUCTION

xiii

ODDS AND ENDS

PART FOUR:

This includes instruments and commentary that did not t within

other sections but will be useful to allies in increasing their focus on

inuencing skeptics.

The subsections within the Odds and Ends can be summarized in the core questions that they focus

on:

* Your past experiences of people trying to influence each other – What has your

experience been of different approaches to engaging racism skeptics?

* Continuum of Retorts – What are some possible things to say when dialogue is

not an option?

* Resetting a Broken Communication Pattern with a Skeptic – How do I reset the

table of dialogue if I have made errors in the past?

* Shame: Does it affect your work as an ally? – Is unprocessed racial shame

affecting you?

* Choosing Skeptics to Engage – How do I make good choices about who to invest

energy on?

* Using insights about conservative and liberal moral frameworks and

orientations – How can I leverage research about worldviews to improve my

ally practice?

* Why anti-racist progressives need to support conservatives – Is there a role for

progressives in creating anti-racist conservatism?

* The value of group learning – How can I create a group of allies who can help

improve my practice?

* Closing Encouragements – What are some key points to remember so I can stay

on the path?

EXPLANATION - ALLY PRIORITIES TOOL

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

APPENDIX

This includes a listing of resources allies might use to bolster their

understanding of some key topics that this workbook has reviewed.

* Othering

* Unconscious Bias

* Attribution Error

* Racial Anxiety

* Unearned Racial Advantage (Commonly Called White Privilege)

* Racial Threat

* White Backlash

* Institutional Racism Vs Structural Racism

* Racial Inequity

The White Ally Toolkit Workbook

PART ONE

KNOWING YOURSELF

PART ONE:

KNOWING

YOURSELF

Part 1 helps white allies gain more discernment

as they take a detailed look at several aspects of

the history and current practice of interacting with

racism skeptics.

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As stated, this project emerges from the idea that white allies are not

effectively leveraging their inuence with racism skeptics. This critique

is offered with the understanding that there are many things that a white

ally could do with their “ally time” and that allies are human beings who

have other interest besides racial equity. It would be great if every white

ally made racial justice the top

priority of their life; but it is

not likely that this will happen

anytime soon. Allies who have

different levels of commitment

and focus on racial issues need

to be conscious and intentional

about which activities will

comprise their ally practice,

as well as how effective these

practices are.

In general, the white ally

community is systematically

under-investing in the task of

inuencing skeptics, and this has

very important social, institutional, and political consequences. If society

is to move more successfully to implementing racial equity initiatives with

organizations or communities, it will be vital for more people who think

of themselves as allies to have more frequent and effective conversations

across the divides in the white community about whether anti-POC racism

merits special attention.

The Ally Priorities Tool encourages allies to take a clear-eyed look at the

energy and activities that comprise their anti-racism ally practice. In the

instrument, a number of activities are presented that allies have said

comprise their ally practice. The instrument encourages you to do a short

thought experiment where you create the ideal ally who is still you. Then

you will take note of the most important and secondary priorities of your

time if this were the case.

he white ally

community is

systematically under-

investing in the task of



this has very important

social, institutional, and

political consequences.

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Aer doing this thought experiment, you will see the same list of activities.

This time, you are asked to indicate which of these activities are actually

the most important and secondary focus of your ally time and energy.

Some people taking this instrument have noticed a disconnect between

what they think they should be doing and what they are doing. Exploring

these potential disconnects is the purpose of the instrument.

The instrument also includes two additional questions based on the same

list; the second time, the context of the rating is for an ally organization.

These questions are provided to assist an organization that supports allies

or for a group of allies to have a conversation about their personal and

collective priorities.

This tool explores 10 categories of behavior that white allies engage in

because of their passion for racial equity/reconciliation/justice. They are

all legitimate and important ways that a white person can express their

passion for racial issues. Of course, we all have a nite amount of time, and

we must sometimes make hard choices to live a balanced life.

The next two questions ask you to use discernment to assess both what you

think should be happening and what you think actually is happening for

you and for other white allies.

ALLY PRIORITIES TOOL

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QUESTION 1

Looking at your own best feasible version of yourself at this stage

of your journey as a white ally - and recognizing that all of these are

important – please put an H next to the three activity dimensions that

you think SHOULD BE highest priority for you, and an M next to the

two dimensions that SHOULD BE next two highest priority areas for

you?

1. Efforts to create moments of the “beloved community” that

includes fellowship between whites and people of color not

based on accomplishing a task

2. Serving as a collaborative leader with POC while working

for institutional change

3. Working on my personal interaction with POCs so that my

behavior does not reflect white privilege

4. Giving and getting peer support from other white allies

5. Intervening when you witness racially problematic

statements/behaviors

6. Persuading white non-allies that racism is an important

problem

7. Managing your own learning path as an ally through media/

book/art consumption

8. Making lifestyle/personal choices that reflect your passion

for racial equity

9. Supporting racial equity efforts with money or time

10. Managing your online presence to promote racism

consciousness

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QUESTION 2

Imagine that an objective assessment is being made of the focus of

your white ally work. Looking at your actual behavior, use the same

scale of H’s and Ms to indicate what the observer would say ACTUALLY

ARE the 3 highest (H) and the next two most important (M) priorities

of your white ally activity.

1. Efforts to create moments of the “beloved community” that

includes fellowship between whites and people of color not

based on accomplishing a task

2. Serving as a collaborative leader with POC while working

for institutional change

3. Working on my personal interaction with POCs so that my

behavior does not reflect white privilege

4. Giving and getting peer support from other white allies

5. Intervening when you witness racially problematic

statements/behaviors

6. Persuading white non-allies that racism is an important

problem

7. Managing your own learning path as an ally through media/

book/art consumption

8. Making lifestyle/personal choices that reflect your passion

for racial equity

9. Supporting racial equity efforts with money or time

10. Managing your online presence to promote racism

consciousness

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SOME REFLECTION QUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUALS

•

Were there activities that you engage in that did not t well into the

categories provided?

•

What are the biggest disconnects between the activities that your

ideal ally self would be doing and what you are actually spending

your time and energy on? What are the drivers of this disconnect?

•

How motivated are you to make adjustments? What are examples of

new choices you would need to make?

•

The following questions are primarily aimed at people who are

involved in formal or informal groups of white allies trying to make a

difference about racism.

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QUEST I O N 3

Think about others who you can reasonably call a group of allies; it

may be an ocial ally organization or an unocial group that you

have formed or are forming. If you could wave a magic wand and folks

would adjust how the community of allies focus on spending their

time, what are the three areas that you think should get the most

focus (H), and the next two areas that need secondary focus (M).

1. Efforts to create moments of the “beloved community” that

includes fellowship between whites and people of color not

based on accomplishing a task

2. Serving as a collaborative leader with POC while working

for institutional change

3. Working on my personal interaction with POCs so that my

behavior does not reflect white privilege

4. Giving and getting peer support from other white allies

5. Intervening when you witness racially problematic

statements/behaviors

6. Persuading white non-allies that racism is an important

problem

7. Managing your own learning path as an ally through media/

book/art consumption

8. Making lifestyle/personal choices that reflect your passion

for racial equity

9. Supporting racial equity efforts with money or time

10. Managing your online presence to promote racism

consciousness

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QUESTION 4

Looking at what your white ally group is actually doing these days

- and recognizing that all of these are important – please put an H

next to the three activity dimensions that you think actually are the

highest priority for our group, and an M next to the two dimensions

that actually are the next two highest priority areas for our group?

(Don’t get distracted by the fact that group efforts will inevitably entail time

on task execution. For example, if a group is mobilizing dozens of people

for a protest, there will be tasks needed to accomplish that goal which

are not on list. For the sake of this instrument, these administrative tasks

should be categorized as time spent on the strategic activity of supporting a

protest.)

1. Efforts to create moments of the “beloved community” that

includes fellowship between whites and people of color not

based on accomplishing a task

2. Serving as a collaborative leader with POC while working

for institutional change

3. Working on my personal interaction with POCs so that my

behavior does not reflect white privilege

4. Giving and getting peer support from other white allies

5. Intervening when you witness racially problematic

statements/behaviors

6. Persuading white non-allies that racism is an important

problem

7. Managing your own learning path as an ally through media/

book/art consumption

8. Making lifestyle/personal choices that reflect your passion

for racial equity

9. Supporting racial equity efforts with money or time

10. Managing your on-line presence to promote racism

consciousness

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ARGUMENTS FROM SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE

The multiple decades of racial dialogue work undergirding this project has

led to the conclusion that the best way to change and expand a skeptic’s

view on race is to rst engage in empathetic listening. In addition, there is

a growing body of scientic evidence that shows to the extent that a change

in people’s views can be catalyzed by others, empathy-based dialogues

are the way to go. According to this research, the best way to foster “de-

biasing” is to rst listen empathetically to someone so they feel heard,

and aer that, raise experiences and facts that invite them to a broader

and more nuanced perspective. As one journalist titled his review of this

research: “Research says there are ways to reduce racial bias. Calling

people racist is not one of them.”

Social scientists who study inuence would also advise that aggressively

calling out someone who has said racially problematic things is not the

only action that an ally may want to refrain from if their intention is to

maximize inuence. Scholars of social psychology have strong evidence

about the existence of a dynamic called the Backre Effect. This term

describes what happens when people are confronted with facts that

challenge their views. In a remarkably high percentage of circumstance,

people’s response to facts that contradict one’s position – no matter how

esteemed the source - is to double down on one’s beliefs and nd some

3 https://www.vox.com/identities/2016/11/15/13595508/racism-trump-research-study

WHY WHITE ALLIES

MUST TAKE OVER THE

WORK OF “WOKING”

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rationale for dismissing this new information. (These days, accusing others

of dispensing “fake news” is oen what this strategy looks like).

People who study the Backre Effect suggests a number of steps in trying

to inuence people when you know that facts are not likely to work. One

expert suggests these steps.

•

Discuss, don’t attack (no ad hominem and no ad Hitlerum),

•

Listen carefully and try to articulate the other position accurately,

•

Show respect,

•

Acknowledge that you understand why someone might hold that

opinion, and

•

Try to show how changing facts does not necessarily mean changing

worldviews.

Julia Galef, head of the Center for Applied Rationality, offers this advice:

“One important mental shi that I and other people have found really useful in

remaining fair minded and objective in arguments is instead of thinking about

the argument as a battle where you’re trying to win, reframe it in your mind

so that you think of it as a partnership, a collaboration in which the two of you

together or the group of you together are trying to gure out the right answer.”

The conclusion by people who study persuasion that attacking someone

is unlikely to change their minds is also bolstered by people who study

neurobiology. Many researchers have found that the circuitry in our brains

that is activated when humans feel under physical threat are also activated

when we believe our worldview is being attacked.

Thus, telling someone

that their viewpoint is the same as that of someone they view as morally

inferior (e.g. “Your views are clearly racist!”) is likely to be experienced

in a similar way in the brain as telling them that you are about to hurt

4 https://www.scienticamerican.com/article/how-to-convince-someone-when-

facts-fail/

5 http://bigthink.com/in-their-own-words/the-key-to-rational-argument-reframe-

it-as-a-partnership

6 https://boingboing.net/2017/01/17/the-neuroscience-of-changing-y.html

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them physically. Oen, people’s ght or ight responses will be activated,

including the adrenaline and other chemicals that our body has evolved to

help us mount counterattacks when we are threatened.

This is not to say that lambasting someone’s racist point of view does not

feel good, and can provide an effective release valve for us. Such diatribes

may even be persuasive with onlookers common if there are any. Sadly

though, there is good evidence that such strategies have very little chance

of working with the person you are talking to.

Social psychology and cognitive science are not the only disciplines that

have come to similar conclusions about persuasion and inuence. Many

experts in diplomacy and conict resolution – where the capacity to

inuence others is a critical skill – have concluded that being able to listen

empathetically to people you sharply disagree with can be vital when

trying to move people to one’s own position.

EXTENDING DIGNITY

Harvard scholar Donna Hicks, who has done diplomatic and conict

resolution work around the world, says that granting people you disagree

with dignity is very important when trying to inuence them.” Dignity

is the desire to be treated well. It is an unspoken human yearning that is

at the heart of all conicts, yet no one is paying attention to it,” she says.

Hicks’ years of experience taught her that the key to shiing people to a

mindset of collaborative problem solving around an ongoing conict is to

make them feel that their dignity is being acknowledged by the other side.

Yet all too oen, people who are trying to engage others and move them to

a different mindset fail to do this, even as they feel anger or hurt because

they have not been afforded dignity by the other party.

But what exactly is this dignity that you are supposed to grant to people you

disagree with in order to inuence them?

One denition of dignity is “the quality of being worthy of esteem

or respect.” Hicks goes further, and says that dignity actually has 10

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component elements, each associated with what we must do so that others

feel that they dignity is recognized. The following is taken almost directly

from an article by Hicks.

•

Acceptance of Identity—Approach people as neither inferior nor

superior to you; assume they have integrity.

•

Recognition—Validate others for their talents, hard work,

thoughtfulness, and help; give credit to others for their contributions,

ideas and experience.

•

Acknowledgment—Give people your full attention by listening,

hearing, validating and responding to their concerns and what they

have been through.

•

Inclusion—Make others feel that they belong at all levels of

relationship (family, community, organization, nation).

•

Safety—Put people at ease at two levels: physically, where they feel

free of bodily harm; and psychologically, where they feel free of

concern about being shamed or humiliated, that they feel free to

speak without fear of retribution.

•

Fairness—Treat people justly, with equality, and in an even-handed

way, according to agreed upon laws and rules.

•

Independence—Empower people to act on their own behalf so that

they feel in control of their lives and experience a sense of hope and

possibility.

•

Understanding—Believe that what others think matters; give them

the chance to explain their perspectives, express their points of view;

actively listen in order to understand them.

•

Benet of the Doubt—Treat people as trustworthy; start with the

premise that others have good motives and are acting with integrity.

•

Accountability—Take responsibility for your actions; if you have

violated the dignity of another, apologize; make a commitment to

change hurtful behaviors.

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THE IRONIES OF EXTENDING DIGNITY

If we apply these concepts at the societal level, it is easy to see that that

racism tends to undermine the dignity of people of color in all of the ten

elements. If we apply this analysis to interpersonal racism – especially the

conscious kind – the result is not much different.

However, what Hicks and similar experts say about the importance of

granting dignity leads to an ironic conclusion about changing people who

deny racism. It may very well be that

even though racism directly subverts the dignity of people of color, it will

take people extending dignity to people who question the reality of racism

in order to eliminate racism.

Regardless of whether we think it is

reasonable or not, racial progressives

and racial conservatives have done

things that have collectively produced

a racial discourse in which racism

skeptics oen feel that their dignity is

undermined when talking about race.

This results in a white fragility that is

so extreme that virtually any suggestion

that a white skeptic is connected to

historical or current racism causes

extreme reactions, shutting down, and

disengagement.

Without question, a lot of this is caused by white racism skeptics and

people with racist views. Some of this apparent white fragility – especially

as it plays out in the media – are cynical attempts to undermine racial

progress by limiting any discussion of societal accountability for racism.

For many non-progressives now, if an anti-racist advocate mentions

racism, they are accused of “playing the race card” or being “the real

racists.” This is a clever and convenient result that the forces of racial

retrenchment have collectively created.

rawing white

folks out so they

can examine and

potentially revisit

their views should be

white people’s work.

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But it is also true that the behavior of anti-racist activists toward racism

skeptics has oen been dismissive, condescending, and lacking respect.

With respect to the issue of dignity, anti-racist activists have oen violated

several of the key ways to afford dignity to skeptics in discourse about

racism. Members of the anti-racism movement must ask themselves hard

questions, most importantly: How frequently do we fail to grant dignity to

racial conservatives when talking about race? Arguably, there are several

dimensions of the 10 elements of dignity that are not commonly granted to

others in conversations with people who hold racially conservative views.

(Most frequently not granted are acceptance of Identity, Acknowledgment,

Safety, Understanding, and Benet of the Doubt).

It is understandable why an anti-

racist advocate – particularly

one who is a person of color

- might be disinclined to spend

energy trying to afford dignity

to a racism skeptic. Why should

an anti-racist advocate give

understanding to a person who

denies a basic reality of life that

affects millions of people? Why

should an anti-racism advocate

give the benet of the doubt to

someone who denies that racism

exists, especially when the ally

knows that modern racism oen

works below the conscious awareness of the person who is racist? For that

matter, why should an anti-racist advocate try to give psychological safety

to a person who denies racism, when their racially backwards beliefs

are part of a system that is designed to withhold both psychological and

physical safety from millions of people?

It is also understandable why an anti-racist activist of color may choose to

not push themselves past these questions. Their lives are stressful enough

eading a run of

the mill skeptic/

racist the critical race

theory riot act for their

unsophisticated racial

views seems rather like

an emotional indulgence

that does not serve the

cause of racial equity.

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simply coping with the task of surviving racism itself. Why should it

be their responsibility to be empathetic when listing to the views about

race that hurt them directly? Furthermore, when anti-racist advocates of

color try to challenge racism skeptics’ views on race, they are seen as self-

interested, or even whiners. Because of perceptions like this, many anti-

racism advocates increasingly regard spending time trying to inuence

skeptics as a fruitless endeavor.

It is time to shi the work of changing hearts and minds of racism

skeptics away from people of color and onto white allies. Their dignity

is not as directly undermined by racism as is that of people of color. They

are perceived as having more credibility by white racism skeptics, not

only because they are white, because they are not seen as advocating for

themselves. For these reasons, white allies are in a much better position to

change hearts and minds of other white people about racism.

It is useful to remember that as a white person, you are in a much better

position to interact with racism skeptics with a listening-based strategy

than are people of color. On a daily basis, POCs must endure the indirect

impact of white skepticism that racism really matters, and they must do

so as they are they are experiencing overt and subtle racism in many parts

of their lives. As you may have heard from POCs in the past, the natural

emotional reaction to this spans a broad range that includes irritation,

rage, depression, and the feeling of being gaslighted

by the majority

population.

Some people of color might want to choose to have conversations where

white people’s racial skepticism is consciously expressed. That is great for

those who want to engage in this way. But it would not be fair for society

to expect people of color to endure this. People of color have enough of a

burden just coping with the results of this skepticism every day. Drawing

white folks out so they can examine and potentially revisit their views

should be white people’s work.

7 gaslighting - manipulating someone by psychological means into questioning

their own sanity

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Many passionate white allies argue that it is their moral obligation to

respond aggressively to people who, at this late stage in the anti-racism

struggle, express views that are either explicitly racist or demonstrate they

have chosen to remain blissfully ignorant about the realities of racism.

While passion and empathy with POCs that is the root of that outrage is

appreciated, this project ips that argument around. Specically, there

is an argument that a white person indulging in verbal outrage when

interacting with anyone but the most unreconstructed racist is, in fact, an

act of white privilege.

What people of color need is for white allies to be focused on using their

common whiteness with racism skeptics/racists – except perhaps virulent

ones – and the tools in the workbook to reach racism skeptics. While white

allies may be energized by the ritual of verbally blasting whites who are

not sufciently woke, the question must be asked: Is such an exchange

doing anything to reduce the amount of racism that people of color are

facing? White allies who are interacting with skeptics are not having their

core personhood challenged; they are not being insulted, as a person of

color might be in the same situation. Given that, reading a run of the mill

skeptic/racist the critical race theory riot act for their unsophisticated

racial views seems rather like like an emotional indulgence that does not

serve the cause of racial equity.

Undoubtedly, it takes a great deal of emotional and even spiritual discipline

to extend dignity to people who are demonstrating racism-skeptical/

racist views. It is natural to want to throttle them verbally, and perhaps

physically. But the discipline of resisting this lashing out at racists for the

sake of greater goals is the work that people of color have had to do for

hundreds of years. It is now time to white allies to take on this work, even

though it does not feel good.

In addition, it is likely that you as a white ally are more capable of

getting white people to be honest about their views on race and racism.

Remember, a signicant portion of white people are willing to express to

anonymous surveyors that they think people of color are some version

of inferior, whether this is less intelligent, more criminally-minded, lazy,

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or otherwise less than white.

Only the most brazen racists don’t have the

couth to hide these views from people of color in conversation. Clearly

though, to the extent that anyone can draw out the candid beliefs of racism

skeptics as well as overt racists – and these beliefs are best brought out in

the open if they are to ever change – it is white allies, equipped with proven

communications strategies of empathetic listening, who can do this work.

Essentially, it is the task of white allies to use their privileged status and

consistently do the very hard work of recognizing skeptics’ dignity so

that they can help them see how they, the skeptics, are denying dignity to

others.

8 For example, a 2014 study the University of Illinois found that about 22 percent

of whites think that whites are more intelligent than blacks and 33 percent reported

thinking that blacks are less hardworking. http://igpa.uillinois.edu/programs/racial-

attitudes

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As noted, empathetic listening is foundational to methods of engagement

advocated in this workbook. It is important that you take a honest self-

assessment of your tendencies, habits, and capacities around listening.

This lesson includes four instruments that encourage you to reect on

your listening – when you have done it well and poorly and when the

conversation involved race and when it did not. Engage these assessment

forms when you are able to take sufcient time in probing your memory,

writing, and making sense of what you wrote and remember.

You are encouraged to complete all the forms, but be prepared for the fact

that this may take a fair amount of time. The exercises are designed to

help you think more deeply about your listening behavior so that you can

become a more intentional listener. If you engage these forms, you will

be taking a few trips down memory lane to recall important internal and

external subtleties of several past situations. Of course, you have the option

of just reading through the exercise instructions and not actually doing

them. As you decide about how much to engage the exercises, remember

that becoming a better listener will not only help your work as a white

ally against racism, but will also help you in other realms where listening

matters, which is virtually everywhere.

Aer the Reection forms, there will be brief review of listening best

practices that other people have found to be useful. You are encouraged to

experiment with these and rene what works best for you.

LISTENING SELF-

ASSESSMENT TOOLS

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The four assessment forms are as follows:

WORKSH E ET 1 - S UCCESSES IN EM PATH ETIC L I STENIN G ON HA RD TOPICS

NOT R ELATE D TO RAC E

WORKSHEET 2 - FAILURES IN EMPATHETIC LISTENING ON HARD TOPICS NOT

RELATED TO RACE

WORKSHEET 3 - THE EMOTIONS THAT EMERGED WHEN YOU WERE NOT

EFFECTIVE DURING A RACE CONVERSATION

LISTENING SELF-ASSESSMENT WORKSHEET 4 - THE SITUATIONAL FACTORS

IN SITUATIONS WHEN YOU WERE EFFECTIVE DURING A RACE CONVERSATION

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Preamble to Worksheet 1 – The questions in Listening Worksheet 1 review

a few aspects of yourself that may have contributed to the results you

experienced in your previous attempts at empathetic listening.

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LISTENING SELF-ASSESSMENT WORKSHEET 1:

SUCCESSES IN NON-RACIAL EMPATHETIC LISTENING

Think of 2-3 times when you think you were successful at empathetic

listening on a difcult topic, not necessarily related to race. To clarify your

separate memories, name each of the times.

Successful listening episode 1

Successful listening episode 2

Successful listening episode 3

For the rest of this worksheet, try to remember some specics

circumstances of each of these episodes. Be especially attentive to

commonalities between the episodes.

How would you describe what you were doing physically: posture,

breathing, etc. ?

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What was your emotional state going into the situation(s)? How were you

feeling during it?

What kinds of thoughts were you having that were the backdrop to the

content of the conversation(s)? What was your conscious intention in the

encounter?

How would you describe your verbal behavior? Your speaking style, tone,

and pace of speech? Were there some words or phrases you were using

more or less than usual?

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Post-Script to Worksheet 1 – Whether the topic is about race or not, it is

important to be aware of what behaviors in various dimensions support

our success. Sometimes, if we catch ourselves doing things that are

associated with poor listening, we can shi to better listening just by

changing to behaviors that we do when we are successful.

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Preamble to Worksheet 2 - In order to improve your listening practice, it

will be important to work on your skill in re-examining listening episodes.

It is most important to honestly examine your behavior, and its effect on

both you and the other person.

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LISTENING SELF-ASSESSMENT WORKSHEET 2:

UNSUCCESSFUL EPISODES IN NON-RACIAL E M PATHETIC

LISTENING

Think of a 1-2 times when you were unsuccessful at empathetic listening

on a difcult topic, not necessarily related to race.

Unsuccessful listening Episode 1

Unsuccessful listening Episode 2

How would you describe what you were doing physically: posture,

breathing, etc.

What was your emotional state going into the situation(s)? How were you

feeling during it?

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What kinds of thoughts were you having that were the backdrop to the

content of the conversation(s)? What was your conscious intention in the

encounter?

How would you describe your verbal behavior? Your speaking style, tone,

and pace of speech? Were there some words or phrases you were using

more or less than usual?

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Post-Script to Worksheet 2 - Take a moment to review Worksheets 1 and

2. If there are some signicant contrasts in the answers to the questions

about successes and failures, you should pay special attention. Many

people create success by being mindful of the subtle decisions they make

about their body, thoughts, and emotions and trying to make conscious

choices that are associated with successful outcomes.

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Preamble to Worksheet 3 – This form helps you pay attention to how you

behave in unproductive exchanges about race with racism skeptics. (This

project denes a productive exchange as where 1) the ally gets to be their

authentic self in a signicant part of the encounter, and 2) the skeptic

leaves the encounter with some level of interest in talking to the ally about

race in the future). The focus is on the comments that tend to serve as

emotional triggers and that make it difcult to stay centered and in a mode

of empathetic listening.

Worksheet 3 helps you reect on how different racist or racism-skeptical

statements might affect you in a way that undermines your listening. Here

is a list of common racism-denying statements.

•

“Racism means having intentionally negative views of other groups.

So if I don’t have conscious negative intent, I don’t have to worry

about being racist.”

•

“Nowadays, there are very few advantages to being white. I am not

‘privileged’”.

•

“Very few people are consciously racist anymore.

•

“Slavery and segregation were a long time ago. We should not talk

about them any more and just move on.”

•

“The economic problems of people of color are primarily due to the

bad choices that they make.”

•

“If people of color would just act properly, law enforcement would

treat them fairly.“

•

“It is vital that America drastically reduce the level of immigration so

that we can return to our cultural greatness.”

•

“Those athletes and others protesting should be grateful they live

in America and should not disrespect the nation and the ag by

kneeling during the National Anthem. “

Feel free to focus on other racism-skeptical statements if they are more

likely to prevent you from an empathetic listening response.

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LISTENING SELF-ASSESSMENT WORKSHEET 3:

EMOTIONS DURING FAILURES IN RACE CONVERSATIONS

Aer reviewing the list of racism-denying statements skeptics say that bug

you, list the comments that most push you off-center. If the sentiment that

you want to focus on is not on the list, add it.

•

“Racism means having intentionally negative views of other groups.

I am colorblind. So if I don’t have conscious negative intent, I don’t

have to worry about being racist.”

•

“Nowadays, there are very few advantages to being white. I am not

‘privileged”.

•

“Very few people are consciously racist anymore.”

•

“Slavery and segregation were a long time ago. We should not talk

about them anymore and just move on.”

•

“The economic problems of people of color are primarily due to the

bad choices that they make.”

•

“If people of color would just act properly, law enforcement would

treat them fairly.“

•

“It is vital that America drastically reduce the level immigration so

that we can return to our cultural greatness.”

•

“Those athletes and others protesting should be grateful they live

in America and should not disrespect the nation and the ag by

kneeling during the National Anthem. “

•

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What are the statements that tend to make it most difcult for you to

engage the skeptic from a place that is centered?

Think back to specic episodes when you heard the statements you listed

above and you were not able to stay centered maintaining a practice of

listening. Give the incident a name to help focus your memory work.

Episode name Statement

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Based on interviewing white allies, here are some examples of the

emotions that white allies have said they feel in in the face of some

statements and also some of the underlying reasons behind those feelings.

Emotion Reason

ANGRY

…that someone who shares my name could be so stupid.

FRUSTRATED

...that someone who claims Christianity could be so

unloving.

SAD

…that this person is clearly cutting themselves off from

many good people.

OVERWHELMED

…at all of the conversational work that this person

needs.

IRRITATED

…that I have to have this conversation again.

FATIGUED

…that so many white folks have learned so little.

SHAME

…that I used to feel like that and have only recently

awakened to reality.

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Post-Script to Worksheet 3 – In order to improve your skills as an effective

listener, it is useful to put space between the skeptic’s statement and your

intense emotional response. One way to do this is to consciously re-visit

the linkages between a statement and its underlying impact on you. Having

looked at this chain, you can remind yourself that there are other ways of

thinking about the issue and hopefully break this unhelpful cycle.

Take for example, the hypothetical ally’s emotion on the second line

on the example table in the Worksheet 3. Here, the ally is frustrated at

some racism-denying comments made by Christians because they seem

unloving. To strengthen this ally’s ability to stay centered, it might be

useful to remind themselves they know that many Christians are unloving

and they accept this daily. Then the ally can make a decision to try to

replicate the way they accept this fact when race is not in the conversation.

Similarly, they can spend some time thinking about a new question:

Why do racist remarks make it harder to accept that some Christians are

unloving than to accept this is true when race is not involved?

By going down either of these roads of reection, the hypothetical ally is

reminding themselves that their reaction/response is not inevitable. That

is the ultimate goal of the entire reective enterprise – to encourage you to

describe your internal process and reect on it with a slight bit of distance.

The hope is that aer doing this, you will be better prepared so that the

next time a similar situation arises, you will be able to manage yourself

with greater intention and effectiveness.

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Preamble to Worksheet 4 – Most white allies have had at least a few

experiences where a skeptic said or did something that was racist or

racially problematic, and when the ally was able to invite the skeptic into

a productive conversation to reevaluate their point of view. Even if these

situations have been rare, it is useful to learn lessons from them by asking

yourself a few reection questions.

The success of the situation is typically affected by circumstances that

are largely environmental and/or that the ally cannot control. Perhaps the

environment was more conversational and relaxed. Perhaps someone had

previously set the tone of an attitude of inquiry. Maybe bad weather had

trapped people in the space, so that people had to settle in and talk to each

other.

Undoubtedly, there may have been factors within you that likely made a

difference. Perhaps you had just come from the gym, so your endorphins

were engaged. Perhaps you had just gotten some good news. Maybe it was

a party, and you had just the right amount of snacks or alcohol, whatever

level that is for you.

The point of these instruments is to consider which internal and external

factors tend to support your effectiveness.

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LISTENING SELF-ASSESSMENT WORKSHEET 4:

SITUATIONAL FACTO R S I N RACE CONVERSATION

SUCCESSES

Think of two different experiences in which you turned a racially

problematic moment with a skeptic into a productive dialogue .

Experience 1 Experience 2

What

was the

situation?

Some

factors you

had little

inuence

over that

likely

helped?

Factors that

you had

signicant

inuence

over that

likely

helped?

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Using the previous table as example input, try to remember each episode

in more detail, and try to make sense of your what emotions came up for

you in wake of the racist/racism denying behavior your observed.

Statement Emotion Reason

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Were there any physical factors in the situation, either from your choices

or things mostly beyond your control, that you think contributed to your

success?

Were there any decisions you make about what you were paying attention

to in thought or emotion that you think helped you stay centered in the

conversation?

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Post-Script to Worksheet 4 – If you are reading this aer lling out all

four Listening forms....Congratulations! Kudos for translating your

commitment to better allyship into the energy necessary for a very

extensive reection process.

To fully capitalize on your efforts, it might be helpful to review the four

worksheets, and think about three broad questions:

1. Looking at your body, mind, and emotions, what are the things that

you should pay attention to and affirmatively do to maximize your

chance of staying in an empathetic listening mode?

2. Looking at your body, mind, and emotions, what are the decisions you

should try to avoid making so that you can be most effective?

3. Are there situational factors outside of your control that you should be

aware of because they impact your effectiveness?

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In addition to doing your own reection, you can benet from learning

from other people’s best practices for becoming a better listener. You may

want to experiment with integrating some of these methods into your own

listening practices, while taking note of which ones are helpful and which

are not.

Note: Listening experts point out that there is a lack of general

appreciation for the fact that good listening requires advance preparation.

Kai Degner of the Listening Corps (www.listeningcorps.com) points out

that while many people know that one should prepare advance to speak

to people, very few people recognize that it can be equally important to

prepare for a listening session. J. Scott Wagner, author of A Liberal’s Guide

to Conservatives (strongly recommended for white allies!) also advises

that you consciously prepare for situations that you know will test your

listening skills. As a part of that preparation, the act of envisioning yourself

having a successful listening session can help. Three things to focus on are:

1. Reminding yourself that you can listen effectively and stay centered;

2. Envisioning how the session will go, and how you will feel and behave

within it;

3. Reminding yourself that listening empathetically to views you disagree

with does not means that you agree with those views.

One method of strengthening your listening is to consciously separate

strategies into three parts of yourself: your values, your physical body, and

your attention/thoughts.

CREATING YOUR LISTENING

BEST PRACTICES TOOL

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TACTICS BASED ON FOCUSING ON VALUES

THAT MATTER TO YOU

Degner asserts that anyone attempting to maintain a high level of listening

throughout an encounter should recognize they will inevitably have to

contend with what he calls “Listening Blocks”. These are factors within the

listener or within the environment that can get in the way of listening; they

can vary from a distracting air conditioner noise to a persistent thought

that the person you are talking to looks like someone from your past who

rubbed you the wrong way.

Degner suggests that when listening blocks emerge, one general strategy is

to emotionally/mentally refocus on one of three values that, in preparation

for the session, you have already committed to trying to during the session.

These three values - empathy, curiosity, and patience – have been very

helpful in helping listeners reground themselves when they stray from the

path of empathetic listening. Some questions that you might ask that relate

to these values are:

Empathy: Is there a positive intent in the person that I can connect to?

Curiosity: Is there a perspective within the person’s point of view that I

need to understand more?

Patience: How can I extend to the skeptic the same willingness to stay

engaged that I would want if someone became distracted while listening to

me?

MIND-BODY TACTICS

Some white allies have found that a good way to re-center oneself when

your listening orientation might dri is focus on the connection between

their mind and their body and to make adjustments that are associated

with success in listening. It helps if you have mentally prepared to call on

this action for this purpose in your preparation for the listening session.

Some examples of helpful actions that some white allies have used include:

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•

Biting one’s lip

•

Touching your tongue to the roof of your mouth

•

Shiing your position to one that is more relaxed

•

Taking deeper breaths

•

Keeping your eyes focused on the speaker’s eyes

•

Envisioning there is super-glue on your lips preventing you from

talking

•

Keeping your eyes focused on the speaker’s mouth

Your objective is to examine if there are any choices of managing your

body that tend to help you become more effective.

What mind-body strategies do you think (or have found) are most effective

for you in helping you stay in empathetic listening mode?

ATTENTION-BASED TACTICS - LISTENING FOR X

Degner says that apart from focusing on your body or on your values,

another strategy is to enhance your mindfulness about what you are

listening for. He calls the strategy “Listening for X.” The rst step is to focus

energy on guring out what you are listening for in situations where your

listening has been effective. The idea is that frequently, listening blockages

happen because at key moments, the listener is paying excess attention

to the possibility of some specic idea being raised, and as a result misses

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other important information in the conversation.

This exercise is especially important for white anti-racist allies. In

conversation with racism skeptics, white allies are oen paying special

note (i.e. listening for) something the skeptic might say that reects

racially problematic beliefs, whether they are deep-seated, conscious,

or based around ignorance. In fact, for many allies, a core part of their

personal practice is to monitor language and publicly call out people as

being a part of the tradition of white supremacy when they say problematic

things.

Even in less extreme cases, there are still patterns in what allies are oen

listening for during encounters with racism skeptics (or other allies). These

can include:

•

Evidence of beliefs about POC inferiority

•

Beliefs that reect unacknowledged white privilege

•

Inaccurate understandings of how racism works

•

Decits in empathy or compassion for people of color

•

Ignorance of key facts in American history

•

Conservative political ideology

•

Evidence that the skeptic is more racist than they think of themselves

as being

This is just a partial list. A common element in all of these issue is that the

listener judges the other person is wrong, and may merit correction.

It is important to try to be as honest with yourself as possible about what

you might be listening for when talking to skeptics that undermines your

capacity to empathetically listen. Think about settings in which you have

not been successful in empathetically listening.

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In conversations about race with other white people, what are some things

you tend to listen for that sometime impede your staying in a stance of

empathetic listening?

To be clear, you are not wrong for listening for these things. As you

grow in your lifelong journal of allyship, it is actually useful for you to

listen for the various ways that racial skepticism manifests itself. You

need to be listening for the ways that the existing system of entrenched

racial hierarchies affects people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions. Any

conversation with a skeptic is a chance to learn about how resistance

to racial equity is held together within the thoughts, feelings, and

perspectives of a skeptic.

While listening to these things, you must also be listening for other things.

If you want to take people on a journey of collaborative dialogue that might

expand their outlook, you may need to shi your focus, or at least expand

it. If you want to have a reasonable chance of moving a skeptic, you will

need to listen for additional things that are very different than the above.

Fruitful possibilities include:

•

Experiences that are similar to ones you have had

•

Things you can agree with

•

Underlying needs embedded within what the person is saying

•

Potential openings for future conversation

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The space below is for any summary notes about your own listening

practice.

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SELF-ASSESSMENT: RESPONDING TO RACIALLY

PROBLEMATIC STATEMENTS AND SITUATIONS

This instrument assesses what happens in your heart/mind and behavior

when racially problematic statements or behaviors happen in your

presence.

Think about what happens when people do or say things that your nd

racially troubling. Here are some examples of statements.

•

“Racism means having intentionally negative views of other groups.

I am colorblind. So if I don’t have conscious negative intent, I don’t

have to worry about being racist.”

•

“Nowadays, there are very few advantages to being white. I am not

‘privileged”.

•

“Very few people are consciously racist anymore.”

•

“Slavery and segregation were a long time ago. We should not talk

about them anymore and just move on.”

•

“The economic problems of people of color are primarily due to the

bad choices that they make.”

•

“If people of color would just act properly, law enforcement would

treat them fairly.“

•

“It is vital that America drastically reduce the level immigration so

that we can return to our cultural greatness.”

•

“Those athletes and others protesting should be grateful they live

in America and should not disrespect the nation and the ag by

kneeling during the National Anthem. “

THE WHITE ALLY RESPONSE

ASSESSMENT TOOL

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You will assess your reaction to hearing statements like this in two ways:

Dimension 1: What happens in your heart and mind? How oen do you

have a visceral response – whether you show it or not – when racially

problematic statements are made in your presence?

•

If you have a visceral reaction 2/3 of the time or more, your score is 3

•

If you have a visceral reaction between ½ and 2/3 of the time, your

score is 10

•

If you have a visceral reaction less than 1/3 of the time, your score is

20.

Write your visceral response score here:

Dimension 2: What happens with respect to your actual behavior? How

oen do you engage the person who has made the racially problematic

statements?

•

If you engage the person and the situation more than 2/3 of the time,

you score is 100

•

If you engage the person/situation less than 2/3 of the time, your

score is 20.

White your behavioral response score here:

Add together the our overall response score here:

•

If your score is 120, you are an Undercover Spy in Training / Zen

Activist

•

If your score is 110 or 30, you are a Reservist / Contextual Player

•

If your score is 103, you are a Cavalry / First Responder

•

If your score is 40, your are an Analyst / Quiet Observer

•

If your score is 23, you are a Scout / Mental Warrior

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THE CAVA L RY…A K A THE FIRST RES P O N D E R S

DIAGNOSIS

You’ve got to love these folks...When it comes to expressions of racial

skepticism, they are like the Cavalry or First Responders – they may not

clearly see the path forward, but their prime directive is to act. They

oen are having a strong internal reaction they have to manage, and they

really don’t understand where skeptics are coming from. Regardless, they

consistently engage. Sometimes with a well developed plan, but sometimes

without one.

When a racism-skeptic reveals him or herself, First Responders feel a big

gulf that sometimes causes a sinking feeling in their gut. It is very hard for

them to understand this type of thinking and hearing it oen triggers them

emotionally. Many manage this situation well enough that their internal

tribulation is largely hidden from the other person. Other members of the

Cavalry are less opaque with their feelings, and their reaction is apparent.

But no matter how well they manage their emotions, engaging is a lot of

work for First Responders since they have very little understanding or

empathy for this way of thinking. It just seems foreign to them! And the

idea of having understanding or empathy for this point of view itself seems

weird.

In their minds, the most important thing to do when bumping against

people denying of racism is to counter it, and so they do - almost every

time.

PRESCRIPTION

Since these people are already consistently engaging, they don’t need

coaching for increased action. For them, the primary growth edge is to

focus on greater effectiveness. A good place to start is getting a better

handle on their own internal response. Getting a better grip on themselves

when they hear racially problematic statements is likely to be a challenge,

since they don’t understand racism skeptical thinking and this thinking

creates a visceral reaction in them. Oen they don’t want to understand it,

since trying to understand it can feel like a concession and a granting of

legitimacy.

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GROWTH EDGE QUESTIONS FOR FIRST RESPONDERS

For Managing Emotions

1. How long have racism-denying statements by other whites really

gotten to you emotionally?

2. If there was ever a time when this did not happen, what changed?

3. Are there past people or situations that your mind subtly goes to when

you are triggered?

4. In other situations not related to race, what strategies have you found

useful in managing your emotions in the face of behavior that really

bothers you?

For Understanding and Empathy

1. Now you respond to racial skepticism like a firefighter putting out a

small fire before it grows. How would it feel, every so often, to meet

racial skepticism like a spy who asks innocent questions so you can be

more effective the next time?

2. Can you reconnect with the empathy you have felt in the past for

someone with racially skeptical views? Has anyone you deeply loved

held these views? Can you remember feeling at least one racially

skeptical view yourself?

3. Have you asked any other allies about books, movies, or videos that

helped them better understand racially skeptical thinking?

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THE SCOUTS…AKA T H E M E N TAL WAR R I O R S

DIAGNOSIS

Racism-denying statements

really

bug these folks. They really don’t

understand or empathize with this thinking. Even though they may seethe

or get very sad internally when such statements are made, these folks

tend toward caution with engaging skeptics. They don’t have a clear plan

about what will be effective, and they don’t want their reaction to hurt

the moment or the relationship. As a result, they don’t usually choose to

engage the skeptic. When racism or racism-skeptical thinking emerges,

the Scouts/Mental Warriors oen just inwardly shake their heads, sigh, and

talk about it later aer reporting the difcult moment to people they trust.

The mistake Scouts/Mental Warriors most fear making is engaging poorly

and thus reducing the chance that they or anyone else will ever move the

needle with this person. The Mental Warriors have a strong sense that

engaging poorly will undermine any chance of the skeptic changing their

minds at any time.

PRESCRIPTION

The growth edge for Scouts/Mental Warriors is to gure out a way to

engage more frequently and do so in a way that does not conrm their

fears of backlash.

GROWTH EDGE QUESTIONS FOR MENTAL WARRIORS

1. Can you recall a time when someone you loved (including yourself)

thought like a racism skeptic?

2. What happens to your compassion for skeptics when you recall that

American society is designed to keep racism hidden from white

people?

3. Can you imagine now and then using the appearance of skepticism

about racism as a learning opportunity about not only what the

skeptics think, but about your own ability to ask a non-judgmental

question?

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4. In other areas of life outside of race, what strategies have you found

successful for engaging points of view that you find unattractive?

5. Think back to a time when a skeptic did/said something problematic

and you did not engage. Imagine what might have happened if you

engaged the skeptic with a non-judgmental question about what

experiences made them feel like that.

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THE RESERVISTS…AKA THE CONTEXTUAL PLAYERS

DIAGNOSIS

Contextual Players have some handles to help them engage skeptic with

a good chance of having some impact. They oen have some reasonable

understanding of where skeptics are coming from, and usually are not

overly triggered. Sometimes they are ummoxed by the skeptics’ response

and sometimes they are triggered by it. Sometimes they stay centered and

have an empathetic understanding, even though they think the skeptics

are wrong. Many factors matter to both their internal reaction and their

behavior, including their own mood and the setting,

Their behavior is highly dependent on what is happening inside of them,

as well as factors in the situation. Overall though, like all of the other ally

types, they oen have little condence that their engagement – when it

does happen – will produce positive results.

PRESCRIPTION

To improve their effectiveness, Contextual Players can focus on the

reective work needed to engage more frequently as well as on the

analytical work to make their engagements more effective. The good news

for them is that because they have a mixed response both in their thoughts/

feelings and in their behaviors, they can look to themselves to nd useful

lessons that might help them boost their weaknesses.

GROWTH EDGE QUESTIONS FOR CONTEXTUAL PLAYERS:

For Emotions and Understanding

1. For the situations in which you mostly understand and stay centered

around racial skepticism, what are the keys reasons you are able to

engage the way you do?

2. What would have to happen to apply those lessons to when you don’t

stay centered or don’t engage?

3. What are the key differences between the situations that have to do

with your thoughts and feelings, such as your level of compassion for

the person, or your mood?

4. What are the key differences between the situations that are outside

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of you, such as the behavior itself, the kinds of people present, your

perceptions about skeptic, or other factors?

For Effectiveness

1. What are my typical communication strategies? How effective am I at

creating an encounter that feels authentic?

2. If I knew I would be rewarded for increasing my effectiveness with

skeptics, what would I change about when and how I engaged them?

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THE UNDERCOVER SPIES IN TRAINING…

AKA THE ZEN ACTIVISTS

DIAGNOSIS

These folks, the Zen Activists/Undercover Spies of the anti-racist ally

community, are rather infrequently triggered by expressions of racial

skepticism. They usually have developed a keen understanding of where

skeptics are coming from. Some Undercover Spies/Zen Activists have

developed this understanding through a good deal of reading about how

racism-skeptical thinking is a useful byproduct of a society that replicates

racial hierarchies. Others have empathy for where skeptics are coming

from because they have done a good deal of internal reection and

remember thinking like this themselves. Still others can stay calm and not

reactive because they have spent previous time sorting out how they could

deeply love and generally respect people whose thoughts on race they nd

deeply troubling.

Because the Undercover Spies/Zen Activists stay centered and can connect

with where skeptics are coming from, when they engage skeptics, they

can oen make strategic choices in guiding the conversation in ways that,

over time, invite the skeptic to think differently without making them feel

judged.

PRESCRIPTION

The primary thing these people should focus on is their effectiveness.

The ambiguous nature of working with skeptics makes it hard to know

if your engagements are doing anything, which also means its easy to

overestimate one’s own impact. Since Zen Warriors/Undercover Spies

represent the people who are at the pinnacle of effort, they should also

spend some energy helping the vast majority of other allies who are not

at the same place in their ability to engage skeptics empathetically and

strategically.

GROWTH EDGE QUESTIONS FOR ZEN ACTIVISTS

1. What are things that I don’t know about skeptic’s thinking that I should

ask about when engaging?

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2. Could I improve the depth, breadth, and effectiveness of my

storytelling when I engage skeptics? Are there experiences I can more

effectively bring to bear from my past when I try to connect with

skeptics?

3. Can I improve the questions I ask that are trying to help get to the

heart of the matter?

4. Are there risks that I am not taking when engaging skeptics that might

help me become more effective when engaging them?

5. What are some lessons about staying centered and coming from a

place of empathy that I can pass on to other allies?

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THE ANALYSTS…..AKA THE QUIET OBSERVERS

DIAGNOSIS

You care about race relations and racial justice, but you are confused about

what your proper role is or even the proper response you should have at

an emotional level. You know that there are a lot of people with messed

up views, but it is unclear whether it is your place to address them. For

some Analysts, it is unclear whether their restrained emotional response is

something to be addressed.

PRESCRIPTION

These folks care about racial equity, but too frequently stay on the sidelines

as a detached observers. Their primary focus should be on going from

inaction to action. If they make a decision to change their behavior, they

can start by tuning in to what happens in their minds and body when they

hear racially problematic statements. Do they experience anger, sadness,

or frustration? Even though they rarely have a visceral reaction, they may

still have a subtle physical reaction that is a signal of their connection to

this issue. Aer noticing this reaction, Analysts can use their own reaction

as a signal to themselves that it is time to engage.

GROWTH EDGE QUESTIONS FOR QUIET OBSERVERS:

1. To what extent is your emotional response on issues of race similar

or different to your emotional reaction on other social issues you care

about?

2. What is your fear of what would happen either inside you or within

the situation if you were to respond to engage people who make

statements that you define as racially problematic?

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PART ONE

KNOWING YOURSELF

FINAL THOUGHTS FOR PART 1

Now that you have done all or most of the exercises in this section, it is

time to transition to a focus on which type of interventions with allies are

most important to you. Section 2 is designed to get you ready to engage a

variety of racially problematic statements that racism skeptics sometimes

make. Aer reading the overview of the section, you may want to go

directly to the statements that feel the most urgency to respond to. In time,

it is important that you develop strategies for addressing comments about

unconscious bias and unearned racial advantage, since these specic

issues are foundational to progress on white racial attitudes. But if you

are more drawn to other modules initially because they come up more

frequently or they just bug you more, feel free to prepare for those rst.

The primary problem is that allies too frequently ignore racism skeptical

remarks or engage them combatively; from this project’s perspective, the

most important thing allies should do is to start engaging differently on

some

topic. So let your passions guide the sequence.

Instead of preparing to respond to unexpected racially troubling

comments, some allies will want to focus their work with skeptics

on the task on intentionally taking a skeptic or two up a ladder of

understanding. If this applies to you, consider skipping most of section

to going directly to Section 3 (The Primer), which provides a curriculum

comprising a suggested sequence of ideas that you might make the focus

of conversations. You might consider reading the initial explanation of

the RACE Method that comprises the rst portion of Section 2, before

skipping the rest of the section. Even though the Primer does not use the

RACE Method specically, the materials in Primer reect the sensibility

and general approach of the RACE Method, which is focused on creating a

planned conversation that leverages active listening, empathy, and mutual

storytelling.

Whether you read Section 2 and 3 next, you should be sure to read the

Odds and Ends section that is Part 4. There are several instruments within

the section that will deepen your practice, as well as some short essays that

will help you prepare for some of the sometimes difcult interactions that

you may have with both racism skeptics as well as other anti-racism allies.

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PART ONE

KNOWING YOURSELF

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Part 2 of the book focuses on preparing you to

address racially problematic statements that

emerge from time to time.

PART TWO:

USING THE RACE

METHOD TO

ENGAGE RACISM

DENIAL

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This workbook is based on science that indicates that the best way to

produce long-run changes in how skeptics think about race and racism

is to invite them into an authentic dialogue. We suggest that you manage

this dialogue in a way that is natural and exible, but also in accord with a

general sequence of phases that have been proven to be most effective. We

are calling this method of managing conversations about race “The RACE

Method”. This term is an acronym representing a set of steps/conversation

phases (Reect, Ask, Connect, Expand) that the ally should take before and

during the conversation. The phases of the conversation in the preferred

sequence are:

REFLECT – preparing to be in listening mode, and refreshing one’s own

personal stories

ASK – inquiring about the experiences that have led the skeptic to their

beliefs

CONNECT –telling an anecdote that demonstrates some degree of

similarity

EXPAND – telling an anecdote that invites an awareness of race/racism

As will be discussed, there are other optional processes (mini-steps)

that an ally might bring to bear, such as addressing contradictions in the

skeptic’s thinking, or bringing to bear facts that support the ally’s view.

But these additional steps are not essential to the four major phases of the

RACE Method.

Fundamentally, the RACE Method involves purposely shiing the

conversation away from a clash of the opinions and a battle of “facts”

between allies and skeptics. Instead, the ally will create an experience-

based inquiry of the issue at hand where the ally and the skeptic begin

their dialogue by trying to make sense of the world based on comparing

experiences. Maybe later in the set of exchanges - maybe on a different day

- the conversation might begin to include external information – statistics,

THE RACE METHOD

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mental models, references - that might be relevant to the journey of

inquiry they are involved in.

This section focuses on providing you with materials for conversation with

skeptics that start with racially problematic statements the skeptic may

have made. The practical advice is organized in separate modules focused

on strategies to engage specic statements. All of the modules are based

on the RACE Method. Of course, there will be many times when the topic

of race comes up in a way for which there is no RACE Method module

prepared. Thus, it is important that you understand the basic structure of

the RACE Method so that you can adapt to the situation at hand.

Some additional guidelines to be aware of:

•

The RACE Method phases usually work best if they happen in the

suggested sequence. In some cases, you may need to vary from the

sequence.

•

You should attempt to manage the dialogue so that it feels natural; in

fact, some people may be put off if they sense that you are “running a

program” on them.

•

Furthermore, some skeptics will want to talk about “facts”

before talking about experiences (potentially setting you both

up for an unproductive debate about facts), or may want to hear

about your experiences that opened your eyes before you have

shared experiences that show you have some similarities to them

(potentially putting you and the skeptic at odds at the start of the

conversation). As you manage the conversation, you may very well

have to subtly redirect the conversation ow now and then in order

to keep personal experiences as a core tool for your joint effort to

make sense of the topic.

•

The more you practice the method, the better you will make choices

about when to vary the sequence.

•

In preparation for practicing the method with racism skeptics, you

can practice the method with other allies.

Let’s walk through the phases one at a time.

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PHASE 1: REFLECT

PREPAR E FOR TH E CONVE RSATIO N, AND

CENTER YOURSELF IN THE MOMENT

There are two levels of reection – one well before the encounter with a

skeptic, and one at the start of it. In improving your practice as an ally,

you should spend some time thinking about your listening blockages, your

counter measures to stay balanced if you start engaging unproductively,

your response patterns, and the anecdotes you might bring to bear. This

type of reection is what this workbook is for.

The second level of reection occurs in the moment when a racism-

denying or racist statement happens. You are likely to respond more

effectively if you take a moment to compose yourself and quickly bring to

mind things you have reected on before, such as your listening challenges

and relevant anecdotes that might be relevant. Some people can do

these things by taking a deep breath, while others may need to go to the

bathroom, refresh your drink, or take a short break from the conversation.

No matter which works for you, re-centering yourself through a moment of

reection leads to better outcomes when you engage.

Aer you have done some work to augment your general listening skills,

there is additional reective work to do to prepare to talk about specic

issues related to race and racism. Each module here has reection

questions that can prepare you for talking to skeptics. Since race is a very

broad topic and you have had hundreds or thousands of experiences with

it, this is not a one-time process. Just as people of color are on a never-

ending journey to become more effective at dealing with the varieties of

racism, your journey as a white ally is also never ending. As they say, it’s a

marathon, not a sprint.

You should think about which racism-denying statements you most want

to engage a skeptic around, and prepare for them specically. The modules

below provide specic guidance about how to use the RACE Method with

respect to specic statements, and include the reection questions you

should think about before you engage a skeptic on these topics. Over time,

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the number of statements that are addressed by this project (both the

workbook and the website) will grow. Once you understand the basics of

the method, you can potentially follow the phases of the RACE Method to

create your own steps for preparing for and navigating encounters with

racism skeptics on additional topics.

THE K EY STE P S WITHIN T HE REFL ECT P HASE

1. It is useful to be specific as you prepare to respond to racially

problematic statements. For example, the two statements “White

privilege does not exist” in contrast to “People of color create most

of their own economic problems” may affect you very differently on

an emotional level, and require different strategies of engagement

through conversation. You should think about the statements you

most want to be ready for, and prioritize preparing to respond to

them specifically. And since there are many racially problematic

statements, preparing to respond to them is an long-term ongoing

practice.

2. In your pre-reflection, you should become aware of the self-

management strategies you will need to call upon to stay in

empathetic listening mode. These will help you during the Ask phase,

when you need to be ready to hear perspectives that will likely bother

you.

3. When a skeptic makes a racially problematic statement, your goal

is to identify something within it that you can align yourself with.

Depending on the sentiment and your own history, your point of

alignment may be that you used to think like that yourself. If that is

not true, you can look for something within the statement that is true

and that you do not totally disagree with. (For example: the statement

“Police treat everyone fairly” includes the idea the obviously true

statement, “All police are not bad.” The statement, “People of color

often face challenges because of bad choices,” includes the obviously

true statement, “Personal decisions matter to people’s economic

outcomes.”)

4. With respect to a specific racially-troubling statement, jot some

notes about one or two experiences that illustrate some aspect of

the statement that you can agree with. These will be the stories you

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will tell during the Connect phase. It can be useful to think of these

anecdotes as having a few key story elements, such as the set up, the

key moment, and the takeaway. Having this clear conception of the

anecdote helps you have the flexibility of telling the story at different

durations (for example, 45 seconds versus 3 minutes) so you can adapt

to different situations. Some allies even turn the practice of relaying

their anecdotes into an important part of their anti-racist practice.

5. In addition to developing at least one Connect anecdote that will

help a skeptic feel aligned with you at least partially, you will develop

at least one Expand story that reflects your current awareness that

racism is real and something that needs more attention. If your

Connect story demonstrates that you used to think like the skeptic

does now, it can be very useful for your Expand story (also known as

the “But later, I realized” story) to capture a moment when your more

enhanced understanding of race came into focus. If you do not have

such a transformation story, your Expand story might simply recount

an experience that reflects your understanding of race/racism. It is

best if your anecdote is something that happened to you personally,

but it might be a second-hand experience from someone you trust.

The critical thing is that your anecdote be reasonably compelling, and

your takeaway is a reasonable lesson from the experience. As with the

Connect story, you may want to practice telling the story at different

durations.

6. There are two optional additions to the Expand Phase. One possibility

is to raise some underlying issues that may seem like contradictions

to the skeptic but are actually are not. This may be as simple as saying

something like: “Maybe it’s possible that ‘the vast majority of cops

have good intentions’ and it’s also true that ‘unconscious bias still

affects many cops.’ Getting clear about how you articulate seeming

contradictions to foster a skeptic’s understanding should be part of

what you reflect on in preparation.

7. Another possibility with the Expand phase is to add a few relevant

facts that will support your perspective. You don’t want to overload

yourself with these facts, because doing so will push you to try to base

your conversation strategy on the delivery of facts. As we discussed in

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Part 1, facts are only effective if the person is open-minded, and this

may not happen until much later in your journey of dialogue with the

skeptic.

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PHASE 2: ASK

PROBE THE SKEPTIC FOR THEIR BELIEFS AND, MOST

IMPORTANTLY, THE EXPERIENCES BEHIND THEIR BELIEFS

The overall goal of the Ask phase is to shi the focus of the skeptic from

their beliefs about race/racism to the experiences that are animating

their beliefs. If they have made a racially problematic statement – or a

racist statement – and you have decided to engage them, your goal is not

primarily to rebut the remark, although you might overtly demur from

it, depending on its severity. If you decide to try to create a moment of

engagement, your rst goal is to invite them to freely express as much of

their authentic views about race as you are comfortable hearing. Aer a

brief additional focus on their beliefs, your primary goal is to move the

conversation through the skeptic’s beliefs to focus on the experiences that

have founded their beliefs. These experiences may be long ago – like what

they were taught growing up – or they might be events that have happened

relatively recently.

One thing that is important to decide is how much you will push the

skeptic to go beneath the surface of their beliefs. In considering this

approach, it is important to keep in mind a harsh reality: a signicant

portion of white people will tell anonymous pollsters on the telephone

that they think that people of color (especially blacks but also Hispanics)

are some combination of intellectually inferior, more innately criminal, or

lazier than white people.

Nowadays, people know that expressing these views to people they are

interacting with will subject them to being accused of being a “racist,”

which is widely considered to be morally repugnant and socially

unacceptable. The fact that large portions of the white public hold these

views of people of color but rarely discuss them openly makes it extremely

difcult to have an honest conversation about racial equity.

9 For example, a 2014 study the University of Illinois found that about 22 percent of whites

think that whites are more intelligent than blacks and 33 percent reported thking that blacks are

less hardworking. Citation: http://igpa.uillinois.edu/programs/racial-attitudes

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White allies are uniquely positioned to get skeptics to own up to the

beliefs they have that are troubling to the ideal of racial equity, and may

be troubling even to those who hold these views. But in any specic

encounter, it does not make sense for you to push them to express these

underlying beliefs if you will only judge them aer they do so. You need

to make conscious choices about how deep you want to go. For two of the

modules (law enforcement and economic opportunity) we provide probes

and reections for you if you think you want to probe for these more

deeply biased views.

It is not critical to go to these deeper places to effectively work with a

skeptic on their racism-denying beliefs. There are people with racially

progressive beliefs who hold deep-seated views about the inferiority of

some groups of color.

This demonstrate that progress on people’s beliefs

about racism can be made even while people hold these views of people of

color they don’t like to discuss.

The most important thing is to not open up this door to deeper beliefs

about people of color if going there will prevent you staying in a stance of

non-judgment about them.

THE KEY STEPS WITHIN THE ASK PHASE

1. Once you hear a racially problematic statement emerge, you

should assess how suitable the setting is for you to try to engage in

some dialogue, let it go, or make a “rejoinder” that expresses your

disagreement but is not really an invitation to more dialogue. (In the

Odds and Ends section at the end of the workbook there is a Ladder

of Retorts that gives you some options for different ways to respond

10 I listened to my Jewish father talk about the schvartze, and how they were going to try to come

in and steal everything. So I grew up with a lot of narratives. I recently had a black family move into my

neighborhood. And even thought I stanchly want to be an ally, all of these things come up. “ere goes the

neighborhood. e property values are going to go down. Dammit those people are loud. ey talk 10 times

louder than white people What’s up with them? e dogs are barking all day long…don’t they ever training

their dogs? Why don’t they x the muer on their car?” So the point is if you want to be an ally, I think that

you have to admit that you have those voices and you have to give other people the permission to have those

voices. I think the important work is that we identify our own unconscious bias. – Participant in White Ally

Toolkit Workshop, Pittseld MA

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to racially problematic statements). As you make this assessment, you

should consider issues such as time, level of privacy, atmosphere, your

and the skeptic’s moods, your relationship with the skeptic, and so on.

2. Think about how deeply you want to pursue their views about race,

and their feelings toward people of color.

3. Ask questions to learn more about their beliefs about race/racism. Pay

attention to how skeptical they are that racism matters in the situation

you talking about. If you decide to go deeper, you might also ask

questions about their beliefs about people of color that they might feel

uncomfortable expressing.

4. Don’t focus the conversation too long on their beliefs. Instead, shift

your questions to inquire about an experience or two that they think

validates their beliefs.

5. Make a strong effort to let them know you are not judging them for

their beliefs, even if you may feel very differently. If you are judging

them, try to hide it. Let them know that you find their experiences

interesting to hear about.

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PHASE 3: CONNECT

EVEN THOUGH YOU SEE RACIAL ISSUES RATHER

DIFFER ENTLY FRO M THEM, SHARE A N AN ECDOTE OR TWO

LIKELY TO HAVE SOME RESONANCE WITH THEM THAT IS

RELEVANT TO THE TOPIC.

Your primary goal in this phase is to demonstrate to the skeptic that you

are someone who has some level of alignment with them. As noted above,

most racism-minimizing views encompass some belief about reality that

is actually true. However, many racism skeptics have been taught to think

of these beliefs as antithetical to the idea that racism against people of

color is a real problem. Thus, for many skeptics – especially ideologically

conservative ones – their perspectives about race are part of a larger battle

between what they see as healthy conservative values (such as hard work,

obeying authority, merit, and uniform standards, to name a few) and the

liberal attack on these values. In this phase of the dialogue, your goal is to

offer a story or two that make it harder for them to see you as the enemy of

these values, because you are connecting with them on some piece of their

viewpoint.

If their racism-denying point of view is something that you used to believe,

you can potentially create a moment of connection even stronger than

when you have to nd one truth embedded in their viewpoint. If at some

point in your past, you held the view they have now, your best bet may be

to let them know that. You can do that just by describing this, but oen

it is more powerful to convey a brief anecdote that illustrates that you

formerly thought this way. This may as simple as recounting a conversation

that happened long ago. The key is to tell the story in a way that does not

convey judgment of yourself in the past, which means that you are not

judging them now.

THE KEY STEPS WITHIN THE CONNECT PHASE

1. Share a brief story or two that aligns with as much of the skeptic’s

views as you authentically can.

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

I listened to my Jewish father talk about the

schvartze, and how they were going to try to

come in and steal everything. So I grew up with

a lot of narratives. I recently had a black family

move into my neighborhood. And even thought

I stanchly want to be an ally, all of these things

come up. “There goes the neighborhood. The

property values are going to go down. Dammit

those people are loud. They talk 10 times louder

than white people What’s up with them? The dogs

are barking all day long…don’t they ever training



their car?” So the point is if you want to be an

ally, I think that you have to admit that you have

those voices and you have to give other people

the permission to have those voices. I think

the important work is that we identify our own

unconscious bias.

Participant in White Ally Toolkit Workshop, Pittseld MA

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2. If you have ever thought like they did, describe an experience that

illustrates your thinking this way. (Do not frame your prior perspective

as “stupid” or “unenlightened.”) Remember, you are not saying

everything they believe about race is true. Rather, for a brief moment,

you are telling them that you agree with a small piece of what they

believe, or that you used to think like they did.

3. If you have external data or facts that validate the part of the issue you

agree on, share this information. (For instance, if you are dealing with

the statement “No one is racist anymore,” it may be helpful to state

your knowledge of national opinion survey data showing how much

racial bigotry has declined in the past 50 years).

4. If it will not be perceived as weird, create a moment – even if it is very

brief moment of eye contact - where you and the skeptic are taking in

the fact that you do have some agreement on an aspect of the issue.

This last point is largely the door to the rest of the conversation. It is

important to make the skeptic feel that you place some importance on

the point of agreement. In most instances, this can happen non verbally,

perhaps with a brief pause and direct eye contact. Your intention is

create a brief moment where you are sharing in the sense of alignment.

Remember, you are about to invite them to expand their thinking. No

matter how gently you do this, there is some chance they will experience

this as telling them their prior thinking has been wrong. Before you do

this, it is important that they know you feel that they have been right about

something.

11 For example, in the portion of whites who oppose laws prohibiting inter-racial marriage

was less than 38 percent in 1963, , and is more than about 90 percent now. Similarly, the portion

of whites who thought that blacks and whites should attend the same schools was about 50% in

1955, and is about 95% now. Citation: http://igpa.uillinois.edu/programs/racial-attitudes

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PHASE 4: EXPAND

RELATE YOUR EX PERIE NCES THAT SUGGEST A BROADER

UNDERSTAN DING OF RACE/RACISM TH AN THEY HAVE

NOW

By this point, you have established that each of you have had personal

experiences with legitimate sources of truth, wisdom, and insight. You

have also established that you are not some raving liberal apologist who

enables the dysfunctional behavior of people of color, but rather that in

some way you actually agree with at least some specic element of how

they view the situation. The next step is to share one or two stories that

illustrate the larger truth about race and racism that you see. Ideally, these

should be rst-person experiences. A less preferred but still useful option

is to recount a second-hand experience that might have affected you deeply

when you rst heard it. Your objective in telling the stories is to try to help

the skeptic see that if the same experiences had happened to them, they

might have come to a similarly expanded understanding of how racism

works.

It is best if you have at least two stories in your arsenal. If you told a “I

used to think like that” story (i.e. a “I Confess” anecdote), it will be useful

to not only relate an experience linked to your “waking up”, but also one

that shows that you still have experiences that conrm your new view. If

your Connect story focused on one embedded truth within their overall

perspective (i.e. an “I Concur” story), it will still be helpful if you have more

than one anecdote that animates your view that race/racism matters. A

skeptic may try to frame your rst story as anomalous or invalid for some

other reason. Having a second story – even it if it is a secondhand one - can

be helpful.

THE KEY STEPS WITHIN THE EXPAND PHASE

1. Assess which personal experiences you have had that are most

suitable, given the topic, setting, and dispositions of the skeptic.

Decide whether the longer or shorter version of the stories is most

suitable given the setting, your level of connection with the skeptic,

their apparent ability to listen, and similar factors.

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2. Tell you anecdote(s), all the while noting how much the skeptic is

engaged.

3. If the skeptic wants to argue with your conclusions, it may be

necessary to gently remind them that you are not trying to make them

believe anything. Instead you are simply sharing experiences that you

have had that led you to see things not seen before.

4. If you think it has a reasonable chance of success, think about asking

the skeptic whether they have ever had an experience that tend to

support your perspective. Such as question might look like:

5. Have you ever seen a time when a cop gave a white person a big break

when they did not have to?

6. Even if you don’t feel this all of the time, have you ever felt grateful

that you were not a person of color given how many of them seem to

constantly wonder how they will be received?

7. Has there been a time in the last 10 years when a white person

surprised you with how unabashed they were about their dislike of an

entire racial/ethnic group?

Note: the strategy of asking a skeptic for experiences that align with your

view should be used only when you sense that the skeptic has actually

joined you in an open-minded inquiry into the issue. It is easy for this

strategy to activate either your or the skeptic’s argumentative impulses,

which is not helpful to your goal of a joint dialogic inquiry into the topic.

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EXPAND – EXTENSION 1

EXPLORING THE SEEMING CONTRADICTIONS

In many circumstances, it will useful to take a break from the story telling

and li up a question that expands the view of a situation. This step will

more likely be useful for people who are conceptual thinkers or who have a

bent toward curiosity. The purpose of this step, if you take it, is to get their

agreement that your conversation may be uncovering an additional truth

that is not completely at odds with what you have already agreed on. One

of the most direct expressions of this is in the form of:

Can X be true, AND also Y also be true?

Here are some examples of what a question like this might look like:

•

Is it possible that the vast majority of police are fair AND a signicant

minority treat POCs differently some of the time?

•

Could it be that many poor people of color make bad choices AND

there are fewer opportunities available for many people of color than

for many white people?

•

Is it possible that people can have no conscious negative views of

other groups AND still have biases against them that they are not

aware of?

By trying to expand the conversation in this way, you are signaling that you

are not trying to refute their position, particularly the part you agreed to.

Rather, you are trying to add a new truth, that acknowledges racism, to the

collective understanding of truth that you and the skeptic share.

Sometimes, raising these conceptual questions can help get their buy-in for

more dialogue and future exploration of the topic.

This strategy of exploring the seeming contradictions can be used before

telling your Expand story, or aer the expand story to help put a “bow”

around the racial dialogue conversation you have just had.

In each of the modules on specic topics, we provide some possible

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questions that might expand the conversation.

THE KEY STEPS WITHIN EXPAND EXTENSION 1

1. Make a decision about whether this is a situation where raising a

“broader view” question is likely to enhance or derail the momentum

of the conversation.

2. Think about which specific question is most appropriate, given what

you have already shared and which stories you think you might bring

to bear next.

3. Raise the question, and try (not too hard) to get them to assert that it is

a somewhat interesting question.

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EXPAND – EXTENSION 2

HIGHLIGHT DATA, FACTS, OR ILLUSTRATIONS THAT

SUPPORT A BROADER VIEW

If the skeptic has joined you with a spirit of some curiosity about your

conversation, there may come a point when it is useful to go beyond direct

experience as a way of furthering your point that racism against people

of color is a thing. This is when you can bring into the conversation facts,

data, research ndings, and other similar information.

Our hope is that white allies prepare for such moments, and have practiced

relating a fact that powerfully drives home the idea that a specic aspect

racism is real. It would be great if you have many facts to choose from.

But it is vital that the skeptic feels that you are not trying to beat them

into submission with facts. Many people who are skeptical of racism are

defending a position they have deep emotional attachments to. If you are

clearly attempting to “blow them away” with overwhelming evidence, the

Backre Effect might only become stronger and roll back the progress you

may have made through sharing experiences.

A few points to keep in mind:

•

Skeptics will more likely accept your facts if you have earlier brought

up facts that support some part of their point of view.

•

Polling data oen can make compelling points to skeptics who are

open to science.

•

Large scale social science experiments (e.g. sending out hundreds

of resumes to employers and testing whether “ethnic sounding”

names get a difference response from “white sounding” names) can

sometimes make powerful points.

THE KEY STEPS WITHIN EXPAND EXTENSION 2

1. Take a mental note of facts (or findings, analogies, etc.) that you can

easily and comfortably relay that seem relevant to the conversation.

2. Choose 2-3 that seem to best support your attempt to broaden the

skeptics view.

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3. Float one fact, and note how effective it seemed in keeping the

skeptic’s mind open.

4. If deploying a fact seems useful, bring another to bear when the time

seems appropriate.

Note: Though allies oen nd them compelling, think carefully about

using analogies, metaphors, allegories, and conceptualizations.

Sometimes, these rhetorical strategies are extremely useful in helping

novice new allies think in a new way about race. On the other hand,

you need to carefully think through whether rhetorical strategies that

are very powerful to anti-racist allies are in fact helpful when engaging

racism skeptics. As helpful as the right metaphor or example can be in

illuminating the complexities of race and racism for some allies, many of

these are only powerful if the listener already believes that racism is real.

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CLOSING THE CONVERSATION

It is important not to stay in this conversation to the point of diminishing

returns. Remember, you are not likely to change someone’s perspective

about racism in one sitting – though of course this happens now and then.

Most likely, to affect the skeptic, you will need to engage them in multiple

conversations as you try to shi deeply ingrained views.

A critical point to

remember is that a

skeptic will have more

difculty getting out

of denial about racism

if they sense that you

are trying to change

their entire ideological

worldview. You should

only be trying to get them

out of their denial about

race and racism raised in

the current conversation.

(This will be discussed

a bit more in Odds and

Ends.)

Even on the specic topic you are discussing, your goal is not to get them

to admit defeat to your superior logic; instead, you are trying to get them

to be honestly intrigued by the possibility that the world is somewhat more

complex than they had previously thought.

Doing that may mean articulating a question that positions your

conversation as a joint attempt to make sense of things. A straightforward

one is: “Given everything we have said, how do you think that we should

try to make sense of all of this?” Whether or not you raise a question that

intrigues the skeptic, you should consider whether you want to try to get

them to have additional conversations with you.

our goal is not to get

them to admit defeat to

your superior logic; instead,

you are trying to get them to

be honestly intrigued by the

possibility that the world is

somewhat more complex than

they had previously thought.

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These steps may be helpful as you try to close the conversation

1. Assess whether the skeptic would likely find a thought-provoking

question to be the best way to end the conversation. If so, ask it to the

skeptic as you attempt to wrap up the conversation.

2. No matter how you transition away from the conversation, convey

your appreciation to the person for being willing to share their

experiences, and for listening to your experiences.

3. Remember, you are not trying to claim a victory; you are also not

trying to transform their entire worldview and ideology.

4. Tell them that you would like to talk more about this topic again. If you

can say so sincerely, tell them you don’t have conversations like this as

often as you would like to, that you have enjoyed it, and you hope they

did too.

5. Unless doing so would seem weird to you or them, make some actual

plan to talk again.

DEBRIEFING YOUR ENGAGEMENT

Having covered this much ground in conversations with the skeptic, it

is useful to do some reection on which tactics seemed to increase the

skeptic’s engagement, and which did not. You might do this in writing.

Hopefully, you are connected with other allies who are also trying to

improve their engagement of racism skeptics; if so, having a conversation

with them might be helpful.

Some questions that you should consider as part of your debrieng:

1. Were there moments when your listening skills were better or worse

than others? What lessons can you draw about how you can be a more

effective listener?

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2. Which point of agreement did you focus on in your Connect stories?

How effective was your storytelling in creating the feeling of

alignment? Might a different point of agreement have produced a

different outcome?

3. How did your attempt to expand the skeptic’s view go? What stories did

you tell? Is there something that you might have done differently to be

more effective?

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4. Were there any subtle moves in the exchange outside of the

storytelling that seemed to increase or decrease the skeptic’s

engagement?

The rest of this part of the workbook focuses on applying the RACE Method

to specic racism-denying sentiments that skeptics oen express.

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What follows are eight modules that provide guidance about applying

the RACE method to specic sentiments that racism skeptics sometimes

say. The modules provide a clear but exible plan for how to manage the

dialogue journey, which will probably last more than one conversation.

Each module includes example questions that you might raise with the

skeptic as well as reection questions that can help you construct rst- or

second-hand brief anecdotes that you can use in the conversation. For the

most part, each module follows the sequence of steps outlined in the RACE

method.

The goal of the modules is to give you an engagement strategy for

addressing a troubling statement – in the moment or later - instead of

simply mentally labeling the person as “racist” or “racially backward” and

either attacking them or doing nothing.

The eight sentiments included the Spring 2018 edition of the workbook are:

1. “Racism means having intentionally negative views of other groups. I

am colorblind. So if I don’t have conscious negative intent, I don’t have

to worry about being racist.”

2. “Nowadays, there are very few advantages to being white. I am not

‘privileged’”.

3. “Very few people are consciously racist anymore.”

4. “Slavery and segregation were a long time ago. We should not talk

about them any more and just move on.”

5. “The economic problems of people of color are primarily due to the

bad choices that they make.”

6. “If people of color would just act properly, law enforcement would

treat them fairly.“

STRUCTURE OF THE

MODULES

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7. “It is vital that America drastically reduce the level immigration so that

we can return to our cultural greatness.”

8. “Those athletes and others protesting should be grateful they live in

America and should not disrespect the nation and the flag by kneeling

during the National Anthem. “

The modules follow a similar format, which is reviewed and explained

below.

ALTERNATIVE ARTICULATIONS

For many of the modules, you will see alternative ways that this sentiment

gets expressed. Your objective is not to listen for the exact words, but

rather to be attuned to moments when the core sentiment is expressed.

(Most allies will recognize these sentiments – even when expressed subtly

– because they oen have a visceral reaction to them). When these ideas

are expressed, you should make a decision about whether this moment has

the potential of being a good starting place for a dialogue journey with the

skeptic. If this is not the best moment, you might let them know that you

will get back to them later – then you can refer to the relevant module, and

prepare for the next time you will talk to them.

For many of the statements, there is an overview that conveys some

relevant guidelines about the way that skeptics tend to view this issue.

This information is meant to give you broad thematic guidance about your

strategy for engaging the issue. In some cases, this discussion will focus on

ideas that allies oen spend energy ghting skeptics about unnecessarily;

it is important to not let the conversation energy exhaust itself while

pursuing the wrong goal. In some cases, this will include the most likely

elements of Connect and Expand anecdotes.

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STEP 1: REFLECT

As discussed in Part 1, it is important that you do some reection on what

kind of statements are “hot buttons” for you and are likely to impede your

attentive and empathetic listening. (Hot buttons are issues that, when

raised, throw you enough off your center that you are subject to making

awed moment-to-moment decisions). You should also reect on what

strategies you should take to recover if you are thrown off balance. Some

topics are more likely to cause you emotional upset than others. As was

discussed in Part 1, it is vital for you to reect on your listening challenges,

and remind yourself of strategies to stay in empathetic listening mode

when skeptics say things that are hard to hear. Some allies have found that

each racism-denying sentiment has specic hot button statements that are

likely to emerge in conversation. You should you reect on whether each

of these issues reveals emotional landmines for you. Having said that, the

Reect description in the modules that follow will assume you will do the

appropriate amount of reection on these issues for each topic.

The module will proceed by providing reection questions for four types

of anecdotes that you should consider bringing to bear for each racially

problematic statement.

CONNECT ANECDOTE TYPE 1

These are anecdotes in which you identify some embedded element of

the speaker’s perspective that you nd to have some merit. Each module

will provide some reection questions that attempt to get you to reect on

potentially meritorious ideas embedded within a skeptic’s overall racism-

minimizing perspective. The hope is that you can nd an anecdote that

conveys your alignment with a true idea buried within the skeptics point

of view. We will refer to this as the “I exactly half agree with you” or an

“I Concur” story. (Some allies have found this phrase to be an intriguing

way of signifying partial agreement with somebody at the beginning of a

conversation).

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CONNECT ANECDOTE TYPE 2

These are anecdotes where you convey that you understand much of the

skeptic’s overall perspective because you used to think that way yourself.

This will only apply in some cases, because many allies never looked at the

issue in the way that the skeptic they are talking to does now. But when an

ally can authentically convey that they have empathy for a way a skeptic is

thinking because they used to think that way themselves, the conversation

oen can make signicant progress. If you can non-judgmentally look

back at your own previous perspective – and thus at the skeptic’s current

view – you can enhance the sense of emotional connection with the

person. Perhaps more importantly, you can also present your current

perspective as one that is merely enhanced by more information and

experience. Depicting your subsequent racism-acknowledging position

in this way can help the skeptic see that changing their position is not

bending to your will, but rather going down a developmental path based

on learning new information. We will refer to this anecdote as the “I used

to think that way” story or an “I Confess” story.

EXPAND ANECDOTE TYPE 1

These anecdotes are the ip side of the “I used to think that way” stories.

Ideally these stories vividly capture some experience that was part of

your becoming more “woke” to some aspect of the issue being discussed

– usually, this is a reality that is based on seeing issues of race and racism

that were previously invisible to you. It is best if this anecdote can be

highlighted in a specic personal story that has a powerful moment

when your new understanding came together. In reality, sometimes white

allies’ new understandings are baked over a period of time through many

experiences - in a class, conversations with people, or by consuming

media. You are not encouraged to lie about your experience. However,

most people will be more impacted by the story of a specic moment

when a new realization came together powerfully, even if that moment

was preceded by reading, a class, several conversations, or some set of

gradually accumulating experiences. The reection questions for this

type of anecdote try to get you to recall an experience when your new

understanding came to a head. We will refer to this as your “But later, I

realized” story.

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EXPAND ANEC D OTE TYPE 2

These anecdotes are ones that you might share to make the point that

you have had experiences that validate your view of the issue at hand.

If you had a “But later, I realized’ story, this anecdote will likely have

occurred later than that. You will relate these anecdotes to convey to

the skeptic that you have had or are aware of personal experiences that

tend to support your view of the issue and tend to not support some of

theirs. The reection questions are designed to help you think through

your experiences in the hopes that you can nd anecdotes that are

clear, compelling, and persuasive to most people. We will refer to these

anecdotes as the “Why I see it this way” stories.

The reection questions will be presented in clusters by their type. There

will be space to take notes on the questions that seem most compelling,

and perhaps to start constructing your anecdotes.

STEP 2: ASK

As discussed, your goal in this critical step is to get the skeptic to discuss

some experiences that animate their point of view. The module will

provide questions that have a good chance of being fruitful, given the

patterns in how racism skeptics tend to think about these issues. This

section of each module includes initial questions that help you probe their

beliefs beyond what they might have initially said. Your core objective is to

get at the experiences behind the beliefs; most of the questions focus on

experiences.

Each module also includes space for additional questions that you think

might be useful.

STEP 3: CONNECT

Aer you have attentively listened to the skeptic convey an experience

or two that lies beneath their belief, you want to turn the conversation to

anecdotes that will help you connect with them. In the Connect section,

the module gives you space to jot down the core elements of the anecdotes

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you plan to use based on the Reect questions that have been provided.

To assist with your clarity in thinking about and telling the anecdote, the

module will provide space for you to jot down the set-up, the key moment,

and the take-away from the anecdote. Having clarity about these points

will be helpful in order for you to tell your anecdote compellingly and in

multiple lengths as the circumstance warrants.

STEP 4: EXPAND

Aer you have solidied your connection with the skeptic through sharing

anecdotes, the RACE method suggests you will shi the conversation to one

or more stories that embody your perspective that race/racism does matter

to a reasonable understanding of the topic. The module will highlight key

possible takeaways from your anecdote, and provide space to jot down the

core elements of the story.

In some modules (e.g Patriotism, Slavery/Jim Crow), it is suggested that you

take the skeptic through a multi-staged back and forth. This will be briey

reviewed in the Overview Notes and more extensively addressed in the

Expand explanation.

EXPAND – EXTENSION 1: GETTING PAST THE SEEMING

CONTRADICTION

Many racism skeptics oen look at race-related issues in a defensive way,

in that they are subject to thinking that the existence of racism potentially

obliterates everything they understand about how people and institutions

work. As mentioned in Part 1, your position is not that racism is the

dominant factor in

every

interaction, but rather that racism

oen

matters

to what happens in interactions. The objective of the RACE method is to

use the sharing of experiences to convey the message that you don’t think

the skeptic’s view of the world is completely wrong, but rather that you

have come to learn about an additional factor (race/racism) that helps

explain situations more fully.

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For some people, it will be helpful to explicitly articulate these factors at

a conceptual level. You may nd that it is helpful to remind them that the

idea that racism sometimes matters does not destroy their conception

of the world. For example, it is possible that most police ofcers are

good AND that unconscious racial bias too frequently affects how people

of color are treated. In some cases, it is helpful to explicitly oat the

possibility that something the skeptic typically views as the exact opposite

of racism may not, in fact, be contradicted by the existence of racism.

Posing this question, just aer you have provided experiential evidence,

is sometimes powerful in opening people’s minds to the idea that racism

sometimes matters.

To help your task of moving the skeptic forward, each module includes a

table that frames some beliefs that skeptics have as potentially co-existing

with racism-acknowledging beliefs. For some people, articulating things

this way will be helpful; for others, doing so may be counter-productive.

The hope is that you will experiment with such articulations, and pay

attention to lessons you learn about when such articulations are helpful

and when they are not.

At the end of some modules are a few additional notes that you may nd

helpful.

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RACISM DENYING STATEMENT MODULE 1:

“RACI S M M E A N S H AVING INTENTIONALLY NEG ATIVE VI E WS

OF OTH E R G R O U P S . S O I F I DON’T HAVE CONSCIOUS

NEGATI V E I N T E N T, I DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT BEING

RACIST.”

ALTERNATE VERSIONS:

•

“I have a lot of friends of color, so I can’t be racist.”

•

“I am colorblind.”

•

“Racist applies to people like the KKK. “

•

“All of this talk of unconscious racism is really aimed at making white

people feel guilty for something they did not do.”

POTENTIAL KEY POINTS FOR YOUR CONNECT STORIES

1. Intentions are important, and not having negative intentions is an

important thing to recognize.

2. Given that many people were exposed to negative messages about

POCs, white people who have resisted consciously embracing these

messages should be acknowledged for this.

3. Many people were taught to be colorblind by adults; this teaching has

some value at some points in childhood.

4. There has been progress over the decades with fewer white people

having hostile feelings about people of color.

5. Sometimes, assertions that white people are racist are inaccurate. On

occasions, these assertions are made cynically.

COMBATING RACISM

DENIAL:

THE MODULES

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POTENTIAL KEY POINTS FOR YOUR EXPAND STORIES

1. Most white people were exposed to negative messages about POCs.

Many - perhaps most people – absorbed some of these messages at

least a little. Doing so does not make you a bad person.

2. It is possible to absorb these messages in ways that are below your

conscious awareness. That is, unconscious racism is a real thing.

3. Sometimes, good-hearted white people mentally turn people of color

into people from “other groups”, and this can happen consciously,

semi-consciously, or unconsciously.

4. It is healthy to admit that these messages have affected you, and we

should not shame ourselves or others for doing so. (There will more

discussion of shame in Odds and Ends). In fact, admitting these

messages exist is key to reducing their effect on us.

5. It is possible to believe that one is “colorblind” and still unconsciously

think of people in some racial groups as “other.”

6. Even though the teaching to be colorblind can have value at some

point in childhood, this idea can also lead people to not recognize

some important ways that their own and other people’s perceptions

actually function.

Note: This module will prompt you to try to formulate three Connect and

three Expand stories. The concept of othering/unconscious bias is one of

the most important in modern race relations, so it is suggested that you put

extra effort into creating engagement strategies about this topic.

STEP 1: REFLECT

Reection Questions for “I exactly half agree with you”/”I concur”

anecdotes

1. Describe an experience where you realized there was a difference

between two white people in their level of bad intentions toward

people of color. (It is OK if one of the persons is you).

2. As you were growing up, did you ever resist teachings by any adults

that you should harbor negative feelings against a different racial

group?

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3. If you have ever observed an experience where a white person was

accused of having bad intentions against a person of color and you

thought this was unfair, jot some notes about it.

4. If you were taught to be “colorblind” by your parents and you tried to

follow this teaching, make a few notes about what you were taught and

how you tried to follow this guidance.

5. When it came down to open discussions about race in your family and

friendship circles, how was this issue discussed?

6. When did you first notice that you were receiving messages that

encouraged you to see some people of color as “other”? (These

messages may have come from family, friends, the media, or other

sources). What were some of these messages?

7. How did feel about these messages at the time? Did you ever feel:

a sense of pride in your group? Relief that you were not in another

group? Pity for other groups? Angry at the messengers?

8. If you have recent examples of a person of color having an

unconscious bias against a white person, make some notes about it

here.

Reection Questions For “I Used To Feel That Way”/”I Confess” Anecdotes

1. If you can remember having resistance to the idea of unconscious bias

before you grew in your acceptance of it, make a few notes that will

allow you to capture your previous sense of disbelief.

2. Within your family circles, how was the idea of “othering people” or

unconscious bias discussed? Within your friendship circles?

Reection Questions For “But Later, I Realized” Anecdotes

1. What was a formative experience that taught you that unconscious

bias outside the context of race matters?

2. What was a formative experience that taught you that unconscious

racial bias matters?

3. Can you remember an early experience where you noticed that you

had an unconscious bias against a group? How did you learn this? How

did you feel? Was there a part of you that wanted to reject the idea

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that this was possible? Do you remember a time when this happened

because of race?

4. Can you remember an early time when you mentally turned people

from a different group (maybe not race-based) into “other”?

Reection Questions For “Why I See It This Way” Anecdotes

1. Do you have any recent stories that powerfully illustrate someone

having unconscious bias against a POC?

2. Do you have any stories within the past 10 years that illustrate another

white person looking at a POC as “other” even if only for a moment?

3. Have you ever noticed yourself mentally turning a POC into an

“other”?

4. Do you ever have responses to people in other racial groups that you

don’t like to admit to yourself?

5. Have you ever noticed yourself having an emotional reaction to POC

that may differs from how you feel about similar white people- feeling

more afraid of POCs, for example? More superior?

6. Have you ever noticed yourself acting differently towards POCs than

you do towards white people?

7. Have you ever come to the conclusion that the narrative of “I am

colorblind” actually can be harmful to your or other people’s self-

awareness?

8. Have you ever noticed a situation where a white person appeared to

see a person of color as “other” but had little awareness of this?

STE P 2: ASK QUESTIONS THAT DRAW OUT THE SKEPTIC ’S P E RSPECTIVE AND

THE E XPERIEN C ES B EHIND IT.

Potentially useful experience questions to ask your skeptic

1. What were you taught about race and bias growing up? Were you

taught be to colorblind, and if so, how much did this teaching help

and/or hurt you? Were there any differences in the views of the adults

who were in a position to influence you?

2. Did you ever consciously attempt to ensure that you had no biases

against any group? Why did you do this?

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3. When it came down to open discussions in your family and friendship

circles, how were these issues discussed?

4. Have you ever seen a white person being accused of having a bias

against a person of color that you thought was misguided?

5. What do you think about the idea of unconscious bias? What is an

experience that helped solidify your point of view about this?

STE P 3 : SHARE AN EX PERIENC E TH AT CON NECTS TO T H E SKEPTI C ’S

PERSPECTIVE

Use the following space to clarify the anecdotes that you will tell to connect

to a piece of the skeptic’s view.

Connect Anecdote One

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Connect Anecdote Two

Describe the situation:

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Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Connect Anecdote Three

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Note: One potential concern of racism skeptics is that the idea of

unconscious bias will produce a level of self-doubt that is irritating. This

has some truth of course – if you know about the possibility of unconscious

bias and you are committed to treating people equally, there is more

for you to think about. If the skeptic raises this concern, it is valuable to

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not initially rebut this observation. Later in the conversation, you can

come back to the idea that this additional complexity is worth the trouble

because of your commitment to treating everyone with the respect they

deserve.

STEP 4: EXPAND

An option before you tell your Expand anecdote(s):

You will need to make a decision about whether it may be useful to probe

them about if and when they have experienced bias because of some

characteristic that is not about race. Recognizing an experience they have

had of non-racial bias may help them overcome their resistance to the idea

of racial bias. The question might be phrased something like this:

Leaving race aside, have you ever been in a situation where you felt that

someone’s behavior toward you was biased because of who you were, and

they were not even aware of it?

Many thoughtful people will have at least one example, because bias is

such a pervasive phenomenon. Though you don’t want the conversation

to run out of steam here, if they have an answer, you might ask a follow

up probe about whether there were others who observed this situation

who did not think bias was occurring. The purpose of this follow up is to

establish that even in cases where the target is condent bias is at work,

both the perpetrator and some bystanders to the situation might disagree.

Put your notes about the Expand Anecdotes below.

Expand Anecdote 1

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

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Clarify the takeaway:

Expand Anecdote 2

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Expand Anecdote 3

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

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Clarify the takeaway:

Make sure you manage the time and energy in this conversation so that it

does not run out of steam. Your primary goal is to shi from the Connect

story to relating at least one anecdote to establish that you – a good-hearted

white person – has been someone who has acted on an unconscious bias.

For this issue, it can be especially useful to have one story in which you

concluded that you were operating based on a bias, and one in which you

notice another white person’s bias affecting their response to a person

of color. If the white person did not notice this until it was pointed out to

them and later realized it, so much the better.

It is useful to have a couple of stories about unconscious bias that do not

involve you. Many skeptics are subjet to thinking that whites who think

racism is real have been duped by a progressive rhetorical regime that

blames guilty white liberals for all of the self-inicted problems of people

of color. Your having stories of about unconscious bias being recognized by

other whites helps counter that ideas. In the best case scenario, the skeptic

will get the message that bias is something that is not only recognized

by you and other white people, but also that there is a recognition

by increasing numbers of whites and people of color that even small

unintended bias can have a big impact.

If you have one or more of these stories, try to bring some vividness to the

point of view of the person of color in the story. Your overall message is

that unconscious bias is a relatively small and easy to commit offense by

well-meaning white people but that it can result in signicant impacts on

people of color.

You will need to make a decision about whether/how to broach if they

have ever operated on a bias. They may naturally bring this up. But many

skeptics will not do so because this topic is very emotionally disturbing for

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some people. This sequence of the conversation has suggested to them that

they might be a “racist”, and this may feel very scary to them. It may be

important to let the conversation settle with them so they can integrate all

that they have learned. Hopefully, this is not the last conversation you will

have with them, and you can bring this up in the future.

OPTIONAL STEP: EXPLORING THE SEEMING CONTRADICTIONS

As mentioned, you may decide that tying a bow around the conversation by

exploring the seeming contradictions would be helpful to your objectives.

If so, the following table can be supportive.

Perhaps it is true that

AND

it is also true that

Having positive intentions

toward other groups is critically

important

and

There are still some people who

have both positive intentions and

biases about other groups they are

not aware of

Sometimes people are accused

of being unconsciously bias and

this may not be true

and

Sometimes people act on biases

they don’t see until later

Considering unconscious bias

makes it more complicated to

get through situations

and

Connecting to this hidden factor

makes our lives fairer, richer, and

more interesting

FINAL NOTES

There is a wealth of scientic studies and objective data showing that large

portions of people have unconscious bias against people of color, as well

as a great deal of similarly objective data that shows that the subtle bias of

whites has a profound impact on the lives of people of color.

If you nd yourself in conversations about unconscious bias more than

a few times, it might be useful to familiarize yourself with both of these

types of data. It will be important to make good choices about when and

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how to deploy this information. Skeptics will vary in how they respond to

data of this type. Some people have a higher degree of something called

“scientic curiosity”, which means they are more open to being persuaded

by evidence that might disconrm their original point of view. On the

other hand, there are also people who become more hardened in their

position when confronted with data that suggests they are wrong. So think

about whether and how to move to a data-based conversation with the

skeptic you are talking to.

Discussing Internalized Racism May Be Useful

There is an important fact related to unconscious bias that may help you

even with skeptics who are not oriented toward hard data. Specically,

many people of color have a negative bias against their own group. This

fact has been borne out by the results of the Implicit Association test that

has been taken by millions of people.

As an illustration, Pew Research found that about 28% of Africa-Americans

who take this instrument demonstrates an implicit preference for whites

over African-Americans. (48% of whites do this, according to the same

poll).

Section 3 of this workbook has a sub-section on Unconscious Bias/

Othering with references that may get you started in nding helpful

external sources.

Since many skeptics associate racial bias with bigotry that they nd

morally reprehensible, you can position the facts about internalized racism

by people of color to show that racism is not a personal moral failing by

individual whites, but rather is a societal problem affecting everyone.

Another piece of data that gives skeptics a certain degree of cover to posit

or admit the possibility of bias comes from a comment by Jesse Jackson.

“There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down

the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery. Then look

12 http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/08/19/exploring-racial-bias-among-biracial-and-

single-race-adults-the-iat/

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around and see somebody white and feel relieved.... Aer all we have been

through. Just to think we can’t walk down our own streets, how humiliating.”

The following quote along the same lines may be useful at the right

moment.

“What is the black shadow? It’s the running inner dialogue we have with

ourselves all day long about our fears of being inferior as black people. It is

our internalization of the white man’s lie that blacks are inferior to whites

-- the very lie that was the foundation of our ancestors’ enslavement.”

On Language

Depending on their level of skepticism to racially progressive rhetoric,

it may be counter-productive to label this behavior “racist” in your rst

conversation. In progressive circles, white people saying “I too, am

racist,” is valuable, and can do some important tone setting for collective

explorations of a group’s complicity in a society that exhibits racism in

multi-faceted way. But remember, many skeptics feel themselves in a

deep ideological battle with what they see as excessively race-conscious

rhetoric coming from the progressive movement. Think through whether

the understanding of the skeptic you are talking to is best served by such

confessional language and framing, or whether you are better off framing

biases that you have demonstrated in a more low-key way. Calling this

feeling “racial prejudice” instead might be helpful, for example.

Don’t let the conversation become distracted by an argument about terms.

Whether they call it “racism”, “racial prejudice”, “bias” or other terms is

much less important than trying to get the skeptic to acknowledge that

sometimes people are affected by such thoughts without being aware of it.

Do Not Ask For a Concession Speech

13 Remarks at a meeting of Operation PUSH in Chicago (27 November 1993). Quoted in

“Crime: New Frontier - Jesse Jackson Calls It Top Civil-Rights Issue” by Mary A. Johnson, 29

November 1993,Chicago Sun-Times(ellipsis in original). Partially quoted by Bob Herbert, 12

December 1993,New York Times.

14 From Facing the Black Shadow, Marlene F. Watson, 2013.

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Remember, at one or more points in your conversational journey, you may

want to check to see how the skeptic is thinking about integrating their

experiences, the experiences you have shared, as well as whatever data

you have brought to bear. This may be as simple as asking something like,

“What do you make of all of this that we have talked about?” Your goal is

not get them to make a summary concession to you. If you get the skeptic

to consider that this conversation has been thought provoking and they

want to come back to it, you can declare victory mentally, and celebrate the

success later with other people with a similar ally practice.

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RACISM DENYING STATEMENT MODULE 2:

NOWADAYS , THERE ARE VERY FEW ADVANTAGES TO BEING

WHITE.

ALTERNATE VERSIONS:

•

“I have worked for everything I have. The idea that I am privileged is

ridiculous.”

•

“White privilege does not exist.”

The core conversational objective is to rst let them know that you

acknowledge that white people have struggles. If necessary, you can

acknowledge that some POCs have an advantage over some white people.

Your main message is to convey that it is still easier to be white, though it

may not be easy.

Some potential key takeaways of a story that might connect with a skeptic:

1. Just because you are white does not mean that everything is handed to

you easily.

2. There are times when white people – especially ones with working

class roots – are looked down upon.

3. The advantages of being white in comparison to POC are less than they

used to be. (POCs opportunities compared to whites are much better

than they used to be).

4. Even if there are some advantages of being white in some

circumstances, it may not be helpful to say white people are

inherently “racist”.

5. Claims of racism/white privilege can be used cynically or in way that

tends to silence people.

KEY TAKEAWAY FOR YOUR EXPAND STORY

You can concede all of the points above because they don’t matter to your

central point, which is that you have knowledge of personal experiences

that have lead to your conclusion that being white has advantages.

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On Language

When referring

to the cumulative

advantages of

being white, this

project tends to

avoid the term

“white privilege”

because a huge

portion of

skeptics have a

very difcult time

seeing themselves

as “privileged.”

This term seems

to trigger people,

and actually

worsen the

already tough

challenge of helping them see that being white has many advantages. The

term “white privilege” can become a distraction to acknowledging the

concept in a way that other terms do not – such as the mouthful “unearned

racial advantage”. The anti-racist movement could use more and better

alternative terms. In the meantime, you need to make a conscious

assessment of what terms work, do not work, and when each of these

happen. Hopefully, you will make adjustments as you notice results. It is

worth noting that many allies in the workshops have said, unprompted,

that the term “white privilege” – while a helpful shortcut when talking to

other allies – frequently detracts from the conversation when talking to

skeptics.

On Conceptualization

Some skeptics have trouble accepting the asymmetry of white privilege.

An advantage of the term “unearned racial advantage” is that it can

accommodate the possibility that other groups can benet from this

phenomenon. For instance, black men are assumed to have street smarts,

hen you are speaking to a

white male who has been

raised in a white environment, do

not bring up the term “white male

privilege” and expect them to know

what you are talking about. It only

goes downhill from there. I realize I

had to break it down and get to that

point, not start at that point.

White Ally Toolkit Workshop Participant, Long Valley New Jersey

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and Asian women are assumed to good be in science, and white men are

assumed to be trustworthy. In specic circumstances, these stereotypes

are helpful. The comparative issue is how many and important are those

instances in which people benet from unearned racial advantage. If

you are at a reasonable level of dialogue with a skeptic, you can have

a conversation about this. Given that fair-minded people can, through

conversation, usually be led to see the different impacts of unearned racial

advantage, you do not have to be afraid of giving ground on which term is

used.

STE P 1 : REFLECT O N YOUR OWN PE R SONAL STORIES RELATED TO UNE ARNED

RACIAL ADVANTAGE

Reection Questions For “I Exactly Half Agree With You”/“I Concur”

Anecdotes

1. Do you have a sense that there are some white people (e.g. multi-

generationally wealthy ones) who look down on white people like you?

If so, jot a few notes about an incident that illustrates this disdainful

treatment. Include notes on how you felt.

2. Have you ever felt that discussions of white privilege are used

to silence white voices on social issues? Have you felt that such

discussions contain false assumptions about how easy it is for a white

person to find success? Can you think of specific examples where such

false thinking was happening, at least in your perceptions at the time?

3. Can you think of a story in which a person of color had some kind of

unearned racial advantage?

Reection Questions For “I Used to Feel That Way”/“I Confess” Anecdotes

1. As a child, what were you taught about racial differences? Were you

officially taught to be colorblind? Were there other messages that you

absorbed about how POCs were really better off than whites because

of special treatment? Worse off in some ways?

2. Before you became aware of white privilege, what were the strongest

arguments that you believed about why you were NOT privileged?

3. What were the experiences that you might have cited to illustrate the

idea that white privilege did not exist?

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4. Think back to your most memorable initial learnings that race was a

real thing in society. Did you ever wonder what it might be like to be a

person of color? What did you associate with what it might be like to

be a POC? Did you imagine that life was easier, or more difficult? In

what ways?

Reection Questions For “But Later, I Realized” Anecdotes

1. What is your most powerful memory of hearing experiences from a

person of color that made it clear to you that white privilege was a real

thing?

2. Were there any particularly powerful experiences (yours or someone

you trust) that brought home to you that being white has advantages?

Reection Questions For “Why I See It This Way” Anecdotes

1. What was something that happened to you or family members in the

last year that reinforced to you the idea of white privilege?

2. Do you have any second-hand stories from people you trust that

convey that being white often entails unearned racial advantages?

STE P 2: ASK QUESTIONS THAT DRAW OUT THE SKEPTIC ’S P E RSPECTIVE AND

THE E XPERIEN C ES B EHIND IT.

Potential Experience Questions

•

Can you think of a time when you felt like the system discriminated

against you because you were white?

•

Can you think of an experience that illustrates the lack of white

privilege that you have?

•

Has there ever been a time when other white people looked down on

you because of some reason that you could not control?

•

Describe a time when the idea of white privilege was brought up in a

way that really bothered you because you thought it was particularly

unfair or self-serving.

•

What is something about being white (or about race) that people

who tend to focus on white privilege don’t or refuse to understand?

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STEP 3: CONNECT

Which 1-2 stories from your notes do you think are most compelling to

demonstrate that you do not completely discount all aspects of the skeptic’s

views about race and privilege?

Connect Anecdote One

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Connect Anecdote Two

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

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Clarify the takeaway:

Connect Anecdote Three

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

STEP 4: EXPAND

In reviewing your experiences related to unearned racial advantage

to create an anecdote, the two primary criteria are 1) you can tell the

story powerfully and with some detail if there is time, and 2) almost any

reasonable person would agree that the situation involves unearned racial

advantage.

With that proviso, it is best to have at least one story that represents

an “awakening” in that it relays your transition from questioning white

privilege to believing in it. Optimally, you will also have thought about a

second story that happened well aer you realized that unearned white

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advantage was real. By having and deploying these stories at the right time,

you can send the message that you have gone along a journey of greater

understanding that started where your skeptic is (the earlier connecting

story), and that has continued in expanding your understanding of how the

world works.

Second-hand stories are OK, but usually less effective than stories involving

you. However, second-hand stories are likely to be far more effective than

academic descriptions or conceptual depictions of the privilege, however

powerful they might be. If you use a second-hand story, it is important

to not only inhabit the story reasonably well, but also have a reasonable

explanation of why you believe the story and trust the person who you

heard it from.

Potentially useful stories might include:

•

You (or another white person) were given a break for an infraction

that they did deserve.

•

A POC was treated according to the strict rules, when many white

people would have been forgiven or excused.

•

You learned that a POC had to experience a much greater degree of

complexity in a situation because of reasonable concerns that they

would be treated more poorly.

•

You realized the benets of experiencing many options in products,

historical references, positive images, or other benets because

whites are the dominant group.

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Expand Anecdote One

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Expand Anecdote Two

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

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Expand Anecdote Three

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

OPTIONAL STEP 5: EXPLORING THE SEEMING CONTRADICTIONS

Perhaps it is true that

AND

it is also true that

Life can be difcult for the

average white person

and

Life is somewhat harder for

POCs because of racism

It is possible for a POC to have

more advantages than a white

person in some ways

and

POCs are worse off in some

other ways because of racism

Life of POCs is much better

than it used to be

and

There are still advantages of

being white today

Many white people can be

innocent of racism

and

They still benet from being

white

Some of the discourse around

white privilege can be distorted

and

The concept still might have

some validity

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FINAL NOTE

At some point, consider the possibility of highlighting data, facts, and

illustrations of white racial advantage. While having a few “facts” for the

discussion can be helpful, be careful to not become overly focused on

gathering them.

The following topics related to racial advantage may help rene your

thinking and your research.

Ways that institutions treat POCs differently, such as discriminatory

treatment by:

Education systems

Law enforcement

Health care

Employers

Retail sector

Hospitality sector (e.g. hotels, restaurants)

Housing and lending

Ways that white people are supported by being in the dominant group,

such as :

Media images that prioritize whiteness (e.g. television,

magazines)

Personal products that cater to whites (e.g. hosiery, Band-Aids,

hygiene products)

Ways that white people are more accepted socially, such as within:

Neighborhoods

Informal gatherings

Volunteer organizations

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POC coping strategies deal with the uncertainties of how they might be

treated:

Extra measures taken to ease white people’s fears

Extra measures to prove credibility

“The talk” parents give children about dealing with racism by

police or others

There is academic literature and research about all of the aspects of racial

privilege mentioned above. You don’t need to be an expert on this topic but

it is a good idea to have a few facts that build upon your experiences if the

dialogue lasts a while. Such information can help make the case that your

perceptions about white racial advantage are not aberrant, but are part of a

larger pattern you happen to be aware of.

The Resources Appendix includes some additional includes references to

help learn more about this subject.

Beware of Conversational Touchdown Dances

It is important to remember that your skeptic may be very reluctant to

make an adjustment in their thinking about white privilege. Their denial

may have marinated for a long time. Don’t overplay it and try to force them

into submission. If necessary, reassure them that people are not stupid if

they don’t believe that white privilege is real; rather the difference between

folks who “get” white privilege and those who don’t comes down to just

having gone through a thought experiment about what it might mean to be

someone else. Many astute observers about race have argued that racism

is purposefully designed to keep it invisible. In essence, this argument

states that part of the way structural racism works is that white people are

supposed to not notice their unearned racial privileges.

Even while you reassure them that their previous blindness is nothing to

feel bad about, bringing up the purposeful invisibility idea concept that is

probably counter-productive -- unless your skeptic is already a le-wing

progressive who already believes in underlying intellectual structures that

tend to reinforce the status quo. If the skeptic is not prone to this type of

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analysis, do not bring up the “racism is supposed to be invisible” idea; this

has a good chance of backring. Your best bet is to get them past the white

privilege denial, and leave those larger arguments for another day.

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RACISM DENYING STATEMENT MODULE 3:

PEOPLE OF COLOR’S ECONOMIC PROBLEMS ARE DUE TO

THEIR OWN BAD CHOICES.

ALTERNATE VERSIONS:

•

“If they just worked harder in life, people of color would have better

lives.”

•

“If you don’t do well in life, you should blame yourself, not racism.”

•

“When people of color don’t do well in life, it’s usually because they

make bad choices.”

Here are some specic beliefs it might be useful to highlight in Connect

stories when you are engaging this topic:

1. Putting in hard work is very important to achieving success.

2. There are not enough people who recognize that hard work is

important.

3. Even if a person faces difficult circumstances, they can often turn

things around through diligent effort.

4. Sometimes, people in a difficult economic situation make decisions

that undermine their own success.

5. On ocassion, people rely on racism as a reason to not put in sufficient

effort to foster their own success.

You can concede all of these points, and may be able to cite an experience

that supports these beliefs. At the same time, you also can cite experiences

that highlight the idea that POCs economic disadvantages are signicant

and can be difcult for white people to see.

STEP 1: “REFLECT

Reection Questions For “I Exactly Half Agree With You”/“I Concur”

Anecdotes

1. What was a formative experience that taught you the value of hard

work when faced with obstacles?

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2. Are there people you know/have known whose life stories illustrate the

connection between hard work and success? (This might be because

they have been diligent and successful or lazy and unsuccessful.)

Reection Questions For “I Used to Feel That Way”/“I Confess” Anecdotes

1. What were you taught (and who taught it) about why POCs have

created their own situation? Were there opposing voices that you were

exposed to?

2. Can you think of a prior time on your life when you thought that POCs

problems were because of their own making?

3. Do you ever find yourself wondering deep down if POCs have been

deeply damaged by their history, and that this explains their collective

lack of economic success? Is there any part of this idea that you might

admit to a white skeptic? Does this question cause you to have an

emotional reaction?

4. What is your best explanation for why so many POCs have much less

income and wealth than whites? Do you have competing explanations

that you bounce between?

Reection Questions For “But Later, I Realized” Anecdotes

Jot some notes about a situation in which you realized that you had been

experiencing non-obvious advantages or disadvantages that affected

success.

1. Have you ever had direct insight into a situation with a POC (or a

community) that involved them having significant disadvantages that

were not easily apparent? If so, jot some notes about it here.

2. Do you have any experiences that illustrate a white person being

conditioned to a lack of opportunity for so long that they learned to

expect that they will not succeed?

3. What experiences have you had that have tended to counter the view

that POCs have created their own economic challenges?

4. What are your best arguments to counter the widespread subtle belief

that POCs predicament is their own fault? What first- or second-hand

experiences do you have that best support these arguments?

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PHASE 2: ASK:

1. What were you taught growing up about why so many POCs are worse

off than whites? Were there opposing voices among people you trusted

for guidance?

2. Society has always had some amount of talk about the playing field

being tilted against POCs. What experiences did you have that led

you to conclude the playing field is level and groups have the same

opportunity?

3. Have you heard explanations of POC economic problems that sounded

plausible and those that sounded shaky? (Note: if you use this

question, make sure you ask an experience question like question 2 to

explore beneath their beliefs).

4. What are questions (or statements) about this issue that you have but

don’t feel comfortable raising?

5. If you are open to going deeper: Even though people are not supposed

to talk about this, surveys show that a fair portion of people think that

the reason that folks of color have economic problems because they

are you inherently inferior.

How do you feel about this point of view?

(Note: Be careful to not convey that you assume they think this, only

that you are open to talking about that if that is their actual view).

STEP 3: CONNECT

Many racism skeptics believe that people of color and white people who

are allied with them use racism as an excuse. Many also believe that

POCs and white allies don’t understand the value of hard work and enable

laziness in others. Given this, a primary task is to convey to them that you

share their appreciation of the value of diligence in the face of obstacles.

Telling a story that illustrates your deep recognition of the value of hard

work does not have to be long and involved. It might be as short three or

15 In a 2016 national study including over 2,000 people, 38% of whites rated blacks as less

evolved than whites. is view was held by 52% of Trump supporters. Citation: http://www.slate.

com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/11/the_majority_of_trump_supporters_surveyed_

described_black_people_as_less.html

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four sentences; if the story alludes to others in the same circumstance who

did not work as hard, all the better. (It’s probably best if they are not POCs

in case you get a follow up question). Your core intention is to counter their

suspicion that you are an enabler of POC laziness by asserting that you

understand the importance of hard work.

Which 1-2 stories from your notes do you think are most compelling to

demonstrate that you do not completely discount all aspects of the skeptic’s

views about race and economic opportunity?

Connect Anecdote One

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Connect Anecdote Two

Describe the situation:

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Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Connect Anecdote Three

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

EXPE R IENCE Q U EST IONS TO ASK A SKEPTIC IF YO U PLAN TO GO DEE P ER

Going to More Difcult Territory

As has been mentioned, a relatively sizable portion (almost 1 of 3) of white

Americans are willing to tell an anonymous surveyor that they think that

some people of color (especially blacks) are less hardworking than whites.

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It would not be shocking if the actual number of people who held these

views is actually higher than that – but many people are likely withholding

their feelings even from strangers, because such thoughts are socially

unacceptable.

One opportunity for you to is to deepen your conversations about race is

to give room to skeptics to talk honestly about these beliefs. If you want to

go to this more psychologically risky place, it will important that you make

the conversation safe. Doing so may mean that you acknowledging that you

have been exposed to these ideas yourself, and perhaps absorbed them, at

least a little.

The following are some questions reect on that can help you construct a

productive exchange if you want to go deeper in this way.

1. As a younger person, did any child or adult ever expose you to the

idea that POC were lazier or less hardworking than whites? Do you

remember your reaction to this idea?

2. Do you ever find yourself thinking that the reason that POC have

economic problems is that they just don’t work as hard as other

people? If so, do you have a counter-narrative about this that comes to

your mind, since it is considered socially unacceptable to think that?

3. When you hear the idea from other whites that POC are lazy, what is

your reaction, both emotionally and in your behavior? What do you

tend to think, feel, and/or say? If you have ever had a conversation

with another white person about this, how did the conversation go?

4. How do you feel when you are reminded of the statistic that large

portions of whites are willing to share their beliefs that POC are less

hardworking than whites?

5. Have you had experiences that tend to confirm or disconfirm this

way of thinking? How do you tend to sort out the your experiential

evidence about this issue?

To reiterate, it is possible to have a productive exchange about this issue of

economic opportunity without going to these deeper places. If you want

to raise these issues, you need to be prepared to not judge the skeptic for

honestly answering questions that you have taken the initiative to raise.

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STE P 4 : EXPAND

Your goal is to tell the anecdote with enough specics about lessened

opportunities for POCs so that a reasonable person gets the point. If one of

your anecdotes can reinforce the earlier point about how a white person

might not see these decits in opportunity, so much the better.

Potentially useful stories might highlight:

•

A time when racial discrimination in employment came to light aer

being initially hidden.

•

Your realization that you (or another white person) benetted from

a set of positive opportunities in ways that you may have not initially

realized.

•

How people in minority communities oen face a much more

limited set of good economic options than white people

Expand Anecdote One

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

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Expand Anecdote Two

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Expand Anecdote Three

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

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OPTIONAL STEP 5: EXPLORE THE SEEMING CONTRADICTIONS

Perhaps it is true that

AND

it is also true that

People who are poor oen make

bad choices that hurt their

economic condition…..

and

Poor people have much fewer

of the opportunities to create

success than others?

A variety of conditions

have weakened some POCs’

attachment to working…

and

POCs who have typical levels

of industriousness can still

face obstacles that most whites

do not face

The economic conditions faced

by everyone make creating a

viable future hard for anyone….

and

Issues related to race make it

even harder for many POCs in

ways that can be hard to see

FINAL NOTES

At the appropriate time, it will be useful to highlight data that illustrates

the ways that POCs are oen at a disadvantage with respect to economic

opportunity.

Depending on whether the conversation ow still has energy, at some

point it will be time to go beyond anecdotes and open up the conversation

to data. You will be more effective if you have a few relevant pieces of data

in your mental back pocket.

As you look for relevant information, It may be helpful to think about data

in a few broad categories:

•

Opportunity discrepancies – data that shows that POCs have fewer

opportunities easily available to them that tend to foster success

•

Discrimination - data that shows that even when POCs attempt to

avail themselves of opportunities, they oen face discrimination.

Resume experiments and employment-testing experiments can be

very powerful.

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•

Historical/Perceptual - there is historical polling data that shows that

even in the early 1960’s whites tended to think that POCs had equal

opportunities available to them.

As a general matter, whenever you decide to shi the conversation to

include data, it might not be useful to present historical data rst, since the

message conveyed is that the skeptic has an inherently awed view. It is

likely safer to use historical data about perceptions aer marshaling other

current facts that they will not have known. Then you can use the historical

data to reinforce the point that there have always been dynamics that POCs

face that white folks did not realize existed.

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RACISM DENYING STATEMENT MODULE 4:

“SLAVERY AN D FORCED SEGREGATION WERE A LO N G TIME

AGO. WE SHOULD NOT TALK ABOUT THEM ANY MORE AND

MOVE ON.”

ALTERNATE VERSIONS

•

“People bringing up slavery and other problems in the past is just a

distraction from the real problems….and sometimes even an excuse.”

•

“All this talk about historical or institutional racism is a bunch of

hooey and a way to keep white people from speaking their minds.”

Here are two strategies for advancing the conversation focusing on

experiences. Each of them involves highlighting a common dynamic that

happens in society, then inviting the skeptic to see how the dynamic can

happen in a racial context.

Strategy 1: Explore how each of your lives may be inuenced by events

that may seem to some people (perhaps yourself when you were younger)

to be irrelevant because they happened long ago. Once you establish that

sometimes people misperceive how history shapes themselves or others,

shi the conversation to the racial context.

Strategy 2: Explore some common dynamics that happen between people

or groups when someone has caused injury, someone is struggling with

healing, and reconciliation may be elusive. Aer there is some alignment

on some relevant dynamics, shi the conversation to racial issues.

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STEP 1: REFLECT

Reect on your own personal stories related to history and to injury and

healing.

Reection Questions For “I Exactly Half Agree With You” Anecdotes

1. Have you ever seen a situation where a person was legitimately injured

emotionally, but took longer to heal from it than you thought was

healthy for them? Have you ever thought someone was indulging in an

injury to the point where it felt like they were choosing to stay stuck

and not move on?

2. Looking back on a situation where you were hurt, have you ever

thought that you had been indulging in the injury longer than you

needed?

3. Have you ever seen a situation where a person or a group was injured

emotionally, economically or in some other way, and through force of

will put the wound behind them quickly so they could resume their

progress?

Reection Questions For The “I Used To Think Like That” Anecdotes

1. Have you ever thought that a person of color (or POC in general) were

too focused on injuries and oppression from the past? Have you ever

thought that it was time for them to move on and be curious about why

they were choosing not to do so? If so, try to recall a moment when

you were focused on this issue.

2. Has there been a period in your life when you underestimated the

way that decisions made by your parents, grandparents, or others

affected your life. If so, how would you describe your view of your life

circumstances at a time before you came to a full understanding?

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Reection Questions For “But Later, I Realized” Anecdotes

1. Has your life ever been positively or negatively affected by savvy

or unfortunate decisions made by previous generations? How did

you come to understand the full implications of this? How did you

change your narrative about your life when you came to this new

understanding?

2. Has anyone in your family ever benefited from institutional practices

that operated in a way that excluded non-whites, such as FHA loans

before 1975, the GI bill, or restrictive covenants?

3. Have you ever seen a situation in which you thought someone was not

recovering from an emotional wound or injury fast enough, and you

later learned information that increased your compassion for them?

Reection Questions For “Why I See It This Way” Anecdotes

1. What are experiences you have had or things you have observed that

make it easy to see the link between past racial oppression to current

circumstances?

2. Have you ever been emotionally affected by something longer than

some people thought you should be affected? What was going on with

you that they did not understand?

STEP 2: ASK

1. What have you observed that bolsters your perspective about the

importance of people no longer talking about past racial difficulties?

2. What do you think is the harm that is caused to POC by talking about

past racial difficulties? What is the harm that is caused to whites?

3. How do you think about the pros and cons of connecting to history

and making connections to the present?

4. Are there historical events in your family or group’s past that you think

get too much attention?

5. Have you ever seen a situation when an individual or a small group

was affected by a past injury longer than you thought they should have

been?

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STEP 3: CONNECT

•

Your primary objective is to demonstrate that you have some level of

alignment with aspects of the skeptic’s point of view. The following

are key takeaways that your anecdotes might focus on to build a

sense of connection and trust with the skeptic.

•

You have seen situations where you began to wonder whether some

person or group was holding on to an injury longer than was healthy

for them to do.

•

You know of at least one situation where people successfully

overcame regrettable actions or even victimization in their family’s

history.

•

You can remember – without judging it - having a narrative about

your life that felt robust and complete but that did not include some

historical realities you later came to understand. You will not reveal

these realities until you transition to the Expand phase.

Connect Anecdote One

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

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Connect Anecdote Two

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Connect Anecdote Three

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

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STEP 4: EXPAND

Your goal is to convey an anecdote that compellingly makes the case for

having empathy for POC who connect past oppression to their current

challenges.

One strategy is to relate a time when you observed someone incorrectly

thinking that someone else was indulging a prior injury and choosing not

to move on. Your key message most likely will focus on the way that non-

injured parties oen don’t understand the depth of wounds to injured

parties and as a result sometimes accuse people of not moving forward.

Once you have had a good conversation about this generally, you can

explore whether there might be similar dynamics relevant to wounds

between groups based on racial history.

Another strategy is to highlight the hidden benets of history that have

affected you. If people in your family used a societal benet that excluded

blacks (e.g. FHA, GI bill, and so on) you can describe how this benet

helped you. Aer that, you can talk about discovering these programs’ past

racially discriminatory history, and how you felt about this. It is important

not to overdo your reaction so it will not be dismissed as excessively guilt-

oriented. Rather, position your discovery as pushing you to see the link

between your families’ benet and other’s difculties, and thus increasing

your understanding of why POC talk about the ongoing relevance of

history.

If you told a prior narrative of your life before your awareness of history

happened, now is the time to describe what you learned and how you

realized that the impact of history can be hidden.

Expand Anecdote One

Describe the situation:

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Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Expand Anecdote Two

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Expand Anecdote Three

Describe the situation:

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Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

OPTIONAL STEP: EXPLORE THE SEEMING CONTRADICTIONS

Perhaps it is true that

AND

it is also true that

A situation can have

happened long ago

and

People can be affected by history in

ways that are legitimate, but hard

for others to see

One party can recover from

an injury quicker than

another party might from

the same wound

and

It is possible for a party to think

they have “put something behind

them” when they actually haven’t

and they may still be affected later

An injured party can nurture

a wound longer than is

healthy

and

A party that has harmed someone

are oen underestimates the

degree of damage they have caused

FINAL NOTES

Oen, lurking beneath the desire that some skeptics have to stop talk about

race is shame about being the embodiment of white racial history. This

shame, which also oen affects allies, oen undermines honest effective

conversation. There will be a short discussion on shame in the Odds and

Ends section.

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RACISM DENYING STATEMENT MODULE 5:

IF POC WILL JUST ACT PROPERLY, LAW ENFORCEMENT

WILL TREAT THEM FAIRLY.

ALTERNATE VERSI O NS:

•

“Even if a few cops are bad, the overwhelming portion treats

everyone fairly.”

•

“The real problem is crime in the black community, not anything

about the police.”

•

“If the police treated them that way, it must have been because they

did something wrong.”

•

“People make too much out of the very rare cases of police abuse.”

It may be helpful to convey that you agree with two points that skeptics

oen think demonstrate that racism does not exist:

Most people in law enforcement attempt to do their jobs fairly.

There is a crime problem in the black community that may have

something to do with community norms, among other factors.

Conceding on these points – and perhaps even offering an experience

that demonstrates these ideas – is likely to be helpful. These points do not

undermine the experience you will later convey that helped you conclude

that racial bias too frequently affects how law enforcement treats people.

STEP 1: REFLECT ON YOUR OWN STORIES ABOUT RACE AND LAW

ENFORCEMENT

Reection Questions For “I Exactly Half Agree With You” Anecdotes

1. What is an early or powerful experience that reinforced a positive view

of law enforcement? How did this experience compare to what you

were taught about police as a child?

2. What is an experience where you observed law enforcement treating

POC fairly, especially in a difficult situation?

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3. Have you seen a situation where an officer was made noticeably less

nervous (or more nervous) by the actions of a citizen?

4. What were you taught about crime and POC as a young person?

Reection Questions For “I Used To Feel That Way” Anecdotes

1. Do you remember thinking at some point that racism in law

enforcement was extremely rare? Can you recall specific a time when

you expressed this position, or when you strongly felt this was the

case?

2. Do you remember a time when you thought that “the real problem”

was black crime, and that any misconduct by law enforcement was

a minor concern? What is an experience that can highlight that you

once thought this way?

3. Have you ever been bothered by the Black Lives Matter movement?

Do you now feel or have you ever felt that such protests (or the

organization as a whole) are bad for POC or race relations?

4. Have you ever felt that a leader of color was “soft on crime” and not

doing enough to improve police relations?

Reection Questions For “But Later, I Realized” Anecdotes

1. Are there any beliefs you have about POC and beliefs that you use

to have, but no longer have? Why and how did you change your

perspective?

2. Have you ever had beliefs about the police (or the way they relate

to communities of color) that you used to have, but no longer have?

What experiences could help convey how and why your perspective

changed?

Reection Questions For “Why I See It This Way” Anecdotes

1. If you have had one, describe an experience where you observed an

encounter that increased your understanding of why so many POC do

not trust law enforcement? How did this correspond to or oppose what

you had learned about police as a younger person?

2. Do you have any second-hand experiences from others you trust that

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tend to confirm a view of police as subject to racial bias?

3. Have you talked to a person of color who conveyed that they looked at

law enforcement very differently than you do? What did they tell you

that helped you understand their point of view?

4. What do you think are the main causes of distrust between POC and

law enforcement? What experiences cause you to answer like you do?

5. Have you ever observed white people having perceptions related to

police and/or people of color that many whites would find to be a

distorted way of seeing things?

STEP 2: ASK

1. What were you taught about law enforcement growing up? Can you

remember any experiences that you have had with police that tend to

reinforce your views about the police?

2. How have your direct encounters with police gone, in general?

3. Have you ever witnessed an encounter with a person of color where

that tended to confirm or counter your previous view of police?

4. When you hear POCs or white folks on their behalf blaming law

enforcement for trust deficits, how do you feel? What is your

perspective on the supposed problem of police misconduct? What is

an experience, long ago or more recently, that reinforces your point of

view?

STEP 3: CONNECT

The following are some points of connectedness that might be useful

around which you might base a short story that validates something likely

embedded within their racism-skeptical viewpoint.

•

Not all police ofcers are bad; there are good cops out there.

•

During an encounter with police, small personal decisions have a

large impact on police ofcers, especially when they are nervous.

•

There is problem of too much crime in many communities of color.

•

It is important to prevent people who commit crimes from harming

the community, no matter who they are.

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If you have additional points of connection that you think might be helpful,

please write them down. (We also encourage you to submit them to the

project website so we can modify our materials).

If you have any additional stories (second-hand ones are ne) jot down the

key points.

An Opportunity To Go Into More Difcult Territory

It is important to note that there are some topics of race where the skeptic’s

surface sentiment actually emerges from a view about people of color that

is taboo for people to express directly. Race, crime and law enforcement is

clearly one of these topics.

Here are three examples of “taboo” beliefs that oen lurk beneath the

conversation.

1. POC are inherently more prone to criminality.

2. The culture of people of color (especially blacks) prevents them from

“normal” reactions to criminality and police.

3. Progressive POC and whites sometimes exaggerate claims of police

abuse.

If you decide to try to go to a deeper place with the skeptic, you will still

need to nd a connection point with the skeptic, and not judge them

negatively for revealing their true beliefs to you. The most important

thing is that you be able to convey an experience that illustrates you being

affected by these beliefs, even if only subtly.

Some reection questions that may help you form an anecdote if you are

considering going deeper:

1. Was there a time or circumstance where you may have absorbed the

message that POC were inherently problematic in the ways mentioned

above? What drew you to thinking like that? (Note: it is important to

describe this period when you had those thoughts without negatively

judging yourself.)

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2. What were the experiences that helped you develop a broader

understanding of crime, punishment, and people of color? Were there

any direct experiences that might have augmented what you learned

by reading, listening to others, and so on? (Most skeptics will be most

receptive if you lead with as direct an experience as possible).

Connect Anecdote One

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Connect Anecdote Two

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

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Clarify the takeaway:

Connect Anecdote Three

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Experience Questions To Ask A Skeptic If You Plan To Go Deeper

1. Have you ever witnessed a person of color having a more negative

attitude toward law enforcement than you thought was appropriate?

2. Can you discuss an experience where you experienced the high level

of risk of crime in a community of color?

3. What were you taught about crime and POC as a young person?

4. Have you ever found yourself thinking that POC were inherently

criminally-minded?

As noted in the economics module, you have the choice of going to deeper

and more problematic places in your dialogue with the skeptic. It probably

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only makes sense if you have good reason to believe you can engage the

person in an extended manner. And you may need to convey having had

such troubling thoughts in the past so they know it is safe to admit to these

thoughts.

STEP 4: EXPAND

In pursuing your objective of broadening the skeptics’ views of crime,

punishment, and people of color, stories that might be useful might

highlight:

•

Unconscious bias against people of color by law enforcement ofcers

•

Excessively harsh behavior by police toward people of color

•

White people being treated leniently by police

•

Conscious racism by law enforcement ofcers

•

Situations where people or communities of color are

disproportionately policed (this might include over- or under-

policing)

Expand Anecdote One

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

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Clarify the takeaway:

Expand Anecdote Two

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Expand Anecdote Three

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

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Clarify the takeaway:

OPTIONAL STEP 5: EXPLORE THE SEEMING CONTRADICTIONS

Perhaps it is true that

AND

it is also true that

Crime in communities of

color needs addressing

and

Police abuse in communities is

worse than other places and needs

addressing

Many police treat everyone

fairly

and

Some police are more likely to be

abusive when interacting with POC

Almost all cops try hard to

treat everyone the same way

and

Unconscious bias against POC can

affect cops even though they don’t

intend this

Activists can use claims of

police abuse cynically

and

Police abuse in communities of

color is still a real problem

FINAL NOTES

At the right time, bring up facts, data, illustrations, and other non-

experiential types of knowledge to expand the conversation.

One way of organizing your self education about race and police is to think

about three broad classes of knowledge about race and law enforcement:

•

Racial bias affecting perceptions by and about law enforcement

•

Statistical data about discrepant treatment and outcomes of people of

color

•

Historical data about relations between police and people of color

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RACISM DENYING STATEMENT MODULE 6:

VERY FEW PEOPLE ARE CONSCIOUSLY RACIST ANY MORE.

ALTERNATE VERSIONS:

•

“We have been in a post-racial era since Obama got elected.”

•

“Every white person I know tries to be colorblind.”

The decline of overt white bigotry as expressed in surveys and in

conversation has declined dramatically in the past ve decades, so creating

a sense of connection by conceding this should be easy and useful. It might

be valuable to brush up on a few facts from survey data to buttress any

personal experiences you have that demonstrate this change in attitudes.

At the same time, there is ample survey data showing that a signicant

portion of white adults still hold bigoted views, as has been noted. When it

comes to the Expand stage, start as usual with one to two of the most clear

experiences you have showing that these attitudes are still around. Do this

before relating whatever factoids you know about troubling attitudes which

are still circulating.

STEP 1: GATHER YOUR OWN STORIES ABOUT CONSCIOUS RACIAL BIGOTRY

AGAINS T PEO P LE OF COLOR.

Reection Questions For “I Exactly Half Agree With You” Anecdotes

1. Recall a story about witnessing explicit racism that you think would be

much less likely to happen today because of different social norms.

2. If during your childhood you were ever exposed to an adult who tried

to teach you to be racist in a way that would not likely happen today,

jot some notes about your memories.

3. If you have a story from at least twenty years ago from a person of

color who experienced explicit racism in a way that you imagine would

be much less likely to happen today, write down the key elements of

that story.

4. If you have ever known a POC who, in your opinion, was over-

estimating the degree of animus toward POCs, jot a few notes about

what happened to make you come to that conclusion.

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5. If you have any other experience that leads you to think such feelings

have declined over the past two to four decades, jot some notes about

this experience.

Reection Questions For “I Used To Feel That Way” Anecdotes

1. If you can remember a time when you thought that very few people

were still racist, recall a time when you expressed this opinion in a

conversation or were focused mentally on this idea.

2. Have you ever been with a group of people – whether briefly or on

an extended basis – where racist views were considered normal and

natural?

Reection Questions For “But Later, I Realized” Anecdotes

1. If you have any experiences of witnessing expressions of racial bigotry

that were eye opening for you, jot a few notes about them here.

2. When you went from believing racially troubling views to a new

understanding, what kind of feelings did you have about how you used

to think about this?

Reection Questions For “Why I See It This Way” Anecdotes

1. Jot down notes about 2-3 experiences in the last ten years that

illustrate a white person having unambiguous prejudice against a

person of color. If you have more than one story to choose from, focus

on perfecting stories that have strong impact because the prejudice is

egregious, the people are powerful, or the story is more recent.

2. If you have a second-hand story from a POC (or a white person) about

encountering explicit bigotry, describe it.

3. Jot down notes about 1-2 of your own experiences in the last ten years

(better if more recent) that confirm for you that explicit bigotry is not

completely a thing of the past.

4. If another person has told you about an experience related to

continued bigotry within the last ten years (the more recent the

better), make note of it.

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STEP 2: ASK

1. What have you experienced that lets you know that there is much

less bigotry than there was just after the civil rights movement? What

changes have you seen in your lifetime?

2. Have you ever seen POC over-estimating the amount of animus aimed

toward them? How did you come to that conclusion?

3. Do you think that the portion of people who have negative views of

other racial groups actually matters, or that this does not really make a

difference?

4. Do you think that different groups tend to underestimate,

overestimate, or accurately estimate how common such perspectives

are? Do you think that different identity groups might make mistakes

about this?

5. Have you ever seen evidence that someone harbored negative feelings

toward POC? (If you ask this challenging question, only do so AFTER

asking questions that encourage story telling that is aligned with their

point of view).

STEP 3: CONNECT

Your primary task is to convey to the skeptic that you know that explicit

bigotry against POC has dramatically declined in the last few decades.

A factoid that might help you in the connect phase is that fact that in

according to a 1990 University of Illinois Chicago survey, 66% of whites

thought that blacks were less intelligent than whites, and 58% thought

they were less intelligent. The same survey found these percentages had

declined by more than half by 2014, to 32% and 22% respectively.

Some options might be:

•

Share a story about a personal experience that happened long ago

where a white person demonstrated their bigoted views that you

think would be very unlikely to happen now.

•

Describe a time you observed when you thought that a person of

color was overestimating - even for understandable reasons – the

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amount of racism in society or in a situation.

•

Share your perspective on some event or situation that indicates that

social bigotry has declined signicantly.

Connect Anecdote One

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Connect Anecdote Two

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

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Clarify the takeaway:

Connect Anecdote Three

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

STEP 4: EXPAND

Offer 1-2 experiences that illustrate how you came to realize that old-

fashioned bigotry against people of color is still a real factor in American

life.

As you search through your memory for experiences to choose from,

remember that a skeptic may require a high threshold of proof that

racial animus was at play and that it resulted in the mistreatment of

someone. Ideally, your story will be such that any reasonable person would

conclude that racial animus was at play in the situation. Having heard a

salesperson in a store talking about not liking to serve “those people” is

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strongly suggestive of animus; hearing such statements and witnessing the

salesperson mistreat someone is more persuasive. (If you can only report

the “those people” comment and not actual treatment, a skeptic may

accuse you of operating as the “speech police.”)

Of course, you may not have each of these types of events in your

experience. You may not have seen such mistreatment or you may not have

heard white people make statements in all-white settings that conrm

their bigoted beliefs. Your goal is to construct a series of brief anecdotes

that are difcult to dismiss.

While it is not ideal, having second-hand stories is better than only having

a hunch that racial bigotry and animus still persist. Hopefully, you have

trust-based and close relationships with some people of color. If you do,

there may be a time when it is appropriate for you to ask them if they have

been on the receiving end of this kind of bigotry. If you decide to ask about

such experiences, be sensitive about the possibility that you are asking

them to recount something that may have been very painful. You want to

make sure they do not feel that you are asking them for “racism porn.” It

will be useful to explain to them that you are asking to hear about this not

only because you want to understand their experience of race, but also for

the specic purpose of having a stronger tool to move skeptics along.

There is also a value in second-hand stories from other white allies. The

more recent they are, the better.

Expand Anecdote One

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

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Clarify the takeaway:

Expand Anecdote Two

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Expand Anecdote Three

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

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Clarify the takeaway:

OPTIONAL STEP 5: EXPLORING THE SEEMING CONTRADICTIONS

Perhaps it is true that

AND

it is also true that

Overt racism has declined a

lot in the past few decades

and

There is still a surprising amount of

racism by whites against people of

color

Sometimes POC have not

fully accepted the reality that

overt bigotry has declined

and

POC still experience the impact of

bigotry and don’t always talk about

it to whites

There are developments

that have happened that are

evidence of racial progress

we can all be proud of

and

There is a evidence that our

progress on race is only incomplete,

and society is still affected by the

severe racial inequities of the past

Many white people can be

innocent of racism

and

There is still benet from being

white

Some of the discourse

around white privilege can

be distorted

and

The concept still might have some

validity

FINAL NOTES

You should make conscious choices about when it is most effective to

shi the conversation to data, since this rarely changes minds. In this

case, however, there is very strong data that supports both the racism-

skeptical and the racism-acknowledging perspectives. There is a wealth

of survey data that demonstrates levels of animus expressed by whites

has declined sharply in recent decades, AND there is strong survey data

that shows that a remarkably large number of white people believe that

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some or most people of color are inferior on an important dimension

such as intelligence, industriousness, or criminal-mindedness. As has

been mentioned, there is solid data indicating that a substantial portion of

whites hold some level of distaste for certain groups of color and disfavor

intermarriage, living in neighborhoods with substantial numbers of some

groups of POC, or sending their children to school with them.

As you present this data, be mindful of how much you need to present

to make your point. Some people will change their mind due to an

overwhelming mountain of evidence that contradicts their point of view.

However, other people will be made uncomfortable by hearing too much

data that disconrms their beliefs, and the Backre Effect will rule the day.

It is important to stop presenting evidence at the right time.

Here Are Some Facts That May Be Helpful. Use With Caution.

Sometimes reframing can be helpful as you are marshalling data. For

instance, some anti-racism advocates discuss the more than 20 percent

of whites who view blacks as inferior by referring to numbers of blacks

in America (37 million as of 2017) and comparing this to the number of

whites who think blacks are inferior – 38 million, which is 20 percent of

196 million.

Here is another example of a potentially savvy reframe: There is reliable

data that shows a substantial portion of white Hillary Clinton supporters

thought blacks are intellectually inferior and an even greater portion of

white Donald Trump supporters that thought the same way. When talking

to a politically conservative skeptic, one tactic that some allies take is to

cite the Clinton statistic to illustrate that a non-trivial number of whites

hold these views. This strategy plays to the common narrative that the

“real racists” are liberals. You can feign ignorance for the moment about

the portion of Trump supporters who think similarly (a signicantly

higher proportion), and encourage them to look this up for your next

conversation.

16 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-race/exclusive-trump-supporters-more-

likely-to-view-blacks-negatively-reuters-ipsos-poll-idUSKCN0ZE2SW?feedType=RSS&feedNam

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If the skeptic becomes resistant to more data, it may be time to remind

them that you have already conceded that explicit bigotry has signicantly

declined over time. As needed, remind them that you are not trying to

judge that their perspective is incorrect, rather, you are trying to add to

their sense of truth with more information.

Try to get them to explore whether there is a good way of integrating

all that this exchange has covered. The most obvious is that bigotry has

declined, still exists to a signicant extent, and still affects people of color.

Be attentive to when to stop the conversation for resumption later. For

instance, a natural corollary to the reality that many whites are still bigoted

is that POC naturally wonder if the person in front of them is one of the 1/5

who thinks that they are inferior. White privilege lurks around this reality,

since worrying about this animus is a burden that you and the skeptic don’t

have to contend with. But, it may or may not be helpful to bring this issue

up.

e=topNews&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social)

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RACISM DENYING STATEMENT MODULE 7:

“THE ANTI-IMMIGRANT SENTIMENT IS NOT AFFECTED BY

RACIAL BIAS; INSTEAD IT IS ONLY REFLECTING THE WAY

THAT IMMIGRANTS A R E H A R M I N G AMERICA’S CULTURE.

ALTERNATE VERSIONS:

•

“In previous generations, immigrants would focus on assimilation

into an existing culture. We only need immigrants who are willing to

do that. “

•

“Immigration is taking needed opportunities away from Americans

who need them.“

•

“Diversity might be nice but it has gone too far. We need to return to

an America with a common culture.”

While there is a broad set of reasons (some valid, some spurious, and some

based on animus) for supporting cutbacks in immigration, some common

themes about immigration that you are likely to hear include:

•

America culture is fragmenting and too much immigration makes

this worse.

•

Too many immigrants refuse to learn English or to otherwise

assimilate.

•

Immigrants, especially undocumented ones, take opportunities away

from Americans.

•

Undocumented immigrants erode respect for the rule of law.

Some points that you should consider conveying to connect to the skeptic

aer learning more about their perspective:

•

It is understandable that good-hearted white people sometimes to

see immigrants as “other”.

•

Having immigrants in the country makes our lives more complicated

and sometimes it is unsettling.

•

It can certainly feel like many opportunities are going to immigrants.

•

It is possible for an individual to favor decreased immigration and

have that sentiment not be mostly about bias/racism.

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You can concede these points, without undermining what you want to

convey through experience, which is probably one of these three points:

•

White people have to be careful to keep aversion to those different

than us in check.

•

Immigration involves many benets to society.

•

Your perspective on immigration has evolved over the course of your

life.

STEP 1: REFLECT

Reection Questions For “I Exactly Half Agree With You” Anecdotes

1. Have you ever felt like the presence of non-Americans was weakening

important aspects of American culture?

2. Have you ever felt that we might be doing not enough for some

Americans citizens and too much for people born elsewhere?

3. Do you ever find it irritating that we often have to accommodate non-

English speakers or people with very thick accents?

4. Are there any other experiences you have had that might help you

connect with someone who feels like America is changing too fast or is

too welcoming of people from other countries?

Reection Questions For “I Used To Feel That Way” Anecdotes

1. Can you remember a time when you were much more averse to

immigrants personally than you are now? What is an example of time

when your experience was affected by this aversion?

2. Was there a time when you were more conservative on immigration

policy than you are now? What is an example of a moment where you

were in touch with that perspective?

Reection Questions For A “But Later, I Realized” Anecdotes

1. If you previously had a different view of immigration than you do now,

what experiences did you have that helped change your mind?

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2. How do you look back on your previous viewpoint on immigration?

What were some factors that had been affecting you that you did not

before realize?

Reection Questions For Helping You Prepare A Story That Supports Your

Perspective On Immigration

1. Jot down notes from family stories that illustrate the value of

immigration to the country.

2. Jot down notes from family stories that illustrate the way that

immigrants of a previous era were looked down upon.

3. What is an example of time when an immigrant (preferably

undocumented) noticeably enriched the life of you or someone you

know?

4. How is your perspective on immigration connected to your sense of

religious obligation, if you feel that? Are there any experiences that

underscore that connection?

5. Have you ever seen a situation where a less competent/capable white

person was able to keep a job that a more capable immigrant might

have done better?

STEP 2: ASK

Whether you ask about how they initially formed their views or more

recent experiences that tend to support their position, the most important

thing is that you ask the question(s) in a way that does not make the skeptic

feel negatively judged for their perspective.

Some potentially useful questions are:

1. When did you first start feeling like we had too much immigration?

Was there any particular experience that first drove this point home?

2. How was immigration talked about in your home growing up? Was the

idea that we have to avoid too much immigration a shared idea in your

family? Have you ever had a perspective about immigration that was

different than the one you have now? What experience did you have

that changed your mind?

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3. What was an experience in the past 5 years that has driven home the

importance of cutting back on immigration?

4. Are there any experiences that are not dramatic but only somewhat

irritating – even a small experience like hearing press 1 for English –

that amplify your view about immigration?

STEP 3: CONNECT

Determine your Connect Stories for a conversation about immigration by

reviewing the prompt questions and deciding which you could tell most

compellingly.

Connect Anecdote One

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Connect Anecdote Two

Describe the situation:

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Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Connect Anecdote Three

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

STEP 4: EXPAND

Your objective is to share 1-2 anecdotes that illuminate why you tend to

oppose the anti-immigration sentiment that is increasingly common in

some parts of the white community. While it is ne to base some of this

feeling on opposing the anti-immigrant sentiment, it will likely be more

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effective if you have experiences that reinforce a pro-immigration position.

Make conscious decisions about whether your story focuses on legal vs.

illegal immigration.

If you are going to focus on illegal immigration, it may be useful before

that to signal that you have respect for the rule of law and/or authority.

Many skeptics’ views on illegal immigration are a mix of xenophobia and

faithfulness to authority structures. If your goal is to inuence them to

be compassionate to people who are in the US illegally, you will likely be

better off if you have reminded them that you place some value on legal

authority.

Expand Anecdote One

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Expand Anecdote Two

Describe the situation:

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Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Expand Anecdote Three

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that might expand

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

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OPTI O NAL STEP 5 : EXPLORE T HE SEEM I NG CON T RADI CTIONS

Perhaps it is true that

AND

it is also true that

Modern life makes the

challenges of assimilating

easier for native born

Americans

and

The vast majority of immigrants

are assimilating just as fast

as previous generations of

immigrants

There are some jobs for

which immigrants do

out-compete native born

Americans

and

There are some jobs that are

necessary but that native born

Americans refuse wages that

immigrants will accept

Having millions of

undocumented immigrants

decreases many people’s

sense that laws should be

obeyed

and

Rounding up undocumented

immigrants with long ties to

the community undermines

many people’s sense that their

community is fair and cohesive

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RACISM DENYING STATEMENT MODULE 8:

THOSE ATHLETES WHO PROTEST DURING THE NATIONAL

ANTHEM ARE DISRES P ECTING THE NATI O N , THE FLAG, AND

THE TROOPS.

ALTERNATE VERSIONS

•

“Any athlete who does not stand during the anthem is demonstrating

that s/he is ungrateful for the opportunities this country gave them.”

•

“Any person who cares about this country stands and does not use

the anthem as a time to make a statement.”

Creating an effective dialogue through storytelling on this topic has an

additional conversational element that will be described.

To connect with the skeptic, it is usually helpful to show alignment on

issues of loyalty and order that they are likely to resonate with. This may

involve telling an anecdote demonstrating that:

•

You think patriotism is important.

•

Sometimes you are emotionally moved by your love of America.

•

You have had moments when you were bothered by the way that

someone was protesting a situation.

In the Expand part of the process, it is useful to get the skeptic’s awareness

around the fact that there are “out-groups” in a social setting that have

less prestige than “in-groups.” The best way to do this is to relate an

anecdote about you or someone you know being in an out-group, and most

importantly, having a more complicated sense of loyalty in the setting than

member of the in-groups.

Aer telling stories that will help the skeptic agree that out-groups oen

have different senses of loyalty than in-groups, your next task is to relate

experiences that made you empathize with the fact that many people of

color see themselves as an out-group. The point of those shis in focus is

to get the skeptic to at least understand why you have some empathy for

people protesting, even though you love America.

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STEP 1: REFLECT

Reection Questions For “I Exactly Half Agree With You”/”I Concur”

Anecdotes

1. If possible, describe an experience where you were emotionally

moved during the national anthem or a similarly patriotic song.

2. If possible, describe an experience, by yourself or in a group, where

you felt a great deal of pride in the United States.

3. If possible, describe an experience of feeling very happy to be an

American.

4. What aspect of American values give you the greatest feeling of

satisfaction? Why? Describe a moment when you felt this satisfaction

very deeply.

5. If you have had one, describe a time when someone was conducting a

protest and you felt that their protest was inappropriate or it made you

uncomfortable. Describe why you thought that their protest happened

in a way that was inappropriate.

Reection Questions For “I Used To Feel That Way”/”I Confess” Anecdotes

1. If it happened, describe a conversation or a moment when you looked

at national symbols and/or protests about them similar to the way that

your skeptic does.

2. In the past, have you ever noticed yourself being angry at someone for

not being as patriotic as you were at the time?

Reection Questions For “But Later, I Realized” Anecdotes

1. If there was key moment when you shifted how you looked at national

symbols or protests, jot some notes about it.

2. If you ever adjusted your thinking to become less judgmental of

people who think about patriotism differently that you do or did, jot a

few notes about how your thinking changed.

If your moment involved a shi in how you feel about the United States –

as opposed to its symbols – it may not be in your interest to focus on this

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anecdote. It is highly unlikely that you will get the skeptic to have empathy

for you if you tell a story about how you realized, for example, the troubling

moral implications of the United States’ history of violent colonialism.

However, if the change in your perspective was about national symbols, or

even better, about other people’s protests, you may have a better chance of

not engaging the defensiveness of your skeptic.

Reection Questions For “Why I See It This Way” Anecdotes

1. If you have one, describe an experience where you had a family

member who generated more complicated feelings within you than

did other family members? When and how did you notice that you felt

differently than others in the family?

2. Describe a time when you felt a part of community but also had some

misgivings about it because you had experienced some problems that

other members did not.

3. Describe any complicated feelings about your high school or college

experience. Were you in an out-group? If so, how did that affect your

feelings about the school? If you were not in an out-group but were

friends with someone who was, what did you learn about loyalty from

this experience?

4. If you have ever been in an “in-group “ and did not understand

the complaints of some people in an “out-group”, describe your

perspectives and experience of that situation. (Examples might be

high school, college, work, or a community large enough to have sub-

groups within it that had different levels of status).

5. Have you ever been in an out-group in a community? If so, did this

experience contribute to you and others having different feelings of

loyalty and affection toward the group than those not in out-groups?

6. Have you ever had an extensive conversation with a person of color

who has complicated feelings about America? If so, try to remember

any of their experiences that helped you understand why their feelings

were complicated. If you can remember a particular moment when

you poignantly understood why many people of color feel ambivalent

in their patriotism, describe that moment as best as you can.

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7. If you have done so, describe a time when you participated in a

protest that was designed to make some people feel disrupted or

uncomfortable. Describe why you thought that the protest was worth

it, despite the fact that uncomfortable feelings were experienced

by others. Did it bother you that this discomfort was a result of the

protest?

Conversational Flow

The basic strategy for this conversation ows from the following logic:

A racism skeptic is not likely to have done a thought experiment about how

it might feel to experience America through the eyes of an “out-group”.

It may be useful to try to get them to mentally try on this experience.

One strategy is to encourage them to think about an experience that you

had where you were in an out-group in a social situation. For instance,

many people have had this experience in school or community activities.

Alternatively, many people have had the experience in a family situation

where they were not in an out-group, but they had a more complicated

experience of the family than others.

Your goal is to help them see in a non race-based situation that people

who have multi-layered experiences have a sense of loyalty that is more

complicated than others whose experience is more straightforwardly

positive. Aer illustrating this idea with your own experience, you may

want to ask them if they can relate to this idea from some experience they

have had of being in an out-group.

If you can get the skeptic to acknowledge that people’s sense of loyalty can

be complicated – especially if they are in an out-group - then your task is

to try to get them to acknowledge that people of color in the US have had a

different experience of the nation than others is easier, and that this gives

an added complicating factor to their loyalty.

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PHASE 2: ASK

Your goal is to ask the skeptic about experiences that undergird and

illustrate their opinion about patriotism and protest. One option is to ask

them to tell you two short stories, one about a moment when they were

feeling particularly patriotic, and one that helps illustrate them being

bothered by people protesting something that is supposed to serve as a

collective symbol.

The rst story is worth asking about because it may be easier for you

to show alignment with it than the second story. If you have ever had a

moment of national pride, patriotism, or even gratitude to be an American,

it will likely be useful to briey relive this moment so that your skeptic

knows you are capable of feeling these things.

Questions About The Skeptic’s Experience Of Patriotism And Protests

1. Tell me about a time when you were particularly filled with your love

of country.

2. Tell me about a time when you heard the national anthem and it really

moved you emotionally.

3. What happens to you when you see or hear about athletes kneeling

to protest police abuse during the anthem? How do you feel? Do your

feelings change depending on whether they are professional or not?

4. Has your perspective about the athletes’ protests changed since they

first started? If so, how and why?

5. Have you ever been part of a group that included folks who appeared

to feel that they were not part of the “in-group”? Did it ever seem like

the people in the out-group had a different sense of loyalty than folks

in the in-group?

6. Have you ever been a part of a group (in your family, in a school, etc.)

where you felt you were not in the “in-group”? If so, did you ever think

that your loyalty toward the community felt different than the loyalty

of the in-group members?

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STEP 3: CONNECT

At this point, you want to make sure they know that you sometimes feel

patriotic. This is probably not the best time to discuss whatever misgivings

you have around the history of United States government misdeeds,

foreign or domestic. Instead, relate anecdotes that focus on instances

when you felt happy or even proud to be a member of your national

community.

When you get to an experience of ambivalent loyalty that you may have

experienced, it is probably best if it is NOT about America as a whole, but

about some other community or institution that you have been connected

to.

Connect Anecdote One

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Connect Anecdote Two

Describe the situation:

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Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

Connect Anecdote Three

Describe the situation:

Describe the key moment that illustrates the takeaway that connects to

the skeptic’s view:

Clarify the takeaway:

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STE P 4 : EXPAND

The expand step for this module is more complex than for the other

modules in this workbook.

Expand Move 1: The rst task is to try to get the skeptic to acknowledge

that setting aside race/racism, people in “out-groups” in a human

community tend to have a more complicated sense of loyalty to that

community than people who are in “in groups.”

Examples include:

•

Groups considered less valuable in a school settings (e.g. the Nerds,

the Geeks)

•

Members of low prestige sororities or fraternities

•

Step-family members in a family that prizes blood relations

•

Junior employees in an agency that values seniority

The most effective anecdote is one where you can compellingly make the

case that people in an out-group (including perhaps yourself) appeared to

feel a lessened and/or more complicated sense of loyalty that those in the

in-group. If possible, you should try to make a subtle connection between

the experience of being in the out-group and having a different sense of

connectedness to the system in question.

If possible, ask the skeptic questions to explore whether they are familiar

with the way that members of out-groups feel differently than others.

Maybe they have been in an out-group, or have had friends or family

members who have.

Once you have gotten them to acknowledge that members of out-groups

have more complicated feelings of loyalty than in-group members, you can

progress to the next phase of the conversation

Expand Move 2: Relate anecdotes that suggest that many people of color

understandably feel they are in an out-group

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Your objective is to manage the conversation in a way that moves the

skeptic to seeing why people of color might see themselves as an “out-

group” in the United States.

One strategy that many allies have said is useful is to engage the skeptic

in a version of the “Imagine if you were a person of color.” Citing both

historical factors (slavery, lynchings, forced segregation etc.) and current

factors (polling data showing large pluralities of whites nd blacks and

Hispanics inferior, discrepancies in law enforcement interventions, studies

that demonstrate the pervasiveness of employment discrimination) may be

helpful in some cases.

While these are helpful sometimes, you may have more success if you can

relate personal anecdotes, such as:

•

Instances when you witnessed a POC being treated unfairly

•

A time when a POC discussed their general sense of being regarded

as “other”

•

A second-hand story of unfair treatment from a POC

Your objective is to encourage the skeptic to see that POCs oen see

themselves as part of an out-group, and thus, have complicated feelings of

loyalty just as members of other out-groups oen do.

OPTIONAL PHASE 5: EXPLORE THE SEEMING CONTRADICTIONS

It may be helpful to direct the skeptic’s attention toward the possibility

that their perspective on the anthem protest is reasonable and that other

perspectives on the protests are also reasonable. The following table may

be helpful if you pursue this line of conversation.

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Perhaps it is true that

AND

it is also true that

It is reasonable for members

of in-groups to have

uncomplicated feelings of

loyalty

and

It is reasonable for members of

out-groups to have complicated

feelings of loyalty

The ag and the anthem

legitimately represent the

fullled ideals of America for

some people

and

The ag and the anthem

legitimately represent unfullled

ideals of America for some people

Some people experience

standing during the anthem as

honoring Americans who died

serving their country

and

Some people experience kneeling

during the anthem as honoring

Americans who died unfairly at

the hands of the government

FINAL NOTES

•

The third stanza of the Star Bangled Banner mentions slavery with no

discernable ambivalence about the tensions between slavery and the

“land of the free”

•

The association between the anthem and the military is a relatively

recent development, spurred in part by branding decisions made by

the NFL in 2009.

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ADDITIONAL WORKSHEET FOR PROBLEMATIC

STATEMENTS NOT COVERED IN THIS WORKBOOK

RACIALLY PROBLEMATIC STATEMENT

(It is best to depict the statement, not just describe it. Put it in quotes)

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

Are there one or more things that are true that are arguably embedded

within the statement?

Have you ever thought this way, or close to this way?

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If you have ever thought this way, what happened that moved you from

thinking this way?

What is an observation of some reality about race/racism that is related

to the statement that skeptics tend to deny, downplay, or are just not

sufciently aware of?

CONSTRUCTING CONNECT AND EXPAND STORIES

Jot a few notes that represent the core elements of a Connect story about

this issue here.

Write a few notes that represent the core elements of an Expand story

about this issue here.

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FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE MODULES

Congratulations! Whether you read through all of the modules or just one,

you are now much more prepared to have a productive encounter with

a racism skeptic. This is particularly true if you have actually completed

the reection exercises and constructed the Connect and Expand stories,

instead of just reading over the worksheets.

The most important next step for you is actually practicing your anecdotes,

perhaps with a live human being. (It would not be a bad idea practice your

stories by yourself, just to get used to hearing the words coming out of your

mouth). It is not vital to that your rst attempt to marshal these stories be

with a racism skeptic. Practicing the stories with another ally – whether

or not you tell them in advance about what you are doing – will be a very

useful way to prepare for the moment when someone makes a racially

troubling statement that you do not expect.

Reading each of the next two major sections of the rest of this workbook

will be valuable for your journey as an ally, if only because this is likely to

broaden your options in how to manage conversations. There are some

specic

sub-sections that are particularly important if you are pressed for

time and want to quickly rene how you show up in conversations. The

Othering subsection of the Primer gives guidance for taking about the

fundamental psychological dynamic behind racism and other “isms” which

is mentally turning people in “other than me.” The subsection on shame

in Odds and Ends may help you recognize an impediment to your past

and future effectiveness in engaging skeptics. Aer you have developed

Connect and Expand stories, it might be useful to review the Moral

Frameworks subsection of Odds and Ends to make some tweaks that may

boost the effectiveness of those stories. Also, the Closing Encouragements

may be useful in keeping you motivated to stay on the ally path.

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PART THREE:

THE ALLY

COACHING

CURRICULUM

Part 3 of the book prepares allies who want to

intentionally focus on a person’s racial awareness

and strengthen it over a period time.

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This primer prepares you to go on an intentional conversational journey

with a white racism skeptic or someone who is signicantly less racism-

aware than you are.

The usefulness of this primer is somewhat different than that of Section 2,

The Modules; the previous section contains a number of separate modules

that give you guidance about how to pivot from a unexpected racially

problematic remark – one that is either racially prejudiced or one that

minimizes racism’s existence - to an exchange or set of conversations that

might inuence how a racism skeptic thinks. It is important that white

allies are prepared to create moments of dialogue in this improvisational

way.

The perspective of this project is that the obligation to white allies does not

stop with leveraging these unexpected opportunities to inuence racism

skeptics. In order for white public opinion to be changed on large scale,

the work of white allies should also involve pro-actively coaching people

up a path of learning about racism and their role in dismantling it. Every

ally should have a clear but exible plan – that is, a curriculum - for the

sequence of concepts that they will try to get their skeptics to understand.

Starting some day every year (e.g. Jan. 1, April 4: the anniversary of Martin

Luther King’s assassination, July 4), people who regard themselves as allies

against racism should identify one or more specic people that they will

be working on inuencing during the coming year. This primer is intended

to serve as the foundation of a curriculum that will guide your intentional

conversational journey that you might take with one or more people.

The concepts of this primer are ordered in a way that is likely to work best

for most skeptics most of the time. The structure is based on decades of

professional experience leading racial dialogue processes, so it is on a solid

foundation. But in truth, this curriculum has not been tested by thousands

of untrained allies working on skeptics. So, you should regard it as a guide

THE PRIMER

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for your coaching, but like any good teacher or coach, you will need to

make smart choices in the moment about how to move the specic people

you are working on up a ladder of understanding. The hope is that you can

stay connected to this project and give feedback on what strategies work

best, in what order and under what conditions.

The concepts and their order are as follows:

1. Othering – the phenomenon of consciously or semi-consciously

seeing people in other groups as “different” than oneself;

2. Unconscious Bias – deeply ingrained views that people have of other

groups. These views operate below our conscious level of awareness;

3. Attribution Error – the tendency of people to see other people’s

behavior as reflecting some personal or group characteristic. In

contrast, when looking at our own behavior, we tend to see what we do

as a response to the circumstances in the situation;

4. Racial Anxiety – people’s worry that others will see them through a

racial lens;

5. Unearned Racial Advantage (commonly called “white privilege”) –

the benefits of being treated as “normal “or superior because of one’s

racial status;

6. Racial Threat – worry that social and/or political developments will

harm the status of my racial group;

7. Racial Backlash/Denial – actions taken by a group in response to the

perception that another group has altered the racial order;

8. Institutional Racism – the way that an organization or sector of society

operates in a way that consistently creates a disadvantage for some

groups compared to other groups;

9. Structural Racism – the way that the occurrence of institutional

racism in separate sectors can combine to compound racial disparities

and make it more difficult for any one person, institution, or sector to

combat disparities;

10. Racial Equity – a potential future condition in which opportunities,

chances, and outcomes for people cannot be reliably predicted by

their racial background.

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There are some important differences and distinguish concepts one

through seven versus concepts eight through ten with respect to the kind

of conversation allies can have and need to have with racism skeptics.

Concepts one through seven above (othering, unconscious bias, attribution

error, racial anxiety, unearned racial advantage, racial threat, racial

backlash/denial) are all social-psychological dynamics that can be directly

experienced at the individual level, though seeing this may require

reection and discernment. As such, it is possible for an ally to review his

or her experiences closely, perhaps talk to a few other allies, and be able to

talk about the way they and others have directly experienced these ideas.

The advantage of this conversation is that the ally can tell personal stories

about feeling emotions and noticing their and others’ behavior, and such

storytelling can be very inuential.

Racial backlash/denial lies between the individual and cumulative concepts

in the following way: people making decisions affected by these factors

rarely see themselves as affected by these factors at the time, although they

can sometimes see how these factors inuenced them at a later time when

they have more distance from the immediate circumstance. Oen though,

racial backlash/denial are very visible when looking at the way that many

people are making decisions, even though most of them would report at

the time that racial factors are not affecting their thinking.

In contrast, concepts 8 through 10 above (institutional racism, structural

racism, and racial equity) require an even higher level of abstraction to

see than racial backlash/denial. Institutional and structural racism are

inherently more abstract concepts, in that these concepts describe the

result of cumulative behavior of large numbers of people acting on behalf

of a very large organization or a group of them. Finally, racial equity is an

imagined state that does not exist but that is the goal of much anti-racism

work.

So while these latter three concepts are very much grounded in reality, in

comparison to the rst seven ideas, seeing these concepts relies to a much

greater extent rely on statistics, historical interpretation, or other sources

of insight that are not as tightly bound to direct personal experiences. As

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a result, when trying to inuence a skeptic to see these realities, you will

likely need to rely on external data to reveal the relevance of the concepts.

As has been discussed, people can have a great deal of skepticism about

sources of information that they think are biased against their existing

view of the

world, regardless

of how much

objective

expertise

these sources

rely on. The

recommendation

is that you will

likely be better

off in reducing

their overall

skepticism by

rst having

conversations

about the

concepts that

you can examine

together through

your personal experiences.

There is a contrasting view that suggests the above might be incorrect.

Some of our workshop participants have said that within the context of

workshops, some racism skeptics can more easily think about racism if

the topic is not approached in a way that personally implicates them. It is

possible that for some skeptics, raising societal issues before interpersonal

ones is more effective, even in one-on-one conversations. Again, there

have not been large-scale experiments about how to combat skepticism

about racism. The anti-racism movement does not really know which kinds

of skeptics are better served by starting with the personal topics and which

are better served by staring with the community and institution issues.

Allies will need to experiment with different approaches and observe their

he anti-racism movement

does not really know which

kinds of skeptics are better served

by starting with the personal

topics and which are better served

by staring with the community

and institution issues. Allies will

need to experiment with different

approaches and observe their results



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results to gure out the best strategies.

In light of that, this workbook includes brief discussions of these data-

based concepts, but this material is included with the knowledge that

some allies may not be able to get each skeptic to go that far down the

journey of understanding with them. If this material were a subject taught

at a university, concepts 1-7 are the undergraduate prerequisites, while

concepts 8-10 can be looked at as the more advanced subject matter.

This distinction reinforces an important point about the nature of ally

work that bears underscoring. While this project encourages white

allies to learn as much as possible about the nature of racism from those

who studied it, allies can make a good deal of progress with inuencing

racism skeptics by doing extensive reection on their own experiences

and strategically having conversations that bring those experiences to

bear. Too many white allies think they are insufciently qualied to lead

other whites along a path of greater understanding. If you believe that

racism against people of color is an important national problem, you are

already ready to be a positive force upon white people who you know to

be skeptical about that. You merely need to do some focused reection

on your own experiences, think about a strategy for deploying them along

with brief explanations of basic racial concepts and then get down to

actually learning what happens in actual conversations.

THE CHALLENGE OF MOVING SOMEONE THROUGH THEIR SKEPTICISM ABOUT

RACISM BEING REAL

The task of moving a racism skeptic through their tendency to deny the

reality of racism is challenging because of the way that many white people

have been conditioned. As noted in the introduction, the civil rights

movement was very effective in showing white America that the way that

racism functioned was a contradiction to the ideals of America as well as

a collective moral sin. Unfortunately, despite the purposeful effort by the

movement to convey that this sin existed both at the level of individuals’

hearts and collective outcomes, large portions of the white community

only internalized the notion of racism as a problem of individual’s hearts

and minds and of explicit institutional policies. For a brief period (perhaps

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from about 1965 until 1980), some portions of the white community

looked at the community conditions and the lack of opportunity structures

for POC as also a societal problem worthy of action. Unfortunately,

many white people reverted back to – or perhaps never really le – the

perspective that the problems that POC confront are of their own making.

Tens of millions of whites see racial disparities as unfortunate realities that

are not connected to societal racism, to white America, and certainly not to

themselves.

This tendency of many whites to blame people of color for their own

situation has been around for centuries. Over the past 50 years, it is

perhaps even easier for many whites to do so because, in fact, the general

level of animus in the white population toward people of color did undergo

a major improvement between the early 1960s and the mid 1980s. (This

was discussed in Section 2.) During this period and aerward, the idea of

harboring explicitly prejudiced views – i.e. being a “racist” - has become

anathema to many parts of the white population, even as very signicant

portions of people actually feel different degrees of racial resentment and

condescension.

Arguably, the civil rights movement and white America’s reaction to it

overshot the mark on dening racism as a problematic way of thinking.

With being a conscious racist becoming a high moral crime, people

are highly disinclined to admit to themselves or others that they have

internalized the centuries-old resentments and condescending views

towards people of color. Further exacerbating this problem is the fact

that our national culture has been very slow to integrate the idea of

unconscious racism into our collective common conversations. As a result,

many whites now believe that as long as they do not engage in conscious

bigotry, they are completely free of racism. Moreover, they can also safely

disregard any moral obligation related to the very stark racial disparities

due to current and historical racism.

The result: huge portions of the white population do not care that on

virtually all measures of opportunity and well being – life expectancy,

the chance of having a good public school, the probability of having

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adequate health care,

the chance that they will

grow up near a source

of signicant pollution,

and so on – the prospects

facing a newborn of color

are predictably much

worse than the prospects

facing a white newborn. It

is not clear whether most

white folks know that

this is true, but it is clear

that most white people

do not see these racially

disparate prospects for

newborns as a national

problem or a situation that has anything to do with themselves.

This sense of disconnection from the moral problem of racial disparities

– which too frequently takes the form of active resistance to addressing

racial problems - creates a complex challenge for white allies or anyone

trying to upgrade people’s understanding of how racism works. The anti-

racism advocate must help the racism skeptic see that racism is more

nuanced than the old-fashioned bigotry. The best way to do this, to some

extent, is to normalize the experience of having biased beliefs and to do

so by owning up to the fact that the ally themselves sometimes is affected

by these biases. It is important to reduce the stigma of having these views,

since virtually everyone (including people of color) has been affected to

some extent by societal stereotypes against people of color. The ally must

convey that no one is completely innocent, including themselves.

At the same time, the ally cannot go too far in removing the moral

signicance of having these views, since the ally must try to get the

skeptic to understand that the pervasiveness of these views is linked to

ongoing racial disparities in society that have deep practical and moral

implications. And the ally must thread this needle while working around

he anti-racism advocate

must help the racism

skeptic see that racism is

more nuanced than the old-

fashioned bigotry. The best

way to do this...[is] by owning

up to the fact that the ally

themselves sometimes is

affected by these biases.

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the ingrained tendency of racism skeptics to look away from these

problems, to blame people of color for their overall condition, and to

look at any analysis that calls looks uninchingly at racism as attempts to

leverage white guilt.

Your task as an ally is to invite your skeptic – over multiple conversations

over a period of time – to understand several points:

•

There are a number of patterns of human behavior that have some

universal dimensions, but within the American racial context they

are enacted in a way that under-gird racial disparities, systematically

disadvantage people of color, and reinforce very old patterns of

unfairness.

•

It is possible to participate in these patterns without conscious intent

and without being an evil person.

•

These disparities result in newborns of some racial groups having

demonstrably better chances at healthy long lives than newborns

with different racial backgrounds. Many of these disparities

have not changed much since slavery. Everyone can decide for

themselves if there are any moral implications for contributing, even

unintentionally, in a system that perpetuates disparities that have

their origins in a clearly immoral social system.

•

Part of the reason why these disparities perpetuate themselves is

because the society has created a narrative among most whites that

these disparities are not a function of current and historical racism,

but rather an inevitable result caused by the inherent inferiority in

people of color themselves.

•

Even if the behavior of people of color were partially responsible

for the disparities they experience, (and this is highly questionable),

historical and current racism also plays a partial role in these

disparities.

•

While a single individual or institution has the power to completely

undo societal racism and the disparities caused by it, everyone has

the power to take some steps towards progress on these issues. At a

minimum, everyone can play a more active role in undermining the

narrative that completely blames people of color for the disparities in

well-being that they experience.

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The approach of interacting with racism skeptics suggested in the

foregoing primer is very similar to the RACE Method of the modules of Part

2; however there is an important modication. The modules previously

discussed focus on how you can respond in the moment to an unexpected

comment by a racism skeptic that is racially problematic. This primer

envisions that you will initiate conversations about racial issues with the

intention of doing some coaching for the skeptic’s racism awareness over a

period of time.

To take someone through this curriculum, you need to not only learn how

to invite the skeptic into the topic, but you also need to be able to convey

anecdotes that raise thorny racial issues and do so in a way that stimulates

their interest in staying with the topic. The inner work needed for using

this primer is very similar as with the modules. It is important to have your

own anecdotes together, so you can engage in mutual storytelling. One

difference in this primer is that instead of leading with curiosity about

the skeptic’s perspective, you are usually leading with vulnerability and

exposure of your past or on-going foibles. It is important that you make

it safe for the skeptic to admit some things about their connection to

unfortunate racial dynamics that they might be disinclined to admit to

themselves or others.

This primer presents the ideas in the general sequence that is likely to be

most effective in slowly coaching a skeptic up a ladder of understanding.

The approach of this workbook is to not offer extensive academic treatises

about each of the points of the primer, though the text will point you to

resources where you can do more learning. Each concept will be briey

described under the assumption that this brief description is enough for

you to engage a skeptic around the topic. Several points will be reviewed

that are important to keep in mind as you prepare conversational strategies

to move skeptics forward. These points will include:

Why the concept is important for skeptics to understand – Since your

skeptic’s resistance may be very entrenched, it may help to remind yourself

of why it is useful to spend your energy to get them to understand this

point.

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How The Idea Manifests In Everyday Life – Oen, showing the skeptic

that the concept has relevance outside the race context can reduce their

resistance to applying the topic to the racial context. For many of the

concepts, it will be useful for you to have one personal example of the

concept outside of the racial context, and one personal example of how it

applies when race is involved.

Why This Concept Can Be Difcult To Clearly Recognize – Remembering

the ways the concept can stay hidden may be important when your

patience with your skeptic grows thin. In addition, reminding the skeptic

that the phenomenon is oen camouaged can help them stay in the hunt

for it, especially if they trust you.

Why Skeptics Resist And/Or What Resistance Looks Like – It is important

to be prepared for the way resistance can emerge so that you stay centered

and not overly frustrated.

Some Conversational Strategies – For most of the concepts we discuss,

we provide more than one conversational sequence that we think have

a reasonable chance of helping a skeptic warm slightly to the idea that

racism is real and worthy of attention. The hope is that you will very

deliberately experiment with different strategies, reect on the results to

improve your own practice, and report back to the White Ally Toolkit (via

our Facebook page or our website) so that the ally community can benet

from what you have learned.

Individual Reection Questions – If you are going to get a skeptic to own

up to their casual participation in societal racism, it is vital that you do this

yourself, so that they know it’s safe to do so. Answering these reection

questions yourself is a vital preparation to make such in invitation.

Discussion Suggestions For A Group – While most of the users of this

workbook will be reading this as part of their personal ally practice, we

strongly encourage people to be a part of in-person or on-line communities

of people who have decided that inuencing skeptics is a part of their anti-

racism ally work. These suggestions may help you create processes that

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will deepen reection and commitment to trying these techniques.

Sources Of Additional Data – For most of the items in the primer, we

hope you jump right in and start working with skeptics aer you do

some reection and strategizing. Reading lists should not be excuses for

procrastination! But for those who want to learn more about the topic as

they are engaging skeptics, we provide a few resources.

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OTHERING

WHAT I T IS

•

This term refers to the tendency by humans to consciously or semi-

consciously conceptualize people in different social groups as being

signicantly different than people in their group and thus deserving

of different treatment.

•

This tendency is widespread and is related to humans’ deeply

embedded tribal behavior.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

Some argue that othering is the fundamental behavior that drives not only

racism, but many other “isms” that involve oppression of some groups over

others. (racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, etc.)

HOW IT MANIFESTS ITSELF

Outside The Racial Context

•

Group competitions in articial settings

•

Distrust of people from different neighborhoods, cities, or regions

•

Intense rivalries between sports teams and their fans

•

Conicts between immigrants based on their regions of origin

•

Exaggerated small differences between groups

•

Homophobia

In The Context Of Race/Ethnicity

•

Seeing people of different groups as more criminally minded, less

intelligent, etc.

•

Seeing people from other groups as more cunning, more docile, or

smarter

RACIAL ISSUES – THE

COLLECTIVE CONCEPTS

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•

Xenophobia

•

Tribal conicts around the world

•

Ethnic cleansing

•

Slavery

•

Genocide

WHY IT IS HARD TO SEE

•

It’s a natural phenomenon that happens in a multiplicity of ways.

•

Othering outside of the racial context is easy to see, and oen easy

for people to admit.

•

Being a “racist” has become a signicant moral crime, so people

do not want to admit they do othering by race, even if they do so

infrequently and subtly.

•

When people admit they do othering in the racial context, they are

oen shamed instead of appreciated for their honesty.

PREPARING FOR R ESISTANCE FROM S K EPTICS

Here are some of the things that skeptics resistant to acknowledging

othering on the basis of race sometimes say:

•

“Divisions between groups are the natural order of things.”

•

“You believe in cultural differences, right? Some cultures just have

more problems than others.”

•

“People have always been loyal to their group, and this is OK.”

•

“What happens in the US is no worse than most other places, and is

arguably better than most. ”

•

“The best way to avoid doing this is to decide that I don’t see

differences. We are supposed to be colorblind anyway, right?”

REFL ECT I ON QUESTION S

1. If you have one, describe an experience where out of loyalty to a group

you are in (not race based) you found yourself excessively “othering”

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people in a different group? (Examples might be people in other

school neighborhoods, or fraternal organizations).

2. What happens for you emotionally when you find yourself othering

people? Are there situations where this bothers you, or does not

bother you? What affects your emotions about it? How do you think

your emotional reaction affects your ability to spot your own behavior

about this?

3. If you have one, describe an experience where you observed someone

excessively othering people from a different group (not necessarily

because of race) because of circumstances and/or their loyalty to a

group they were in.

4. What did adults teach you about how to think about people from

other groups? What were the verbal and non-verbal messages you

got about how different groups – especially racial but perhaps others

- were fundamentally similar? What were the verbal and non-verbal

messages you got about how different groups were in fact rather

different?

5. If you can remember an early experience where you acted on the

belief that POC were different, describe it.

6. What was a formative experience that reflected you coming to your

own conclusions about group similarities and/or differences?

7. Have you ever observed a situation where a POC was “othering”

someone of a different racial/ethnic group? If so, how do you explain

why this was happening?

8. Describe an experience in the past few years where you mentally

‘othered’ a POC, even if you did not mean to do so, or even if the effect

on your behavior was slight/not discernible.

SOME CONVERSATIONAL STRATEGIES

Your primary objective is to get the skeptic to understand/admit they are

subject to sometimes regarding people of color as “other”, even if they

only do this now and then. The primary approach is to admit that you

sometimes do this and that doing this does not make you a horrible person.

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However, you are also not trying to conceptualize othering as a positive

behavior either. Your primary messages are:

•

Othering is a natural human phenomenon that is sometimes

harmless (sports teams) and is oen taken too far (gangs, war).

•

Othering on the basis of race is unambiguously bad.

•

Even good people who are taught to not think of POC as other are

subject to doing this now and then.

Strategy 1: Position othering as a common human behavior that can

sometimes go awry. After establishing that, pivot to how good people

sometimes do this by race.

1. Discuss a time when you witnessed a person othering another group

(not based on race) in a way that went too far.

2. Discuss a situation where group loyalty (not based on race) caused you

to make inaccurate/unnecessary conclusions about other groups.

3. Ask them if they have ever done something similar, out of feelings of

intense group loyalty.

4. If appropriate, frame Othering as a natural tendency that can be fun

in the right proportion (e.g. sporting rivalries), but also destructive if

taken too far.

5. Talk briefly about a time a long time ago when you mentally othered a

POC. If necessary, blame your upbringing.

6. Talk briefly about a time when you othered a POC as an adult. If

necessary, blame media portrayals, bad experiences, or whatever

other plausible causes. Don’t position the behavior as showing bad

character.

7. See if they are willing to own up to ever having othered a POC in the

distant past, then in the more recent past.

8. As needed, explore their sense of why this has happened, including

their upbringing.

9. If you need to further assuage their defensiveness – briefly discuss

a time when you observed a POC doing this to a white person, or

another person who they considered “different”.

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Note: the risk of this strategy is that it may take too long for some people

who do not have the patience to follow an extensive through line with one

topic.

Strategy 2: Position othering by race as a behavior that most people

were taught by people who loved them.

1. Discuss what you were taught about other racial groups by your

parents or by other early influences. Tell at least one story of being

influenced to look at POC as other.

2. Explore any influences they may have had to seeing POC as other.

3. Discuss other circumstances you have seen where young people

(especially whites) were influenced to see groups as other. Do not

frame this in conservative/liberal terms, especially if the skeptic is

conservative. If you have one, tell an example of an othering by a

white person whom you know was liberal, and work that fact in the

anecdote in a way that doesn’t seem obtrusive.

4. Discuss how you see othering behavior in your own subtle thoughts,

even if these thoughts seem to rarely affect your behavior.

5. Discuss how you see othering behavior by other people, especially

other white people.

6. Explore whether they can remember any time, even long ago, when

they engaged in othering either in their minds or in their actions.

Consider whether it is useful to discuss whatever judgments you made

about yourself when you have othered people. If you bring up your

negative self-judgment, frame these judgments as actually impeding you

from being honest with yourself about what you are actually doing. (For

more ideas about this, see the discussion about Shame in the Odds and

Ends section).

Strategy 3: Start with othering by race by leveraging their likely belief

in “reverse racism.”

1. Optional: Frame the conversation as about unfortunate divisions in

the country

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2. Discuss a time when you observed a person of color othering

someone.

3. Invite them to discuss if they have ever seen something like this.

4. Frame the behavior in a universal human context.

5. Discuss a time when you did this to a person of color a long time ago.

6. Discuss a time when you othered a person of color more recently.

7. Invite them to describe a time when they have looked at a person of

color as “other.”

8. Lightly touch on the fact that even though there is a general tendency

for all groups, the impact on all groups is not the same. (Don’t hammer

too much on this point…you can come back to issues of relative impact

at a later time. The critical task is to admit that you are subject to

othering by race, and to get them to admit that they are too).

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UNCONSCIOUS BIAS

WHAT IT IS:

•

The automatic and unintentional associations – oen negative – that

people make between groups of people and sets of ideas.

•

These biases oen exist below

the awareness of the person

who has the bias.

•

In many cases, these biases

run counter to the conscious

values the person has. For

instance, many white people

deeply committed to racial

justice still have unconscious

biases against people of color.

•

One illustration of the

way these biases work

unintentionally is that research

has shown that substantial

portions of people of color

have an unconscious bias

against their own racial group.

The phenomenon of unconscious bias and othering are very closely

related, and are arguably two aspects of the same behavior. To the extent

there is a difference, the heart of it is how aware we are of how our

minds are working. For the sake of moving the skeptic up a ladder of

understanding, the unconscious bias idea is more important. If you can

get a skeptic to acknowledge its reality, unconscious bias provides a way

for the skeptic to lessen their focus on conscious intent; this focus blocks

a good deal of white people’s understanding about how modern racism

works.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

•

Many white people believe that if they are not consciously biased,

they cannot be part of the societal problem of racism.

ut simply,

unconscious bias

creates uncertainty

around any person’s

claim that they are not

biased, and attribution

error casts doubt on any

person’s assertion that

someone else has bias.

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•

Helping skeptics see that you and they are both subject to being

unconsciously racist helps combat the “Racism is not my problem”

perspective.

•

To deepen one’s understanding of racism, it is important to see that

racial bias can be hidden from the person who has it while being

apparent to observers.

•

Helping skeptics see that POC are subject to unconscious bias all the

time can help undermine the idea that racism is all in the past and

that claims of racism are cynical and self-interested.

HOW IT MANIFESTS ITSELF:

There is very good documentation about the ways that unconscious bias

shows up in people’s behavior toward people of color. It will be useful for

you to be able to repeat stories about what you have observed or have been

told by people you trust. Stories from the perspective of people of color

are powerful, but when talking to skeptics, stories from other white people

admitting to being affected by unconscious bias may be more impactful.

Examples include:

•

Subtle safety based behaviors, such as: crossing the street, locking

car doors, clutching purses in the presence of a POC.

•

Making less eye contact and smiling less.

•

Having lower expectations or being surprised that people are

competent or accomplished.

•

Giving people less favorable evaluations for jobs or during

employment.

•

Just having the feeling that someone of color “would not t in.”

•

Providing lower quality customer services in restaurants, health care

facilities, retail establishments, and so on.

WHY IT IS HARD TO SEE

•

By its nature, unconscious bias is very difcult for the person with

the bias to see. It is also difcult for observers to see with complete

reliability. (One of the reasons the scientists know it exists is because

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it is possible to perform studies looking at large numbers of people

and observe the affect of race on a group of people, even though each

individual in a group might honestly claim to not be affected by race).

•

The narrative that “racism = unabashed bigotry” is deeply ingrained

in American culture. Many people tend to think in very “yes or no”

terms, and unconscious bias adds an additional gray area that may

challenge some people’s preferred way of categorizing with ideas.

PREPARING FOR R ESISTANCE FROM S K EPTICS

Some reasons that skeptics will resist:

•

Acknowledging that unconscious racism exists can make skeptics

feel like they open the door for an innite number of claims of

racism, some of which are inaccurate or even cynical.

•

Unconscious bias creates self-doubt and this is difcult for people

who dislike ambiguity, which many conservatives do.

•

Admitting that pervasive unconscious bias against POC exists

counters the idea that today’s white people as a group are innocent of

America’s historic racism problem.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS TO PREPARE TO ENGAGE YOUR SKEPTIC

1. Was there a time when you did not think that unconscious racial bias

was something you might have? If you can remember it, describe a

period of your life or an incident when you were denying that you had

any bias?

2. If you had an eye opening experience in realizing that unconscious

bias was real, jot some notes about this story below.

3. If you have had an experience where you realized that you were

subject to unconscious bias by others, jot some notes about this below.

4. If you have heard a story from a person of color that you trust (not

necessarily someone you know personally) discussing the way that

unconscious bias by whites affects them, jot a few notes about this

experience as well as how you felt when you first heard it.

5. If you have taken the Implicit Association Test 1, jot down your

1 https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/

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experience of taking the test and absorbing the results.

SOME CONVERSATIONAL STRATEGIES

Strategy 1. Start by exploring how skeptic might have faced

unconscious bias against them.

1. Discuss some quality that you have that makes you sometimes subject

to bias.

2. Identify a quality they have that may make them subject to

unconscious bias sometimes, e.g. gender, weight, strong accent,

disability, etc.

3. Try to get them to admit that other people’s biases about them is

sometimes something they have to work around.

4. Discuss a way that you are subject to occasional bias because of some

quality (be careful of doing this before getting them to admit they are

sometimes victims of bias. You may be forced to spend conversational

energy trying to convince them that you are a victim).

5. If there is some shared quality that makes both of you subject to bias,

so much the better!

6. Turn the concept around and raise the topic of biases that either of

your might have. Discuss a bias that you have against a group that

is not based on race. After telling an anecdote where you illustrate

your doing this, ask them if they ever have noticed that they have

sometimes have a bias about some group, even if was only a passing

thought.

Strategy 2: Start by owning up to racial bias you have felt (this is

basically starting at step 6 above).

1. Talk about your subtle biases based on race that you have had in the

past based on upbringing or circumstances.

2. After positioning having unconscious bias as a forgivable act, ask

if your skeptic can admit to ever noticing themselves having a

unconscious racial biases at some point in the past.

3. If you have one, tell your story about how you came to see that you had

a bias when previously did not think that you did.

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4. Based on your own experiences of what you have learned from

other white allies, invite them to consider the possibility that they

sometimes still have biases that affect them.

Strategy 3: start with the fact that POC can have bias against their

own group, and pivot to how bias aects you and them.

1. Relate evidence that POC sometimes have biases against their own

group. Some evidence:

Doll studies, such as done by Kenneth Clarke in the 1950’s

and

CNN in 2010.

Results from Implicit Association Test (some studies have

found that 28% of blacks have a unconscious preference for

whites over blacks).

2. Discuss how seeing this evidence gives you the courage to look at

yourself.

3. Discuss your journey to realize that you were not free of bias; if

possible, include negative ideas about POC you were exposed to as a

very young person.

4. Invite them to consider how bias might affect them; ground it in their

upbringing if necessary.

Strategy 4: Have them take the Implicit Association Test.

The Implicit Association Test is a widely used instrument for measuring

unconscious bias. It can be done online in a few minutes. There are

versions of the instrument that focus on race, gender, disability, and many

other dimensions of identity. As a white ally, you should complete the

instrument for your own reection, whether or not you make discussing

your experience of the instrument part of your strategies with racism

skeptics.

2 New York Times, May 7, 2014

3 http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/13/doll.study/index.html

4 http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/08/19/exploring-racial-bias-among-biracial-and-

single-race-adults-the-iat/

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1. Invite the skeptic to take the test, either in your presence or not.

2. Brush up on the evidence that the test is widely accepted as valid

though it does have its critics.

3. Be prepared for the possibility that they will want to reject the results.

4. Talk about your reaction to your own results, especially those that

reflect an inclination to deny or reject the results.

5. Discuss the skeptic’s experience of the instrument. Bring to bear as

much empathy as possible if they are prone to rejecting or otherwise

minimizing the results.

No matter which strategy you choose:

•

At some point, convey that there is scientic consensus that the best

way to ght bias is to admit it and work actively against it.

Frame this

as ironic, if helpful.

•

Emphasize that we do not have to feel guilty to having bias, but must

be morally accountable for doing something about it.

5 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27067-2005Jan21.html

6 https://www.chronicle.com/article/Can-We-Really-Measure-Implicit/238807

7 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sound-science-sound-policy/201501/

overcoming-implicit-bias-and-racial-anxiety

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ATTRIBUTION ERROR

WHAT IT IS:

Attribution error concerns the inherent difculty that people face in

trying to understand other people’s actions and reasons for them. The

term most commonly refers to the tendency for people to explain other

people’s behavior by too frequently implicating their character, instead

of the circumstances they are facing. By contrast, when explaining their

own behavior, people much more frequently refer to situational factors as

driving forces. Sometimes the term is used to discuss the fact that people

in disadvantaged groups, who are mistreated, oen have a very difcult

time knowing if they are being treated poorly because of their group

status.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT:

If you can get a skeptic to understand the concept (the complexity may

make this difcult in some cases), you can invite them away from the view

that people overly claim racism because they are cynically “playing the

race card.” Instead, you can help them see that attribution error may play a

role in such claims. The concept also potentially highlights their own error

about how others are playing the race card. The concept also can be an on-

ramp to discuss the way that whites sometimes make assessments about

people of color that conform with stereotypes (e.g. lazy, unintelligent,

criminally-minded, etc.)

HOW IT MANIFESTS ITSELF:

•

People of color thinking that a white person’s behavior is a function

of their being biased when their behavior is actually related to the

situation they are confronting.

•

White people thinking that a person of color’s behavior is a function

of some negative trait about them (perhaps linked to their race)

when their behavior is actually related to the situation they are

confronting, like racism that is invisible to most white people.

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PREPARING FOR RESISTANCE FROM SKEPTICS:

This may be a challenge for people who are not oriented toward abstract

thinking. It demands that they do the mental gymnastics of looking at the

same situation from different points of view.

Note: One way to potentially introduce this concept and reduce initial

resistance by the skeptic is to rst attach it to the possibility that it applies

to accusations that POC make about racism. Aer the skeptic integrates

the concept, you can later raise how it applies to whites generally and

themselves.

REFL ECT I ON QUESTION S

1. Describe an experience you have had that is primarily NOT race

related where attribution error might have been affecting a conclusion

someone made about you (or that you made about someone else).

It’s best if the story has a very vivid reveal moment, so that it most

people would easily see that the person making the conclusion simply

overlooked some situation-specific factors that really mattered.

2. Describe an experience you had (or know of) that does involve race

(not accusations of racism) where attribution error was very likely

playing a role. After remembering the basic core of the story, practice

framing the key dynamics in light of attribution error.

3. Describe a situation where a person (best if it’s a white person) was

suspected of or accused of having a racially prejudiced intent and you

thought this was more likely wrong than right. Practice telling the

story in a way that leads to a takeaway about attribution error.

SOME CONVERSATIONAL STRATEGIES:

A core decision that you have to sort out is: At what point do you point

directly at this concept and its high-faulting name and accompanying

complexity? If your skeptic is a conceptual thinker, presenting attribution

error as a concept early in the conversation may be intriguing; it will still

be important to leverage your and their experiences to explore the concept.

If the skeptic tends toward concrete thinking, it may be useful to focus on

experiences rst.

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Strategy 1: Introduce a non-racial experience involving attribution

error, then pivot to a racial situation.

1. Discuss a personal experience not related to race where attribution

error affected you (either because you came to bad conclusions or

someone came to bad conclusions about you);

2. Explain the concept of attribution error;

3. Invite them to tell you an experience where attribution error affected

them – in either direction;

4. Reinforce that this is a basic and common human error relevant to

many circumstances;

5. Recall a situation where you thought attribution error was involved in

someone’s suspicions/accusation (could be a POC or a white person)

that a white person was operating on racially biased motivations;

6. Explore if they have ever seen a situation like this and have them tell

you about it;

7. Link the accusations to attribution error;

8. If they make comments suggesting that making accusations of racism

are a tendency of POC, have a conversation about how attribution

error may be influencing the skeptic’s own perspective on this.

Strategy 2: Start from a situation involving a potentially inaccurate

assertion of racism

Same as Strategy 1, except start at step 5

Strategy 3: Start with a case when a racial stereotype appeared to

aect a person of color.

1. Discuss a situation where a white person explained a POC’s behavior

with a racialized explanation that you thought was inappropriate.

Include how you felt in the moment.

2. Explain attribution error and how learning about it gave you more

empathy for the white person in the situation.

3. If you have any examples, share a story about you explaining a POC’s

behavior in a way that reflected attribution error. (Depending on the

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emotional import of these stories, it may be more effective to do this

step before doing steps 1 and 2).

4. Invite them to share an experience involving them making a negative

assessment related to race where, in retrospect, they see that

attribution error might have been at work.

5. Remind them that attribution error should make us more

compassionate toward people who make false conclusions, as well as

more humble about conclusions that we draw.

6. Shift the focus to attributions about racism by relating an experience

where someone attributed a racist motivation to someone in a way

that you thought might have been inappropriate.

7. Explore a situation where they think someone made a claim of racist

motivation that they thought was likely inappropriate.

Note: There is a very important relationship between unconscious bias and

attribution error

There is an interesting interaction between unconscious bias and

attribution error. The reality of unconscious bias means that people are

subject to acting in ways that reects motivations they are not aware

of. On the other hand, attribution error means that people may oen

attribute motivations about other people’s behavior to factors about

them (such as unconscious bias) in a way that might be inaccurate. Put

simply, unconscious bias creates uncertainty around any person’s claim

that they are not biased, and attribution error casts doubt on any person’s

assertion that someone else has bias. There is no clean way out of this

knot of ambiguity; if people are disagreeing about the role that bias might

be playing in a situation, they will likely need to rely on interpersonal

dialogue and some measure of humility to try to make progress toward a

shared understanding of what is happening.

This knot of ambiguity is made more complicated by the fear that many

white people have that people of color are oen judging them because

the POC thinks the white person is a bigot. This concern is the next topic,

which is called racial anxiety.

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RACIAL ANXIETY

WHAT I T IS

•

Racial anxiety is the fear that someone will make a negative

assessment of their character based on race.

•

This is primarily thought of as applying to cross-racial encounters,

though this might be changing as progressives and conservative

whites are increasingly at loggerheads around racial issues.

•

For people of color, racial anxiety is a centuries old problem of

worrying that whites might feel about them negatively.

•

For whites, this issue has only been around for a few decades;

specically, it is the worry that a person of color will think that they

are a racist.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

•

Many white people have a subtle level of nervousness in encounters

with people of color. Sometimes, this nervousness – which can exist

below the conscious awareness of the white person in question – can

cause the white person to make a variety of negative assessments of

their counterparts or of the encounter.

•

Racial anxiety can also cause people to make small choices that

effectively lower the probability of having encounters across racial

lines. By naming racial anxiety as a general phenomenon that can

affect everyone, it may be easier for your skeptic to be more honest

with themselves about what happens for them in cross-racial

encounters.

•

Many white people hold racial grievances, and feel that “white people

have racial problems too.” By naming a commonly held feeling –

even though you should not primarily blame people of color for this

– you are meeting the skeptic with the sensibility they may already

have.

HOW IT MANIFESTS ITSELF

Interestingly, racial anxiety produces some of the same behavioral

responses that happen when people are actually racially biased, such as

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•

Less eye contact

•

Less smiling or laughing

•

Increased nervousness and dgeting

•

Shorter verbal responses and a less willingness to verbally engage

Racial anxiety oen causes white people to come away from an encounter

with a person of color with the “feeling” that they were being judged as

racist, even if this was not actually true.

WHY AND HOW SKEPTICS RESIST

Since POC oen do think that whites harbor conscious or unconscious

racist feelings toward them, the supposition that this is happening is not

always wrong. As a result, many skeptics may fall back on an “It’s not me,

it’s them,” point of view.

ON LANGUAGE

Many people, especially men, have a strong resistance to the idea that they

have anything that might be labeled “anxiety.” If you think this applies to

one of the skeptics you are working with, you might use a different word,

like “racial doubt” or “racist concern”. The core point is that this feeling

among white people may have nothing to do with the actual thoughts of

people of color in a particular situation.

REFL ECT I ON QUESTION S

1. Jot some notes down about an experience where you were nervous

about what someone (not in a position of power over you) thought

about you that had nothing to do with race. If possible, choose an

experience where you subsequently received strong confirmation that

most or all of your fears that you had were unwarranted.

2. Jot some notes down about an experience you remember of worrying

about being perceived as racist by people of color. Group experiences

are OK, but one on one or very small group experiences will likely be

more effective. If you have multiple possibilities, write them all down.

Take note of which stories will be the most compelling, either because

your anxiety level was high, your discovery that your anxiety was

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misplaced was very clear, or for some other reason.

3. If you have ever had a conversation with other white folks about

feeling nervous about being perceived as racist by POC, recall one

or two of those experiences here. As above, stories where people are

discussing one on one encounters are usually better, since large group

settings have different dynamics.

4. If you have ever had a POC talk to you about reassuring a white

person that they were not judging them, recall some elements of that

conversation here.

SOME CONVERSATIONAL STRATEGIES

Your overall goal is to get the skeptic to admit that at least on rare

occasions, they are subject to feeling a small bit of racial anxiety. While

you want them to be as honest as possible about how oen this affects

them, an admission that they have ever felt this feeling means you have

gotten them to concede that some white people might experience this even

more frequently. Thus, racial anxiety becomes part of your shared frame of

analysis about racial dynamics.

Strategy 1: Start with racial anxiety and a time when you felt it

This strategy can work if you and the skeptic already have a shared

understanding that unnecessary anxieties sometimes affect human

interaction.

1. Discuss a time when you felt racial anxiety yourself.

2. If you can remember one, share an experience of conversation with

other whites about being nervous about being perceived as racist.

3. At this point, you have provided a very gradual on-ramp to them

admitting to sometimes having racial anxiety. Invite the skeptic to

share a time when they felt nervous because of how they might be

judged as racist.

4. As they tell the story, try to get them to recall how their behavior

might have been different than if they did not feel that anxiety.

5. If the two of you have a shared understanding that there are highly

prejudiced white people in the world, discuss how some of the

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behaviors caused by racial anxiety are similar to what white folks do

when they are very prejudiced and do not want to connect with POC

for that reason. If your previous conversations have not established

that there are otherwise good people who have racial prejudices, you

may want to skip this step. (The issue of highly racially prejudiced

people will be directly dealt with later in this sequence).

6. Discuss what might be strategies for people to connect in the face of

all of these swirling feelings.

Strategy 2: Start with interpersonal anxiety about being judged (not

about race), then pivot toward a racial situation (This is a longer on-

ramp to the conversation and may be appropriate when you and the

skeptic do not have a shared understanding that anxiety is a common

factor in human interaction).

1. Discuss a time when you felt anxiety, not related to race, about how

someone felt about you and when you later discovered your anxieties,

it turned out to be mostly unfounded. (If you know a situation like

this involving someone else, that is OK). The key point is that the

subject of the story was making unfounded or significantly overblown

judgments of others in the story.

2. Explore whether this has ever happened to them and invite them to

share this experience.

3. Pause for a moment to focus your alignment about the fact that

anxieties, sometimes unfounded, can make interactions more

difficult.

4. After you have established that non-racial anxiety can disrupt

interactions, discuss a time when you felt racial anxiety yourself.

5. Continue with steps 1 through 6 from Strategy 1.

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UNEARNED RACI A L ADVANTAGE (COMMONLY CALLED

WHITE PRIVILEGE)

WHAT I T IS

•

The state of experiencing the benets of being part of a group that is

considered normal or even superior in one, some, or many aspects of

life.

•

Alternate Denition: The state of not being part of a group that is

frequently mistreated by institutions and individuals. Also, the state

of not experiencing frequent race-based mistreatment across a

number of life dimensions, such as within employment, health care,

and/or education.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

•

Many have argued that most white people have a deeply ambivalent

relationship to the idea that whiteness carries advantages. People

are highly resistant to acknowledging this, even though a minuscule

portion of whites would say they would rather be non-white.

•

The lack of clarity about whether there are advantages to being white

makes it easier to deny that racism causes unfairness to people of

color and thereby hurts society.

•

If one acknowledges that whiteness has unearned advantages, it is

more difcult to also maintain that racism is over.

HOW IT MANIFESTS ITSELF

•

Not accepting that unearned racial advantages overwhelmingly

benets whites makes it more possible for whites to cultivate racial

grievances.

•

Denying unearned racial advantage keeps white people from seeing

American society as it actually functions and lowers the empathy

many people have towards people of color.

•

Denial of this concept tends to support a diminished support for

efforts to improve racial equity

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WHY AND HOW SKEPTICS RESIST

Common strategies of resistance:

•

Focusing on how hard they and other whites have had to work

•

Shiing attention to POC who have had economic advantages

•

Shiing attention to POC who deed the odds

•

Avoiding the discussion of racism

•

Shiing attention to white people who have more advantages than

they do based on class status

•

Overemphasizing the rare cases when a POC has a racial advantage

Previous parts of

this primer have

suggested that you

consider raising

concepts in a non-

race based way, get

the skeptic’s buy in,

and then apply the

concept to racial

situations. You

should consider

this approach here

as well. Specically,

consider framing

unearned racial

advantage as

something that can theoretically affect any group. (For example, tall black

men benet from positive assumptions when they are near a basketball

pick-up game, regardless of their actual level of skill). Once you establish

unearned racial advantage as a generalizable phenomenon, you can shi

the discussion to examine the ways and to what extent this concept applies

to different groups, and the relative impact on these groups.

hile this project does not

categorically discourage

use of the words “white privilege”

with racism skeptics, it is worth

noting that many workshop

participants have told us that this

word often triggers people and

tends to make conversation about



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ON L A NGUAGE

Do not get stuck on calling this phenomenon “white privilege” because:

•

Some people will get stuck on the word ‘privilege’ because this idea

does not t their narrative for themselves

•

Some people will get stuck on “white” because they will associate this

word with old fashioned bigotry

If you don’t like the phrase unearned racial advantage, other options

include:

•

White advantage, or advantages to being white

•

Racial privilege

•

White racial advantage

•

Racial “leg up”

While this project does not categorically discourage use of the words

“white privilege” with racism skeptics, it is worth noting that many

workshop participants have told us that this word oen triggers people and

tends to make conversation about the phenomenon more difcult.

encourage you to experiment with terminology. Your focus should be on

upgrading the skeptic’s conceptualization about how race works in society,

not their vocabulary.

REFL ECT I ON QUESTION S

1. If you can think of a story that you have heard about a POC having an

unearned racial advantage, jot notes about the story here.

2. What was your most powerful memory of hearing experiences from a

person of color that made it clear to you that white privilege was a real

thing?

8 “I use those terms: white supremacy, racism, white privilege – and what I have found

is that if you use those terms, before other person knows what you mean, it breaks down

communication. Because I know what I mean but they don’t know what I mean. For instance,

if you use the term white privilege, they say “You are more privileged than I am. What do you

mean? I don’t have white privilege?” They don’t understand what you are talking about. Same

thing with racism. I have to do better at breaking myself of it, but I have to stop using terms

where I know what I mean but they don’t what I mean. It breaks down communication.” –

Participant in White Ally Toolkit Workshop, Detroit

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3. What are the things you don’t have to worry about because you are

white that you can talk about in the most compelling way?

4. Were there any particularly powerful, direct experiences that you have

had that brought home to you the advantages of being white?

5. Before you became aware of white privilege as a real factor, what

where your strongest arguments about why you were NOT privileged?

SOME CONVERSATIONAL STRATEGIES

Strategy 1: Pivot from the idea the unearned racial advantage is a

general concept that can also apply to people of color sometimes.

(This only works if you have 1-2 stories like this)

1. Discuss a story you have heard about a POC benefiting from positive

assumptions in way that denotes racial advantage in a specific

domain.

2. Confirm that the skeptic agrees that they see the story as connoting

unearned racial advantage.

3. Tell a story from your own experience about when you think you

experienced unearned advantage from being white. (It’s best if the

story involves you receiving real benefits, instead of just your lack of

worry about how others will treat you).

4. Ask them if they have ever experienced a situation where they thought

that they had an advantage because they were white.

5. After getting agreement that unearned racial advantage exists and

can cut different ways at different times, have a conversation about

the relative magnitude and significance of how racial advantage

for different groups plays out for society and for individuals. (For

example, a black person getting the assumption of being a good

athlete has some impact on some specific settings, while a white

person getting the assumption of being trustworthy has an arguably

bigger impact in many more settings). It will be useful to have done

some thinking about this beforehand, so that you are not struggling

for points during the conversation.

6. If you had an emotional reaction when you first accepted the idea of

white privilege, discuss this reaction. If it seems like it will advance

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your connection, see if the skeptic has any feelings about the idea that

they have built-in advantages over people of color.

Strategy 2: Pivot from your own experiences

1. Consider referencing the previous conversations on subjects of this

primer that connote the advantages of being white. For instance,

worrying about being considered racist, while certainly a problem, is

not as bad as worrying about being considered inferior.

2. If you can be articulate and believable about it, discuss aspects of

unearned racial advantage that concern not having to worry about

common difficulties (e.g. mistreatment by police, discrimination in

retail, etc). The key for this to work in the conversation is that you have

actually experience these advantages on an emotional level, and you

are not just reading from a liberal script.

3. Expand the view from “being white means less worry” to the question

of whether being white is just easier overall.

4. Discuss 1-2 examples that are vivid for you that illustrate you

benefiting from white racial advantage.

5. Explore whether the skeptic ever feels that being white is an

advantage. If they are willing to admit it, invite them to share one

specific story that illustrates this. Unless you are completely confident

that it will help the conversation, do NOT suggest that they have any

obligation to do anything about this. By adding a moral obligation

to the admission that being white is easier, you make this admission

more difficult. Trust that you can return to the moral implications in a

later conversation.

6. If they resist acknowledging how being white has advantages in many

circumstances, try this thought experiment: Have them imagine

themselves as a soul about to enter two possible just-created embryos,

one white and one POC. Have them imagine that the two embryos are

from families with the same economic background. Ask them how

they would make a decision about which embryo they would choose to

house their soul for a lifetime. You might run the experiment multiple

times with different birth years. You may need to review the concepts

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from previous conversations you have had if it is not obvious to the

skeptic that being white has many advantages. Feel free to express

your perspective and the reasons why you would make the choice

you would make. Do not approach the conversation as if they are

categorically wrong. Be sure to participate with an attitude of inquiry

and exploration if you want them to do the same.

7. Explore whether any part of them resists or does not like the idea that

they benefit from being white. Again, if you remember when part of

you resisted this admission, bring up this experience.

8. Discuss how you have come to terms with white racial advantage.

Be careful to NOT convey that the only way to effectively respond

to the reality of white advantage is to be as committed as you are to

racial equity. Instead, provide 2-3 small things that you do or have

done. Remember, your goal is to make it easy to admit that there

are advantages to being white; conveying a sense of significant

accompanying moral obligations may make it harder for them to be

honest about having these advantages.

9. Keep in mind, your goal is to not create a full-fledged convert, but

rather someone who is willing to be a little open to something they

have denied and who might consider 1-2 small steps to redress the

unfairness they have realized.

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RACIAL THREAT

WHAT IT IS

Racial threat is the feeling of discomfort that individuals and groups

sometimes feel when they observe developments that they think threaten

to cause a decline in the political power, social status, prestige, and/or

advantages of their racial group.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT?

•

Racial threat has always been a part of the interaction between racial

groups, with white populations responding to racial threat by taking

steps to protect their group power.

•

Arguably, racial threat has been the dominant factor in how

white populations have dealt with non-white populations since

colonization.

•

Moreover, there is a good research that concludes that the popularity

of Donald Trump is a reection of the widespread feeling of racial

threat among white people.

•

Racial threat can affect people of color, too. For instance, there has

been signicant angst in signicant quarters of the black community

in Detroit, Washington DC, Brooklyn, and other places about

gentrication and losses in economic and political power.

•

Pointing out racial threat as a phenomenon that other groups

sometimes experience may make it easier for a skeptic to believe that

racial threat affects white populations.

HOW IT MANIFESTS ITSELF

•

People who are feeling racial threat oen feel heightened feelings of

resentment toward people from other groups, regardless of whether

or not those individuals have anything to do with this perceived

potential loss of group status.

•

In extreme circumstances, these feelings can results in violent hate

crimes, riots, and/or mob attacks.

9 https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/12/15/16781222/trump-racism-economic-anxiety-

study

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•

These feelings can also result in large-scale group behavior, such as

mass actions to suppress groups or retain certain perceived benets.

This may include enacting laws or policies or electing public ofcials

so that the relevant branch of government protects one groups’

perceived status.

WHY AND HOW SKEPTICS RESIST

•

Unless they are extreme racists, white skeptics are not used to

thinking of each other as part of a racial group that has self-perceived

group interests.

•

The idea of white people having group interests that they sometimes

defend or pursue has echoes of an extremely uncomfortable racial

history.

•

To defend against feeling connected to this long history of group

suppression, skeptics are likely to have some resistance to admitting

these inklings.

SOME CONVERSATIONAL STRATEGIES

Racial threat may be a very scary strategy for a skeptic to contemplate. For

this reason, you might consider a rather long conversational “on ramp”.

Strategy: Point out that whites are not alone in feeling racial threat

1. Bring up examples of non-white groups feeling racial threat.

2. Discuss what the skeptic thinks about these situations and whether

these feelings are understandable.

3. Explain the concept of racial threat.

4. Demonstrate that you have empathy for feelings of racial threat by

sharing an experience in which you felt racial threat.

5. Explore together whether the skeptic or you have ever seen situations

where a white person was clearly feeling racial threat. (Examples of

people close to you who are not avowed racists are likely to be the

most helpful).

6. Probe the skeptic for times when they might have felt feelings that

could reasonably be called racial threat. (See the reflection questions

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for you as potential prompts provide examples of questions to ask).

7. In many cases, it will be useful to let some time go by before the next

steps.

8. Have an exploratory conversation about how racial threat might

manifest itself in ways that are not obvious to whites at first. This

might include exploring examples when POC have brought up the

idea of racial threat (probably not using that term) and whites did not

perceive it.

9. You may also want to explore how it is that this dynamic has often

remained invisible to most whites.

REFL ECT I ON QUESTION S

1. Think of 2-3 times when you had an internal reaction that may have

emerged from racial threat. Examples might include:

Feeling like your neighborhood is being “invaded” by others

Wondering what will happen to people “like you” if an

organization continues to change with new populations

2. Become familiar with at least two examples of dynamics where

non-white groups have experienced racial threat. Given the level of

gentrification that negatively impacts historically places of color such

as Brooklyn, Harlem, Detroit, Austin, finding examples is not difficult.

After doing a few minutes of internet research to familiarize yourself

with 2-3 examples, jot down your talking points.

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3. Recall 2-3 times when a white person who was not an avowed racist

demonstrated a perspective that demonstrated racial threat.

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RACIAL BACKLASH AND RACIAL DENIAL

WHAT I T IS

Racial backlash describes the collective negative reaction of a large

number of white people to a perceived advance by people of color. The

backlash is an attempt to restore the racial order. Racial denial is oen

paired with backlash and describes the ways that white people oen refuse

to acknowledge racist motivations. It is part of what is happening when

people are engaging in backlash behaviors.

Even though backlash and denial are largely collective behaviors, they can

sometimes be observed, with discernment, at the level of the individual

people. Still, it is likely to be more difcult to get skeptics to acknowledge

this phenomenon than the previous concepts in this primer.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

Over the course of American history, there have been numerous times

when white communities as a group have a negative response to changes

in the racial order. When this happens, many whites do not feel they

are involved in a backlash against people of color, but rather think of

themselves as merely doing what is good for themselves and for society as

a whole.

HOW IT MANIFESTS ITSELF

American history is replete with moments of white racial backlash. There

are too many to list individually. Your task is to brush up on a few diverse

examples so that you can answer 2-3 follow up questions when a skeptic

asks you for examples. To review a few examples:

•

Passing laws that limited individual freedoms – such as the Black

Codes passed aer the Civil War

•

Riots that aim to destroy entire communities – see Tulsa OK and

Rosewood Fl, in the 1920s, Detroit and St. Louis in the 1940s to name

just four

•

Community mobilizations to oppose integration, such when blacks

tried to integrate Levittown

•

Uncoordinated large-scale migration – such as white ight in

hundreds of major cities

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•

Coordinated acts of withdrawal from collective structures such

as public schools – one example is massive resistance in Virginia.

Another example is the closing of public schools to avoid integration

in Prince Edward County, VA.

•

Passing laws that have the effect of restricting minority political

power, such as poll taxes and literacy tests in the 20th century.

(Although it seems clear that 21st Century Voter ID laws t this

pattern, you probably should not bring this up since this is a live

public issue with active propaganda around this in today’s news.

Instead, let the skeptic come to reconsidering such laws aer they

become comfortable with the topic being relevant in previous eras).

WHY AND HOW SKEPTICS RESIST

•

Racial backlash implies a widespread enforcement of a racial order

by large numbers of white people.

•

With an unsophisticated attitude about what racism is and how it is

supported by otherwise “good people”, the tremendous solidarity and

harsh oppression implied by racial backlash may deeply challenge

the skeptic’s sense of comfort that they are innocent of racism

because they do not harbor consciously racist views.

•

If you have not laid the groundwork to get the skeptic’s buy-in to

the idea that individuals can manifest racially motivated behaviors

unawares, racial backlash will likely be extremely difcult for them

to accept. In fact, the skeptic may be challenged enough by racial

backlash that they may want to retract their prior admissions to

some of the individually focused concepts covered previously in this

workbook.

SOME CONVERSATIONAL STRATEGIES

There are two core challenges: 1) to overcome their denial that these

backlashes are part of a pattern of behavior by white populations and 2) to

get the skeptic to see that good people can participate in racial backlashes

at varying levels of conscious racism, including very low levels.

A potentially fruitful way of overcoming these barriers is to search

your own personal and family history for examples of participating in a

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collective behavior that could reasonably be regarded as part of a racial

backlash. Because you will be talking about people that you presumably

regard with some esteem, you might help the skeptic get past the idea

that only “bad people” are part of backlashes and denial. Moreover, it

will additionally helpful if you can recount how those participating in the

backlash looked at their decisions at the time.

REFL ECT I ON QUESTION S

1. Search your memory for 1-2 times when you or people you respect

participated in or supported a group response that could be

reasonably thought of as racial backlash/denial. Try to capture how

they thought about the situation at the time.

2. If there is one, jot a few notes down about a time when someone

claimed something was racial backlash/denial, and you rejected this

way of thinking. If you now think this was a backlash, be prepared to

discuss how your view evolved. If you still think this was not a racial

backlash, be prepared to discuss why you question the backlash

label in this case, although you do not question that backlashes exist

sometimes. (This question is encouraging you to find a “But later, I

realized” story.)

3. If you have had strong emotions about the above situations, try to

recall what they were and why you felt them.

4. What do you think is the obligation of good white people who at some

point realize that they have been a part of a racial backlash previously

but did not see this at the time? Whatever level of obligation you think

is appropriate, why do you feel this way?

Suggested Strategy:

1. Discuss a situation in which a white person whom you love or

respect took actions that were aligned with racial backlash/denial.

It is important to be able to step inside their own narrative for their

decisions – remember, they did not likely think that their motivations

were based on irrational racism.

2. Reinforce that you do not see the person as having bad character, but

rather was an unwitting participant in a system that tends to keep

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white people from seeing the full implications of personal decisions

that reinforce the racial status quo.

3. If you have one, relate a time when someone made the case to

you about backlash/denial and you rejected this way of seeing the

situation. Relate your rationale for why you did not see the situation in

this way. Discuss how you subsequently came to different conclusions

once you became more aware of how racial backlashes/denial work.

4. If you had some emotions about these conclusions, discuss them as

obstacles to you seeing things clearly, if appropriate.

5. Having explained the concept broadly and provided multiple examples

of how racial backlash/denial works, see if the skeptic can think of

examples from their personal or family history where people made

decisions that were part of a backlash.

6. Reinforce empathy for the central characters who participated

unknowingly.

7. Have a discussion about the appropriate way to evaluate people’s

decisions about white backlashes/denial once they have an

understanding of how they work.

8. If you have brought them along this far, declare victory! Do NOT try to

get them to admit anything. Let them simmer on the conversation.

REVIEW OF SOME IMPORTANT IDEAS ABOUT

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CUMULATIVE RACISM

The concepts that we have reviewed in the previous section (othering,

unconscious bias, attribution error, racial anxiety, unearned racial

advantage, racial threat and racial denial/backlash) should be the core

set of concepts that you focus on with skeptics. All of these concepts can

be understood by a combination of thorough self-reection and perhaps

some conversations with others that are approached in an open minded

way. Put differently, each of these concepts can be directly experienced

by individuals, even if doing so requires a very detailed and courageous

examination of one’s experience.

By contrast, the concepts in this section (systemic racism, structural

racism, and racial equity) are to a much greater extent, cumulative or

group level concepts. In order to understand these ideas, it is necessary to

go outside of the experiences of oneself or a handful of people. These ideas

can only be understood by integrating statistics, historical information, or

other sources of input beyond personal experiences.

In a group context such as a workshop, these concepts may be easier

for skeptics to grapple with and potentially accept. In fact, some allies

have told us that they have found that in workshops of conservatives and

liberals, focusing on non-personal issues of racism is more productive.

But when trying to do one-on-one and very small group work trying to

work through racism denial, you may not want to focus on group level

concepts such as those about to be discussed. Because these group based

concepts require external sources of information, you are subject to

getting push-back about the sources of the data you are referencing, the

ideological bias of the information, and similar matters.

Talking about these aspects of cumulative racism are important in racial

10 “I went to a symposium with conservatives and liberals and one thing that worked was to

not stress the interpersonal part. Which is where people who deny racism tend to get turned out.

But again, stress it from a more structural piece. is was more eective.” - Participant in White

Ally Toolkit Workshop, Pasadena CA

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awareness-raising. But these conversations are more likely to be productive

if you already have piqued the curiosity of the skeptic about the possibility

that racism is a much bigger problem than they had previously considered.

In order for these conversations to not be a waste of time, your skeptic

has to be in the mindset of having a degree of curiosity and openness and

the skeptic will need to be open to the possibility that people can enact

behaviors with racially disparate results without knowing it.

If your personal anecdotes have not inuenced your skeptic to accept the

concept that individuals can be inadvertently racist, it may be difcult for

statistics, analogies, and logical reasoning to persuade them that individual

level racism can accumulate to produce broader effects. Although this

seems clear, this supposition needs to be tested. For this reason, the

foregoing pages will provide some thoughts about some possibilities for

how you might move a skeptic forward on these issues.

In the upcoming review of these issues it is not presumed that the

skeptic is wholeheartedly embracing a racially progressive world-view;

they are still a skeptic. But the presumption is that you (or some set of

circumstances) have brought them along to a basic openness to some of

the individual level concepts of racism previously discussed.

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INSTITUTIONAL RACISM

WHAT I T IS

The way that the effects of historic, conscious, and unconscious racism can

combine to produce the result of an institution treating a large portions of

POC worse than white people.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

Given the sharp declines

in personal bigotry by

whites against people

of color in the last y

years, it is easy for

skeptics to think that

racism does not exist

if their only notion of

racism is one based

in individual attitudes

and explicit laws. Some

experts have argued

that we are in a time of

racism without racists

and getting people to see

this is a critical step in

advancing toward racial

equity.

STRATEGIES FO R RAI SING THE I SSUE

Institutional racism is a widely discussed topic, so it will not be reviewed

here. The relevant question is how to guide a skeptic toward and through

a conversation about the topic with the best chance of not activating their

resistance.

11 Racism Without Racists: Color-blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in

the United States, Edward Bonilla-Silva, 2010, Rowman & Littleeld.

alking about these

aspects of cumulative

racism are important in

racial awareness-raising.

But these conversations are

more likely to be productive if

you already have piqued the

curiosity of the skeptic about

the possibility that racism is a

much bigger problem than they

had previously considered.

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It is may be useful to be able to point out a few examples of the way that

organizations have disparate impacts on different groups. It is probably

best to do some background research on organizations that do not seem far

aeld from you and the skeptic’s direct experience.

One strategy is to do some light research about organizations that you are

now or have ever been connected to. For instance, you might look at what

is known about disparate outcomes related to law enforcement in places

you have lived, or the progress of different racial groups up the promotion

ladder at places you have worked. The heart of the idea is to raise the

possibility of institutional racism being an aspect of organizations that one

of you is connected to and perhaps even have affection for.

An alternative approach is to get information about community institutions

in the location where the skeptic lives now, or where you live or have lived.

The objective would be to help the skeptic see that these racial disparate

impacts can occur right around us, and this can happen in a way that many

good white folks don’t see.

WHAT RESISTANCE MIGHT LOOK LIKE

Many skeptics have a deep emotional connection to the idea that society’s

institutions are racially fair. One way they will resist evidence to the

contrary is to question your sources of information. Thus, it is important

to try to justify your ideas about institutional unfairness against claims that

your sources of information are wrong.

As you are getting information to validate your point that institutional

racism exists, take note of how likely your information source will be

considered ideologically biased.

REFL ECT I ON QUESTION S

1. Which of the individual equity obstacles can you most compellingly

tell a personal anecdote about? If you have discussed more than one

with skeptics, which have been ones that served as the focus of the

best conversation?

2. Which of the personal equity obstacles can you best connect to

institutional racism? (Note: Generally, unconscious bias and racial

anxiety are usually easiest for many people.)

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3. What institutions have you been associated with where there is mostly

undisputed evidence of their institutional racism?

4. What are some institutions that are connected to the skeptic (or better,

both of you ) that have undisputed links to institutional racism?

5. What is the narrative you can tell describing how you have arrived at

your current understanding of the relevance of institutional racism?

In other words, what will you say to persuade the skeptic that you once

thought like they did?

SOME CONVERSATIONAL STRATEGIES

Strategy 1: Begin with your participation in one of the individual

impediments, then move the conversation to institutions.

1. Re-examine which of the preceding six individual equity impediments

discussed previously (othering, unconscious bias, attribution error,

racial anxiety, racial threat, racial backlash) would be the easiest to get

the skeptic to consider that they participated in.

2. Think through/learn about how this personal impediment can

accumulate to cause institutional effects.

3. At an opportunity that feels reasonably natural, bring up the topic of

institutional racism. It’s best if you can link it to a personal experience,

even if it’s just the experience of someone else’s story that was told to

you.

4. After probing a bit about their perspective/experience about

institutional racism, try to connect with their perspective. If you have

ever thought that a claim of institutional racism was inaccurate, bring

this up if this would be helpful in connecting with your skeptic. It

may be important to demonstrate that you don’t think such claims are

inherently accurate.

5. Discuss a thought experiment related to whichever personal

impediment is the most fertile to discuss. Brainstorm, with the

skeptic, what might happen if many white people in an institution

were affected by unconscious bias, racial anxiety, or an other of the

interpersonal aspects of racism when interacting with people of

color. Explore the possibility that if many white folks’ actions were

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influenced by this impediment, the cumulative result might very well

be labeled as institutional racism.

6. If you have discovered it, bring up corroborating evidence that

institutional racism may take this form. Your personal experiences are

most powerful, but second-hand experiences can be helpful, too. If

you have facts and data, only bring them to the conversation if your

skeptic is the kind of person who is persuadable by data.

7. Be careful to frequently gauge how you are doing as the conversation

progresses. Remember, your objective is not to deliver a lecture or

turn them off.

Strategy 2: Go directly to a discussion about institutional behavior.

If your skeptic has embraced the idea that the two of you are on a multi-

conversation inquiry about racism, you may be able to skip steps 1-4 above.

12 Some scientists have found that about 25% of both conservatives and liberals have a trait

called “scientic curiosity’; this trait is demonstrated by these people’s willingness to be inuenced

by facts that tend to contradict their natural political leanings. From: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/

nova/next/body/scientic-curiosity-could-bridge-partisan-divide-new-study-says/

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STRUCTURAL RACISM

WHAT IT IS

Structural racism is a term that signies the way that institutional racism

across multiple sectors of life can have an even further compounding

effect on people of color. This compounding effect severely undermines

any efforts by individuals, institutions, or sectors to move towards the

elimination of racial disparities.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

Lurking in the backdrop of many racism skeptics (and others) is the

idea that the reason that people of color have poor life outcomes across

almost all measures (e.g. increased mortality, poor health, less wealth,

higher unemployment, less educational attainment, higher incarceration,

etc.) is because they are inherently inferior. Structural racism provides

an alternative explanation by highlighting the way that people’s ability

to improve their life situation is impeded by racism across multiple

dimensions of their lives. This concept helps explain why communities of

color have experienced only modest improvement in reversing centuries of

disadvantage in the last few decades of relative progress.

HOW STRUCTURAL RACISM MANIFESTS ITSELF

Example #1:

Racial proling in policing causes a POC to be ned for not wearing a

seatbelt as a teenager. Poverty (and teenage procrastination) contributes

to the teenager not addressing the citation and accumulating unpayable

additional fees as a result. These unpaid fees make in impossible to get

a driver’s license. Because of the history of residential segregation and

racially inuenced regional decisions to not connect heavily black areas

to regional employment hubs (racial backlash), the young person has less

access to suitable jobs and struggles with chronic unemployment.

Example #2:

Historic and current factors in residential segregation are producing

food deserts in many communities of color around the country. The

lack of access to affordable nutritious food leads many people in such

communities to have diets that lead to more diabetes. The lack of local

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parks and other civic infrastructure (such as well-maintained sidewalks

or bike lanes) inhibit walking and other non-expensive exercise options.

In addition, previous racism-inuenced decisions about the location of

medical facilities means that there are fewer and lower quality clinics

and hospitals in these same neighborhoods, which result in more severe

diagnoses when people are nally discovered to have such diet related

ailments.

Note: One of the most important ideas behind structural racism is that the

forces that perpetuate racial disparities do not depend on “racist” people to

enact them. Rather, a number of forces work wickedly and synergistically

to make it very difcult for society to make progress on racial disparities.

It will likely be very difcult to get a skeptic to contemplate the idea of

structural racism if they don’t already believe that institutional racism

exists.

WHY AND HOW SKEPTICS RESIST

Structural racism takes the analysis of race to a very high level of

abstraction and may be resisted by people who don’t naturally think this

way. Further, the concept strikes deeply at the idea that society is basically

working well.

Some skeptics may want to retract their support of foundational personal

concepts when they see possible connections to systemic societal aws.

This is why it is important to make sure the conversational foundation

you have laid is strong. Before you raise the issue of structural racism, it

is advisable to conrm that they have bought into the ideas that there are

multiple ways that interpersonal racism shows up as well and that there

are multiple sectors where institutional racism impedes people’s progress.

Remember, this issue will stretch the discomfort of skeptics – especially

conservative ones – so be careful not to raise it until you have indications

that they are ready.

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RACIAL INEQUITY/RACIAL EQUITY

WHAT IT IS

•

Racial inequity is the way that racial status is a strong statistical

predictor of worse outcomes for people in different groups,

regardless of their individual circumstances.

•

Racial equity is an idealized non-existent state in which one’s racial

status is not predictive of outcomes.

WHY IS THIS TERM USEFUL TO YOUR WORK WITH SKEPTICS

One of the tricky ironies of modern racism is that the word “racism” and

especially “racist” have become trigger words for skeptics that make it

difcult for them to keep listening to substantive analytical points about

how society works. Given that, it is useful to have a term for the racially

problematic cumulative outcome that does not depend on the word

“racism” or “racist. “ For example, “racially disparate outcomes” or “racial

inequity” are oen not as triggering.

Even with this embedded resistance to plain language, for many people,

the most compelling way to discuss the large scale racial disparities is to

refer to the fact that race of a newborn has a signicant predictive factor

about their life expectancy, wealth level, chance of incarceration, level of

education, and many other factors. Some allies use the frame of “racial

equity” to describe what America will have when race is not predictive

of what will happen in the lives of white babies versus those who are not

white.

It is worth noting that there are some other factors that affect how you can

maximize the usefulness of this term.

Many skeptics – especially ideological conservatives - have a resistance to

societal interventions that appear to not accommodate the fact that people

have different levels of talent and exert different levels of effort. Compared

to the word “equality”, using the word “equity” may make it less likely that

a skeptic will gird up for an argument about different people have different

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talents and capacities. To many, racial equality implies guaranteeing

equal outcomes. By contrast, you can frame “racial equity” as implying

a guarantee of equal opportunities to groups, but doing so in a way that

recognizes existing impediments to opportunities that different racial

groups face.

It still remains true that people who are skeptical that racism is real oen

harbor a perspective that paying more attention to racial disparities will

lead to society making unfettered giveaways to undeserving people. In

this way, the idea that some groups need more assistance to give them fair

opportunities may be very challenging. If you frame equity issue as about

equalizing opportunity instead of outcomes, you will be less likely to raise

this concern about the welfare state running amok.

You will need to experiment with when and how to raise the issue of racial

equity and notice how it affects your work with skeptics.

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PART FOUR:

ODDS AND

ENDS

This nal short section includes a number of

instruments and commentary that did not t well

within other sections but will likely be useful to

many allies who are increasing their focus on

inuencing skeptics.

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This closing section is comprised of a number of short essays and brief

instruments that are relevant to the tasks of becoming a more effective

anti-racism ally. These pieces include:

PAST EXPERIENCES OF TRYING TO INFLUENCE EACH OTHER

At some point, other anti-racism advocates will question the efcacy of

empathetic listening based approaches. In fact, you may begin to question

them yourself. This reection instrument encourages you – perhaps with

another person – to review a number of past experiences where you were

trying to inuence others or someone was trying to inuence you to think

differently. The instrument encourages you to think back on the style of

engagement that was used and the impact it had so that you can assess

which approaches appear to have the better track record.

CONTINUUM OF RETORTS

There will be many moments when someone displays or articulates a

racially problematic attitude that needs to be challenged but the setting

is poorly suited for real engagement. There are many options for how to

respond in this situation and these options vary widely with respect to

intensity and how much you are challenging the person. Even within the

constraint of non-violent communication, responses can vary greatly.

This short document gives several examples to illustrate a continuum of

responses.

SHAME: DOES IT AFFECT YOUR WORK AS AN ALLY?

During workshops around the country, several allies have argued that

the shame that allies sometimes feel about their own progress on race

can undermine how effectively they engage both racism skeptics and

even other allies. This short instrument asks a few reection questions to

encourage you to consider how much and what type of shame might be

affecting your anti-racism practice.

CHOO S ING SKE P TICS TO ENGAGE

Allies need to learn how to make good choices about which skeptics

they invest more or less time and energy in trying to change. This short

instrument encourages you to consider a few factors that may help you

make better choices about which skeptics to spend your energy on.

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USIN G INSIGHT S ABOUT CO N SERVATIVE AN D LIBERAL MORA L FRAME WO R KS

AND O RIENTATIONS

In the past two decades, researchers have made signicant advances in

understanding important cross-cultural patterns in how human societies

create moral frameworks. It turns out that there are some general

differences between ideological conservatives and ideological liberals

regarding which underlying values should be considered most important.

As noted in the introduction to the workbook, the conversation between

allies and skeptics largely (though not at all universally) reects this liberal/

conservative split. This brief essay reviews some conservative v. liberal

differences in moral frameworks and orientations, and suggests a few

tweaks to the storytelling suggested by the RACE Method that leverage

these frameworks. Attached to the essay is a short instrument that

encourages you to look at differences in orientation between you and two

skeptics you might considering as for the focus of your persuasive efforts.

WHY ANTI-RACIST PROGRESSIVES NEED TO SUPPORT CONSERVATIVES

This short essay presents the reasons why it is important that progressive

anti-racists maintain a belief in the possibility of an anti-racist

conservatism, even if they have never seen anyone tting this description.

THE VALU E OF GROUP L EARNING

This essay reviews reasons why it might be worth your time to recruit a

few white ally friends to join you on the journey of trying to intentionally

improve your practice of engaging skeptics. Embedded within the essay is

a short instrument encouraging you to think about different characteristics

of your anti-racist friends to discern who might be most suitable to be part

of a small practice group. The essay also advocates that ally organizations

make supporting learning groups a part of their major initiatives.

CLOSING E NCOURAGEMENTS

An essay on the importance of maintaining a focus on inuencing skeptics

in the face of various factors that may pull you away from this way of

dismantling racism.

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PAST EXPERIENCES OF PEOPLE TRYING TO I N F LUENCE

EACH OTHER

This workbook is written from the perspective that approaches to

inuencing racism skeptics based on empathetic listening are more

effective in changing people’s perspective than approaches based on

debate, verbal combat, and confrontation. This is not the most common

view within the anti-racism community and there may be times when it is

useful for you and/or others to review your actual experiences of different

approaches to inuencing people. The following questions are designed

to foster a review of your actual experiences with different approaches to

engaging other people. For best results, answer the questions as they are

stated; if the question is not framed specically around race conversations,

consider a broad range of conversations you have had on many topics

besides race.

Have you ever observed situations where someone’s views were

hardened after they experienced a private lecture from someone who

thought they knew “the truth”? If so, jot a few notes about a few of

these experiences below.

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Have you ever observed situations where someone’s views were

authentically changed for the better after they experienced a private

lecture from someone who thought they knew “the truth?” If so, jot a

few notes about a few of these experiences below.

If there have ever been times when someone listened to you

empathetically (not necessarily about race) and this experience was

part of a conversation that helped expand your view of a situation, jot

a few notes about these experiences here.

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If there have been times when you listened to someone closely and

empathetically (not necessarily about race) and this experience

helped someone else expand their view of a situation, jot a few notes

about these experiences here.

For most people, their own personal experience suggests that listening

based strategies work better. (If this is not the case, you might consider

creating a workbook for white allies that replicates the success of private

lectures built on combative rhetoric). Engaging people who have made

racially problematic statements, without becoming combative, involves a

difcult act of self-discipline – so a good deal of motivation is necessary.

Hopefully, remembering your past experiences with confrontational

versus empathetic listening approaches can help you muster that

discipline when needed.

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CONTINUUM OF RETORTS

There are times when people say racially problematic things that, if

unchallenged, tend to make a social atmosphere feel noxious. In addition,

letting such statements go by unchallenged makes most allies feel as

though they are not fullling an important duty of being an anti-racist

ally. In these situations, many allies feel that their only options are at one

extreme 1) doing nothing, or at the other extreme 2) aggressively calling

out people for being racist.

In fact, even if you want to stay within the realm of non-violent

communication (and you may not want to constrain yourself in this way)

there are still many levels of response that you can muster in the face of

these racially problematic statements. The following potential responses

are purposely arranged from the ones that are the least confrontive to the

ones that are much more confrontive.

•

Feigned Deafness – “Excuse me, I did not hear you. Do you want to

say that again?”

•

Feigned Ignorance – “I don’t understand what you mean.” (This is

especially good for racist jokes, since explaining any type of joke

tends to drain the humor from it).

•

Feigned Doubt of Sincerity – “You don’t mean that, do you?”

•

Challenge Veracity – “ Surely, you don’t think ______. Don’t we know

that is not true?”

•

Raise Impact On Hypothetical Others – “I wonder how ______ would

feel if they heard you say that? “

•

Raise Perception Issues For Them – “ You might consider if you want

to say something like that in this setting.” (This is especially useful at

work).

•

Express Your Boundaries – “I do not want to be a part of

conversations where these things are said.”

•

Link To Your Feelings About Them – “This is so awful…. I don’t want

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to be around you right now.”

•

Implicate Their Character – “This is the kind of statement I have

only heard bigots say.”

•

Warning – “If I ever hear you say something like that again, I will tell

” (e.g. Human resources if the setting is the workplace).

•

Public Reporting – “ will hear about this conversation” (e.g..

Human Resources)

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SHAME: DOES IT AFFECT YOUR WORK AS AN ALLY?

There are a few types of shame that white allies have talked about in

workshops for this project.

Anti-racist allies can feel shame about:

•

How long it took them to realize how extensive and important are the

problems of racial inequities, bias, and privilege.

•

The fact that they are still subject to having biased thoughts.

•

The relatively low amount of emotionally close contacts they have

across racial lines.

For many people, feelings of shame can begin to emerge as they consider

engaging a skeptic. This shame sometimes leads allies to avoid having

conversations with skeptics, and sometimes leads them to more combative

(and even shaming) approaches as they handle these conversations. In

order to help you approach the conversation from a centered place, it is

important to reect on the degree to which shame might be part of the

emotional factors that are affecting you.

The following questions are designed to help you reect on the way that

shame might be affecting you and your interactions.

I feel some degree of shame about the fact that that it took as long as

it did for me to become somewhat “woke” about racial issues.

•

Strongly agree

•

Agree

•

Somewhat agree/somewhat disagree

•

Disagree

•

Strongly disagree

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I feel some degree of shame about the fact that I still sometimes have

racist/prejudiced/biased thoughts.

•

Strongly agree

•

Agree

•

Somewhat agree/somewhat disagree

•

Disagree

•

Strongly disagree

I feel some degree of shame about the low amount of substantive

contact I have with people of color.

•

Strongly agree

•

Agree

•

Somewhat agree/somewhat disagree

•

Disagree

•

Strongly disagree

If you were to be totally honest with yourself, how much do you think

that shame may aect your eectiveness with skeptics?

•

No impact

•

Very little impact

•

A little impact

•

Some impact

•

A lot of impact

•

A dominant factor

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If you were to be totally honest with yourself, how much do you think

that shame may aect your eectiveness with other people who you

think of as, broadly speaking, anti-racism allies?

•

No impact

•

Very little impact

•

A little impact

•

Some impact

•

A lot of impact

•

A dominant factor

The best way to overcome shame around this issue is to talk about it with

other white allies who might also have felt similar feelings. People can

usually muster more empathy and grace for others than they can for

themselves. If shame is an issue for you to any extent, consider talking to

at least one other ally you trust about how shame might be affecting you.

Further, being in a group with other allies who are trying to control the

impact that shame is having on their conversations will likely lead you

to provide reassurance and support to them. For the sake of your own

progress and healing, it will be useful for you to hear yourself giving this

type of grace to others.

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CHOOSING WHICH SKEPTICS TO ENGAGE

The intention of the White Ally Toolkit is that you will not only be able to

respond well to racially problematic statements that occur unexpectedly

but that you will also make a conscious choice to engage some people in

your circle of inuence. No matter how much energy you decide to invest

in inuencing skeptics, you will still need to make decisions about which

people you try to invest your time in and how much effort you spend.

This raises the question: If you are choosing between a number of racism

skeptics, what are the qualities most associated with your potential to have

an effect on them?

One factor to consider is how much the skeptic has a tendency to push

you out of empathetic listening mode. The methods discussed in this

workbook work better if you are in a centered emotional place, and people

vary in how much they tend to push you off center. You should look at your

interpersonal practice of inuencing skeptics to acknowledge racism as

a lifelong practice and one that you are likely to improve over time. As a

result, it may be most fruitful to initially focus on people who trigger your

emotions less frequently and less intensely than others, so that you can

have a more detached attitude toward the conversations.

As you assess possible candidates for your efforts, you should also

consider their general level of open-mindedness. One breakdown of open-

mindedness is that this is an amalgam of a number of different qualities,

namely:

•

Thirst for learning

•

Curiosity

•

An ability to see things from different perspectives

•

An acceptance and respect for other people’s beliefs and choices

•

Awareness that one’s own beliefs and lters can be limiting.

A third factor to consider is the level of empathy, which some dene as the

ability to feel what other people are feeling. One of the reasons that many

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allies care about racial equity is because they have cultivated empathy for

people of color and the situations they confront. Think about whether rthe

each skeptic generally emphasizes with other people’s emotions, even if

you don’t have direct knowledge of them doing this with people of color.

As has been said, you should consider a variety of factors in making a

decision about turning a moment of conversation into an on-ramp for a

dialogue about race. The following worksheet is designed to help your

decision-making.

List the top 6 people that you are most inclined to want to focus energy on

to inuence them to see racism differently.

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You will now order them from most to least on the three qualities

discussed above: how much they trigger you; how open-minded they are,

and how empathetic they tend to be.

Least likely to trigger

you

Most open-minded Most empathetic

Most likely to trigger

you

Least open -minded Least empathetic

You should consider other factors, such as how frequently you interact

with them, how comfortable your interactions are, the degree to which you

have common interests that can reinforce your sense of connectedness,

and other factors that are important to you. The hope is that the exercise

above contributes to your reection on the many factors that matter to

making good choices about investing your time. If you have never made an

intentional medium- to long-term effort to inuence a skeptic, you should

consider rst focusing on people who tend to fall toward the top of these

scales.

Reecting on all of the above, place the skeptics in order that you think

reects the most likelihood of achieving success as you attempt to

inuence them.

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Most Likely

Least Likely

You should consider how many people you want to consciously decide

to engage on racial issues, regardless of whether they make racially

problematic statements. It would be great if every white ally chose more

people to engage every year, as long as this effort is sustainable. The hope

is that allies will make engaging people in this way a lifelong practice,

and this might mean starting slowly with a smaller number of skeptics,

learning about your own strengths and weaknesses in doing this work, and

expanding your practice over a period of years.

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CREATING AN INFORMAL ALLY PRACTICE GROUP

This workbook is intended to be of use to any ally who want to increase

their inuence with racism skeptics in their circle. The hope is that the

reection exercises and encouragement to practice will be valuable even

if the reader is completely isolated from other allies. That said, you will

improve inuence with racism skeptics much faster if you are in a learning

community with other allies who are trying to master the methods here.

There are myriad subtleties that distinguish allies who are very effective

and those who are only moderately effective in inuencing racism skeptics.

Accordingly, there are many questions to think about if you view using the

methods here as a practice. Do certain approaches work better and others

less well with certain types of skeptics? When is the best time to shi

from talking about experiences to talking about data? Are there common

sentiments that skeptics express that are not well addressed here?

To become both totally comfortable and masterful at the conversational

approaches in this workbook, you will need to go through the common

quality improvement cycle of test, observe, reect, improve. If you are in

a group with others who are trying to improve their engagement practice,

you will learn much more by listening to other people’s reections.

Perhaps more importantly, you will probably do more reection if you

know you have regular opportunities to share your experiences with

others.

If there is not a ready-made group for you that has been organized by

racial equity supporting groups, you should consider forming your own

group. You are not the only white person who is troubled by the way that

racism denial among whites is limiting progress on racial equity. It might

not be difcult to gather a few friends who might get something out of

experimenting with different responses to racism skeptics and reecting

on their effectiveness. Such moments of reection need not be formal,

large, validated by an ofcial organization, or free of adult beverages. In

addition, these moments of collective reection might happen on-line or

through conference calls.

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It is useful to think about who are the people in your circle – dened

broadly – who you might want to meet with regularly (say, bi-weekly or

monthly) to talk about your inuence practice.

First, think of the six folks that you are most drawn to considering for your

three-person racial ally support group. Write their names here.

In addition to typical factors you use to choose people, the following

characteristics seem of particular importance.

•

Willingness to try to push oneself past limitations

•

Capacity to be reective

•

Graciousness to others (and themselves) when goals are not met

•

Level of commitment to racial equity

Next you are going to analyze your list of potential practice supporters.

Below is a table with the four characteristics above and a blank space for

criteria that you might think is particularly important, too. As you rate the

ally, compare them to other people who are allies in the broad denition

of that word. (That is, it is OK if they have never gone to a White Ally

meeting).

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Pushes self

4=really

strong

1=relatively

weak

Capacity

to reect

Gracious-

ness

Commitment

to racial

equity

Ideally, you should not have to form a group on your own. Organizations

that are committed to anti-racism may, at least, nominally support ally

practice groups. Admittedly, this may not be likely, since as of Spring

2018, few groups recognize the importance of this aspect of anti-racism

work. Nevertheless, if you are interested in rening your skills, you should

consider whether or not racial equity minded organizations might support

a practice group, even with only the validation of verbal support.

If you are a member of an organization that supports white allies, you

should consider proposing that supporting such learning groups be

considered as an important initiative. Increasing inuence on racism

skeptics is not the only activity that ally groups should do, but generally,

this activity happens far less than other activities like augmenting protests

or pushing for institutional change. In order to create racial equity in the

long run, ally groups need to be active on many issues that all support the

same outcome.

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CREATING FORMAL PRACTICE GROUPS WITH A

FACILITATOR

This workbook has been focused on the specic setting of a white

ally talking with white racism skeptics in a one on one or very small

group setting. Some readers may be tempted to use the conversational

approaches asthe basis of conversations among groups of people, perhaps

all white or perhaps racially mixed.

If you are going to adapt the materials in this way, it is recommend that you

engage a facilitator with some degree of experience. Facilitating productive

group conversation has its own set of skills that are needed to increase

the chance that a conversation on such a sensitive topic goes well. It will

be useful if this facilitator has experience with racial conversations in

particular.

A facilitator who is contemplating adapting the conversational approach

in this workbook should be able to do so with relative ease, since the

approach is based on an underlying theory of dialogue. The core of that

theory posits that dialogue happens best if people: 1) share personal

experiences about an issue, then 2) try to make sense of the larger social

dynamics behind an issue by collectively examining the similarities and

differences in experience. This theory of dialogue is explained in ‘The

Little Book of Dialogue for Difcult Subjects,” by Lisa Schirch and David

Campt.

To assist with engaging groups of people, the White Ally Toolkit is

developing a Facilitator’s Supplement that gives some additional guidance

to people who want to lead groups of allies in a process of engaging the

materials of this workbook over ve session or ten session sequences.

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USING INSIGHTS ABOUT CONSERVATIVE AND LIBERAL

MORAL F RAMEWORKS AND ORIENTATIONS

Among scholars who study human moral frameworks, a leading theoretical

framework is called “moral foundations theory”, which posits that the vast

majority of moral frameworks of human societies fall along ve essential

dimensions.

1. Care:cherishing and protecting others; opposite ofharm.

2. FairnessorProportionality:rendering justice according to shared

rules; opposite ofcheating.

3. LoyaltyorIngroup:standing with your group, family, nation; opposite

ofbetrayal.

4. AuthorityorRespect:submitting to tradition and legitimate authority;

opposite ofsubversion.

5. SanctityorPurity:abhorrence for disgusting things, foods, actions;

opposite ofdegradation.

According to this theory, most cultures and subcultures base what is

deemed proper or improper behavior as existing along some combination

of these differing values. Signicantly, however, different cultures tend to

value each of these dimensions to differing extents. Jonathan Haidt, author

of the bestselling “The Righteous Mind,” argues that American liberals

tend to highly emphasize the values of caring and fairness and have a very

low valuation of the loyalty, authority, and sanctity. By contrast, American

conservatives tend to value all ve dimensions to about the same extent.

The following table summarizes some of these differences and the way

that people with different ideologies tend to dene these dimensions.

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_foundations_theory

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Common (not universal) dierences in Moral Foundations

Construct

Conservative Moral

Framework

Liberal Moral

Framework

Harm/Caring

(Liberals tend to care

a lot about this)

Family = Ingroup

Family = Humanity/

Outgroups

Justice/Fairness

(Liberals tend to care

a lot about this)

Achieved, inherited,

karma, divinely destined

Egalitarian/social justice/

meritocratic

Ingroup/Loyalty

(Conservatives tend to

care a lot about this)

Ingroup/nation Class/humanity

Authority

(Conservatives tend to

care a lot about this)

Traditions, hierarchical

authority, religious beliefs

Science, rational

philosophy, empiricism

Purity/Sanctity

(Conservatives tend to

care a lot about this)

Traditional values,

patriotism, fetuses

Environment, planet,

women’s body/choice

As important as these differences in moral frameworks are, Haidt and

other scholars of moral frameworks posit moral ideology is only one

aspect of the difference between the conservative and liberal perspective.

Their argument is that that conservative and liberal perspectives are

also associated with what might be described as conservative and

liberal orientations to life. Broadly speaking, a conservative orientation

to life values order, routine, similarity, and familiarity, in contrast to a

liberal orientation, which prioritizes novelty, uniqueness, and diversity.

According to Haidt:

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Psychologically, what we nd empirically is that people who identify as

conservative tend to like order and predictability. They are not attracted

to change for the sake of change, whereas people who identify as liberal

like variety and diversity. I have one study where we look at dots moving

around on a screen. Conservatives like the images where the dots are

moving around more in lockstep with each other.

Liberals like it when it’s all chaotic and random. Liberals keep their rooms

messier than conservatives. So these are deep, psychological differences.

We eat different food. We eat at different restaurants. And this is part of the

problem now, that it’s not just an ideological difference, it’s a real lifestyle

difference.

COMMON DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CONSERVATIVES AND LIBERALS

Common (not universal) dierences in Personality Orientations

Common Tendencies Among

Liberals

Common Tendencies Among

Conservatives

Value novelty in experiences (travel,

diet, personal identication)

Prefer the safety and

predictability of routine and

sameness

See institutions as instruments of

caring for people

Value the stability of

institutions in themselves

Believe in change and risk Believe in order and safety

Oen seek justice, even at risk to

themselves

Oen seek order, even at

the expense of the most

vulnerable

Tend to question authority Tend to revere authority

Speak for the vulnerable Speak for institutions

Celebrate diversity and ux among

groups not in-group membership

Celebrate loyalty to groups,

and stability among them

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Taking moral and lifestyle orientations into account may be helpful in

helping you rene your engagement of racism skeptics. This will be

discussed below. Before that, it is useful to take a quick inventory about

how some of these differences the scholars talk about apply to you and the

racism skeptics you know.

The following instrument may help you reect on differences in

orientation that you may have with the racism skeptics that you are

working on.

ASSESSING POLITICS AND LIFESTYLES

Step 1: Put your rst initial on where you are on the scales. Be honest

MIDLINE

| | | | | | |

Very Very

Liberal Conservative

| | | | | | |

Very Very

Messy Neat

| | | | | | |

Values Values

change/ order/

risk safety

| | | | | | |

Questions Values

Authority Authority

| | | | | | |

Values Prefers

Novelty/variety predictability,

sameness

Draw a solid line that connects all of your initials, so you can easily see the

pattern.

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Step 2: I have a bias against folks who are politically conservative. (Circle

one).

Strongly

Disagree

Disagree Slightly

Disagree

Slightly

Agree

Agree Strongly

Agree

Step 3: Do Step 1 again, this time assessing a racism skeptic (let’s call them

Skeptic #1) in your circle and using their initials. When you are done, use a

dotted to connect the initials of Skeptic #1. Notice how much or how little

your lines are close or cross each other.

Step 4: Do Step 1 again, this time using the initials of another skeptic

(Skeptic #2). Draw a double line to connect their initials. Notice again how

much or little your lines are close or cross each other.

Reection: How do the patterns of answers to the questions above relate

to your challenge in engaging racism skeptics, if at all?

REFI N ING YO U R ENGAGEMENT PRACTICE I N L I GHT OF CONSERVATI VE V.

LIBERAL PERSPECTIVES

These differences in both moral foundations and basic orientation

to the world have signicant implications for American political and

interpersonal discourse and for conversations between conservatives and

liberals. Some moral foundation scholars suggest that one problem with

political discourse, is that people tend to base arguments about correct

behavior on their moral foundations and not necessarily that of the

person with whom they are speaking. These scholars suggest that a person

might improve their effectiveness if they consider making arguments for

their position using the moral frameworks of their counterpart.

The differences around basic orientation can affect a conversation about

politics and about many other things. Think about a conversation about

proper immigration levels and policies. An uninitiated liberal person

might be inclined to discuss the way that immigration has contributed to

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a rich diversity of communities, restaurants, and other cultural factors as a

reason why they favor higher immigration levels. Such an argument would

have a great deal of appeal to themselves, because of the appeal of their

orientation towards novel experiences. However, they may be focusing on

points that are unproductive or counterproductive, if they are talking to a

conservative that ts the pattern of preferring things that are familiar and

routine.

Take another example: Imagine a televised debate between a liberal and a

conservative about police abuse in black communities and the proper level

of oversight to minimize it. Looking through the lens of moral foundations,

a liberal who favored stringent oversight and harsh penalties might

base their arguments on their deeply felt belief in the the importance of

the police treating all communities fairly, and showing care toward all

communities. Structuring the argument this way would likely resonate

with liberals in the audience, since the argument appeals directly to the

moral foundations they care about. But such an argument might not have

strong appeal to conservatives, since they also care about other moral

dimensions equally.

Imagine that instead of simply arguing on the caring and fairness

dimensions, the liberal trying to appeal to conservatives might also base

their argument on the grounds that more stringent rules further the

authority of the police management over the rank and le police, as well

as strengthen the authority of the government over the police. Further, a

liberal savvy to moral foundations theory might further argue that police

abuse is a violation of the loyalty that police need to show to citizens. Such

arguments, if executed with reasonable skill, might provide additional

resonance with conservative observers of the debate.

This workbook advocates that you not argue with racism skeptics, but

rather engage in experience-sharing and mutual storytelling. Still, the

orientation differences described above are relevant to how you might

tell your Connect and Expand stories. Specically, if you are a liberal

ally trying to inuence a conservative skeptic, you might consider

tweaking your anecdotes to show that you have some fealty to other moral

frameworks besides your own.

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Suppose for instance, you are telling an anecdote about being pulled over

by a police ofcer, and your primary takeaway from the anecdote is that

you think you beneted from unearned racial advantage and positive

assumptions because you are white. In the setup of the story, you might

describe your attitude of compliance as the ofcer approached you as

not necessarily one of fear and resentment of police authority, but rather

because of the respect and appreciation that you have for their devotion to

public service and the dangers they endure. If your car is a place you keep

clean and orderly, you might add that small detail to your story, too.

The suggestion that you consider such tweaks to your anecdotes in this way

is not meant to lead you to present yourself falsely. Your goal is to have an

authentic encounter and truth telling is key to authentic interactions. At

the same time, if there are a mix of motivations or emotions in a situation,

it might make sense to li up elements that will connect you to the skeptic

you are talking to, given their ideology and moral frameworks.

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WHY ANTI-RACIST PROGRESSIVES NEED TO SUPPORT

CONSERVATIVES

Earlier in this workbook, a claim was made that you will undermine your

efforts at transforming denial about racism if the skeptic thinks that you

are trying to change their entire political worldview. This point merits

some additional amplication.

Most allies have seen people who are liberals who think that racism does

not exist, since these people are not hard to nd. However, many white

allies have never met or have even heard of someone who is politically

conservative but is willing to acknowledge that the realities of unconscious

racial bias and institutional racism exist and that these factors create

unfair racial inequities that merit attention. A big part of the reason that

many allies have not heard of people like this is because of the way that

the conservative movement has been purposely managed for decades

to appeal to a white racial grievance; this grievance is at odds with the

idea that racism against POC is a problem worthy of specic attention. A

secondary reason that many liberal allies have not encountered anti-racist

conservatives is because they have minimal exposure to conservatives in

their real lives, on social media, or in mass media.

This almost total isolation from conservatives has a number of negative

side effects on the mindset that liberal allies need to be effective. As

discussed in Part 1, many white allies – and liberals generally – oen do

not extend dignity to conservatives when they are interacting with them.

Besides being a spiritual problem, denying people dignity undermines

the comity that is useful in a diverse democracy. This condescension and

tendency to regard conservative views as largely illegitimate is amplied in

a liberal media echo chamber, and not surprisingly, produces a backlash

resentment that gets amplied through the conservative media echo

chamber.

Partially because of this history of being denied basic dignity in

conversations across the ideological divide, it is difcult for many

conservatives to entertain the idea that racism against POC is real and

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hurts America. In addition to whatever dignity-denying direct experiences

they might have had talking to liberals about race, the conservative echo

chamber also primes many conservatives to deny racism. While the idea

that racism is real is not

inherently a liberal idea,

it has become associated

with liberalism within the

conservative media echo

chamber. For this reason

also, conservatives come

to the conversation already

primed to dismiss racism’s

existence as just some other

liberal talking point that

merits scorn.

To counter that, it is useful if you approach the conversation from the

perspective that you are not trying to change their entire political ideology

or their entire orientation to life. It is best if you can operate from the

motivation that your goal is not to turn them into liberals like you are (if

that is true); Rather, the best attitude for you to have and convey is that all

you are doing is trying got get them to stop denying that racism against

POC is real and that it has important moral implications for society.

To do this, it will be valuable to envision that this person can recognize

that reality of racism and still tend to prefer conservative approaches to

solving society’s problems. This will be difcult for many white allies, since

they have little or no exposure to conservatives who could be reasonably

described as anti-racist. Still, despite the fact that you may not have seen

an anti-racist conservative, you will be most effective if you imagine that

people like this exist.

This not to say that it is important to not advocate for liberal positions.

Rather, the point is that when you are trying to inuence a conservative to

move out of denial about racism, there is a big downside to linking your

point of view to your general liberal views. It is highly likely that they will

t will be valuable to

envision that this person

can recognize that reality of

racism and still tend to prefer

conservative approaches to

solving society’s problems.

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view conceding that racism is real as equivalent to making a concession

about politics, and perhaps even about their worldview beyond politics.

Your goal is to not make the skeptic feel that their entire political ideology/

worldview is being attacked. When in such a conversation with a racism

skeptic (and perhaps only while it is happening) you should look at their

degree of attraction to conservative policy solutions as a perspective to be

welcomed into the mix of the different ways that people who acknowledge

racism solve policy problems.

Below are a few questions that can help you reect upon how ready you

might be to engage a conservative skeptic on the goal of diminishing

their racism denial but not trying to produce wholesale changes in their

worldview.

How many people have you known personally, knew of second-hand

or were aware of as public gures who generally held conservative

viewpoints but were, you thought, not in denial about the idea that

racism against people of color was an actual problem?

I can think of people who I might call anti-racist conservatives.

If you can remember their names, write them down.

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How easy is it for you to imagine that a person could not be in denial/

resistance about racism but hold conservative views on other public/

political issues?

•

Very hard to imagine

•

Hard to imagine

•

Takes a little work to imagine

•

I can imagine this, though I have not seen it.

•

I have seen this once or twice, so I don’t have to imagine it

•

I have seen this many times and/or it is very easy to imagine this.

Imagine that you have decided to engage a conservative racism

skeptic in a series of conversations. Imagine that after a number of

conversations, they have signicantly moved out of their previous

tendency to deny that unconscious bias is real, that institutional

racism past and present actually matter, and their there is some

moral obligation to address on-going inequities. At the same time,

they still have conservative beliefs on a range of other issues, such as

gun control, abortion, tax policy, immigration reform, and so on. How

would you feel about the results of your hard conversational work

with them?

•

Very disappointed that I have not gotten them to see the folly of their

conservative views

•

Appreciative of the movement, but this person still needs a lot more

work from someone.

•

Pretty happy, but I have a gnawing sense that there is more I should

•

Very happy: I have done my job as an ally.

If you notice that your answers to these questions suggest that is it difcult

for you to envision an anti-racist conservatism, it might be useful to

expose yourself to such people. Some white conservatives with a national

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prole who do not deny the existence of racism include analyst Max Boot,

columnist Charlie Sykes, former presidential candidate Evan McMullen,

and journalist Conor Friendsdorf.

CLOSING ENCOURAGEMENTS

Below are some closing thoughts meant to help allies keep choosing to stay

on the important path that they are on.

SOME PERILS OF THE PATH OF THE ALLY

The past few years have seen a signicant growth in the white ally arm

of the anti-racism movement. Increasing numbers of white people have

become at least a little bit

“woke” – or at least have

adopted the associated

language – and have tried

to lend some support for

various anti-oppression

efforts led by people of

color. Overall, this has

to be considered a good

thing.

Certainly, some of these

new arrivals to the

liberation movement are

doing what some have

called “performative

wokeness” – that is, putting on a show for themselves, their liberal

white comrades, and perhaps some people of color - to show that they

understand that racism is a problem. At the same time, many of these new

allies embody new energy to the anti-racism struggle, as these allies offer

their best but admittedly awed selves as new soldiers to the veterans of

the anti-racism movement.

One thing that we have be honest about is the fact that white folks joining

hite folks joining these

existent racial equity

movements creates myriad

complexities - including new

headaches - that must be

managed by the people of

color who are trying to lead

the anti-racism movement.

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these existent racial equity movements create myriad complexities -

including new headaches - that must be managed by the people of color

who are trying to lead the anti-racism movement. It’s great that new allies

want to join the crew that has been sailing the boat for a while, but new

sailors need to be trained both in nautical tasks and in the culture of the

boat, and this requires more work on everyone’s part. Training new crew

members may make the captain’s job more difcult and may even cause

the boat to sail a little slower for a time.

It is unfortunate but not unreasonable that some organizers nd this

additional work of working with novice white allies to be too much to bear

and thus sometimes subject white allies to high levels of scrutiny and sharp

criticism. It is not difcult to nd pointed critiques of white folks who

get involved with POC anti-oppression movements. Oen, these critiques

describe how allies are participating poorly or doing so in a way that

demonstrates that people are still “coming from a place of privilege.”

Even

further, it is also not difcult to nd pointed well-written critiques that

question the validity of white folks creating white caucus spaces that aspire

to work alongside of POC led organizations.

If white allies join existing anti-racism efforts, they will likely be criticized

for how they do that. If they start their own organizations, they might be

criticized for that as well. So what is a white ally supposed to do? Is there a

way to avoid harsh criticism? Probably not.

White allies, especially ones who deeply care about racism, occupy a

liminal (i.e. in between) space; on the one hand are POC activist comrades

2 https://theestablishment.co/welcome-to-the-anti-racism-movement-heres-what-you-ve-

missed-711089cb7d34

https://medium.com/@lizdais_harding/white-allies-youre-likely-presenting-as-fake-woke-and-

you-need-to-stop-b4890a1ddf0e

https://medium.com/athena-talks/for-other-white-people-who-want-to-stop-being-annoying-

and-or-awful-allies-to-people-of-color-a-67d2d4015c75

3 https://www.hungtonpost.com/entry/whites-only-surj-and-the-caucasian-invasion-of-

racial_us_58dd5cf7e4b04ba4a5e25209

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who oen see racism as the dominant factor of modern American life and

who can have very stringent expectations of allies on many issues, such

as the way allies should think about their role, how allies use language

and concepts when discussing the work, and the right way to strike a

balance between stepping

forward and letting POC lead.

On the other hand are the

white allies’ racism skeptical

cousins and friends who think

of allies as liberal enablers of

the sloth, dysfunction, and

hypersensitivity of people of

color. Finally, there are other

allies, some of whom think that

harsh criticism of other allies is

somehow useful to themselves

and the movement.

In a time of increased racial tensions between white allies’ anti-racism

movement comrades and their cousins, it is not surprising that many white

allies feel confused and very uncertain about what their role should be. In

the face of these complex pressures, it is not surprising that many people

who might be allies at the heart level do very little to move the racial

ball forward. It is easy for good-hearted white folks to decide that active

allyship is just too difcult. Apparently, you have chosen the ally path,

since you have acquired this workbook. The hope of this project is that you

stay on the ally path despite these oen trying rewards.

Perhaps some double binds are inevitable for anyone who is committed

to being a force to undue unfairness that is deeply embedded in society’s

systems when they have benetted from that same unfairness. Perhaps

being a white ally – or any anti-racist advocate for that matter - means that

you open yourself to criticism from many quarters. This is the path you are

choosing.

erhaps being a white

ally – or any anti-racist

advocate for that matter

- means that you open

yourself to criticism from

many quarters. This is the

path you are choosing.

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This project aims to be very sympathetic to these crosscutting pressures.

The stance of this project is to encourage and empower white allies, under

the presumption that doing so will make it easier for people to decide

to be more active in taking risks within their interactions with cousins,

neighbors, and so on. The intention is to lovingly apply some strong

nudges and guidance to the ally community about some desperately

needed conversations that white folks need to have with each other. The

primary motivation behind this project is to make progress on racial equity

in the United States. But it is worth noting that there are issues even bigger

than racial hierarchies in America that may depend on whether large

numbers of white allies can better engage skeptics.

UNPR O CESS E D WH ITE GRIEVANC E IS UNDERMIN I NG L EGIT I MATE DEBATE

ABOUT THE GLOBAL WORLD ORDER

One of the most pressing examples is an overdue conversation about

the racial threat and the sense of grievance that is growing in America

and many historically white countries. As was made clear in 2016, this

unprocessed white grievance – oen expressed as racism, xenophobia,

and/or nativism - is having global geopolitical consequences. The entire

global world order is subject to being altered because white folks across

the northern hemisphere are not talking to each other honestly about

the way that many feel dislocated by the increased prominence demands

of non-whites all over the world. There is a strong case to be made that

the 2016 presidential election (and perhaps Brexit as well) was a massive

failure by the white ally community.

While there were arguably some good reasons to vote for Donald Trump,

his tendency to make racially problematic statements and to stoke white

grievance was well known and widely discussed in the mass media before

the election. People who think of themselves as anti-racist allies must ask

themselves: how many risks did you take to have conversations with people

in your circle of inuence about Candidate Trump before the election? And

if you had these conversations with people who you knew looked at him

differently: How effective were you - not necessarily in changing votes, but

in getting people to honestly consider his stance on racial issues as a factor

in their vote?

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Certainly, there are reasons for whites and others to oppose globalism

and the inequities associated with it. The United States and other western

nations need to have honest debates of the advantages and disadvantages

of the corporatist global order that the world has been putting in place

for decades. But this debate needs to be an honest one, and not overly

inuenced by an historically uninformed and xenophobic sense of

grievance by white populations that is not being talked about honestly,

even in private settings. It is this conversation that white allies are in

the best position to raise. When people of color raise this psychological

undercurrent, the responses from racism skeptics tend toward denial,

rage, and accusations of hypersensitivity and playing the so-called race

card. And, as a population, POC are not commonly in with white people

in those private settings of potential emotional vulnerability. That is why

exploring white grievance in private conversations is allies’ work.

WHIT E ALLIES CAN H ELP WITH A CR I TICAL NATIO N AL WEAKN ESS EVEN

BIGGER THAN RACIAL EQUITY

The work of white allies– if it involves the practices of dialogue and non-

violent communication discussed herein - is important for an additional

reason. This work is about recasting some very unfortunate cultural norms

that are turning out to be important weaknesses in American society.

Americans of different ideologies have become less able to talk to each

other about important collective issues. The divisions between people of

different political ideologies have become increasingly severe in recent

years and our collective capacity to engage across lines of ideology seem to

have severely eroded.

Even though commentators have been lamenting the decreased

cooperation and sense of comity in our political culture for at least

two decades, this issue seems to have worsened in the past few years.

Increasingly, people who are anywhere except at the center of the

ideological spectrum see people on the other side of the midline as threats

to the nation.

This incapacity to presume the good will of others makes

4 Two-thirds (66%) of consistently conservative Republicans see the Democratic Party

as a threat to the nation’s well-being, compared with the half (50%) of consistently liberal

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progress on pressing problems much more difcult. This division is so

stark that it has become a national weakness in our democracy. We know

that this weakness has been exploited by nations seeking to undermine the

nation’s well being. We can see this from the way that Russian operatives

attacked the American polity in the 2016 election and continue to use fake

identities and robots on social media to iname existing divisions between

demographically and ideologically disparate groups.

As desperately as the nation needs a more activated white ally population

to energize the movement for desperately needed racial equity, the work

of these allies can be looked at in light of a broader patriotic purpose – re-

equipping American culture with the capacity to talk across ideological

divides.

THE ALLY PATH, IF PURSUED BY TAKING RISKS, COULD BE CONSIDERED A

NOBL E ONE

Raising uncomfortable issues of racial grievance – and doing so

consistently and with savvy and technique – requires taking risks. Even if

you implement the storytelling-based tactics in this workbook with great

skill, you may still become “that person who you have to be careful what

you say around.” Even if your tactics are nely calibrated, you will be

taking some level of risk by breaking the silence of the white folks in your

circle of inuence by raising issues of white grievance, bias, and historical

racism in settings with racism skeptics where people don’t normally raise

these issues.

You do not have to do this, since the oppression of racism is,

fundamentally, a societal ill that only indirectly affects you. As noted from

the outset, this project is based on the perspective that racism causes more

problems for people of color than it does for white people. Even with a

robust and nuanced understanding of racism, it is clear that racism has

costs for whites, and these costs are subtle – and very different than the

claims that a skeptic might raise.

Democrats who say the same about the Republican Party. Among all Democrats and Democratic

leaners, 27% go so far as to say the GOP is a threat to the well-being of the country. Among all

Republicans and Republican leaners, more than a third (36%) say Democratic policies threaten

the nation. From: Pew Research Center – 2014 Political Polarization in the American Public.

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For example, some costs that societal racism imposes upon whites include

things like “No Go” areas in the urban core, excessive suburbanization,

the maintenance of a massive private school systems to make up for the

decits of public school system that has been neglected, and an insufcient

sense of common community that has spiritual dimensions. This is but

a partial list. White allies need to think through this for themselves and

talk with other white folks, skeptics and allies alike. (In fact, white folks

discourse about “How does racism harm whites?” is an underdeveloped

theme within the white ally community. Your considered thoughts about

this and tactics for discussing this need to be part of your toolkit, too).

Nevertheless, as real as these prices are that white folks pay for ongoing

societal racism, the stance of this project is that whites get a net benet

from the racial hierarchies that are the status quo in America. The path of

the ally is one that involves spending energy trying to bring down an unfair

system that ultimately brings the ally more payoffs than prices. This is why

the walk of the ally – stumbles in that walk not withstanding – is a noble

walk for those who are truly on it.

The path of the ally is arguably a noble one because allies are consciously

taking social risks by ending the silence about race in white settings that

are ideologically mixed. It is noble because being effective requires taking

risks and troubling the waters. It is noble because this path is about truly

engaging people over the most intractable issue in American history, and is

not in the ally’s direct self-interest to take this issue on.

HUMILITY AND A SPIRIT OF INQUIRY WILL BE IMPORTANT

If you tell comrades in the anti-racism movement that you practice the

methods herein, you will be told by many that these approaches are weak-

willed, lacking backbone, not getting the urgency of the racial equity

problem, or problematic in some other way. Other racial equity advocates

will claim that these methods will not work. You must be prepared for this

reaction. To put it bluntly, you will be criticized – including by people of

color who may be leaders of anti-racism efforts you participate in. And

given the inherent questions and doubts that POC anti-racism advocates

oen have toward allies - and the need for your allyship to sometimes

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involve working with them - your humility in the face of the criticism will

be important to remember.

Fortunately, one can be humble and still stand your ground about your

belief that you should engage in empathetic listening strategies with

other white people. As has been discussed, there is good social science

research behind the notion that empathetic listening strategies are more

effect in persuasion. More pointedly, you should look at your own actual

experience, and be willing to talk about it. As the reection exercise at

the start of this section encouraged you to do, you should interrogate

your own experiences of

interpersonal inuence

to nd what your life has

actually taught you. Based

on your own experience

and that of science, you

should push back against

such critiques of these

methods, and do so in the

spirit of helping others

improve their practice of

inuencing people.

At the same time, the

spirit of dialogue and

inquiry embodied in the approach of this project suggests that you should

not be overly doctrinaire about what has been presented herein. Maybe the

folks who advocate more combative approaches are right, or at least right

in some circumstances. Everyone in the racial equity movement should be

open-minded about what persuasion strategies work, since no one really

knows. There have not been large-scale experiments involving hundreds or

thousands of people using different approaches moving people from their

denial about racism.

So, if someone who is serious about racial equity truly believes that more

combative and/or prophetic approaches work, and if they really want to

ou will be told by many

that these approaches

are weak-willed, lacking

backbone, not getting the

urgency of the racial equity

problem, or problematic in

some other way...You must be

prepared for this reaction.

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challenge the methods here, perhaps the answer is to conduct your own

small-scale experiments. If someone is serious about effectiveness in

changing people’s thinking about racism and is not just sniping at you for

not being “woke enough” or committed enough, perhaps the best strategy

is to act like both of you have a research grant to compare approaches to

see what works best. You might try coming to some agreement about how

your approaches will differ, how you will dene a reasonable attempt to

inuence someone, and what success looks like. It would be great if each of

you got others to participate, so you have more data to look at.

As noted, this project is based on specic goal - reducing the portion (55%)

of whites who think racism against people of color is not a specic problem

requiring specic attention. As important as is the goal of reducing

this portion to 45% by 2025, this effort is part of a question even more

important than racial equity. A critical national question concerns whether

a democracy based on the exchange of ideas can actually survive the many

forces causing siloization, a decline of civility and a diminished public

square. Another important national question is whether the US wants to

retreat from the corporatist global order it has been critical to building

since World War II. It may be that that the widespread deployment of

principles from persuasion science, conict resolution, and non-violent

communication can actually help tens of million of white Americans get

past their blind spots on America’s most intractable problem. If this turns

out to be true, not only is there more hope for the future conversations

between members of this increasingly diverse nation about the race issues

that threaten it; moreover, there is more hope for other challenges issues

that now go unaddressed because of the ideological divides that America is

having trouble working through.

Thank you for your passion and most important, your ongoing efforts that,

while potentially awed and subject to numerous missteps, are also noble

and even patriotic.

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ADDITIONAL

RESOURCES

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The following are some resources that allies might use to bolster their

understanding of some key topics that this workbook has reviewed.

OTHERING

ARTICLES AVAILABLE ONLINE

•

Brons, Lajos. (2015).

Othering, An Analysis

. Transcience, a Journal

of Global Studies. 6. 69-90. https://www2.hu-berlin.de/transcience/

Vol6_No1_2015_69_90.pdf

•

The Problem of Othering: Towards Inclusiveness and Belonging

John A. Powell and Stephen Menendian, JUN 29, 2016, Othering &

Belonging: Expanding the Circle of Human Concern, http://www.

otheringandbelonging.org/the-problem-of-othering/

•

The Use of “Othering” in the Formation of a Nationalist Society

. John

Evans. http://www.academia.edu/1338990/The_Use_of_Othering_in_

the_Formation_of_a_Nationalist_Society

SHORT EXPLANATORY VIDEOS

•

“Othering”: Who is “Different”?

Margaret McCune. https://youtu.be/

OrBqj2M_Sqc

•

Professor John Powell Talks About The Language Of ‘Othering’

During The 2016 Election - Part 1

. CBS. https://youtu.be/

zBwme7v9QM8

•

The othering of ethnic minorities.

Hannah Armstrong. https://youtu.

be/LKeDwMU0_Jo

UNCONSCIOUS BIAS

ADDITIONAL

RESOURCES

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ARTICLES AVAILABLE ONLINE

•

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Volume 48, Issue 6,

November 2012, Pages 1267-1278.

Long-term reduction in implicit

race bias: A prejudice habit-breaking intervention

. Patricia G.

Devine, Patrick S. Forscher, Anthony J. Austin, William T. L. Cox.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3603687/

•

Understanding Unconscious Bias and Unintentional

Racism

. Jean Moule. Phi Delta Kappan, v90 n5 p320-326

Jan 2009. http://people.uncw.edu/browna/documents/

UnderstandingUnconsciousBiasUnintentionalRacism.pdf

•

Minikel-Lacocque, J. (2012).

Racism, College, and the Power

of Words: Racial Microaggressions Reconsidered

. American

Educational Research Journal. https://www.uww.edu/Documents/

diversity/racism.pdf

SHORT EXPLANATORY VIDEOS

•

Understanding Unconscious Bias

. The Royal Society. https://youtu.be/

dVp9Z5k0dEE

•

Unconscious Bias @ Work — Making the Unconscious Conscious

. Life

at Google. https://youtu.be/NW5s_-Nl3JE

•

What is Unconscious Bias?

Employers network for equality and

inclusion. https://youtu.be/rbe5D3Yh43o

ATTRIBUTION ERROR

ARTICLES AVAILABLE ONLINE

•

Fundamental Attribution Error

. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_attribution_error

•

The Fundamental Attribution Error

. PsychWiki - A Collaborative

Psychology Wiki. https://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/

uploads/2010/12/The-Fundamental-Attribution-Error.pdf

•

Explanations and Implications of The Fundamental Attribution

Error: A Review and Proposal

. Zachariah Berry. Journal of Integrated

Social Sciences. http://jiss.org/documents/volume_5/issue_1/JISS%20

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2015%205(1)%2044-57%20FAE.pdf

SHORT EXPLANATORY VIDEOS

•

Attribution theory - Attribution error and culture

. Khan Academy.

https://youtu.be/XYWFGJ2aYRU

•

Fundamental Attribution Error: Denition & Overview

. Social

Psychology: Tutoring Solution. http://study.com/academy/

lesson/fundamental-attribution-error-denition-lesson-quiz.

html#courseInfo

•

Ethics Dened: Fundamental Attribution Error

. UT McCombs School

of Business. https://youtu.be/k0HUujS88jQ

RACIAL ANXIETY

ARTICLES AVAILABLE ONLINE

•

Racial Anxiety

. Perception Institute. https://perception.org/research/

racial-anxiety/

•

Godsil, Rachel D. and Richardson, L. Song,

Racial Anxiety

(August

15, 2017). Iowa Law Review, Vol. 102, No. 5, 2017, Forthcoming;

UC Irvine School of Law Research Paper No. 2017-40. Available at

SSRN:https://ssrn.com/abstract=3019388

•

Two new studies nd racial anxiety is the biggest driver of support

for Trump.

By Christopher Ingraham. June 6, 2016. The Washington

Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/06/06/

racial-anxiety-is-a-huge-driver-of-support-for-donald-trump-two-

new-studies-nd/

SHORT EXPLANATORY VIDEOS

•

Dening Implicit Bias and Racial Anxiety

. National Association of

Independent Schools (NAIS) https://youtu.be/msscegmQpW0?t=45

•

Do White People Get Stressed Talking About Race?

Buzzfeed. https://

youtu.be/YX-i11IGj5w

•

Is disarming ‘racial anxiety’ the key to moving forward?

MSNBC.

http://www.msnbc.com/the-cycle/watch/is-disarming-racial-anxiety-

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the-key-to-moving-forward-45218883944

UNEARNED RACI A L ADVANTAGE (COMMONLY CALLED

WHITE PRIVILEGE)

ARTICLES AVAILABLE ONLINE

•

On Racism and White Privilege

. Teaching Tolerance. https://www.

tolerance.org/professional-development/on-racism-and-white-

privilege

•

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

. Peace

and Freedom Magazine, July/August, 1989, pp. 10-12. https://

nationalseedproject.org/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-

knapsack

•

Understanding White Privilege

. Francis E. Kendall, Ph.D.

2002. https://www.cpt.org/les/Undoing%20Racism%20-%20

Understanding%20White%20Privilege%20-%20Kendall.pdf

SHORT EXPLANATORY VIDEOS

•

White Privilege Explained

. The Young Turks. https://youtu.

be/19Cb4DOnIF4

•

Not All White People Were Created Equal

White Privilege in

America

. Fusion. https://youtu.be/ZN9mwhSrTdU

•

White Privilege

. Sociology Live! https://youtu.be/ZLgbw_A1mLI

RACIAL THREAT

•

Racial Threat

. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_threat

•

Cindy Brooks Dollar,

Racial Threat Theory: Assessing the Evidence,

Requesting Redesign.

Journal of Criminology, vol. 2014, Article ID

983026, 7 pages, 2014. doi:10.1155/2014/983026. https://www.hindawi.

com/archive/2014/983026/

•

Stephan, Walter & Cookie, W.S.. (2000).

An Integrated Threat

Theory of Prejudice.”

In Stuart Oskamp (ed.). Reducing

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Prejudice and Discrimination. 23-46. https://books.google.com/

books?hl=en&lr=&id=aOyFEy-yzMoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA23&dq=racial+t

hreat+theory&ots=oKMH8UoDxL&sig=b6pgxTWkuIoRk1gp0yewGFxI

mrs#v=onepage&q=racial%20threat%20theory&f=false

WHITE BACKLASH

ARTICLES AVAILABLE ONLINE

•

Analysis of the ‘White Backlash’.

William Lee Miller. Aug. 23, 1964.

The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/23/analysis-

of-the-white-backlash.html

•

Will Immigration Spark a White Backlash in America?

Marisa

Abrajano. Issues in Governance Studies. Number 67. July 2014.

https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Abrajano_

Immigration_v03.pdf

•

Belonging, racism and white backlash in the 2016 US Presidential

Election

. Dr Deborah Gabriel. US Election Analysis 2016: Media,

Voters and the Campaign. http://www.academia.edu/29975054/

Belonging_racism_and_white_backlash_in_the_2016_US_

Presidential_Election

SHORT EXPLANATORY VIDEOS

•

MLK discusses “The White Backlash” 1967

. https://youtu.be/

vWKri1HEVRg

•

White Backlash Against Progress: The 3rd Reconstruction

. Story of

America. https://youtu.be/Zoo3GEfhPwo

•

Just Like Aer Reconstruction, Trump Vote Highlights White

Backlash to Recent Racial Progress

. Democracy Now. https://youtu.

be/lWMCjTkokrQ

INSTITUTIONAL RACISM VS STRUCTURAL RACI S M

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•

Glossary for Understanding the Dismantling Structural Racism/

Promoting Racial Equity Analysis

. The Aspen Institute. https://assets.

aspeninstitute.org/content/uploads/les/content/docs/rcc/RCC-

Structural-Racism-Glossary.pdf

•

Discrimination Comes in Many Forms: Individual, Institutional, and

Structural

. Fred L. Pincus. Readings for Diversity and Social Justice.

Edited by Maurianne Adams, etc., Published 2000. http://media.

lanecc.edu/users/martinezp/250%20CRG/Discrim.pdf

RACIAL INEQUITY

ARTICLES AVAILABLE ONLINE

•

What Is Racial Equity?

Center for Social Inclusion. http://www.

centerforsocialinclusion.org/our-work/what-is-racial-equity/

•

Understanding the System of Racial Inequity.

Racial Equity Tools.

https://www.racialequitytools.org/module/understanding-the-

system-of-racial-inequity

•

Racial Inequity and How to Dismantle It.

YWCA. http://www.wche.

org/uploads/8/8/9/8/8898682/racial_inequity_and_how_to_dismantle_

it.pdf

SHORT EXPLANATORY VIDEOS

•

“Micro- inequity” Dened

. Jeanne Martinson. https://youtu.be/

WeZ9C56PfC8

•

The Unequal Opportunity Race

. The African American Policy Forum.

https://youtu.be/vX_Vzl-r8NY

•

Issues Facing Us on Racial Inequity

. Net Impact. https://youtu.be/

UplNdXjBKys

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276

THE WHITE ALLY TOOLKIT

WORKBOOK

US ING ACTIVE L IST EN IN G, EM PATH Y,

AN D PER SO NA L STORY TE LLI NG TO

PROMOTE RACIAL EQUITY

How does a white person who aspires to be an ally against

racism talk to their friends and family who are in denial

about racism against people of color?

The White Ally Toolkit Workbook gives people concrete

guidance about how to respond a wide variety of statements

that racism-denying white folks make everyday.

In addition, the workbook presents a sequenced curriculum

that an ally can use if they want to purposefully change

someone in the circle of inuence as well as reection and

self-assessment tools that will help allies see themselves

more clearly. These tools help allies rene their interactions

with others so they can move the needle on the large-scale

racism denial among the whites about American’s most

pressing and long-standing problem.

About the Author

Dr. David Campt, founder of the Ally Conversation Toolkit (ACT) has

been a national leader in creating dialogue about racial equity for

more than two decades. His clients have included The White House,

social justice organizations, Members of Congress, the foundation

community, labor unions, corporations, universities, and non-prot

organizations. ACT has touched thousands of people in person and on-

line, and represents an important innovation in the struggle for racial

equity.