Reading/Meeting Schedule

1. Date and Time. We will discuss parts 1–2 (pp. 1–90).
2. Date and Time. We will discuss parts 3–5 (pp. 93–219).

Before You Start Reading:

• Write your definition of racism. Then notice the differences/similarities between how you define this word and the definition we are given in the first chapter of the book.
• What is a healthy racial identity? Who helped to form your sense of racial identity?
• Consider the people who have influenced you (parents, teachers, community) as well as society, strangers, media.
• How has stereotyping affected the way you see people, especially those who you classify as different from yourself?

After reading and before our meetings, reflect on the following questions in the book's Reader Discussion Guide (pp. 235–242): Numbers 1, 5, 9, 12, 15–19, 21–25.

Meeting 1 Agenda and Discussion Prompts

Meeting 2 Agenda and Discussion Prompts

• Whole group – Identify where you are now in your thinking. What do you notice?
• What continued thoughts have you had about racism? Prejudice? Racial identity development?
• What do you notice now that you didn't before studying this book?
• What conversations have you had that have stuck with you?
• What new questions do you have?
• Where are we individually?
  • Turn and Talk
  • White Identity Development:
  1. Abandoning racism and recognition of and opposition to institutional and cultural racism
     1. Contact stage – little attention to racial identity (I'm just normal)
     2. Disintegration – growing awareness of racism and White privilege; often accompanied with shame, guilt, anger, growing contradiction of the idea of American meritocracy
     3. Reintegration – fear and anger at people of color b/c they must have caused the problem; seen as group member rather than individual; requires someone to point the way toward constructive action
     4. Pseudo-independent stage - intellectual understanding of racism as a system of advantage but doesn't know what to do about it; wanting to escape whiteness to embrace people of color
     5. Immersion/emersion – a need for other White people who are further along in the process to show the way; see Whiteness in a positive light; need for White allies
     6. Autonomy – positive feelings of Whiteness
  2. Disintegration Stage
     • What elements and representation of institutional and cultural racism are observable today in the entertainment and news media and in our schools, corporations, government, and other institutions?
     • How might both people of color and White people call attention to these instances, work for their elimination, and establish non-racist and anti-racist representations and behavior?

       “How We Are Ruining America” NYTimes Opinion Article - David Brooks

     • Advantage given to upper-middle class students because families have the means and money to focus on the education and cultural, travel opportunities of that child – cultural experiences like unpaid internships, etc.
  3. Immersion/Emersion stage
     • Tatum draws attention to the “history of White protests against racism, a history of Whites who have resisted the role of oppressor and who have been allies to people of color” (p. 108).
     • What parts of this history are you familiar with?
     • What might be the benefits of learning more about that history?
     • In what ways has that history provided, and might it now provide, models of thought, action, and cooperation for everyone? (list of historic allies p. 112)
     • How do we take what we have learned about stages of racial development (Black and White) and use it to better understand/lead students to the next appropriate stage(s)?
  4. Next Steps

     What else can we do as a faculty to face and interrupt systemic/cultural racism?

     Other Resources

     Leading On Opportunity (https://leadingonopportunity.org/about/)

     This is the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Opportunity Task Force that grew out of the report about upward mobility. A Harvard/UC Berkeley Study examined 50 cities’ ability for people to move out of poverty and Charlotte landed number 50 out of 50 cities that were studied. This website houses the report they have issued which includes findings on impact of segregation, early childhood education, child and family stability, social capital, and next steps. The website also hosts a blog with some interesting articles, a list of upcoming events, and next steps as they see it.

     Share Charlotte (https://sharecharlotte.org/) – This is a curated list of non-profit and volunteer organizations so that you can find the organizations that address what matters most to you. They help you connect to organizations through events, how to volunteer, donate, etc.

     On the Table CLT (http://onthetableclt.org/) — On the Table CLT is an event sponsored by Foundation of the Carolinas. In an effort to help people within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area connect around issues and needs in our area, small groups of people gather to share perspectives on issues around race, poverty, upward mobility, etc. There is a place to “join” the group to be kept up-to-date on plans. They are looking for hosts as well as members who want to join a discussion group for that day.

  5. Personal Exit Slip
     • How will I continue my professional journey to explore my own racial identity and use what I know to interrupt systemic racism?
       • How will I continue my personal journey to explore my own racial identity and use what I know to interrupt systemic racism?