Session Three:
Solutions
This final session discusses community problems and possible solutions.
FORMAT
Part One:
Challenging prejudice. This is a light-hearted exercise in learning how to react to prejudiced
remarks. Ask for a couple of volunteers to role play (you may want to assign these in the previous
session to give time for preparation). Assign them the following scenario: (45 minutes)
Two friends are watching a basketball game. One says "How many black people does it
take to screw in light bulb?" What do you say? What if the defense is "I was only joking,
don't be a puritan." Let the role-players act for a two or three minutes. Then ask the group
to analyze what happened. What is an appropriate response? What worked? Group
members may want to recount their own experiences.
Other Scenarios:
Thanksgiving dinner and Uncle Biff starts talking about "the greedy Jews."
How do we handle prejudice with loved ones?
Your boss says he wouldn't hire a Mexican because they steal everything
not nailed down.
How do we react to prejudice in unequal relationships?
Analysis:
Its may not always be possible to confront prejudice with those that
exercise power over us. But we can challenge prejudices with friends, co-workers
etc. who exercise power over someone else. The objective is to do what we can,
when we can.
Part Two:
Vision:
What is your vision of an ethnically ideal society? Should we "preserve
diversity" or endeavor to "erase racial and religious differences"? What
rights and responsibilities would majority and minority groups have in
order to maintain your ideal world? (20minutes)
Part Three:
Building Bridges:
We live in different worlds, based on class, ethnicity, race,
gender, sexual orientation and lifestyle. Accepting and valuing our diversity, how
do we also arrive at Common Ground? Brainstorm a list of ways that we can
create bridges between people of different backgrounds and
interests.
Part Four:
Reflection on the Program:
Close the session by asking people if they would like to get
together again for similar discussions. Ask them to think back over the last three sessions.
What did you learn? How has your thinking or viewpoint changed in any way? What
would you say is your common ground? (10 minutes)
Annotated Bibliography on Racism
and Race Relations
This bibliography is selected primarily from recent works that reflect aspects of the current national dialogue.
Videos and other bibli-ographies are listed as well.
Berry, Wendell. The Hidden Wound. San
Francisco: North Point Press, 1989.
Personal recollections and considerations of
the effects of racism on whites as members of
the dominant race. Offers insights into the
moral, social, and political dilemmas of race
relations.
Brooks, Roy L. Rethinking the American Race
Problem. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1990.
Argues that no meaningful talk about or
work on the problems of African-Americans
can talk place without merging the question of
race with that of class structure. Argues that
self-help is the best hope for African-Americans. Intended audiences are civil rights
legal scholars and the general public.
Democracy's Next Generation II: A Study of
American Youth on Race. Washington, DC:
People For the American Way, 1992. For
price and ordering information, contact People
For the American Way, 2000 M Street NW,
Washington, DC 20036, (202) 467-4999.
Abridged version also available.
Examines racial attitudes among today's
youth, and argues this is a crucial first step for
breaking the cycle of blaming between whites
and minorities. Finds that young people's
attitudes on race reflect the anger and tension
of the past decade. Study includes three
facets: a nationwide telephone survey of 15- to
24-year olds; focus groups of white youth; and
in-depth, one-on-one, face-to-face interviews
with white and minority "children of the civil
rights era."
Edsall, Thomas Byrne, with Edsall, Mary D.
"When the Official Subject is Presidential
Politics, Taxes, Welfare, Crime, Rights, or
Values...the Real Subject is RACE." Atlantic
Monthly, May 1991.
Argues that considerations of race are
"imbedded in the strategy and tactics of
politics, in competing concepts of the function
and responsibility of government, and in each
voter's conceptual structure of moral and
partisan identity."
EXTRA! magazine, July/August 1992. EXTRA! is
a publication of FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In
Reporting), 130 West 25th Street, 8th Floor,
New York, NY 10001, telephone: (212) 633-6700, FAX: (212) 727-7668.
Issue devoted to analyzing racism in news
reporting and other aspects of mass media.
Hacker, Andrew. Two Nations: Black and White,
Separate, Hostile, Unequal. New York:
Charles Scribners Sons, 1992.
An analysis of what keeps whites and
blacks far apart. Argues that most liberals no
longer make race a high priority. Argues that
both left and right share the pervasive
misconception that blacks are inferior. Looks
at the way issues of race affect the choices
ordinary Americans make in their daily lives.
Kozol, Jonathan. Savage Inequalities: Children in
America's Schools. New York: Crown
Publishers, Inc., 1991.
Describes what is happening to children
from poor families in the inner cities and the
less affluent suburbs. Argues that public
schools in most of the U.S. remain segregated
and unequal.
Lemann, Nicholas. "The Other Underclass."
Atlantic Monthly, December 1991.
Examines Hispanic subgroups;
demonstrates that Puerto Ricans are the worst-off ethnic group in the country. Looks at
different theories that offer some explanation
of why there is a Puerto Rican underclass.
Leone, Bruno. Racism: Opposing Viewpoints.
San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1986.
Historical readings that demonstrate a
variety of viewpoints as applied to question s
of racism from the beginning of the U.S. to the
present. Contains a section on the nature of
racism.
Melville, Keith. Remedies for Racial Inequality:
Why Progress Has Stalled, What Should Be
Done. Dayton, OH: National Issues Forums
Institute, 1990. For price and ordering
information, contact Kendall/Hunt Publishing
Company, 2460 Kerper Boulevard, Dubuque,
IA 52004-0539, (800) 338-5578. Abridged
version suitable for new readers also available.
Pogrebin, Letty Cottin. "From Our Heads and
Our Hearts: Connecting with Black Women."
Lilith, Winter 1991.
Describes the genesis and progress of a
black-Jewish women's dialogue group.
Racism in America. San Diego: Greenhaven
Press, 1991.
An anthology of readings examining
various aspects of racism in America today.
Chapters include: "Is Racism Responsible for
Minority Poverty," "Do Minorities Deserve
Special Treatment," and "How Can Racism Be
Stopped?"
Sigelman, Lee and Welch, Susan. Black
Americans' Views of Racial Inequality: The
Dream Deferred. Cambridge, England:
Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Most social science work on racial attitudes
has focused on white attitudes; this remedies
the gap by examining the attitudes, values,
opinions, and behaviors of black Americans.
The final chapter summarizes what we know
and don't know about what and how
Americans think about racial inequality, how
attitudes are changing, and how perceptions
shape society.
Steele, Claude M. "Race and the Schooling of
Black Americans." Atlantic Monthly, April
1992.
A social psychologist, Steele makes an
argument about the sometimes subtle messages
minority students receive. Believes that stigma
is connected to school achievement patterns for
black Americans.
Steele, Shelby. Content of our Character: A New
Vision of Race in America. New York: St.
Martin Press, 1990.
Asserts that it is time for blacks to stop
thinking of themselves as victims.
Race and Class. A Journal for Black and Third
World Liberation. Published quarterly by the
Institute of Race Relations, London.
Examines issues of race and class
worldwide.
Rothenberg, Paula S., ed. Racism and Sexism: An
Integrated Study. New York: St. Martin's
Press, 1988.
More than 70 interdisciplinary readings
covering issues of importance to blacks,
Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans.
Topics include: legal status, consequences of
inequality, stereotyping and language, how to
move ahead.
Sowell, Thomas. Markets and Minorities. New
York: Basic Books, 1981.
Analysis of the economic situation of
America's racial and ethnic minorities. Offers
an explanation of why government programs to
improve the lot of minorities have failed, and
argues that minorities can use the market to
Three Rivers, Amoja.
Cultural Etiquette: A Guide
for the Well-Intentioned. Indian Valley, VA:
Market Wimmin. Available from Market
Wimmin, Box 28, Indian Valley, VA 24105.
A brief, practical guide to countering the
disinformation and ignorance that come with
pervasive stereotypes that affect everyday
language. Written "for those unlearning
racism and anti-semitism."
Terkel, Studs. Race: How Blacks and Whites
Think and Feel About the American Obsession.
New York: The New Press, 1992.
Interviews ordinary Americans; people talk
candidly about how race affects their daily
lives.
Williams, Juan, with the Eyes on the Prize
Production Team. Eyes on the Prize:
America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965. A
companion volume to the PBS Television
Series. New York: Viking Penguin, Inc.,
1987
A history of the civil rights movement as
seen by the participants then and now. Time-line of the movement, readable stories, photos.
Williams, Patricia. The Alchemy of Race and
Rights: Diary of a Law Professor. Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1991.
Autobiographical essay by a lawyer and
professor of commercial law. Williams is the
great-great-granddaughter of a slave and a
white southern lawyer. Reflections on the
intersection of race, gender, and class. Offers
thoughts on some of the racial incidents that
have been in the headlines over the past few
years.
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