Race continues to play a powerful role in U.S. society. It is critical for anyone working to advance the common good to address the disparities of race. This month, we highlight the structures that perpetuate racial disparities, the multiple small ways people experience daily marginalization around race, and the way the Center develops the leadership capacity in organizations and communities to have these important conversations. ~ Dale Nienow
Race and Leadership Dialogues
Major stories appearing in the news prove that race continues to create division in our society. The strict Arizona law empowering local police to stop people they suspect of being illegal immigrants has led to the concern that Hispanic residents can be stopped for “driving while brown.” The killing of Trayvon Martin, a young African-American man, who was shot by a Hispanic neighbor who considered him “suspicious looking,” led to concerns of racial stereotyping of young black males as threatening. These stories can trigger strong memories of personal incidents, particularly for people of color who wonder why they have been stopped by a police officer while driving or where store security treated them with suspicion. Navigating daily life can be quite different depending on our race.
How does race affect our daily lives? Participating in Race and Leadership Dialogues, has surfaced various ways people of color experience bias or slights in their lives. Some experiences include: feeling invisible when your ideas are not acknowledged, while someone from the dominant culture who shares a similar idea is considered brilliant; seeing the public schools disproportionately moving kids of color into special education programs; or having a white supervisor become too involved in a project rather than affirming that the staff member of color has the ability to head up the work. These constant encounters are fatiguing and create great stress.
The Race and Leadership Dialogues provide a place for conversation about race in the Puget Sound region. They are bi-monthly brown-bag lunch conversations for people interested in having open conversations about the intersections of race and leadership. These discussions encourage participants to examine the different aspects of how we experience race and how we can make changes in our workplaces and communities. Discussions cover a range of topics such as: Bridging Cultures and Leading from Inside the Organization; Experiences with Racism and Reclaiming Wholeness; Exploring Racial Identity; Stretching Beyond the Dominant Culture Definition of Leadership; and Exploring our Blind spots about Race and Leadership.
Participants experience the power of being heard while also having a chance to talk about what matters deeply to them. They learn different ways to engage. They also develop new relationships and experience the strength of working in community.
The race and leadership dialogues are a volunteer-driven effort to develop meaningful discussion and action steps toward change. Community members lead the discussions. Each gathering provides an opportunity to practice having the challenging conversations needed to move us forward and to learn tools and approaches that promote racial justice.
Major stories appearing in the news prove that race continues to create division in our society. The strict Arizona law empowering local police to stop people they suspect of being illegal immigrants has led to the concern that Hispanic residents can be stopped for “driving while brown.” The killing of Trayvon Martin, a young African-American man, who was shot by a Hispanic neighbor who considered him “suspicious looking,” led to concerns of racial stereotyping of young black males as threatening. These stories can trigger strong memories of personal incidents, particularly for people of color who wonder why they have been stopped by a police officer while driving or where store security treated them with suspicion. Navigating daily life can be quite different depending on our race.
How does race affect our daily lives? Participating in Race and Leadership Dialogues, has surfaced various ways people of color experience bias or slights in their lives. Some experiences include: feeling invisible when your ideas are not acknowledged, while someone from the dominant culture who shares a similar idea is considered brilliant; seeing the public schools disproportionately moving kids of color into special education programs; or having a white supervisor become too involved in a project rather than affirming that the staff member of color has the ability to head up the work. These constant encounters are fatiguing and create great stress.
The Race and Leadership Dialogues provide a place for conversation about race in the Puget Sound region. They are bi-monthly brown-bag lunch conversations for people interested in having open conversations about the intersections of race and leadership. These discussions encourage participants to examine the different aspects of how we experience race and how we can make changes in our workplaces and communities. Discussions cover a range of topics such as: Bridging Cultures and Leading from Inside the Organization; Experiences with Racism and Reclaiming Wholeness; Exploring Racial Identity; Stretching Beyond the Dominant Culture Definition of Leadership; and Exploring our Blind spots about Race and Leadership.
Participants experience the power of being heard while also having a chance to talk about what matters deeply to them. They learn different ways to engage. They also develop new relationships and experience the strength of working in community.
The race and leadership dialogues are a volunteer-driven effort to develop meaningful discussion and action steps toward change. Community members lead the discussions. Each gathering provides an opportunity to practice having the challenging conversations needed to move us forward and to learn tools and approaches that promote racial justice.
Race Still Matters
When Obama was elected as President, pundits began speculating that we were entering a post-racial society – where race wouldn’t matter. Electing an African-American President was clearly a milestone of progress toward equity in our society. However, the experience of many people of color is that systems and institutions still treat them differently, leading to fewer opportunities and harsher treatment. Center for Ethical Leadership board member, Kwesi Rollins, points this out in a recent blog. He cites that “Black youth were more likely to be incarcerated than non-Black peers” and “Native American youth are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system.” Or consider the banking system. In the past, people of color were denied mortgage funding more often than their white peers, and, during the recent financial meltdown, they were disproportionately targeted for predatory loans. While Obama serves as a symbol of hope, race still matters in determining fairness and opportunity.
At the Center, we help people see the biases and inequities in our systems and institutions and then work together across racial barriers to make those systems more equitable. When facilitating conversations about social justice, Bill Grace, founder of the Center, used to invite people to play a game with him. He would ask the event organizers to invite a small group of participants to play Monopoly with him before the rest of the people arrived. Bill would start by saying, “Since this is my game I want to set a couple of rules. First, I own all the expensive properties like Boardwalk and Park Place. Second, I am the only one who can own hotels and I start the game having hotels on my property.” You can imagine what happened as they played. It did not take long for Bill to have most of the money. Then he said, “Let’s change the rules. Now you can own hotels and any property.” They continued to play, but nothing changed as others did not have the resources to buy property or put up hotels.
That’s what many people of color experience in the world; the rules have been stacked against them for a long time. And when the rules change, many of the previous inequities continue. The Institute on Policy and Assets reported that the average wealth of an African-American household is $95,000 less than white households. The institute explains that, “Wealth allows people to start businesses, buy homes, send children to college, and ensure economically secure retirements. Without wealth, families and communities cannot become and remain economically secure.” Two good resources for understanding and working on these institutional and societal structures are: the Applied Research Center (ARC) – a racial justice think tank and the Nonprofit Anti-Racism Coalition (NPARC) that works to undo institutional racism in the Seattle area.
Just as we have made great progress in changing attitudes about race and reducing overt racism, we need to make progress in ensuring our systems and institutions produce fair results. This requires us to look at where there are disparities by race. If we are to have a common good that is just and inclusive, we need to undo the structures that keep our systems and institutions stuck. Race still matters.
When Obama was elected as President, pundits began speculating that we were entering a post-racial society – where race wouldn’t matter. Electing an African-American President was clearly a milestone of progress toward equity in our society. However, the experience of many people of color is that systems and institutions still treat them differently, leading to fewer opportunities and harsher treatment. Center for Ethical Leadership board member, Kwesi Rollins, points this out in a recent blog. He cites that “Black youth were more likely to be incarcerated than non-Black peers” and “Native American youth are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system.” Or consider the banking system. In the past, people of color were denied mortgage funding more often than their white peers, and, during the recent financial meltdown, they were disproportionately targeted for predatory loans. While Obama serves as a symbol of hope, race still matters in determining fairness and opportunity.
At the Center, we help people see the biases and inequities in our systems and institutions and then work together across racial barriers to make those systems more equitable. When facilitating conversations about social justice, Bill Grace, founder of the Center, used to invite people to play a game with him. He would ask the event organizers to invite a small group of participants to play Monopoly with him before the rest of the people arrived. Bill would start by saying, “Since this is my game I want to set a couple of rules. First, I own all the expensive properties like Boardwalk and Park Place. Second, I am the only one who can own hotels and I start the game having hotels on my property.” You can imagine what happened as they played. It did not take long for Bill to have most of the money. Then he said, “Let’s change the rules. Now you can own hotels and any property.” They continued to play, but nothing changed as others did not have the resources to buy property or put up hotels.
That’s what many people of color experience in the world; the rules have been stacked against them for a long time. And when the rules change, many of the previous inequities continue. The Institute on Policy and Assets reported that the average wealth of an African-American household is $95,000 less than white households. The institute explains that, “Wealth allows people to start businesses, buy homes, send children to college, and ensure economically secure retirements. Without wealth, families and communities cannot become and remain economically secure.” Two good resources for understanding and working on these institutional and societal structures are: the Applied Research Center (ARC) – a racial justice think tank and the Nonprofit Anti-Racism Coalition (NPARC) that works to undo institutional racism in the Seattle area.
Just as we have made great progress in changing attitudes about race and reducing overt racism, we need to make progress in ensuring our systems and institutions produce fair results. This requires us to look at where there are disparities by race. If we are to have a common good that is just and inclusive, we need to undo the structures that keep our systems and institutions stuck. Race still matters.
Experience Being Different
So many of the problems of human experience come when people treat difference as deficient or as a basis for diminishing others. This has been evident with race in our country. The Center for Ethical Leadership believes that our differences should be viewed as sources of wisdom – the assets we need to create healthy, just and inclusive communities.
When we work with organizations and groups in community, we often use the Gracious Space framework as a way to open honest, and supportive conversations about race. We defineGracious Space as a spirit and setting where we invite the stranger and learn in public.
After creating a setting of goodwill and hospitability, we use this definition to guide powerful reflections and conversations. First, we ask individuals to think about the questions below. Then, we have discussions in small groups of four or five people.
Everyone has experience being different. When we apply that experience to our interactions around race, people tend to open up to conversations they may have previously avoided.
So many of the problems of human experience come when people treat difference as deficient or as a basis for diminishing others. This has been evident with race in our country. The Center for Ethical Leadership believes that our differences should be viewed as sources of wisdom – the assets we need to create healthy, just and inclusive communities.
When we work with organizations and groups in community, we often use the Gracious Space framework as a way to open honest, and supportive conversations about race. We defineGracious Space as a spirit and setting where we invite the stranger and learn in public.
After creating a setting of goodwill and hospitability, we use this definition to guide powerful reflections and conversations. First, we ask individuals to think about the questions below. Then, we have discussions in small groups of four or five people.
- When have you felt like the stranger in your organization or community?
- Who feels like the stranger to each other?
- Who needs greater support to experience belonging in thisi organization or community?
Everyone has experience being different. When we apply that experience to our interactions around race, people tend to open up to conversations they may have previously avoided.
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