Starting Difficult Conversations
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Teaching Tolerance has plenty of free to use resources that provide great insight into talking about race. We strongly encourage you to explore the site. Below are resources from Teaching Tolerance that focus specifically on the intricacies of these conversations.
Speak Up! provides various contexts in which speaking up against racism and bigotry are relevant, including among family, friends, in the workplace, at school, and in public.
“Let’s Talk” guide: while this resource focuses on the teacher-student discussion of race, it is useful to all who are looking to navigate these kinds of conversations and provides links to other resources that delve further into racial issues.
Discussing Race and Difficult Conversations: Harvard Graduate School of Education provides various tools and articles on discussing and educating on race.
National Museum of African American History & Culture: Talking about Race: provides insight on different ways to approach this conversation based on your situation (educator, parent/caregivers, and person committed to equity)
Are your kids too young too young to talk about race?: a great visual that outlines the early development of young children and their understanding of race at a young age.
How White Parents Can Talk To Their Kids About Race
Discussing Belonging here in the United States: join Civic Dinners and Welcoming America in conversations exploring the state of belonging in the United States.
bridging the gaps between communities
America Needs all of Us: This toolkit was created to be a communications resource for those working in the field of immigration and immigrant integration. It provides practical messaging tools and strategies that address people’s fears, anxieties, and prejudices head on. In that way, the messages in the toolkit are particularly designed to talk to those whose minds are not yet made up about immigration and the changes they may be seeing in their community.
Crossing Borders: Building Relationships Across Lines of Difference: curriculum for conversations about demographic changes and the underlying power dynamics that prevent people from developing meaningful relationships across lines of difference. It is designed for organizations and leaders seeking to build relationships between African Americans and immigrants (CCC, FIRM, & CASA).
Collective Care in the Face of Violent Trauma
Crossing Boundaries, Connecting Communities: Alliance Building for Immigrant Rights and Racial Justice: case studies and tips (Black Alliance for Just Immigration)
Black Alliance for Just Immigration: more resources for organizing and advocating for racial, economic, and social justice at the intersections of race and immigration.
Building Solidarity between the Immigrant Rights and Black Lives Matter Movements
An important step in talking about race? Being able to properly listen to others. Listen Maine’s very own Chanel Lewis talk about the importance of listening.