Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence

Derald Wing Sue, PhD, is Professor of Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He was Co-Founder and first President of the Asian American Psychological Association, and past President of the Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues and the Society of Counseling Psychology. Dr Sue serves on the Council of Elders for Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. His current research explores the manifestation, dynamics, and impact of racial, gender, and sexual orientation microaggressions. He currently applies this research to strategies for facilitating difficult dialogs on race in the classroom and public forums and conducts training sessions across the U.S. and Canada to help institutions improve relations among community members.

In the current sociopolitical climate, "Race Talk" offers pragmatic applications supported by race pedagogy. Written for a readership beyond diversity & inclusion practitioners and workshop facilitators, it contains actionable advice for parents, educators and leaders who are working to nurture space for open, honest and healing dialogue about the ravages of interpersonal and institutional racism.Sue's book not only provides concrete tools and approaches with which to approach conversations in an authentic way, but also addresses issues that are key to advancing racial equity in health care. The book answers my own critical questions in advancing this work: How can we develop greater comfort and humility around discussing racial topics? How do we integrate the important conversation on racial power and privilege? How may we influence our organizations to pursue a values-driven approach toward eliminating disparities and advancing racial equity?Sue's approach to brokering the conversation about the difficulty of racial dialogues is rooted in decades of research he has carried out on racial, gender and sexual orientation microaggressions and their impacts on those communities. Serving as a professor of Psychology and Education in the Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology in Columbia University's Teachers College, Sue's scholarship is among the most cited in the fields of multicultural psychology and counseling. He has collected extensive counter-narratives of Asian, Latinx, African American and Native Americans and their everyday experiences with race and the excruciating reality of race talk for people of color.—Maileen D. Hamto, Midwest Book Review

• Preface ixPreface to the Paperback Edition xvAcknowledgments xixAbout the Author xxiSection One The Characteristics, Dynamics, and Meaning of Race TalkChapter One What is Race Talk? 3Race Talk Represents a Potential Clash of Racial Realities 7Race Talk Pushes Emotional Hot Buttons 11Race Talk Evokes Avoidance Strategies 13Why is Successful Race Talk Important? 16Chapter Two The Characteristics and Dynamics of Race Talk 18What Are Characteristics of Race Talk? 21How Do Societal Ground Rules (Norms) Impede Race Talk? 23Why is Race Talk So Difficult and Uncomfortable for Participants? 27Conclusions 33Chapter Three The Stories We Tell: White Talk Versus Back Talk 35Race Talk: Narratives and Counter-Narratives 37Telling on Racism: Unmasking Ugly Secrets 38Section Two The Constraining Ground Rules for Race TalkChapter Four “The Entire World’s a Stage!” 55The Politeness Protocol and Race Talk 57The Academic Protocol and Race Talk 64Chapter Five Color-Blind Means Color-Mute 74Color-Evasion: “We Are All the Same Under the Skin” 78Stereotype-Evasion: “I Don’t Believe in Those Stereotypes” 82Power-Evasion: “Everyone Can Make It in Society, If They Work Hard Enough” 86Myth of the Melting Pot 89Section Three Why is it Difficult for People of Color to honestly talk about race?Chapter Six “What Are the Consequences for Saying What I Mean?” 95Ethnocentric Monoculturalism 99Power and Oppression 105Chapter Seven “To Speak or How to Speak, That is the Question” 112Communication Styles 115Nonverbal Communication 118Nonverbal Communication in Race Talk: Sociopolitical Considerations 121Being Constrained and Silenced: Impact on People of Color 123Conclusions 127Section Four Why is It Difficult for White People to Honestly Talk About Race?               Chapter Eight “I’m Not Racist!” 131Cognitive Avoidance—Racism Denial 133Emotional Avoidance—Fear, Guilt, and Other Feelings 138Behavioral Avoidance—Helplessness and Hopelessness 142Emotional Roadblocks to Race Talk 144Chapter Nine “I’m Not White; I’m Italian!” 147What Does It Mean to Be White? 148The Invisibility of Whiteness: What Does It Mean? 152The Fear of Owning White Privilege 154Fear of Taking Personal Responsibility to End Racism: Moving From Being Nonracist to Becoming Antiracist 159Section Five Race Talk and Special Group ConsiderationsChapter Ten Interracial/Interethnic Race Talk: Difficult Dialogues Between Groups of Color 167Interracial/Interethnic Relationship Issues 169Race Talk: Fears of Divide and Conquer 171Sources of Conflict Between People of Color 174Chapter Eleven Race Talk and White Racial Identity Development: For Whites Only 186Developing a Nonracist and Antiracist Racial Identity 189White Racial Identity Development and Race Talk 202Section Six Guidelines, Conditions, and Solutions for Having Honest Racial DialoguesChapter Twelve Being an Agent of Change: Guidelines for Educators, Parents, and Trainers 209Talking to Children About Race and Racism 213Guidelines for Taking Personal Responsibility for Change 214Chapter Thirteen Helping People Talk About Race: Facilitation Skills for Educators and Trainers 226Ineffective Strategies: Five Things Not to Do 230Successful Strategies: Eleven Potentially Positive Actions 234References 245Author Index 260Subject Index 266