After the Civil Rights movement, racism has been shaped more by colorblind beliefs, rather than overt racist acts (Cox, 2021), though the latter are becoming more common. A focus on dialogue in the statistical investigations around issues of race and racism can be challenging for instructors. According to Sue (2015), race talk is a site where a clash between worldviews of white and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) occurs, and this causes tensions and anxiety, both for BIPOC and white people. For example, BIPOC Learners¹ may need to deal with denial and defensiveness among their white peers, and at the same time manage their emotions around the topic. On the other hand white Learners may worry about appearing to be racist and confront their privilege. Thus, when encountering race talk, Learners could remain silent or just focus on other aspects of the discussion and avoid engaging with race and racism.

In addition to the reluctance of Learners to engage in race talk, the context of the class sets up expectations, especially in mathematics and statistics classes, where reason and logic are valued (Sue, 2015). Learners may believe that the emotions do not have a place in the classroom and learning cannot happen in the presence of emotions in the class. Sue (2015) suggests that it is important to acknowledge and validate the feelings of students in the class as they are an important part of race talk. Instructors should allow a space for feelings rather than try to cut them off or dilute them.

When engaging in discussions around race and racism, it is common to encounter colorblind frames that guide a person’s thinking (Bonilla-Silva, 2003). For example, Learners assume that teachers need to keep order in their classrooms to be able to teach. As such, Learners may agree with disciplinary actions that result in student suspensions. However, Learners may not realize that Black students’ behaviors are more closely monitored than their peers of other races and therefore create unfair expectations of them and more severe consequences when they do engage in “disruptive” behaviors. Dialogue with the instructor can help Learners see the assumptions they are making in the statements, and thus helps open up other possibilities for the Learners’ thinking about racial bias. Overall, the colorblind frames lead Learners to blame the individual and the community for outcomes rather than examine the impact that the laws and policies have on the outcomes. 

Resources

Brookfield, S. A. & Associated. Teaching race: How to help students unmask and challenge racism. 

Collado et al. (2021). Beyond conversations about race.

Kernahan, C. (2019). Teaching about race and racism in the college classroom.

Sue, D. W. (2015). Race talk and the conspiracy of silence: Understanding and facilitating difficult dialogues on race. 

Thurber, A., Harbin, M.B., & Bandy, J. (2019). Teaching Race: Pedagogy and Practice. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching.

1. Within the context of these modules, we use the term Learners to refer to all K-16 students and inservice teachers.

This project is funded by the National Science Foundation, grant # 2121364. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.