ONLINE: Depolarizing Conversations on Race

media release: Saturday February 12 at 6:30pm CT, The Racial Healing-Justice-Unity Bahá'í-inspired Series welcomes the Braver Angeles Workshop on "Depolarizing Conversations About Race". This a skills workshop for those difficult but necessary conversations about race. It seeks to improve the culture of conversations about race and provide a constructive alternative to the polarized and judgmental exchanges that dominate our current discourse in ways that lead to more productive conversations across differences.

If You Take This Workshop, You Will Be:

-Better at listening to people who have differing views on race and public policy, so they feel heard.

-More skilled in expressing views in a way that the other person can hear you.

-More able to find common ground when it is present.

- These skills can be applied to nearly any difficult conversation or relationship. 

ADVANCE REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. Find more info at @RHJUBahaiSeries. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the workshop. 

Created by a diverse group of Braver Angels leaders, this workshop helps participants develop more skills for listening to others and expressing their own views on race.

Conversations between white people about race are often dysfunctional and judgmental, descending into “Just listen to me explain racism to you” and “Don’t call me a racist!”  The vast majority of white people are firmly against racism as they define it, but they battle over what it means—for example, systemic versus personal—and about whether racism is mostly an evil of the past versus an ongoing scourge. They split over framing our country’s history as fundamentally compromised by racism versus its ideals still standing to light the way forward.

Many white people have trouble sustaining conversations on issues such as affirmative action, police reform, reparations, and removing statues. Conversations flare up and shut down, relationships become strained, and a national path forward on race becomes harder to envision. We need to change the culture of conversations about race and public policy among white Americans, finding alternatives to the polarized and judgmental nature of these exchanges.

This workshop is sponsored by The Racial Healing-Justice-Unity Bahá'í-inspired Series, a moderated nation-wide zoom program for all races and faith traditions interested in dismantling racism in the U.S. Until racism is eradicated there really can be no justice, no true peace, and no real prosperity for a divided humanity. We endeavor to enter and participate in this space with a humble posture of learning, seeking to elevate our knowledge, spark volition and take individual or collective action. To subscribe for event notifications or questions, email your name, city and state to RHRJ19@gmail.com.