Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence
Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race
by Derald Wing Sue
Wiley, 2015. 282 pages.
Review written January 22, 2022, from my own copy, purchased via amazon.com
Starred Review
I read this book for a Racial Reconciliation Book Discussion Group hosted by my church, but never got a link to the zoom meeting. Still, I’m glad I read the book, and only wish I had gotten to see the leaders try to model the principles found here.
It’s hard to talk about race in America. This book explores the many reasons why that is so, with different reasons for white people and people of color, and lots of misunderstandings coming into play. And because misunderstandings come up and because we don’t want to appear racist, the end result is that we avoid talking about race at all — and so eliminate hope of learning to overcome those misunderstandings.
This book was written well before all the manufactured outrage about “critical race theory,” but the principles found here shed light on why that’s become such a hot button issue.
A lot of the book explores why it’s so hard to talk about race and the different perspectives and cultural expectations from white people, Black people, and other people of color. Each chapter starts with examples where someone needed to talk about race and it was difficult.
The end of the book gives strategies for teachers and facilitators to help people through this difficult topic. A lot of it involves addressing the emotions underlying words so that people feel heard, but aren’t allowed to sidetrack the discussion. The author had some pertinent examples where arguing the content of someone’s remarks only got things more heated, but inquiring about their emotions helped them feel heard and then more equipped to consider the feelings of others.
All the same, I’m not sure I absorbed this well enough just reading about it. I’d like to see it modeled. This would be a good book to use in a workshop. And even as I say this, if the book discussion group had happened, I admit I was hoping to listen and learn more than to participate, because Race Talk is difficult.
But even apart from the helpful tips at the end for putting into practice, this book gives a good overview of issues that come up in discussions about race and how they look different for different groups. So reading the book will help you gain understanding and empathy for those other perspectives, which is a good place to start.
This was written for college professors, and the tone is academic. But it’s packed with helpful information to go beyond being afraid to talk about race.
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/race_talk.html
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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.
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