OUR APPROACH

Challenging Racism facilitates these difficult conversations differently than others working on racial equity and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Our priority is to ensure that conversations are safe enough to take risks yet uncomfortable enough to explore racism and its disguises.

Our outcomes rest on these unique practices:

• Time for Growth:  Time is critical for behavior change. While others rely primarily on lectures in a short time frame; we are interactive and require the investment of time and self-reflection needed to build deep knowledge and to normalize and practice conversations on race.

• Cohort Size:  Our cohorts are intimate, with smaller breakouts with a professional facilitator in groups of a maximum of 12 participants. Interaction is critical for building relationships and for the effective practice of having difficult conversations.

• Our Curriculum:  We support participants through a comprehensive anti-racist journey exploring three  fundamental components: Systemic Racism, Interpersonal Relations, and Skills & Tools for Disruption and Action.

• Instructional Method: Our curriculum is based on the best practices of adult education to connect with all types of learners: timely and localized content, interactive discussion, personal storytelling, and diverse teaching methods. No lecture is more than 5 minutes.  

• Our Facilitators:  Each group is facilitated by at least one facilitator of color and another white-skinned facilitator to ensure a safe and supported environment.

• Our Materials:  To ensure the integrity of our teaching and to maximize support of participants, we publish workbooks as well as a detailed facilitator handbook,including resources and reflection questions for post-workshop action planning.

OUR OUTCOMES

As a result, Challenging Racism is known for these unique outcomes for racial equity:

• SKILLS - We teach skills and provide practice to conduct difficult conversations on race. Most training focuses only on content, leaving participants without the skills to be effective change agents.
• ACTION - Change happens when alumni acquire the tools and courage to act against racism. With Challenging Racism, participants develop their own anti-racist plan to use in their own sphere of influence. Our Continued alumni build networks and support continuous learning.
• CAPACITY BUILDING - We are one of the only organizations to offer specialized training and a practicum track for facilitators of racial equity workshops, Learning to Lead. Our Partner Program provides the licenses and builds the in-house capacity of new organizations to facilitate racial equity programs for years to come.

Testimonials

​Learning How with Challenging Racism opened my heart to optimism regarding racial equity in this community. As a human rights and anti-Black racism activist, as well as a Black woman with Black teenage sons, pushing against the cultural norms of white supremacy is oftentimes exhausting and lonely work. Being able to share my lived experience as well as hear those of other BIPOC participants and speakers helped me form a trusting bond with white allies during this program. The connection that we all shared, by the end of the last session, was no less than magical. It was a privilege to work with Challenging Racism and all the facilitators and participants, regardless of their racial identity. I feel a new burst of energy in continuing the long road ahead in solidarity with others who share my commitment to anti-racism and basic human rights for all.

​Whytni Kernodle
Alumna Challenging Racism Learning How, Winter 2021
Alumna Challenging Racism Learning to Lead, Summer 2021

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​I have also worked with CR to create an anti-racist curriculum program for high school students that I have implemented with my own students; and I have facilitated CR meetings with parents at my school to how to talk with their children about race. Schools do not have funding for these programs, and outside organizations like CR serve a vital role. With more funding, CR could train more teachers, connect with more families, and impact how students learn to talk about race in our society. 
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Jennifer Goen, M.Ed, NBCT
H-B Woodlawn Secondary School

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I am grateful to Challenging Racism and my Learning How experience to opening my eyes to discover a more meaningful engagement in my school and community.

Christine Albee Purka, Learning How Alumni 2017

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​Finally, Challenging Racism made it real for me by making me bear witness to the experiences of my Latino, Asian, and African American colleagues. That, by far, was the most effective in enrolling me join the fight to challenge racism. I strongly recommend the course be propagated across the county as I believe that once we get a critical mass of citizens equipped the way Challenging Racism equipped me, then we will in fact tip the balance.”

Nizar

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Finally, several years ago, an employee of color told me that I was a racist during a difficult conversation. I replied very emphatically that I was "not a racist." Because of CR, I now understand that racism is a continuum, not a binary "racist or not racist" switch. All white people are somewhere along this continuum, and the important thing is that we are intentionally moving towards the anti-racist end of the scale. I will never again say "I am not a racist." Instead, because of my participation in the CR course, I say, "Please tell me more about how what I said or did made you feel as a person of color, so that I can be more aware of the unintentional impact of my words and actions.

​White female, SES, August, 2019, Arlington resident
Participant in Challenging Racism: Learning How in Winter/Spring, 2019.
Name withheld from this statement because of government ethics requirements. 

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I use the skills I learned from Challenging Racism every day in my position as a manager of a diverse staff, tasked with producing objective, fact-based analyses. I am involved in recruiting, hiring and developing staff, while overseeing the production of numerous studies. I believe I am more effective in carrying out these responsibilities because of the deeper understanding and useful tools that I acquired, and continue to receive, from my work with Challenging Racism. 

Female, self-identifies as Mexican- American
Participant in Challenging Racism: Learning How in 2014-15, Arlington resident.
Name withheld from this statement because of government ethics requirements. 

​What was your biggest takeaway from the program?

"Before taking Learning How in 2017 the differences between schools in Arlington simply did not occur to me. I was busy and focused on my family, supporting my own children in their educational path. Learning How challenged me to first recognize and then deeply consider the realities of my diverse community, and more specifically, the inequities between its schools. It opened my eyes to the real root causes (systemic racism, residential segregation) and its consequential implications (significant resource inequities, persistent achievement gaps). I now see a broken system of which I am apart of, one that happens to serve me well but clearly disadvantages many others.

This new awareness prompted me to make changes. I joined my PTA as well as the Diversity & Inclusion Committee of my son’s elementary school. I advocated for internal programs such as more diverse reading books and lesson plans at grade level. I helped secure PTA budget approval to support Challenging Racism workshops for teachers and parents. I also believe that there is a clear role and responsibility for well-endowed PTAs to support the sustainability of under-resourced PTAs.

I am grateful to Challenging Racism and my Learning How experience to opening my eyes to discover a more meaningful engagement in my school and community."

Christine Albee Purka, Learning How Alumni 2017

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"It provided me with the context and diction for things I was witnessing and experiencing,
​but not fully absorbing or comprehending."

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"There is no perfect conversation; the important thing is to keep talking.
​I know that I should ask and answer questions until I understand what the other person means."

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"People’s behaviors are influenced by their experience and, in general, most people are trying their best with extremely varied types of exposure and experience. The more we can open ourselves up to conversations with people who are different than we are, the better our chances of success in relationships, in school, in work and in the world."

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"It is important to talk about race, about inclusion, about bridging gaps.
​When we ignore race, we fail to see the big picture."

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"Understanding that everyone has all sorts of sad and terrible experiences and if we don’t accept them we shouldn’t expect others to understand ours. Once we understand how to accept them we can then learn how to deal with them better."

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"Everyone has a story to share, which deserves to be heard and appreciated"

Describe your experience in the program.

I signed up for the Challenge Racism class because I wanted to talk more about race and privilege. Our facilitators were world class professionals. They knew the material and had years of experience facilitating discussions regarding race. Our discussions were current, thought-provoking, and challenging. Our facilitators modeled storytelling and active-listening and created a safe space for both. Telling stories and listening to stories was a central part of each session. Each participant seemed engaged, challenged, and stimulated by the conversation. I highly recommend this course to any member of our community.
​
George

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I found the readings, film clips and facilitator-led conversations in the Challenging Racism course to be eye-opening and thought-provoking. They helped me finally understand micro-aggressions, White privilege and the role of racism in poverty. I learned that we all are affected by institutional racism and that unconscious bias is therefore inevitable. Now, rather than feel shame and act defensively when these thoughts arise, I use my energy to recognize and challenge them.” Despite my own substantial scholarly research on affirmative action prior to the course, I was surprised to discover examples of major white affirmative action programs that I had not been aware of.

Carolina

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As a recently naturalized Muslim American of mixed Italian and Arab heritage, I have been on different sides of othering, racism and privilege all my life. And yet, I took a lot out of my participation in Challenging Racism as it practically connected it to my presence in Arlington, the town I moved to 8 years ago. By so doing, I was able to appreciate the systemic roots and structural underpinnings that perpetuate it not in the abstract but in the local systems I was interacting with daily. This allowed me to discover the many ways I can take responsibility to changing that reality, not least with my 12 year old who asks me questions about differences she witnesses at school and in different neighborhoods. It also equipped me with the kind of knowledge to effectively challenge the assumptions people I engaged with have about race issues in our country because I understood the source of their misunderstanding. It also illustrated the ways in which privileged segments of society (myself included) engage in a superficial approach to tackling racism that are less about changing the system and more about feeling good about one’s self. Finally, Challenging Racism made it real for me by making me bear witness to the experiences of my Latino, Asian, and African American colleagues. That, by far, was the most effective in enrolling me join the fight to challenge racism. I strongly recommend the course be propagated across the county as I believe that once we get a critical mass of citizens equipped the way Challenging Racism equipped me, then we will in fact tip the balance.

Nizar