I took the quiz to determine what I need to table about
overcoming structural racism. It was a bit difficult for me, because of the way
my life is structured. I would consider myself very well-informed and
comfortable talking about racial equity, but my audience varies wildly. Since I
work in a city school, my audience here is very urban, liberal, and familiar
with the topic of racial equity. Conversely, my home and church are in a rural
area, and are largely conservative, and my audience there is completely
clueless when it comes to racial equity. I had to walk out of church once when
they denounced Black Lives Matter from the pulpit. And my friends, by and
large, live in suburbia and have a range of political views. Sometimes it is
hard to transition from talking from group to group. I thought the advice they gave
of “storytelling” to get your point across was very apt. My sometimes-close-minded
father is a lot more willing to listen if I start a conversation with “One of
my students…” then he would if I mention some data point.
