A Guide for Sustaining Conversations on Racism, Identity, and our Mutual Humanity

A Guide for Sustaining Conversations on Racism, Identity, and our Mutual Humanity is a hands-on guide for teachers, students, and agency professionals seeking to respond skillfully and sensitively to the often daunting challenges of classrooms, as students demand both answers and accountability concerning issues of race, power, privilege, and oppression and the emotional responses they provoke.

The guide includes suggestions to implement before entering the classroom, so that the necessary personal, community, and institutional infrastructure can support authentic, sustainable conversations. It discusses how educators can respond appropriately in the classroom to the hot-button issues of the day. There are also lessons for critical pedagogy and management that help educators reimagine classrooms and learn to create mutually supportive learning environments.

Written by four experienced anti-racist educators and practitioners, the book takes a direct, compassionate approach designed to diminish dogma and fear. By examining how socially different people respond to the same difficult questions, A Guide for Sustaining Conversations on Racism, Identity, and our Mutual Humanity creates a rich set of options for readers to use in their own classrooms, agencies, and field placements. Steve Burghardt, M.S.W., Ph.D., is a professor of social work at Hunter College-CUNY. He is a noted author and an eight-time teaching award winner. Kalima DeSuze, L.M.S.W., is an adjunct professor at Hunter College-CUNY, Smith College, and Columbia Schools of Social Work. She serves as an assistant director of the Hunter College-CUNY Field Education Department. Linda Lausell Bryant, M.S.W., Ph.D., has worked as the executive director of a nonprofit youth agency and is now the executive-in-residence and clinical assistant professor of social work at New York University. Mohan Vinjamuri, L.M.S.W., Ph.D., is an assistant professor of social work at Lehman College-CUNY where he teaches courses on practice, research, and social work with LGBTQ communities.