How to Talk About Race

Lesley Brey

Reporter

Henry Evans, who holds a PhD in Sociology, is the Associate Director of Idaho State University’s Office of Equity and Inclusion. He is also adjunct faculty for both the Political Science and Sociology departments. The Bengal Newspaper sat down with Evans to discuss talking about race in the United States.

Reporter: Why is it important that we talk about race?

Evans: The failure to talk about race keeps us in a place where we can’t move forward. Ultimately, I think we need to have difficult conversations to try and find where we stand, where others stand and ultimately why we think the things that we think about ourselves and others. These conversations give us the opportunity to unpack how it is we come to understand ourselves and others and why we value somethings over others, or some people over others.

Reporter: When is the right time to approach these conversations?

Evans: I think that we need to acknowledge, if you feel as though there’s an issue of race, then it’s important to ask that question right? If you think that there is an issue revolving around race or bias, it’s important to flesh that out, because other people are probably sensing it as well. I think a lot of people are concerned about how to have that conversation or how not to sound as though they are insensitive, or on the other side, [they are worried about taking] over a conversation that they may not feel that they have license to be in. “Okay, so I think that this is an issue, I think that this is a concern, but I’m not sure that I’m the one to have this conversation because, I’m not a person of color, I’m not a particular category of person that is the topic of the potential rupture in this context.” But if it bothers you, or you’re concerned about it, I think what you need to do is stop and have the conversation.

Reporter: When we say “talk about race” what specifically are we talking about?

Evans: I think we’re all trying to navigate basically what it means to be a person, of whatever social grouping in a society. When we are talking about race, we’re talking about how we group people according to phenotype, and then whether or not those groupings are even a valid category. Biologically, race is a dubious concept. So you can have the conversation about why it is that we are relating to people and engaging in actions and reactions based on something that is a biological dubious concept. On the other side, in terms of social reality, race is incredibly significant, and it for many reasons is a marker of status and potential. When we’re talking about race we’re talking about how it is that people have access or don’t have access potentially, or how people understand themselves and others in a society where that’s important. Why is it that this seems to be such a central facet in some people’s lives? How is it that some people have had a more difficult time navigating society based on something that in a lot of ways is kind of arbitrary. Just because we see difference doesn’t necessarily imply that there is some inherent differences in these groups. It’s the meaning that we ascribe to these perceived differences, these phenotypic differences. We’re talking about how we organize, and about how people’s life chances are affected by that.

Reporter: How do we actually go about having the conversation?

Evans: First of all, I think it’s important to [remember] that everyone is engaged in trying to figure this out. It’s not just a white person’s problem. Conversations about race are certainly complicated, but what I want people to know is that we’re all in this together. I sincerely believe that what we need to always do is put ourselves in the position to ask ourselves “How is it that,” and “why is it that” we believe the things do. Before we can have a conversation about race with anyone, you have to take some time to reflect on these questions of “Who am I?”, “What do I value?” and “Why do I value the things that I do?” Then you have to be willing to ask yourself how it is that perhaps the things that you value are a function of a larger conversation about race that has potentially contextualized our lives in this society.

Everybody is confronted by that. As a middle-aged black guy I’m confronted. That’s part of the condition that we’re in when trying to figure out how to move our society forward and find commonality. I lean more towards race as a component of equality. That it’s about recognizing that you don’t know it all. I’m teaching a social diversity class this semester, and the conversation is really about this. How is it that we can question these kinds of received ideas about what it means to be a particular kind of person in this society? How can we reimagine or imagine a different way of people being in this society that is more equitable, or that allows for the expression of a number of ways of being in this society where race, gender, whether you’re differently abled, or whatever is not as important or is not as determinative as it may be today. How do we create these spaces?

I think we have to be willing to entertain the possibility that we don’t know and then be willing to engage in conversation. So if you feel as though you want to have this conversation about race because there’s something you’re trying to figure out about a particular interaction or a particular social organization, or policy or whatever, then you’ve got to be able to then say “I don’t know it all,” and try not speak as an expert on this. All you can do is try to have this conversation and contribute what you think is going on, and hopefully learn from somebody else.

We need to position ourselves to have dialogue about these things rather than, I think unfortunately a lot of the time what happens is that we have these competing monologues. It’s the “I want to talk to you because I want to show you that you’re wrong.”

To have these conversations require a certain amount of humility and a certain amount of courage. You have to be courageous enough that if there’s something that you feel that you want to understand to say “okay I would like to have this conversation.” In having that conversation you may say something incredibly offensive, but then you have to be humble enough to accept correction.