Book Club - The Conversation - Part 6 Prep
PART FIVE (Chapters 11-12)
Tuesday, June 1st 6:30pm-7:30pm
Join The Conversation on Zoom:
Link: https://zoom.us/j/97370478411?pwd=bk9tN1pxNTdMdDdtUE04WWlJQmN5QT09
Meeting ID: 973 7047 8411
Passcode: 236153
Access past sessions and view the schedule for upcoming Zoom book club meetings here > https://www.theyellowbirdtable.com/the-conversation
Pt. Five (6/2/21) Prep
Chapter Eleven: What Everyone Can Do to Promote Racial Equity
Dr. Livingston states again that “Racism is a solvable problem” (pg. 210). And, to produce sustainable change, we must ask deeper questions - what are the psychological, biological, economic, or social issues that form prejudices (attitudes, a set of internal beliefs) that can lead to discrimination (actual behaviors; decisions and outcomes) (pg. 210, 211). To best describe this, he delves into the power of intergroup contact, how discrimination and prejudice can be substantially reduced by increasing social contact between members of different social or ethnic groups (pg. 213), taking it a step further that to do this, the condition of equal status must be met (pg. 213).
Let’s unpack a few things:
How white people see their black friends (pg. 217)
Interracial interaction - White vs. Black perspectives (Pg. 218)
Mindfulness of societal-level power (pg. 219)
Let’s discuss what Dr. Livingston provides/outlines that we all can do to put into practice and promote racial equity:
Creating opposite images of what’s been conditioned (pg. 226)
Commitment to redressing hypocrisy (pg. 227)
Addressing threat and practicing self-affirmation (pg. 231)
Confronting Prejudice (pg. 232, 233)
On pages 234-235, Dr. Livingston lists five broad examples of actions we can take to contribute to your own/others' antiracism. What are your thoughts on a few of these or what stood out? What are some positive yet potentially negative (non-genuine) implications from putting these into practice (understanding motives)?
Chapter Twelve: How Leaders and Organizations Can Create Greater Racial Equity
Dr. Livingston discusses three case studies on how companies were intentional about putting into action to create social equity (pgs. 239-245). How does he describe how change starts at the top and meets the needs of diversity (pg. 246-247)? How have you seen this done well or not well, or where it lacks substance?
Let’s talk about some of the ways that Dr. Livingston describes ways that leaders can do to promote racial equity (pg. 248-249).
Social norms and organizational culture. Organizational culture is placed in four broad buckets (pg. 252). From these, how and what institutional policies and practices leaders can put in place to create racial equity (pg. 253)? How can this best be measured?
After reading the close of this chapter (pg. 262), how would you answer the final question - “How will you begin your journey upstream”?
