Terryl Ross prompts meaningful conversations on race and equity and moves them from talk to action
āI hear people say they wish theyād done these workshops earlier. People think Iām going to lecture them or tell them they have to like black people or be āpolitically correct.ā Instead, we explore what the changes in their community mean, and it becomes real.ā āTerryl Ross, Ph.D.
At the 91±¬ĮĻ Bothell, Terryl Ross, director of diversity, helps people move from having conversations about race, equity and diversity to taking action. He builds opportunities for dialogue, bringing people from diverse backgrounds together to learn from each other and from experts about race and equity. āPeople are ready to have a higher-level conversation that leads to real action,ā says Ross, āand they want to have it in a safe place and with people who are different from them.ā
As part of this work, Ross has designed several workshops that offer students, faculty, staff and community members the opportunity to learn more about themselves, their fellow participants and the future of their communities. Most importantly, workshop participants work together to choose a course of action based on their shared experience, and leave empowered to do more. This year, ideas generated in previous workshops are being implemented campus-wide at 91±¬ĮĻ Bothell.
āAs our society continues on a path toward a more ācolor-blindā attitude, more people need to be aware of the subtle ways in which institutional racism is further embedded in our every action,ā says Karin Clayton (91±¬ĮĻ Bothell ā07), a database coordinator at Wellspring Family Services who attended the 91±¬ĮĻ Bothell Ross organized in spring 2015. āThe unconscious ways in which people treat others is, to me, almost more damaging than outright abuse because that person is unaware of their impact on others. Attending events like this will hopefully plant the seed of awareness.ā
Ross employs several techniques to help participants talk about race and equity. He focuses on both data and identity as tools to start conversations about differences rather than political correctness, and provides people with a common language and examples to talk about the issues. āThis stuff is here whether we are in this workshop or not,ā says Ross. āSo, how do we deal with this?ā
Telling the story of our changing community through data
Relying on census data, Ross introduces some workshops by telling the story of ātwo Americasā ā two demographic groups roughly equal in size. One tends to be older, whiter, more conservative and interested in health care; the other is younger, ethnically diverse, more liberal and interested in education. By sharing data on these groupsā growth trends, political leanings and more, workshop participants begin with a mutual starting place. They arenāt asked for their opinions. Instead, they talk about what the demographic trends around increasing diversity can reveal about the future of a community and what they might be seeing in their own neighborhoods. Ross says, āIf everyone had a thought bubble over their head about how they see the country, each one would be different. Working with data takes the opinion out and helps people see the patterns and systems. Itās powerful because it gives them a common starting point to talk.ā
Identity as middle ground since everyone has oneā¦or many
Identity is another powerful conversation starter, notes Ross, since everyone has multiple identities ā some stronger than others. He finds identity a helpful concept to introduce the topic of race in context. āThe more diverse the audience, the better the workshop,ā says Ross.
Participants in Rossā diversity workshop learn about different dimensions of identity. People have more control over some dimensions than others, and some may change over time, such as education level, family status, religion, military experience or where they live. Others we are born to, such as race, ethnicity, age, mental and physical abilities, or sex at birth.
Ross asks participants to plot aspects of their identities on a wheel-shaped chart, from race to family status and everything in between, assigning relative importance to each. Ross says, āIt becomes very personal to them. No two people have the same wheel yet they can find interesting commonalities. Both may rate race as very important but they are from different ethnic groups, for example, or maybe they are the same race but one says it matters a lot to them and for the other it doesnāt.ā Considering the dimensions of identity prompts genuine questions and real listening about what race and other identities mean to each person.
Developing a common language for talking about race
Ross defines terms and shares examples when he moderates conversations about microaggressions in the workplace and in the classroom. Participants learn that microaggressions are ābrief, often unintentional and without intended malice, everyday exchanges that belittle and alienate a member of a marginalized group.ā They include actions like confusing a personās ethnicity with that of a different group; consistently mispronouncing a personās name; interrupting; only making eye contact or taking questions from people of one group; making jokes aimed at minorities; or dismissing the validity of slights described by minorities.
Ross shares examples from media clips. āAfter sharing a clip with participants, they get it. Groups find it very powerful to discuss a real example. Itās not theoretical,ā explains Ross.
Workshop participants develop the language to describe things they may have seen but not understood before. Clayton, the 91±¬ĮĻ Bothell alumna who invited Ross to give a workshop at her officeās āLunch and Learnā program, had an immediate revelation from that discussion. āI had multiple experiences with a coworker that were uncomfortable. I couldnāt pinpoint what the issue was, but I knew it didnāt feel quite right,ā she says. āAfterwards, I realized I was experiencing a microaggression, which enabled me to process the encounters in a different manner.ā
Moving from talk to action
All workshops end with a call to action. Groups craft a plan for how they can start making changes, get involved or develop a community service project that would address the issues they discussed. According to Ross, āThe workshop explains a lot and participants feel that they are more grounded ā with language to describe things theyāve seen but didnāt understand. I ask, āIf you could do something, what would it be?āā says Ross. āLast year, a group at 91±¬ĮĻ Bothell decided they wanted to host a dialogue on race so weāre pursuing that this year.ā
Increasing opportunities for dialogues on difference
Heading into his second year as 91±¬ĮĻ Bothellās director of diversity, Ross has received even more requests to hold workshops for groups both on and off the 91±¬ĮĻ Bothell campus. Ross is planning what he calls āBothell 2.0,ā that includes both the second annual Diversity Week in spring 2016 and an expanded Diversity Conference open to the community. New this year is a dialogue on race, an idea that developed from workshop participants. All of it is designed to increase opportunities for students to find commonalities and see the humanity in people different from themselves.