Controlling the tone of difficult conversations is never easy. And yet, it’s especially critical when helping students gain new perspectives on race. Cyndi Kernahan cites research that shows that making students feel blamed or guilty only leads to backlash, not learning or attitude change (5). Rather than being confrontational, it’s better to ignore misinformation while repeatedly emphasizing a new narrative that is grounded in the evidence you are providing. By being both patient and persistent in the face of student misconceptions, instructors are more likely to achieve their goal of helping students see and understand institutional and systemic racial bias.
Kernahan, Cyndi. Teaching About Race and Racism in the College Classroom. West Virginia University Press, 2019, p. 33.