Tim Howard, Goalkeeper

An excerpt from my widely-distributed Edutopia article on race:

1. Discomfort is the Starting Point, Not the End Goal

Discussions about big ideas like race, religion and politics necessitate some discomfort. By discomfort, I mean that people who participate in the discussion have a degree of soul-searching and reassessment about their own perceptions and biases. For instance, does one person find that their opinions get listened to more readily than those of certain school colleagues? Do they always sit with people of similar interests, or does it go deeper than that? How often do they interact with people that don’t look like them or speak like them? As long as people begin with a clear understanding that the discussion won’t start off with warm, fuzzy feelings, then the next few steps become easier.

Read and read again. Like. Share. Use in your discussions. Thank you.

Jose, who doesn’t shy away from the tough discussions in spaces where others do …