Page 372 - Mike Ratner CC - WISR Complete Dissertation - v6

race” or instructions to African-American participants to “try harder to find ways to succeed like

he did when he played high school sports” were not directly challenged and the facilitators did

little to probe these comments in order achieve greater understanding. However, implicit tensions

felt by participating group members pertaining to the value of civic dialogue only as talk with no

resulting action or outcome was a topic of discussion for the last two sessions.

In instances where White men interjected tension producing comments into the dialogue

the group displayed a forming mode (Tuckman, 1965) of development and showed reluctance to

enter the storming phase. The presence of perceived or real asymmetrical power (Locher, 2004)

differences between the White males and other members of the dialogue group also had a limiting

influence on group interactions. The newness of the dialogue group experience for many

participants during the second meeting session left them ill-prepared to confront statements of

privilege that lacked understanding of how their comments might be received. Clearly during the

first time dialogue it took time for African-American participants, even in an environment hosted

by African Americans, to -find their voice and speak truth [to White participants in the room and

each other] about their experiences with racism (Pease, 2010). During the second session when the

comment was made about “trying harder to succeed” a vocal and strong response from those in

attendance, African American and White participants compelled the White male to listen to the

responses that emerged from those sitting around the circle. The participant from the dominant

group was presented with a challenge to listen (Pease, 2010) or take another action. Because this

particular White male did not attend additional dialogue sessions and declined the invitation to

participate in this research, further insight into his experience and understanding of the events that

transpired that evening is limited to comments made by others and my direct observations.

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