Page 380 - Mike Ratner CC - WISR Complete Dissertation - v6

After hearing some of the “heart stories, hurt stories” a White respondent (P04FW)

indicated her surprise and sadness when she was made aware of information presented in the video

and from personal accounts about inequities experienced by African Americans obtaining bank

loans to purchase housing. She remarked that the stories were very disturbing and pointed to a

double system that she did not know existed. Another participant explained that some [White]

people in attendance were surprised to learn that racism still existed and offered her own

incredulous reply, “Where did she think it had gone?”(P06FAA) The dialogue experience

underscored the lack of awareness and the degree of disconnect between the races.

The stories revealed snapshots of present and past prejudices against minorities (African

Americans and Native Americans) who lived in the community. An African American woman told

of living with her in-laws, because she and her husband had a hard time finding someone who

would rent housing to them. She indicated that they eventually purchased a property on the

outskirts of town. Her moving account of she and her husband finding a place to call home had a

sad and horrific ending as she told of returning home after moving in to find that her pets had been

killed. Another woman told of retaliatory actions against her for hiring African American skilled

laborer rather than White men, and another woman relayed an incident from childhood in which

she and a playmate were told to leave the dining room and go to the kitchen when her mother

discovered her playmate was Black. The heart stories, hurt stories represented “transparent

conversations outside of the standard yes ma’am, no ma’am relationships” (P04FW).

“Heart stories, hurt stories” were carefully unpacked by members of the dialogue group at

junctures interpreted as safe places and processed in various levels of depth. From my observation

during the dialogue series, many of the impactful stories were revealed after safety was established

between members of the dialogue group. From a logistical perspective, the heart stories, hurt

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