The Ripple effect: An Antiracist Journey

It is expected that you participate in each discussion. (We skip the Friday before Memorial Day so the 6-session course takes place over a 7-week period). April 26, May 3, 10, 17, 31, and June 7.

8 ADR CEs awarded

We will examine our roles in and capacity for confronting racism in the alternative dispute resolution arena. We will explore the concept of neutrality with regard to intercultural conflict, mediator bias awareness and power dynamics among identity characteristics, consistent with Rule 114 Subd.4(a)(2). Each Friday, from 7:30am-8:50am we will discuss the assigned readings, video, podcasts, and journal prompts for an 80-minute session on Zoom. The topics and discussions are flexible based on the identities of the participants, current events and where discussions lead each session. The curriculum for this journey draws from the work of Judith Katz on white awareness and Janet Helms’s stages of white identity development. Therefore, the focus of exercises and discussion will fall predominantly on sharpening racial understanding from a white perspective. However, the series is open to people of all races and open discussion is encouraged and facilitated by Jill Slipper Scholtz.

Your full participation is expected. Discussions will build on each other and participants will engage with and learn from each other. The facilitated environment will be conducted as safe space for open, curious and respectful dialogue. If you miss two discussions in a row, it will be assumed that you have left the group and you will not receive a refund. This is in fairness to the group and the time that is invested in these sessions for productive growth as individuals and a cohort.

Week 1: Norms, expectations, understanding race, white identity and white privilege, colorblindness and stereotypes.

Week 2: Racial bias, structural racism, cognitive dissonance and white fragility and power dynamics related to identity and conflict resolution

Week 3: White supremacy, more on cognitive dissonance and structural racism, addressing guilt, shame and perfectionism, issue identification in mediation

Week 4: Listening skills, sharpening your racial lens, mediator bias self-awareness

Week 5: Embracing racial identity, confronting racism, multiple perspectives, maintaining neutrality

Week 6: More on confronting racism, building resiliency, courage & persistence