Not long after I became board president of my local food co-op, I began a more focused study of racism. I say “more focused” because, like many of us, I started learning about racism the day I was born. When I stepped into the board presidency, right away I noticed that I was being treated with less respect by some of my colleagues than I had been before I changed roles.

As tensions in the boardroom and co-op escalated, my fears became more racialized; my colleagues’ whiteness and my blackness began to stand out in higher contrast for me. They had always been white, I’d always been black—why did this difference now seem so pronounced? Pictures of angry white mobs and lynchings flashed unexpectedly in my mind; I experienced heightened levels of fear. I hoped that by learning more about racism, I could better understand what I was experiencing.

In June of 2014, three directors and three top managers at my local food co-op (myself included) participated in the two-and-a-half-day “Undoing Racism” training produced by the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. The first half day, a Friday evening, focused primarily on introductions—it was lighthearted and fun, and I enjoyed meeting the other participants. However, the following morning I woke up crying and couldn’t seem to stop. Embarrassed, once I reached the workshop, I sought out one of the black trainers for support. He told me that crying was a common experience for people of color who took the workshop. I was surprised. Clearly, racism had had an effect on me that I had not been consciously aware of.

Later that year, when I joined Columinate and began consulting with cooperative boards nationally, I was again surprised at how distressed I became hearing numerous white co-op cooperators say things like, “People of color can’t afford to shop at our store,” or “People of color aren’t interested in healthy food, anyway.” It was clear to me that these individuals were unaware that they were perpetuating racial stereotypes. I questioned whether I could continue doing the leadership development work that I loved without additional support.

Fortunately for me, Columinate agreed to embark on a process of learning more about racism and its impacts. That decision communicated to me that I was not only welcomed by the consulting co-op, but that the organization was willing to make efforts to create a more supportive environment for people of color.

More recently, the murder of George Floyd seemed to act as a catalyst towards increasing awareness of racial injustice among food co-ops nationally. Most of the co-ops I work with have expressed a strong desire to ensure that all individuals who participate in the co-op are treated with respect and dignity, including individuals in brown bodies. Many co-ops are directly asking people of color to participate in their co-op. While I welcome these initiatives, I have concerns that, without an increased focus on training and education, these efforts could backfire.

While racial diversity has been shown to have numerous positive impacts for organizations that embrace it, it can also bring challenges. Often, people from differing racial backgrounds also have had profoundly different life experiences and hold distinctly different worldviews. These differing views and experiences can make cross-racial interactions difficult. Emotions can run high, and people can make decisions and act in ways that, in hindsight, don’t adhere to their values.

Resources

The solution? Educate yourself. Learn about perspectives and points of view that are different from your own. Develop an understanding of the complex racial history of the U.S. I’ve learned that racism is not as simple as I once thought. If you are just beginning to explore racism or are looking for more resources, consider some of my favorites, listed below.

Books:

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, by Robin Diangelo (Beacon Press 2018). Whether or not you like the term “white fragility,” I have seen consistent patterns in the difficulty some people in white bodies have talking about racism; Diangelo attempts to explain the pattern.

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, by Isabelle Wilkerson (Random House 2020). Wilkerson’s beautiful prose effectively argues that our lives today are still governed by a hierarchy of human divisions.

From Here to Equality, Second Edition: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century, by William A. Darity Jr., A. Kirsten Mullen (UNC Press Books 2022). The most comprehensive summary of harms done by the U.S. government to people of African heritage that I have ever read.

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindedness, by Michelle Alexander (The New Press 2010, new edition 2020). While I found this a particularly difficult read (I have multiple family members who have been incarcerated), Alexander explains how racial discrimination has been effectively continued through disproportionate mass incarceration of black people, especially men.

Black and White Styles in Conflict, by Thomas Kochman (University of Chicago Press 1981). Kochman outlines what he has observed as distinctly different cultural differences between blacks and whites that can exacerbate conflict and create difficulties in communication.

Videos and internet:

Race, the Power of an Illusion, a three-part documentary produced by California Newsreel (2003), especially “How the Racial Wealth Gap Was Created,” a 30-minute excerpt that can be found on YouTube. I was surprised at how many misconceptions I had about race that were corrected by this series; I highly recommend it.

“Reverse Racism (Fear of a Brown Planet),” by Aamer Rahman (2013). In four minutes, Australian comedian Raham puts the concept of reverse racism to rest.

“How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race,” by Jay Smooth, TEDx Hampshire College (2013): Using humor, Smooth highlights some of the difficulties inherent in pointing out racist comments, especially inadvertent ones, and suggests a dental-hygiene approach to discussing race.

“21-day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge,” from Food Solutions New England: There are many racial equity challenges online; this is the only one I’m familiar with. Each week is packed with a variety of resources that can be explored at the user’s own pace.

This list is just a tiny sliver of the voluminous quantity of resources about race and racism that can be easily found through a simple internet search (“best books about racism” brought up an impressive list for me). By continued reading and by attending and facilitating workshops, I’ve gone from someone for whom talking about race was generally painful to someone who enjoys and appreciates opportunities to talk about the racial challenges we all face.

My advice to anyone hoping to build more racial equity is to be open-minded; don’t assume that you know or understand everything you need to know about racism. Be willing to listen to others as they describe their experiences, and be willing to recognize and learn from mistakes.

Early in my explorations, I spoke with two white food co-op general managers who were particularly excited about what they’d been learning about race. I was surprised by their positive attitudes, and asked them to explain what seemed to me like improbable optimism. One said, essentially, “There are so many social issues worth addressing; racism is one I can make a change on in my lifetime—by changing myself.” The other said, “Now I know how to talk to my son about race.” In your own learning about racism you, too, could find surprise gifts.