#raceon Dialogue Day

Critical Race Activism Project

By

Baute, Berry & Moser

Idea behind the project

• Social media gives us a chance to continue engagement beyond the advertisement of the program.

• Would it be possible to create a counterspace using social media on Facebook and Twitter?

• What would a dialogue day program and social media campaign look like?

How we see race currently

Research justification

• “According to a study by Edison Research, 25 percent of Twitter's users are African-American. African-American teens and young adults are using cell phones to communicate with friends, says Craig Watkins, a communications professor at the University of Texas. Cell phones serve as the main entryway to the Internet for teens in low-income families without home computers or broadband.” (NPR story, Anti-Social Networks? We're Just As Cliquey Online, Feb. 3, 2011)

Research justification

• Facebook and Twitter can be harnessed in a powerful way to encourage the Net Generation to think critically and be motivated to act on issues of racism. Social media can be a powerful tool in the educational journey of college students, and student affairs practitioners would be wise to harness these tools for programming (Junco and Chickering, 2010).

Research justification

• However, practitioners must be careful not to expect too much out of social media. It can certainly be effective in enhancing activism, but usually cannot substitute face-to-face activism (Malcolm Gladwell, 2010). Social media alone cannot achieve meaningful racial dialogue for first year students. It can be used to stretch and enhance the conversation by creating a digital counterspace for issues of race to be introduced.

Research justification

• This common journey of racial dialogue in the first year will have a significant impact on retention. White and non-White students adjust to college in a similar manner and exposure to a campus climate of prejudice and discrimination diminishes persistence to graduation (Cabrera, Nora, Terenzini, Pascarella, & Hagedorn, 1999).

One student’s story

• “Gaunt, who is African-American, says having conversations about race on Twitter has been a freeing experience. People feel they can be honest, she says. "You can really have a conversation and not worry about getting punched in the nose," Gaunt says. "There's debate, there's engagement, there's learning." Some of the friendships Gaunt has forged on Twitter have even spilled over into the "real" world. "I'm meeting strangers," she says —two in the last two weeks, in fact. "I met them and I felt like, 'This is my tribe.‘” (NPR, Feb. 2, 2011)

Components of the Program

1. Facebook page – Race On

2. Twitter hashtag - #raceon

3. Common reading – Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the

Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D.

4. Dialogue Day1. Lunch discussion of the book

2. Dialogue small groups

5. Twitter and Facebook follows up

6. Branding – cards and bracelets

FaceBook Page

Twitter space

• How is race talked about?– Recent trending topics

• #whitepeoplehobbies• #blackpeoplehobbies

– #raceon• A tag to use to explore race in a safe place with a more

intentional purpose to dialogue

Common Reading

Components• Ideally use as part of an

orientation project• Sent to students over the

summer• Use the Facebook page

Race On to pose questions before the actual dialogue day

• Lunch discussion with author as part of orientation

Dialogue Day Schedule

• Part of a larger program (Orientation, Diversity Week, or other theme program)

• Ideally bring Dr. Tatum in for the keynote.• Small group discussion of the book• Afternoon session with dialogue leaders

– Who are we?– Where are we?– Where do we want to go?

• Commitment to continue the dialogue in person, through Facebook and Twitter

Twitter & Facebook follow up

• Interactive use of questions– Facebook or Twitter questions of the day

• Posting projects – Highlight the positive ad campaign

• Book discussions

• Movie discussions

Branding

• QR code cards

• Dialogue Day #raceon bracelets– Visual reminder to use the hashtag– Colors ideally could be more colorful like a multi-color

swirl (weren’t available on short notice)– Grey works “don’t live in the grey of race” … could be

tied to colorblind which is not what we are advocating.

#raceonDialogue

Day

Sometimes

the best example

is seeing what NOT to do!