The Race Table Talk Should Act as a Model for Healthy Campus Discourse

Students and faculty discuss racism, campus discourse about race, and the occurrences of police brutality last summer during an assembly titled Race Table Talk.

Photo Courtesy of Upper and Middle School art teacher Mr. Nicky Enright

Riverdale’s weekly assemblies are an integral part of the Upper School community. They expose the student body to career options, new topics of discussion, and local and global current events that allow for growth beyond the classroom. Since assemblies are planned with a committee of students, teachers, and administrators, a broad scope of voices are represented through assemblies. I, with the other assembly committee members, work to bring attention to the topics that interest community members while still incorporating new ones to strike new conversations. 

I initiated the Race Table Talk, a recent assembly on November 17, with the aim of holding an intimate conversation about race. The assembly was inspired by Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk, a chat show where individuals from different generations share their perspectives on different topics. Just as on Red Table Talk, I wanted this assembly to feature members of the community with diverse roles and backgrounds whom I knew would contribute different perspectives to the conversation. Co-led by Coordinator of Experiential Education Ms. Phyllis Dugan and I, the virtual webinar featured a panel of eight students and two teachers who were asked a series of questions regarding race and discourse at Riverdale. Having this discussion about important, difficult topics that the greater community can listen to sets an example for both respectful and productive discourse and creates potential for real conversations that Riverdale is desperate for. I believe this structure allowed space for overlooked topics or unheard sides of the story to be revealed. 

The panelists were asked the following questions: “What are the unwritten rules at Riverdale?”, “Do we talk too much about racism at Riverdale?”, and “Can you call out your friends or colleagues when they say something problematic or hurtful? Why or why not?” I hoped that these series of questions would bring to the surface raw opinions about Riverdale’s culture that we usually avoid talking about. There are often opportunities to have conversations about how to engage in dialogue, like when advisors analyzed the campus discourse document, but we seem to be lacking official spaces to engage in discourse itself. Even though they were put in vulnerable positions where they could be judged by hundreds of their peers, the panelists were incredibly honest about their experiences and opinions, which I am sure helped the Riverdale community members obtain a broader understanding of life on campus and how to participate in dialogue about race themselves.

A moment that reflected sincere honesty was when Riverdale junior Julia Stark expressed that based on their experience, White boys at Riverdale tend to opt out of spaces like the Association of White Anti-Racist Educators (AWARE) and in general do not seize such learning opportunities. Middle and Upper School art teacher Mr. Nicky Enright added that this phenomenon is due to the patriarchal and racial privilege that make White men feel entitled and thus apathetic toward these topics. Sophomore Madisyn Cunningham took this insight to the next level by arguing that White women still need to be held accountable and that the discussion of racism at Riverdale cannot devolve into a “blame game.” Even though I might disagree with some of these ideas, all of these comments were critical to the conversation, adding new information about how gender may play a role in who gets involved in discourse about race and presenting a unique side of the narrative.

Following a traumatic summer for many BIPOC students, I hope the Race Table Talk provided a platform to validate their experiences. Riverdale has a community of people who regard the institution in different lights. While some people may not find any flaws with the Riverdale institution, others do. These two truths are valid to those respective individuals. In light of the Riv Speaks Out social media platform, I hope that the Race Table Talk served as a means to begin to heal our community from trauma. Even though Riv Speaks Out was not the central focus of the conversation, it has sparked a dialogue that can help us to process the trauma of the experiences shared on that page and that are still being experienced in our community. 

I think it is dangerous to rely solely on conversation for change, but I also do not think change can occur without dialogue. I hope that, following this talk, more people have and will continue to have small group discussions both inside and outside of the classroom. I also hope I answered some of their own questions through this dialogue. Finally, I cannot wait to have more Race Table Talks in the future, featuring different questions and participants. I think these talks have the potential to not only identify racism and places that require change within the culture of Riverdale but also educate our community and encourage us to reflect internally about our complicity so that everyone’s experience on campus is safer.