On September 8, 2025, the Davidson College Deliberative Citizenship Initiative (DCI) and the Theatre Department co-sponsored a Community Conversation on “Talking about Race: What Makes It Possible and Productive?” in the Barber Theatre’s lobby. The conversation was held a week after the production of Dissonance on Monday, September 1 in the Barber Theatre by actor-playwrights Marci J. Duncan and Kerry Sandell. The play, which is directed by Davidson College Assistant Professor of Theatre James Webb, explores what happens when a Black woman and a White woman who have been friends for 20 years have their first open, honest conversation about race, provides a helpful backdrop for this conversation.
Some of the participants in the Community Conversation had seen the play while others had not, but everyone there was committed to exploring the question of what makes conversations about race possible and productive. The conversation was designed by DCI Senior Fellow Alyssa Henke ’26 as part of her DCI fellows deliberation project, and one of Alyssa’s goals was to generate insights and suggestions for future efforts to host conversations about race, whether at Davidson College or elsewhere.
Approximately 20 Davidson students and faculty attended the event and participated in small group discussions facilitated by several DCI Fellows. Since the event, Alyssa has compiled the notes taken by the DCI Fellows from their group’s discussions in the document below. She also developed a two-page infographic (also available below) that summarizes some of the main tips that came up in these conversations, from how to prepare for these conversations to what to pay attention to during them. The infographic also provides suggestions for conversations with both close friends and new connections.
Race is one of the most challenging topics to discuss with family, friends, colleagues, and our fellow citizens. And yet it is also one of the most important topics to engage with, given our many divides that relate to the history of slavery, Jim Crow, and efforts to advance racial equity and justice. The hope is that these tips will be helpful as we have opportunities to have conversations about race, whether they are in the context of personal relationships, local histories, or national issues.
One such opportunity is Davidson College’s upcoming dedication of its “With these Hands” memorial to the enslaved and exploited on Thursday, October 22, 2025. The memorial is designed to recognize the contributions of African Americans to the College since its founding in 1837 either as enslaved people before the Civil War or exploited people during the Jim Crow era afterwards. It will likely provoke questions and conversations about Davidson’s history, legacy, and future with regard to race; the tips below can enable those conversations to deepen our understanding of different perspectives on these questions and strengthen our relationships and sense of connection in the process.
