Healing Race

Is It Disrespectful for a White Person to Adopt Black Culture?

Andre and Todd discuss the all-black majorette dance team started at USC that received criticism from people who think that majorette dancing, which has its roots and plays an important role at historically black colleges and universities, shouldn’t be represented at a predominantly white college. They talk about the tension that can exist between cultural sharing and cultural appropriation - where people from one culture inappropriately, or in an unacknowledged way, adopt parts of another culture.
On one hand, there is a natural tendency for culture to spread, which is important because it can bring people together across cultural divides and it shares the inspiring diversity of human cultures. On the other hand, when a part of a group’s culture is strongly tied to their identity, to their historical traditions, or perhaps to some painful parts of their history, others adopting it can feel disrespectful or even exploitative, particularly for groups who have historically been exploited. How do we navigate that tension? Let’s get to that conversation now. Enjoy…
To be a guest on Healing Race, email us at guests@HealingRaceShow.com
To suggest a topic for Healing Race, email us at topics@HealingRaceShow.com 

Adopting Black Culture: Insensitive Violation Or Desired Cultural Sharing?

Andre and Todd continue discussing what makes some members of the Black community upset when parts of their culture are adopted by others. What is at the root of those feelings? How can you adopt parts of another culture, particularly one that has been historically exploited and persecuted, in a way that is respectful and accepted?
To make it even more personal and real, Andre and Todd discuss an incident from early in our friendship where Todd expressed wanting to put his hair in cornrows, a traditionally black hairstyle. What about that idea didn’t, and still doesn’t, sit right with Andre? And what might explain the different feelings people have about the spread of their cultures to others? Let’s get to that conversation now. Enjoy…
To be a guest on Healing Race, email us at guests@HealingRaceShow.com
To suggest a topic for Healing Race, email us at topics@HealingRaceShow.com 

Response to Glenn Loury & John McWhorter: Should a White Artist Be Chosen for a Harriet Tubman Monument? - Part 1

Andre and Todd respond to a discussion between Glenn Loury and John McWhorter about a Harriet Tubman statue commissioned in Philadelphia that was awarded to a white artist. Loury and McWhorter critique responses from some black people who say that black Americans should be the ones to tell their own stories.
Is the story of Harriet Tubman only Black history, or should it be owned by all Americans as American history? Is it possible to tap into a common humanity whereby we can tell each other’s stories in an authentic, compelling way? Has enough trust been built with the black community such that white creatives can tell black stories through public works of art, and what does it look like for such trust to be built? Let’s get to that conversation now. Enjoy…
To be a guest on Healing Race, email us at guests@HealingRaceShow.com
To suggest a topic for Healing Race, email us at topics@HealingRaceShow.com 

Response to Glenn Loury & John McWhorter: Does A Victim Narrative Stop Black Americans from Letting Go of Racial Issues? - Part 2

Andre and Todd continue discussing Glenn Loury and John McWhorter’s video about the Harriet Tubman statue that was awarded to a white artist. Can a white artist create monuments to the black experience in a way that is authentic and impactful?
And are Black Americans who say “no” to that question just too attached to a victimhood narrative, as McWhorter suggests they are? Todd starts the video by asking Andre how he would feel about a white artist winning this kind of commission if it was evaluated in a race-blind way by a group that included ample black judges. Let’s get to that conversation now. Enjoy…
To be a guest on Healing Race, email us at guests@HealingRaceShow.com
To suggest a topic for Healing Race, email us at topics@HealingRaceShow.com 

Should We Grow a Thicker Skin When It Comes To Racial Issues?

Andre and Todd talk more about political correctness and what some call “cancel culture” - where people who say or do something that’s seen as politically incorrect are punished in some way. Should we just grow a thick skin that makes us resilient at times we might feel disrespected?
Or should we also change the ways that we treat each other to bring more respect and inclusiveness to our interactions? Andre and Todd connect the discussion to racial history as well as to the word “racist” itself, exploring what is and is not racist and the role the word plays as a tool for social punishment. So let’s get to that conversation now. Enjoy…
To be a guest on Healing Race, email us at guests@HealingRaceShow.com
To suggest a topic for Healing Race, email us at topics@HealingRaceShow.com 

Can Black & White Americans Talk Openly About Race Without Blowback and Blowups?

What happens when four Americans - two black and two white - meet each other and have their first conversation about race together? For this next season of Healing Race, Andre and Todd will be bringing guests from across America together onto the show to ask the questions that they most want to discuss, or that they think our society should be talking about, when it comes to race.
In the first episode of Season 2, we start this new Healing Race journey with Marin, Susan, Landon and Marcus - who grew up in Georgia, Texas and Utah and bring a range of backgrounds and beliefs to the conversation. Their conversations were meaningful, impactful, and show what can happen when people bring curiosity, openness, and grace to a topic as charged as race is in our country.
Andre and Todd had the privilege to talk with each guest before they met. So before we get to their conversations, let’s meet them first. The video starts with Andre introducing the Healing Race show to the guests and then we learn a bit about their motivations and background.
If you want to get right to their conversation with each other, you can skip this video and go right to the next Season 2 episode. If you’d like to meet them first, stay with us here and enjoy…
To be a guest on Healing Race, email us at guests@HealingRaceShow.com
To suggest a topic for Healing Race, email us at topics@HealingRaceShow.com 

Are White Americans Taught to Feel Negatively About Blacks Growing Up?

Over the course of the next few episodes, you will see our first ever group of guests - four Americans, two black, two white - have their first conversation about race together. They start by sharing how their backgrounds have uniquely shaped their approach to race and why they wanted to take part in a Healing Race conversation. Marin then asks the white guests what they learned about black people growing up.
Landon and Susan candidly share what they learned and experienced within their communities, schools, colleges, and through moving to new cities; they share how they feel about those experiences looking back; and they also reflect on how their experiences shaped their views about black people over time and about the role of race in our country and in their lives. So let’s get to that conversation now. Enjoy…
To be a guest on Healing Race, email us at guests@HealingRaceShow.com
To suggest a topic for Healing Race, email us at topics@HealingRaceShow.com 

Do Black Americans Still Have To Face More Obstacles Growing Up?

Thank you for tuning into Healing Race. In this episode, our four guests continue to discuss how their upbringings shaped their views about race. Marin and Marcus share what they learned as Black Americans growing up about what it means to be black or white in our country. The conversation touches on the role of race in standards of beauty, in how we see - or don’t see - ourselves represented in books and media, and in what it takes to succeed in our country.
What kind of effect can race have on how we see ourselves, who we want to be, and what others expect us to be as we grow up? This conversation opens up an emotional window into the ways race can seep into our upbringings, and it provided a chance for our guests to find some common experiences and outlooks, while also showing that having the same racial identity does not always mean that you have the same kind of life experiences. So let’s get to that conversation now. Enjoy… 
To be a guest on Healing Race, email us at guests@HealingRaceShow.com
To suggest a topic for Healing Race, email us at topics@HealingRaceShow.com  

Do Black Americans Use U.S. History To Feel Like Victims or Victors?

Thank you for tuning into Healing Race. In this episode, our four guests - Marin, Susan, Landon and Marcus - talk about how they view our racial history. Landon wonders how the other guests process the good, the bad and the ugly of our history, particularly as it relates to race - do we feel bitterness or espouse a victim narrative? Do we idealize our nation and its history and focus too much on our human triumphs rather than our moral failings? Or do we feel something in between or more nuanced?
Our guests also begin discussing how we should think about responsibility for the racial wrongs done in our nation’s history. Does tolerance of a racial wrong - even when not committing that actual wrong - morally implicate someone in the wrong? Do our ancestors’ racial wrongs implicate us now? For racial reconciliation do we need a racial reckoning? Let’s get to those conversations now. Enjoy…
To be a guest on Healing Race, email us at guests@HealingRaceShow.com
To suggest a topic for Healing Race, email us at topics@HealingRaceShow.com 

Were Racial Justice Protests Right to Call for "Defunding" the Police?

In this episode, our four guests discuss racial protests and policing. Why have some of today’s protests become more violent or destructive than the silent, nonviolent marches that have taken place in decades past? Is this more forceful approach necessary to create social change?
Our guests also explore their feelings about police and the idea of defunding the police. What’s changed in the relationship between police and the black community in recent decades, and what are the motivations and challenges for the defund-the-police idea? Is the police force driven by racial profiling and racial bias, or does the media simply spin a racial injustice narrative? Is police violence toward Black Americans a product of racialization or a product of challenges within the black community? Let’s get to those conversations now. Enjoy…
To be a guest on Healing Race, email us at guests@HealingRaceShow.com
To suggest a topic for Healing Race, email us at topics@HealingRaceShow.com