The Civil Conversations Project Guided Conversation Workshop

The Intersection of Race and Life in the United States

  • Our Goal

    The Civil Conversations Project believes that the great division of this country has racism at its core. Our goal is to guide participants to more fully understand how race actually works, and how it affects the entire country.

  • Our Hope

    Our hope is simple. We hope to plant a seed in the minds of our participants. A seed that may germinate; that will have participants asking themselves how else has race in America affected the country?

The Civil Conversations Project believes the great 404 year-old division of this country has racism at its core. Our hope is that participants become more informed and they are moved to become more involved. To change the way people act, we must change the way we talk. Our hope is that we have enabled and encouraged you to have your own conversations about race in your own communities. Participants walk away thinking differently about race. Perhaps nothing dramatic, but with the beginning of an understanding of just how deeply and subtly race is woven into the fabric of this nation and just how harmful racism is to the very ideals of America. A seed has been planted. Participants may apply this insight and knowledge to gathering a conversation together in any community to which they belong. 

After Trayvon Martin was killed, politicians and pundits claimed, “This country needs to have a discussion about race.” Many arguments ensued, insults were hurled, but a true national conversation never developed. This workshop is that conversation. All countries have a deeply imbedded and ingrained story they tell about themselves. It becomes the accepted genesis – the origin story - of that country. This story is called a ‘Master Narrative’ and it is an explanation or story told in service of the dominant social group’s interests and ideologies. Because narratives are so normalized through their repetition and seeming authority, they have the illusion of being objective and apolitical. They are neither. America’s particular master narrative is one where all people are created equal and are endowed with certain inalienable rights, namely life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness….that we are a meritocracy where we all can attain the promise that America holds.

What to Expect from The Civil Conversations Guided Conversation Workshop

“That’s the best conversation about race that I’ve ever had.”
— Eric Brantingham, United States Forest Service

Testimonials

  • "Wayne did three intense small sessions about American history with us. Then he biked to the Maroon Bells in the rain, attended two community events, and joined us for dinner, twice. After the last dinner, one of our Black employees said that he felt ‘valued for the first time in my  adult life and career.’ This is hard work. Sometimes hard work pays off.”

    Mike Kaplan

    CEO Aspen Ski Company

  • "Thank you so much.  You created some great moments for constructive dialogue and modeling how to wrestle with tough issues. That moment gave me an opportunity to challenge some people in a way I hope gets them to think about running for office or at least actively supporting good people who are willing to do the job.  Like you, I plant seeds wherever and whenever the opportunity presents itself. You gave me something to think about in terms of “Best Ideas”, for instance."

    Cindy Wolf

    Commissioner, San Juan County Washington

  • "The Conversations inspired us and our organization to be more aware, identify actions on an individual or community level that can improve equity (big or small), and the realization that we need to put in the effort it will take - because we’re all responsible for changing ourselves, our communities, and our country.”

    Elexis J. Fredy

    SuperintendentSan Juan Island National Historical Park

  • "I feel like I already know you through Dick, not so much through what he has told me about you, but through the way he has changed over the past couple of years, and the deeper conversations that have opened up between us about race, and I think that you and/or your work are largely responsible.”

    Mary Poole

    Chairperson, Social Justice StudiesRacial Justice Initiative CommitteePrescott College

  • “I got a lot out of the conversation last week, I’m really glad we did it, it led to some good conversations with my husband & I out hiking and raised a lot of curiosity in me regarding our history.  Being raised in England I have a lot of missing pieces in American history so it’s good for me to explore, even the hard to hear parts of our American history. "

    Amity Preis

    Aspen Ski Company