1.
The Four Agreements
Courageous Conversations Protocol

2.
To participate effectively in interracial dialogue
about race, the first step is to commit to
honoring and practicing the Four Agreements of
Courageous Conversation.
Embracing these agreements will allow
educators to engage, sustain, and deepen
interracial dialogue.

3.
1. Stay Engaged
This means remaining morally, emotionally,
intellectually, and relationally involved in the dialogue
To stay engaged is to not let your heart and mind
“check out” of the conversation while leaving you
body seated at the table
Resist the natural inclination to move away from the
conversation by disengaging

4.
2. Speak Your Truth
Means being absolutely honest about your thoughts,
feelings, and opinions and not just saying what you
perceive others want to hear
To not speak our truth often leads to deeper
confusion, mistrust, and misunderstanding
Speaking your own personal truth allows you to fully
engage and develop your racial consciousness

5.
3. Experience Discomfort
Means engaging in tough conversations that may
make you feel uncomfortable
Agreeing to experience discomfort allows you to deal
with the reality of race and racism in an honest and
forthright way
This is how we “build muscle”, increasing our
tolerance for discomfort so that we increase our
ability to address the challenges associated with
racial achievement disparity

6.
4. Expect/Accept Non-closure
Committing to an ongoing dialogue
Rule out any possibility of discovering a “quick fix”
There is no technical solution

7.
The Six Conditions
Courageous Conversations Protocol

8.
1. Focus on Personal, Local,
and Immediate
What are my own racial attitudes, beliefs, and
expectations?
Always speak from a place of “I”
I feel…
I believe...

9.
2. Isolate Race
The critical need to address race explicitly and
intentionally
Identify your race when speaking
I’m Brandon and I am a white male…
As a white male, I believe...

10.
3. Normalize Social
Construction & Multiple
Perspectives
Different racial groups offering different points of view
as determined and defined by their shared racial
experiences
The social construction is not just the dominant
narrative, our social construction is from our
experiences

11.
4. Monitor Agreements,
Conditions, and Establish
Parameters
Keeping us all at the table by focusing on the
dialogue process as a way of ensuring greater safety
and sustained, deeper introspection
Checking in through the protocol and identifying
where we are on the Compass.

12.
5. Use a “Working Definition”
for Race
Differentiated from “nationality” and “ethnicity”
Examining and understanding how race is lived
differently by white people and by people of color

13.
6. Examine the Presence and
Role of “Whiteness”
Understanding how racial assimilation is present in
everyday life
Where is “whiteness” playing out in each situation?

14.
Courageous Conversations
Compass