This is a scenario of how to start a dialogue after tensions have grown heated in a small town regarding the changing of a local High school mascot to make it more culturally appropriate to the Native American population.

1. Racial Issues
Dialogue
Presentation
Lindsay Balfour, Chaundra Knight,
Sarah Bliss

2. Scenario
A small town with a large Native American population plans to change the high
school mascot to respect the local culture. A local counseling team has been
called in to prevent harm.

3. Initial Exploration of Issues
● People tend to think more negatively of outgroup members
○ Research shows: Implicit negativity is found as early as 6 years old
● Implicit bias shows more activation of the amygdala, the part of the brain
that responds to threat
● A person who shows implicit bias but self-reports positive attitudes
toward an outgroup may have the potential to suppress said bias
● One study showed that a 6-week loving kindness meditation practice
significantly reduced implicit bias
● Research suggests empathy is a potential pathway to reduce implicit bias
(Sternadori, 2017)

4. “Implicit racial negativity
permeates social life, and raises
countless questions about basic
equality and fairness.”
(Sternadori, 2017, p. 12)

5. Native Americans are more likely to experience discrimination:
● Compared to whites, Native Americans are:
○ Less likely to have a college degree
○ More likely to live in lower income households
○ Less likely to live in a neighborhood that is predominantly their own race
● More than one in five Native Americans report experiencing discrimation
in all domains of life, (i.e.,, employment, health care, and the police and
courts)
○ 31% experienced discrimination in applying for jobs, 33% receiving equal pay or a
promotion
● Native Americans also report interpersonal discrimination:
○ 39% of Native Americans reported they have experienced microaggressions
○ 34% threatened/harassed due to race
○ 23% sexually harrassed
(Findling, et al., 2019)

6. 1 in 6
Native Americans reported avoiding health care due to fears of discrimination
(Findling, et al., 2019)

7. Native American Mascots cause harm
● Native American students experience distress when they are exposed to
mascots
● These mascots negatively impact self-esteem and perceived likelihood of
achieving their goals
● Viewing these mascots activates negative stereotypes (e.g., drunk), rather
than than positive (e.g., generous), in white people
(Jimenez, et al., 2021)

8. Changing the mascots can also cause harm
● Research shows that prejudice against Native Americans increases in the
year following removal of a high-profile mascot
○ Both individual and population level
● It is important to anticipate and mitigate temporary prejudicial backlash
(Jimenez, et al., 2021)

9. Mapping
I. History: A Midwestern high school is considering changing their mascot
from the Warriors to the Bulldogs to respect a growing local BIPOC
population. The mascot has been in place since the school was founded in
1945.
II. State of Conflict: The debate was initially sparked by a small group of local
parents who want their children’s school to be more inclusive. The issue
was discussed in a recent public town meeting that erupted into shouting.
White neighbors are displaying yard signs displaying, “Protect our chief.”
The home of a local Native American family was targeted with spray paint.

10. Mapping, continued
III. Broader context: School officials have yet to voice their opinion on the
matter. Because the town revolves around high school football, the coach
would be an important advocate for the change, as well as the team. It is
important to interface with the Student Council, as well as local tribe elders.
IV. Potential Participants’ Purposes and Hopes: Opponents to the change are
particularly invested in addressing “woke culture.” However, the change may
have the potential to negatively impact both groups. This may be a way to
bridge both parties’ interests. It is important to note that this is a dialogue, not
a discussion. Therefore the goal is to take perspective, not make a decision
about the mascot.

11. Mapping, continued
V. Politics and Power: Because of white privilege, there is an inherent power
differential to address. While white individuals may be focused on preserving
tradition, BIPOC will likely be more focused on preventing harm.
VI. Roles and Credibility: Planners will consult with local city, school and
indigenous leadership to identify the proper participants. There will also be a
number of other stakeholders, including the US DOJ.

12. Key Roles
3 Major Roles
● Convener - 1 or more people or organizations, endorse and sponsor
dialogue, often engage in planning and some dialogue.
● Planners - turn ideas and purposes into action plans. Handle invitation,
structure and logistics of meetings. Can be both facilitators and
conveners.
● Facilitator - involved in planning process, acts as guide to participants but
is not usually a participant. May be a convener also.

13. Key roles cont.
United States Department of Justice Community Relations Service

14. Key Roles cont.
United States Department of Justice Community Relations Service
Who are they?
“America’s Peacemaker” for communities facing conflict based on actual or
perceived race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual
orientation, religion, or disability.
Their mission is to provide and facilitate dialogue, mediation, training, and
consultation to assist communities to come together, develop solutions to the
conflict, and enhance their capacity to independently prevent and resolve
future conflict.

15. Key roles cont.
Stakeholders to be involved in dialogue
State, Federal local governments
Tribal government
Tribal communities
Community Groups
Law Enforcement agencies local
and tribal
Civil rights agencies
Other governmental agencies with
tribal interests
Educational Organizations
Religious groups
Advocacy groups
Facilitator
Co-Facilitator (if applicable)

16. Facilitator
Role is to :
Facilitate dialogue between tribal leaders, federal and state agencies to
improve communication and services
Mediate
Facilitate training and consultation if needed
Should be Native American
Should be culturally self-aware (to include own bias)
Aware of stereotypes, prejudices and history
Must be aware of differences in cultural communication styles

17. Bridging the Gap
15 ways to improve dialogue
1. Inspiration; offer a picture of hope for a future,
together
2. Vision; imagine a future that includes all cultural
groups, not just the two in conflict
3. Education; teach the others story, as they would like
it told, in your community’s education system; the
sooner/younger, the better
4. Joint ceremony; to promote hope, and give rhythm
to the communities working together
5. Traditional customs; to nurture each community, in
its own culture, way
6. Dialogue; between communities; conversations
transform us
7. Storytelling; so people hear directly; the pain, and
the joy, of the other community; listen to listen, not
listen to talk
8. One-on-one; taking inter-community dialogue back
into ones own community, one-to-one
9. Places: where people, from either community, can
show up, be welcomed, and be themselves
10. Invitation; to the other community to participate
in your community places, and influence your
community
11. Inclusiveness; including the other as part of your
community’s celebration
12. Language; agreeing on respectful language for
conversation crossing cultures and communities
13. Leadership; capable of letting go, and passing
the torch to the next generation
14. Grandmothers; and grandfathers, bridging
cultural divides, as only grandparents can!
15. Appreciation; of the other community, and the
positive things they bring, to the relationship

18. Bridging the Gap cont.
Effective dialogue:
Bridges across divides in the body politic.
Prevents costly divides
It can promote healing in communities that are struggling with a controversy.
It can also reduce the likelihood of gridlock in the halls of Congress,
hatred in the arena of public opinion, and
potentially dangerous misrepresentations in our sound-bite saturated media.

19. Rationale to support a decision

20. Rationale to Support a Decision cont.
● After having all parties discuss options alternatives, each person was heard
and listened to.
● Questions were asked.
● Dialogue was allowed to proceed naturally
● The decision making model process should be followed to guide the decision
to replace the mascot or not by the participants by using a voting system.
● Implementation process should be discussed and any revisions made

21. What to Offer
Open dialogue to sub- groups with full transparency
One session dialogue (with highly structured questions)
Making sure that Session Design is structured to be inclusive to all
participants.
Coffee and Tea.

22. Size and Composition
5-7 sub groups
Views should be somewhat balanced
Age of participants
Range of ages should be represented due to nature of conflict.
Sub groups should be headed by a participant
School attendees should be represented by a student body member.

23. Time, Space, and Hospitality
● Allow time for Refreshments (if being served)
● 2- 11/12 hrs is ideal (allows or relaxed atmosphere)
● Space should be free from distractions, Comfortable, and allow for everyone to be seen and
heard.
● Circle of chairs works best
● A shared space with meaning and welcoming to all participants (when conflict with social class)
● Refreshments should be served as particpants arrive to allow for informal conversations and
introductions. (should also be available after the dialogue).
● Dinner? Breaking bread together can honor cultural and can set a warm welcoming tone for the
group. (Getting to know each other can break down stereotypes)

24. Preparing Emotionally & Team Building
● First, focus on your purpose.
○ For example, a facilitator in this situation would focus on providing both “sides” an equal
platform to speak.
● Second, consider sharing your viewpoints with a friend, family member or colleague.
● Third, list your strengths and weaknesses.
○ Ex: strength - highly empathetic and open-minded towards all people, weakness -
sometimes easily swayed by emotion
● Lean on co-facilitators: brainstorm ways to handle potential challenges and utilize role-play
(Herzig and Chasin, 2006).

25. Preparation Cont’d
● Create a check-list.
● This should include:
● Roles and expectations
● Room set-up and seating
● Preparing your plan or script
● Greeting
● The opening segment
● The body of the dialogue
● Closing dialogue
● Feedback and follow-up (Herzig and Chasin, 2006)

26. Three Challenges
There are always challenges during a dialogue. It is important to attempt to identify them
beforehand to figure out how to best mitigate them.
Anticipated Challenges:
1) Due to white privilege and the fact that the town is majority white, the dialogue will likely
be dominated by white people, therefore creating an inherent imbalance.
a) Include the tribal government
b) Monitor the discourse to make sure each “side” has equal talking time.
2) Small towns tend to place a lot of importance on loyalty to tradition.
a) Acknowledge this and the validity of it but also the validity of the pain this can cause to BIPOC.
3) Sometimes people disagree with something someone else said but they don’t fully
understand what they said. For example, if someone on the opposing side says: “They’re
just trying to take our rights away! We can have any mascot that we want.”
a) In this case, it’s important for a facilitator to clarify differences to see if two people have heard each other
correctly. Then, the person can say what was unsettling to them and why (Herzig and Chasin, 2006).

27. Debrief & Final Report
● The purpose of the debrief is to encourage reflection on what the
participants learned and valued most, invite them to say something that
will bring their participation to a satisfying end, and to learn what
participants would like to explore in a future meeting (Herzig and Chasin,
2006).
● For example, asking questions such as: What will you take with you from
today’s meeting?
● Set the scene for any further meetings.
● Elicit feedback (Herzig and Chasin, 2006).

28. References
Findling, M. G., Casey, L. S., Fryberg, S. A., Hafner, S., Blendon, R. J., Benson, J. M., ... & Miller, C. (2019). Discrimination in the United States:
experiences of native Americans. Health services research, 54, 1431-1441.
Herzig, M., & Chasin, L. (2006). Fostering dialogue across divides. Intergroup Resources. Retrieved July 24, 2022, from
http://www.intergroupresources.com/rc/Fostering%20Dialogue%20Across%20Divides.pdf
Jimenez, T., Arndt, J., & Helm, P. J. (2021). Prejudicial reactions to the removal of Native American mascots. Group Processes & Intergroup
Relations, 13684302211040865.
The United States Department of Justice . (2022, July 21). Community Relations Service. The United States Department of Justice. Retrieved July
22, 2022, from https://www.justice.gov/crs
Sternadori, M. (2017). Empathy may curb bias: Two studies of the effects of news stories on implicit attitudes toward African Americans and native
Americans. Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice, 9(2), 11-27.

29. References cont.
Ziegler, B. (2010, December 6). 15 Ways to bridge the gap between cultures and communities in conflict. Collaborative Journeys.
Retrieved July 23, 2022, from https://collaborativejourneys.com/15-ways-to-bridge-the-gap-between-cultures-and-communities-
in-conflict/