Gordon Allport formalized a theory about intergroup contact, positing that contact between dissimilar groups could be effective in reducing intergroup prejudice. Over half a century later, research suggests that engaging in race talk —conversations about race and racism— can offer benefits such as increased racial literacy and critical consciousness, less intimidation when it comes to addressing race, less fear of differences, and a greater appreciation for people of all cultures and communities. However, race can be a difficult topic to discuss. It typically incites strong emotions, often challenges an individual's lived reality, and triggers anxiety and discomfort for conversational participants. While these barriers to race talk have been well-studied with White participants, little empirical work has been conducted with people of color as a focus. The present study utilized a qualitative, focus-group based methodology with grounded theory analyses to gather information on people of color's barriers to race talk. Results suggest that varied interpersonal contexts — such as when talking to White individuals, other people of color from different racial groups, and their own race— elicit differing levels of comfort and subsequent changes to engagement in race talk. Furthermore, intersecting identities such as gender, sexual orientation, and skin tone further affect people of color's comfort in race talk engagement. Lastly, participants offer insight into race talk strategies that can be used to foster more helpful, respectful, and mutually beneficial race talk.

This qualitative, phenomenological study examined the experiences of four African American undergraduate students and two White professors, all current or former affiliates of a predominantly White university (PWI) in the Midwest. The objective was to gain an understanding of whether their experiences were ones that have been addressed in the past and recent research surrounding why African American undergraduates leave college before graduating and to determine if any changes in practices of beliefs occurred since their participation in the Difficult Dialogue. The data were collected using the evaluations from the Difficult Dialogue event and in-depth interviews. The data were then analyzed using a narrative analysis where recurring themes were highlighted and used to find dominant themes. The study confirmed findings that students feel isolated while attending a predominantly White college. New findings in the professor-student engagement include: 1) lack of student self-advocacy in the student-professor relationship 2) lack of professor awareness of students’ feelings of exclusion and isolation, 3) professor discomfort in reaching out to African American undergraduate students, and 4) an overall lack of awareness of one another’s feelings. The most salient conclusions from these encounters with African American undergraduates and professors was that an opportunity to communicate in a purposeful dialogue or the process of “thinking together” collectively allowed group participants to examine their preconceptions and prejudices, as well as explore the creation of new ideas.

Race talk, conversations about race, racism, and white privilege, have been popularized in empirical literature and in popular press. These difficult dialogues, in alignment with intergroup contact theory, boost participant's critical consciousness, reduce endorsement in prejudicial beliefs, and assist in dispelling racial stereotypes . Despite compelling evidence of benefits, many individuals report race talk as anxiety-provoking, and tend to avoid discussions of race when possible. While the bulk of research and popular press has focused on the reactions of white participants, the present study builds upon this extant literature and exploratory work to further examine and quantify evidence that people of color's level of comfort in race talk is predicated by the race of the other person in the conversation. Utilizing directed content analysis of open-ended survey responses, this project identified key initiators of race talk among a sample (N = 126) of people of color and offered mixed support for hypotheses related to variable levels of comfort in race talk among them. Results are contextualized by critical race theory, intersectional frameworks, and the burgeoning field of intergroup dialogue.