Exploring race-talk at a Christian college: A case study

Abstract

Research suggests that the cultural homogeneity of Christian college campuses presents challenges for people of color to navigate. White cultural norms influence attitudes about race. The way people at an institution talk about race reflects the institution’s campus racial climate. The purpose of this study was to explore how members of a Christian college, associated with a formal process of reviewing racism on campus, talk about race. This case study, conducted at a small, private, Christian university was about the relationship between race-talk (Sue, 2005), campus racial climate (Hurtado et al., 1998) as well as identifying religious forms of race-talk. Through observations and interviews participants dialogued about race in order to create change on their campus. Results from the study indicate that administrators, staff, faculty, and students described a culture where silence about race perpetuated racism and where participants wanted to talk about Whiteness as a system of oppression. Implications for research, theory, and practice are discussed, including ways in which members of colleges can participate in sense-making process to discuss racism on their campus.