Thus a discussion of a case in which race is a factor which has been denied may mirror the case by avoiding the issue of race. Seeing this can enhance people's understanding of the issues. If a student makes a blatantly racist assertion or there is a particularly charged discussion, stop the class and give all the students an assignment for the next class meeting to research this statement and write a short essay about their findings. Alternatively, ask students to write about the issue for five minutes in class. This enables students to think about and come to some kind of terms with the issue and can enable further discussion of it.
Every student is heard and the class can be enriched by the range of perceptions.
In short, the teacher will have to decide whether to stop the emotional charge and go on, or whether to use it to explore the topic at hand. Often when things get most hot, people are most capable of learning at a very deep level, if the exchange among students is properly handled. To make this possible, however, requires comfort with feelings and with conflict and enormous skill on the part of the teacher. Produced by the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning and the Office of Race Relations and Minority Affairs at Harvard University. Permission is granted to educational institutions to reproduce this document for internal use provided the Bok Center's authorship and copyright are acknowledged.