Yet, during the next six weeks, what they learn in this class will surprise and even disturb them. The lessons begin at once. At first, no one answers. Carolyn Walker, an African American litigator at Lane Powell Spears Lubersky, thinks back to a day on the monkey bars. Van Valkenburg thinks back to her childhood in Seattle.
Shared memories become a class hallmark.
Part confessional, part instruction, they stand as flickering lanterns of progress. During the first session, Bosworth, a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine, and his fellow leader, Rich Josephson, a partner at Stoel Rives, tell the students that they will each learn something about themselves. It can be painful, the two white men warn. For every one of us, we have unintended biases . To the extent we are liberal, it is even harder.