Page 10 - BigConversationsDismantlingRacism

The Big Conversation

on Dismantling Racism and Privilege
in Southern Maryland

The Big Conversation on Dismantling Racism and Privilege (BC-DRaP) was a project that
was initiated by Middleham & St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Lusby, Maryland. The
journey to get to the point where community members could have an honest conversation on
race and privilege did not happen overnight. The groundwork was established several years
prior to the event by many individuals and organizations in Calvert County.

This guide is an attempt to document the long journey to arrive at a place where community
members were willing to gather to discuss the very difficult and uncomfortable topic of race
and privilege. It features some of the many organizations that played a role in the journey, as
well as those who partnered with Middleham & St. Peter’s steering committee to make BC-
DRaP successful. This guide offers a step by step process on how to develop a program
such as this. It is our hope that it will encourage other individuals and organizations to begin
and continue this important work in their communities.

Community Conversations…Why do they matter?

In a world where polarization and intolerance have become prevalent, it is sometimes very
difficult to see one another as fellow humans rather than “the other”. Many of us have lost
the ability to participate in civil discourse and have forgotten what it feels like to have
constructive conversations. However, it is our premise that when people are given the
opportunity to sit down together, person-to-person, and talk with one another, there is a
desire to connect and discover new ways of being together. It is human nature to want to
connect with others. It is how the human race has survived throughout the ages. We are
social beings . . . it is in our DNA.

Community conversations help us to have productive, honest dialogue so we might better
understand our neighbors, and even give us a better understanding of ourselves. Honest and
meaningful dialogue helps us to dispel myths, misconceptions and long held-stereotypes
about each other. Constructive dialogue is essential in our world today, and indeed,
transforming. It has the ability to open our eyes to the pain that is felt by others as well as
within ourselves. It has the power to begin healing old and painful wounds. There is no
topic that offers more opportunity and challenge than conversations on race and privilege.

1