In equity efforts, which voices should be included — and excluded?

In a time when political activists are raising controversy about schools’ pandemic responses and critical race theory, how can district leaders decide whom to listen to?

A recent New York Times column by Nicholas Kristof tells the story of a man named Daryl Davis, a 63-year-old Black musician who spends a lot of his time speaking with white racists. According to Kristof, Davis has been able to disabuse Ku Klux Klan members of their virulent beliefs about Black people through individual conversations and relationship building. Kristof goes on to describe the science behind this approach and suggests that if we could just all really listen to each other and get to know the common humanity underneath our different skin tones, we could ease the growing racial unrest in our country.