Dismantling Racism, One Relationship at a Time

Book excerpt: Dismantling Racism: One Relationship at a Time inspires and challenges readers to think critically about racism and its impact on themselves and others in complex and nuanced ways. With a commitment to an inverted approach to racism, Tina M. Harris’ trickle-down theory illustrates the interconnection between racist ideologies and interracial relationships. The example of interracial romantic relationships as an illustration of how societal attitudes dictate interracial relationships shows how trickle-down theory brings to the surface a person’s and society’s true attitudes about race. The theory further demonstrates how all of our interpersonal connections are a testament of racial socialization processes and how we manage our interracial interactions and relationships. Celebrating the power of interracial communication to dismantle forms of systemic oppression, the book provides essential vocabulary for both societal misconceptions and transformative practices of interpersonal conversation. The book culminates in the racial intentionality roadmap (RaIR), a self-reflexive guide to immediately and repeatedly identifying ways to help eradicate racism in all the spaces we occupy. Ultimately, Dismantling Racism challenges readers to develop authentic, organic interracial relationships that translate into changes in systems that perpetuate racial division.