Racing Across The Lines: Changing Race Relations Through Friendship [Paperback]

Deborah L. Plummer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2004

Racing Across the Lines by Deborah L. Plummer, first published in 2004, demonstrates how cross-racial friendships can improve race relations. A robust combination of the author s personal experiences and insights, shared stories, and findings from focus groups she conducted made the book an instant bestseller. After five successful years it has been revised and updated, and includes a DVD of Plummer presenting the critical strategies and concepts that made the first edition a positive step toward more effective race relations. Each chapter includes a journalogue which contains exercises for personal reflection, group dialogue, and spiritual practice.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Congratulations, Debbie, on capturing the true essence of diversity and its valued importance. --Halle Berry, Academy Award winning actress

A thoughtful look at the importance of interracial relationships and the possibilities they offer all of us. --Ellis Cose, author, columnist and contributing editor, Newsweek --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Deborah L. Plummer, Ph.D., is a psychologist and diversity solutions thought leader. She is Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Equal Opportunity at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She is founder of D.L. Plummer & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in diversity management. Plummer is a former professor of psychology and director of the Diversity Management Program at Cleveland State University. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 127 pages
• Publisher: Pilgrim Pr (September 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082981602X
• ISBN-13: 978-0829816020
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,560,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Read for Those Serious about Race Relations, September 17, 2004

By 

Patricia Bertschler "Co-author, TRUCE! Using ... (Seven Hills, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Racing Across The Lines: Changing Race Relations Through Friendship (Paperback)

Plummer's "Racing across the Lines" is the most compelling book on race relations I have ever read. She tackles head on the "elephant in the living room" (that which we all see but refuse to talk about)from her own life experience and personalizes the topic of race relations so that it almost reads like a novel. She uses her exposure in both the African American and white cultures as the backdrop for her basic premise, "I do not believe that race relations in the United States will progress until what we do after five o'clock and on the weekends, especially in our churchhes, includes a bit of diversity...The practice of diversity management can only be learned in the school of life--espeically life after work hours." (p. 12) This goes way beyond political correctness or the affect on the bottom line in our workplaces. Plummer writes in first person, names real friends and colleagues, and offers a how-to for those interested in beginning a dialogue with someone of color different from one's own. Each chapter ends for the reader with a Journalogue--a series of reflections, questions, and spriritual action steps. This should be required reading for anyone wanting an honest, practical, and soul-searching approach to interracial friendships and to personal, professional, spiritual growth.