Dialogue Toward Ending Racism: Seven Years of Changing Sussex County, One Conversation at a Time
by Joseph lawson, SDARJ Executive Director | This article was originally published in Volume 20 of Black Voices. | Estimated reading time: 1:45
In 2019, SDARJ brought Sussex County something it had never quite seen: a structured, frank, and completely free conversation about racism. The program began as Dialogue to End Racism, a nationally recognized YWCA curriculum. SDARJ obtained permission to use it, then adapted it for the realities of Southern Delaware and gave it a new name — Dialogue Toward Ending Racism, or DTER.
Over seven years, 29 sessions, and 200-plus participants, DTER has grown into a six-week seminar that examines the origins of racism, why it persists, and what people can do about it right here in Sussex County. The curriculum draws on the work of Milton Delaware Bryan Stevenson, whose book Just Mercy and movies have made him an internationally recognized fighter for social justice. Heather McGee, whose book “The Sum of Us” reframes racial equity as a gain for everyone; Ibram Kendi, who popularized the term “anti-racism”; and many others. This is not a lecture. It is a safe space — carefully facilitated — where people talk honestly and often leave changed.
The course is free. Free is not an accident. It is a philosophy. SDARJ believes the work of understanding racism cannot carry a price tag if we are serious about reaching the full community. That commitment is sustained entirely by volunteers: more than 20 instructors over the years — including Calvin Jackson, Joe Lawson, Carol Worchek, Dr. Marlene Saunders, Karen Lewe, Robin Fisher, Kate Cauley, and Susan Goekler, who helped rewrite the curriculum. Instructors donate more than 400 hours cumulatively every year. It is, as they will tell you, a labor of love.
When COVID arrived, DTER pivoted to Zoom rather than pause. When the pandemic receded, SDARJ kept the virtual option. Today, the program meets in person at the Lewes Library, and one session runs online. DTER has also taken learning on the road: four sold-out bus tours have carried participants to western Sussex — to Seaford’s shuttered DuPont plant, Laurel, Georgetown, Frankford, and Bridgeville — connecting eastern Sussex residents to a part of their county many had never explored.
DTER alums are woven into the fabric of Southern Delaware activism — pastors, organizers, and community leaders who trace at least part of their commitment to those six sessions. Led by Robin Fisher, who served on Laurel’s City Council for more than 20 years, and coordinated with tireless dedication by Kay Hubbard, DTER remains one of SDARJ’s most powerful contributions to this region: turning distrust into understanding, one conversation at a time.
