The author, a consultant on school equity, describes a common situation: teachers try to discuss the issue of inequitable outcomes for students of color, and all of a sudden, the conversation stalls. Such discussions are not the norm for educators. They often shut down or disengage emotionally because of various fears. When schools realize that unspoken fears are hindering good discussions on equity--and create professional cultures in which empathetic, nonjudgmental communication is the norm--discussions can flourish rather than stall. Mayfield lists four actions that help create such cultures: (1) make acts of kindness common, (2) communicate with empathy, (3) establish norms for communication, and (4) agree on common definitions of key terms. [Online Feature]