Issues of race, history, and culture simmer just below the surface of our everyday lives. Few take time to talk “calmly and rationally” about how we Americans can reconcile the past to build a common future using logic, reason, and data. How do well-meaning people help a community move beyond its past when confronted by those who hold ingrained stereotypes, profit from maintaining the status quo, or are filled with antipathy toward others? Arthur Dunning, an accomplished African American higher education administrator, journeyed through this quagmire as he led the consolidation of the historically black Albany State University and the historically white two-year college in Albany, Darton State College.