Suggest books and reading materials to students of color only after having gotten to know them personally. In many college classes, outside reading is expected and students can benefit from suggestions, but it is not safe to assume that black students will necessarily like or have a strong interest in black authors or artists, and black students may resent the assumption. This logic applies to students of any background who or may or may not prefer writers of similar ethnic backgrounds.
Call on students of color in the same way you would call on any other student. It is easy to alienate students during political or philosophical discussions, so as an instructor you have to watch yourself. For example, you should not appoint a Latino student as a spokesman for his ethnic group, or ask him for the "Latino perspective." Your student may or may not feel comfortable addressing the entire classroom on sensitive racial issues. Additionally, calling on him for a "Latino perspective" assumes that all Latinos will feel the same way on a particular issue. Do not assume that race is the primary influence on how any of your students think.
Assign a a diverse reading list if you are teaching a class that involves reading novels, essay, or any other form of literature. A white, completely Western or European cannon may very well alienate students of color as well as any other student who is interested in reading ethnically diverse literature. A monocultural curriculum may also deprive your students of a variety of perspectives. As an instructor, you will not have to mandate that a certain percentage of the books you teach in a class are the products of authors of color, but you should be aware of and appreciate literary works that people of color have written.
Speak of Native American literature, culture, and social realities in the present tense when appropriate. There are millions of Native Americans alive today in North America, and millions more alive throughout the Western Hemisphere. Native American art, culture, and literature are not static aspects of dead cultures, but rather resurgent assets of many constantly changing cultures. Notice that the word "cultures: is plural as Native American culture actually represents many different cultures.