Race In Classrooms

After discussing racial stereotypes and connotations a lot in our AS class, I got to thinking if are discussions would be as in-depth and interesting if there were actually an African American in our class. Would people hold back more for fear of offending this person? Or would it spark interest in the discussion with a new point of view?
I believe that if there were a Black person in our class room, people would definitely be a lot more cautious of what they say in our class for fear of offending the person. I don't think that what we say in class is offensive or far from the truth at all, but I do think that people would over-think saying things about race in class and not put everything they have to say on the table, which could sway a discussion at least a little bit. What do you think?