Intragroup Dialogue and White Affinity Groups

Summary

Cassie Meyer explains how intragroup dialogue and white affinity groups can be used to further the fight against systemic racism. In the process, she gives a few tips and tricks for facilitating such a group. 

Video Transcript

Hey everyone. My name is Cassie Meyer and I'm the Director of Dialogue Across Difference programs. A lot of the work that I do is focused on bringing people from different backgrounds together. In this video, however, I'm going to talk about the value of white people doing what's often called intragroup dialogue, where members of a shared social identity come together for dialogue. I'm speaking to white students, faculty and staff who want to use intragroup dialogue to discuss structural racism and to talk specifically about how they can be involved in personal and societal change. Before I talk about how to facilitate a group like this, though, I want to talk through why I'm advocating for this approach, because it might seem counterintuitive.

Don't we want diversity when talking about race? A big part of what is guiding me here is the words many of us heard from Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, a leading thinker on diversity in higher education, and who visited Sewanee last fall. When we asked Dr. Tatum for concrete things we should be doing, she told us we should create affinity groups, and she emphasized the need for white people to talk together with a chance to reflect and be held accountable about structural racism. Dr. Tatum explained that affinity groups are necessary because white people often haven't had to develop the skills to talk about race in American culture, white is often treated as the norm. So white people usually don't have to talk about race unless they choose to. That means when talking about racism, many white people will just defer to people of color and say, "What do you think we should do to fix racism?" Which places the burden onto people of color and suggests that racism is only a problem for people of color. When plenty of research suggests that racism is detrimental to all of us. 

An affinity group can give white people a chance to reflect on their own privilege and complicity and racism, while also protecting people of color from microaggressions or emotional labor they may bear as being a part of such a group. It's not that we should never do interracial dialogue. It's just that a lot of times intragroup dialogue is a good first step. 

So let's imagine you're ready to get together. A group of your white friends, colleagues, peers, to form an affinity group and to talk about what you can do to fight systemic racism. I've got six tips for you for getting started. Number one, pick a starting point, and be really clear about your purpose. If your social media feed is anything like mine, it's been full of great resources for responding to racial injustice. So pick some of those--a book, some articles, maybe some of those lists for action steps that white people can take--and get a group of people together to discuss. However, be really clear about your purpose. The goal is not to wring your hands about the state of the world. It's accountability and thinking clearly and concretely about change, both personal and structural. 

Number two, come up with guidelines and group norms. Ask the group to reflect on this question. What do you need from yourself and from others to be fully present in this conversation, to be honest, and to be willing, to make change? Use your answers to make guidelines for how you'll work together. The guidelines should be concrete and actionable. Talk about how you will help each other to course-correct because you'll probably need to. Revisit your guidelines each time you meet, and be ready to fix them, if necessary.

Number three, know that you'll make mistakes, but don't let that stop you. To paraphrase Dr. Tatum, if white people wait to be sure that we only ever say the right things when we talk about race, we will never talk about race. Being an affinity group will allow you space to mess up, to correct yourself, and to do better. Next time. If someone in your group says something unintentionally that might reinforce racism, gently call them out. The more comfortable we are with making mistakes and being accountable for them, the easier it's going to become for us to learn from them and move forward. 

Number four, keep the group small. It could be just two or three people, but definitely not more than six to eight. Any larger than that, and the conversation is likely to be dominated by the loudest voices. If you find that certain members of the group are not actively engaging, you could break up into pairs to allow everyone to share and reflect. 

Number five, speak from your personal experience and take accountability for the ways you have intentionally or unintentionally contributed to racist structures. In difficult conversations, it's really easy to speak about problems in terms of broad generalizations, talking about "them," or even "the administration," or distancing yourself from the issue. "The people who really need to be here, aren't here." Your job is to focus on yourself and what action you will take in partnership with the folks in your group. 

Number six, continue to bring the conversation back to application and concrete change. What this will look like will depend on the group you've gathered and your context, but continue to ask the group to reflect collectively and individually on the change they want to see as a result of these discussions. That is it for my time. I would love to think with you if you are thinking about organizing a group like this or other affinity groups, so please reach out and let me know how I can help.