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THE FACILITATOR'S GUIDE FOR WHITE AFFINITY GROUPS

Amy Burtaine Robin DiAngelo

Strategies for Leading White People in an Anti-Racist Practice

A first of its kind, accessible, in-depth resource for leading effective white racial affinity groups - an essential tool for building the skills and perspectives needed for white people to challenge racism.
While there are a few short articles and guides addressing the challenges and complexities of leading white affinity groups, there has never been a detailed handbook exclusively for white racial affinity group facilitators. There are many challenges in facilitating these groups including the need to have a deep theoretical understanding of racism; a high degree of racial self-awareness; sensitivity to and the ability to work with the range of skills and degrees of awareness participants bring; and strong facilitation and conflict resolution skills. The Facilitator's Guide for White Affinity Groups is the first in-depth guide for educators, mediators, workplace consultants and trainers, workplace diversity groups, community organizers, conference organizers, members of faith communities, and members of racial and social justice groups. Dr. Robin DiAngelo and Amy Burtaine, who collectively bring over 20 years of experience leading anti-racist education and racial affinity groups present: - a theoretical framework for understanding racism; - a case for the value of racial affinity groups as a tool for challenging racism; - guidelines for setting up affinity groups in a variety of contexts; - the skills and perspectives needed for effective facilitation; - scenarios to illustrate common challenges; - a glossary of definitions; - exercises, discussion prompts, and assessment tools. - an extensive list of common patterns and group dynamics and how to address them Written accessibly for a wide range of readers and backgrounds, The Facilitator's Guide for White Affinity Groups will be an important reference for anyone committed to anti-racism work. Dr. Robin DiAngelo is an Affiliate Associate Professor of Education at the University of Washington. In addition, she holds two Honorary Doctorates. She is a two-time winner of the Student's Choice Award for Educator of the Year at the University of Washington's School of Social Work. She is the author of numerous articles and books on racial justice, including What Does it Mean to Be White? (2012) and Nice Racism (2021). In 2011, she coined the term White Fragility in an academic article which has influenced the international dialogue on race. Her book White Fragility: Why It's So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism was released in June of 2018 and debuted on the New York Times bestseller list, where it remained for over three years. In addition to her academic work, Dr. DiAngelo has been a consultant and trainer for over 20 years on issues of racial and social justice. Amy Burtaine has been co-facilitating workshops, providing coaching and mediation, and educating through an anti-oppression lens for over 20 years. While she has experience leading this work on a range of oppressions, her passion and commitment is to center race, specifically looking at how whiteness upholds and perpetuates racial inequality. She most often works in collaboration with people of color to co-facilitate dialogues and trainings on racism. She holds a MFA and is trained in interactive pedagogy.
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Published 2022-08-09 by Beacon Press