The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3 - 74

Kathy Cook * Dorian L. McCoy

sented during RA training with the contradictory messages they received growing up to
illuminate how the messages "collided."

The RAs' shock originated from

Message 1: Segregation vs. Inclusion

groups was the same as segregation.

No component of the training received as
much feedback as the affinity groups. Among
the terms the RAs used to describe their emotions during the training included: discouraged, skeptical, intense, unsettling, upsetting,
denial, discomfort, conflicted, dread, confusion, angry, frustrated, and shocked. They
experienced many of these emotions simultaneously. The RAs were "shocked:" when asked
to divide by racial identities for affinity groups.
Liam's initial panicked thought was, "Is this
a test?" The RAs' shock originated from the
belief that dividing into racial groups was the
same as segregation. They associated segregation with Jim Crow Era racism and deeply
believed it was wrong. Carrie described her
uneasiness, "It didn't feel right. It felt like we
were going back in time. Like we were going
back to the segregated schools, and like, 'Oh
you're White, so you sit here.'" One reason the
RAs were shocked by the affinity groups was
because most of them had never been asked to
separate by race.

They associated segregation with

The division by racial identify felt counterintuitive to the RAs and antithetical to their
perceptions about diversity training. The RAs
believed the goals of diversity and social justice
were to unify races and increase cultural communication. However, they felt the training's
format undermined these objectives by creating unnecessary barriers. Despite the amount
of time presenters dedicated to explaining the
purpose of affinity groups to the RAs, the findings indicate many of them did not understand
the significance or the effectiveness of this
74

the belief that dividing into racial

Jim Crow Era racism and deeply
believed it was wrong.

format. Their feedback suggests many of the
RAs believe affinity groups are the wrong approach for teaching diversity and social justice.

Message 2: White People need to Learn
from Other White People vs. White People
Can Only Learn from People of Color
Much of the confusion around the affinity
groups stemmed from the belief that White
people cannot learn about diversity and social
justice from other White people. They did not
understand how participating in racially delineated groups promoted diversity and social
justice. This incomprehension revealed an underlying assumption: to learn about diversity
and social justice, White people need to learn
about it from People of Color. Barbie stated,
"I know it's horrible to put people on the spot
and say, 'You're a minority (sic). Tell us what
it's like for you.' But something more to that
effect would have been more valuable."
The RAs believed they needed People of
Color to teach them about diversity and social
justice because they equated learning about diversity with learning about People of Color. The
idea that White people can only learn about diversity and social justice from People of Color
was reinforced by instances where the RAs did

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3

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