The Facilitator's Guide for White Affinity Groups: 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 in anti-racism 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. She has been a consultant, educator, and facilitator on issues of racial and social justice for more than twenty-five years. She is the author or coauthor of several books, including the New York Times bestsellers White Fragility and Nice Racism. Find her online at robindiangelo.com.

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. Find her online at amyburtaine.com.