Making Progress towards Racial Equity in Integrated Spaces through a Social Dynamic of Reflexive Vulnerability

• In Event: 2166 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 9: Race & Religion

Abstract

In order to assess whether integration can serve as a pathway to racial equity, it is important to study the social dynamics of integrated spaces, as the way difference is organized matters more than the simple presence of demographic diversity. Scholars have pointed to the limitations of relying on quantitative measures of diversity, which tell us little about the group dynamics or social stratification of integrated spaces. This is important because the diversity literature shows that time and again, the incorporation of greater diversity in institutions still leaves dominant modes of social organization unchanged, preserving white privilege and normativity. However, most studies, such as those of interracial churches, focus on predominantly white institutions. We should also consider how social dynamics may be different in spaces where whites are not the dominant racial group. This article draws on data collected as part of a larger comparative study between a constellation of urban churches and a residential college at an elite university. The data used here includes 54 interviews and participant observation done over the summer of 2015 from a Latino-dominant church and three of its daughter congregations. Drawing on feminist social theory, I argue that institutions structured along the lines of what I call reflexive vulnerability are better able to promote racial equity through integration characterized by intentional, if still imperfect, inclusivity. Reflexive vulnerability describes a mode of social organization in which people are open to being affected by others in ways that disrupt their identities, interests, and interpretations of the world. In contrast to more typical ways of organizing difference, such as colorblindness, which suppresses difference, or celebration, which trivializes it, reflexive vulnerability promotes deeper engagement with diversity, inclusion of racial others, and the leveling out of social status. But this requires a willingness to allow increased discomfort and disruption.

Author

• Josh Chen, University of Virginia