Gifted Sight: Black Women's Structural Acuity in Intergroup Dialogue

• In Event: Educational Experiences of Girls and Women of Color

Abstract

In higher education, intergroup dialogue (IGD) is a tool used to promote social justice across soceity; yet, research on the program has yet to examine how Black women participants, who face gendered racism, experience IGD or what their perspectives about their experiences illuminate about the IGD model. Thus, this qualitative study did so. Using a Black feminist paradigm, crtitical discourse analysis, and qualitative content analysis, this study’s findings indicate that the perspectives of Black women in IGD were comprehensive and illuminated the structural nature of oppression as it played out and was reproduced in IGD courses. These findings suggest that Black women’s interpretations--their structural acuity--stand to enhance scholarly understanding of IGD dynamics and their consequences for all participants.

Authors

• Chaddrick James-Gallaway, Texas A&M University - College Station

• ArCasia James-Gallaway, Texas A&M University - College Station