What are affinity groups? Why are they beneficial? Why do schools resist affinity groups? How do you make the case for them and launch them meaningfully to minimize resistance? Discuss obstacles and strategies, gain resources and practice, and walk away more prepared to provide safe spaces for your school’s constituencies.

1. Lakeside Middle School
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee
Seattle Girls’ School
Affinity Groups: What, Why, and How
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

2. About Seattle Girls’ School
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

3. Agenda
 Basic Definitions
 Sources of Resistance
 Value of Affinity Groups
 Overcoming the Resistance
 Strengthening Communities
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

4. Basic Definitions
The term affinity group is used as a
bringing together of people who have an
identifier in common, e.g. race, gender,
religion, family status, etc. Affinity groups
are for individuals who identify as members
of the group and can speak to the
experience of being a member of the group
from the “I” perspective.
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

5. Basic Definitions
The term alliance group is used as a
bringing together of people who have a
common commitment to an identifier group,
e.g. race, gender, religion, family status,
etc. Alliance groups are for individuals who
identify as members of the group and/or as
people who support and stand in solidarity
with that group.
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

6. Basic Definitions
The term interest group is used as a
bringing together of people who want to
learn about, share, and engage in a special
interest, e.g. hobby, skill, topic, culture, etc.
Interest groups are for individuals who want
to gather to teach, learn, and share.
Membership can be fluid and changing.
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

7. Groups You’ve Participated In
Please work in groups of 3
or 4. Describe some of the
affinity, alliance, or interest
spaces in your own lives.
Why do you participate?
What are the benefits of
these different kinds of
spaces?
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

8. Why Affinity Groups Are Great
 Safety and Comfort to be
Authentic
 Affirmation
 Critical Mass
 Identity Socialization
 Building Resilience
 Preparing to Engage
Deeply with Other Groups
 Empowerment Toward
Action
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

9. Why Affinity Groups
Meet Resistance
 Unacknowledged Fear
of Assembly
 Unacknowledged
Resistance to
Empowerment
 Desire to Stay Ignorant
of Issues
 Privilege
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

10. Forms of Resistance
• False Parallels
• Inverting the Injustice
• Outright Dismissal
• Minimization
• Righteousness
• Colorblindness
• Jealousy
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

11. Reflection
Please work in pairs or in
groups of three. What
information was new,
useful, interesting,
worrisome, etc.? What
questions do you have?
What’s missing?
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

12. Talking Points for Affinity Groups
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

13. “Affinity Groups” We Already Have
• Gendered Bathrooms
• Faculty Meetings
• Tracked Classes
• Financial Aid Allocation Meetings
• Sports Teams
• Divisions and Grades
• Casts of School Plays
• Faculty/Staff Rooms
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

14. Equality versus Equity
Everybody gets a shirt versus everybody
gets a shirt that fits.
Giving everybody some insulin in
equality. Giving only people who are
diabetic some insulin is equity.
What is “fair”?
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

15. Conflation of Individual/Institutional
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

16. Privilege
“Privilege exists when one group has
something of value that is denied to others
simply because of the groups they belong
to, rather than because of anything they’ve
done or failed to do.”
[as described by Peggy McIntosh and quoted by Allan Johnson]
Privilege is SYSTEMIC. It drives the
systems that dominate our societies.
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

17. Situational Advantage
There are prime parking spots and seats
reserved for people with disabilities. People
with disabilities are often first to board
planes and other transportation vehicles.
These advantages are situational and do not
balance out systemic oppression.
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

18. Situational Advantage
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

19. Where We’re From vs Where We’re Going
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)
Where We Come From: It used to be that LGBTQ people
were openly discriminated against. Many LGBTQ people
were killed, fired from jobs, kicked out of families, etc. We’ve
come so far; now we have openly gay celebrities, politicians,
and other public figures. There are many states now where
gay marriage is legal and most workplaces have LGBTQ non-
discrimination policies. I don’t understand why LGBTQ people
are so angry.
Where We Are Going: We still have LGBTQ people who are
discriminated against. There are still occasions of LGBTQ
people killed, fired from jobs, kicked out of families, and more.
We have a long way to go. There are still a few states where
gay marriage is illegal and workplace LGBTQ non-
discrimination policies don’t translate to fair treatment. I don’t
understand why straight people are so complacent.

20. Expert Opinion vs Personal Opinion
Expert Opinion: One person holds a Ph.D. in Astronomy, is
widely published in academic journals and books, and has
a national reputation in her field. She states that, based on
the cutting-edge criteria for what constitutes a planet, there
are 8 planets in our solar system.
Personal Opinion: Another person states that there are 9
planets because that is what he learned in school. He has
seen many books with pictures of the planets, he had a
map of the sky in his bedroom as a child, his parents taught
him about planets, and he spent his childhood camping out
and looking up at the sky and identifying constellations, so
he has experience in astronomy. He and many of his
friends agree that there are 9 planets in our solar system.
Is everybody’s opinion equally valid?
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

21. Safety versus Comfort
Safety: I feel that, in this space, I can ask questions without
fear of judgment. I can voice my perspective and know that
I will be validated for the fact that that is my truth. Others
may challenge my ideas, but that challenge is in the spirit of
greater shared understanding and growth.
Comfort: I feel that, in this space, my reality will be agreed
with, validated, and unchallenged. I don’t have to explain
myself to be understood, and I don’t have to justify my
perspective, as everyone shares it.
As educators, we are constantly setting up an environment
where students are safe but not always comfortable...
SO THAT THEY CAN LEARN AND GROW.
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

22. Resources
Full resources, web links,
downloadable documents, and more can
be found at:
https://sites.google.com/sitesgsprofessionalo
utreach/affinity-group-resource-page
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

23. Our Responsibility To Children
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

24. Presenter Information
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee
6th Faculty and
Professional Outreach
Seattle Girls’ School
2706 S Jackson Street
Seattle WA 98144
(206) 805-6562
rlee@seattlegirlsschool.org
http://tiny.cc/rosettalee
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)