I recently shared how I’m learning to navigate the new dynamic of some affinity spaces where Black groups are specifying that Mixed-Black folks aren’t welcome. Important: this gatekeeping isn’t happening everywhere, but it is increasing both online and offline.
A few of my readers worried that this growing practice of gatekeeping could pit Monoracial Black and Mixed-Black folks against each other.
As someone who is Mixed-Black and Black-identified, I share that concern. In fact, I’m strongly opposed to anything that splits us, pits us against each other, and weakens our chances of unifying to fight racism. At the same time, I recognize the need for and value of affinity spaces, and the role of gatekeeping in keeping those spaces safe and comfortable.
My conundrum: Can we have both the specificity of separate affinity spaces and the solidarity we need to move forward in our struggle for racial equity and justice?
What is ‘Affinity’ About?
According to Dictionary.com, an affinity group is “a group of people linked by a common interest or purpose.” Affinity groups / spaces can be formed based on almost anything-in-common: ancestry, profession, hobbies, religion, spirituality, health interests and status, food choices, medical issues, education, and affiliations with all kinds of social, cultural, political, and other groups.
My focus here is on Monoracial Black and Mixed-Black affinity groups gatekeeping each other out. This is a radical departure from the historic and cultural dynamic where members of both groups have most often shared a common sense of inclusive Black identity.
Which brings us back to my main concern: Can strategic forms of separation-by-gatekeeping contribute to our sense of solidarity with each other? Or will it only divide us and weaken our efforts to fight racism?
Affinity and Me
I first became aware of racial affinity spaces as a child integrating mostly white schools. Those of us bused across town in Seattle’s “voluntary racial transfer program”—Black, Mixed-Black and Asian—rushed to huddle at the infamous cafeteria tables that folks like to (mistakenly) use as examples of segregation. Baby, those huddles were survival: That’s how we decompressed, destressed, and refueled to navigate those microaggressive spaces.
These days I’m part of several online affinity groups, some defined by race: Black, Mixed, Jews of Color. I haven’t personally been gatekept out of any Black spaces. Still, I’m aware of others who have been. So, I’m learning to pay attention and assess when boundaries around specific identity dynamics are communicated. It’s not always clear, comfortable, or simple. But I want to honor and respect boundaries and gates when they are defined.
Gatekeeping is Growing
How prevalent is this gatekeeping anyway?
I haven’t seen any stats, data, or research to quantify it. But I’m increasingly seeing and hearing about it both online and in real life—in social media groups as well as in schools and workplaces. While it seems most common among Millennials and Gen Z young’uns, I’m becoming aware of more instances impacting Gen Xers too.
In other words: it’s growing. This rise of affinity groups / spaces isn’t surprising in an age where people are increasingly specific about how they want to be identified—from gender, race, ethnicity, and religion to nationality, sexual orientation, and other identifiers. And sometimes the boundaries around affinity lead to gatekeeping out those who are different.
Could this be a natural response to an increasingly diverse world? Does being in spaces with more folks who are different from ourselves create or intensify the need to gather amongst our own, as we did in the school cafeteria? Is this impulse simply human nature?
At the Black / Mixed-Black Intersection
This is a new and sometimes perplexing dynamic for me and some other Mixed-Black folks because for much of U.S. history and throughout my Boomer lifetime, very few specific Mixed spaces have even existed outside of some campus and a few specific geographic locations. And we’ve usually been invited and warmly welcomed into Black-defined spaces. Often, we still are.
But these days, the presumptive Black inclusion of the “One Drop Rule” isn’t always a given—especially for Millennials and Gen X. At the same time, more Mixed-race folks are also creating affinity groups and spaces where Monoracial folks of all races aren’t welcome.
Depending on the reasons for the gatekeeping and the nature of the affinity group, I support the specificity in both Mixed and Black spaces. Even when that means I don’t get to enter a place I’d love to be in.
I’m not here to debate whether that’s good or bad, right or wrong.
I’m trying to examine HOW these developments with these two groups might impact our relationships and the potential for us to come together in the fight against anti-Black racism.
On one hand, I see how working things out in super-specific affinity spaces can better prepare us to then work together with others. Kind of like processing family issues internally before sharing them with a wider audience. I’m familiar with the value of that old-school approach.
On the other hand, I see how this growing trend of Monoracial Black people and Mixed-Black people gatekeeping each other could contribute to feelings of rejection, alienation, and hostility. Which could easily lead to infighting. With so many issues already working to divide us, that’s the very last outcome we need.
Are there ways to use this affinity gatekeeping trend to our mutual benefit? To honor specificity while building solidarity? I’m at this intersection wondering how we proceed in that direction.
I’d love to know YOUR thoughts and experiences on this issue! Please weigh in…
I must be living a sheltered existence. I had no awareness of "gate keeping" occurring. Although I have an understanding of the reasoning behind such a stance, I find it very disheartening. A united stance against racism becomes severely weakened. It feels like a small step backwards into isolation. Not a great place to be.