Affinity Groups Explained

Since time immemorial few things have been more threatening to white conservatives than a group of Black folks. Among the contemporary iterations of this irrational phobia is the well-funded campaign against affinity groups. This campaign is of a piece with the larger culture war against anything mentioning “diversity” or “equity,” two words that are sure to get a rise out of a card-carrying member of today’s GOP.

The campaign is spearheaded by a “grassroots” organization called Parents Defending Education (PDE). I suppose there are a couple of parents in their coterie, but PDE is among a sprawling number of shadowy organizations funded by right-wing millionaires and billionaires. I invite your attention to DonorsTrust, a relatively obscure operation that has supplied more than $397 million to ultra-conservative causes in recent years. Their greatest cause is to deny climate change in alliance with the Koch brothers.

According to Education Week, Parents Defending Education has, to date, filed complaints against the Jefferson County public schools in Colorado, New York City public schools, the Orange County school district in North Carolina, and Wellesley public schools in Massachusetts. Parents Defending Education also sued Wellesley schools for offering affinity groups for Black, Latino, and other students of color.

First, a quick definition of “affinity.” Collins Dictionary: “If you have an affinity with someone or something, you feel that you are similar to them or that you know and understand them very well.” An affinity group is therefore a gathering of folks who feel such similarity or understanding.

Conservative media become nearly apoplectic when faced with Black gatherings. The National Review opined:

“Just what are ‘racial affinity spaces’? Well, while President Biden likes to denounce various Republican policies as the “new Jim Crow,” affinity spaces are the old Jim Crow. Affinity spaces involve schools encouraging students or staff to separate into segregated, race-based groups. In all this, the ‘anti-racists’ seem comfortable resurrecting practices. . . that would’ve been warmly cheered by segregationists of the American South or the architects of South African apartheid.”

As an educational service, I offer an overview of the history of affinity groups.

This photo shows an affinity group of fine young white boys training to become fine white men.

Here we see a very large affinity group of fine white men marching, a frequent activity of some affinity groups, as seen below.  Uniforms reinforce the strength of the affinity.  This group still thrives in many places, in fact is growing in popularity in America.

This affinity group displays both the marching skills and the propensity toward uniforms. This group also thrives today in many parts of America.

This affinity group, also known as an “infinity group,” wears uniforms too and marches, albeit slowly.  

This is an affinity group found on many college campuses.  To my knowledge, Parents Defending Education (PDE) has not sued them, perhaps because many PDE supporters were members.  As to perfecting “the sorority squat,” perhaps that is in response to the occasional claim that sorority girls don’t know squat.

This is to show that affinity group members don’t always wear uniforms, although, as the photo shows, they do highly value uniformity

This type of affinity group flourishes on many college campuses including, rather ironically, the kinds of colleges that are being sued for having affinity groups! Note the uniforms. I don’t know if the sole woman is housemother, mascot or token to diversity. On second thought, perhaps photoshopped.

One is left to wonder why only one kind of affinity group is under attack by conservatives. Beats me.