AsEA 2017 API Affinity Group Challenges and Opportunities

AsEA Conference 2017
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee
Seattle Girls’ School
Challenges and Opportunities for
API Affinity Groups
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

About Seattle Girls’ School

Agenda
 Basic Definitions
 What We’ve Tried and What
Happened
 Challenges
 Opportunities
 Resources

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.

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.

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, etc.
Interest groups are for individuals who want
to gather to teach, learn, and share.
Membership can be fluid and changing.

What We’ve Tried and
How It’s Going
Please work in groups of 3
and introduce yourselves.
Describe where your school
is in the process of
launching or implementing
API affinity groups. What
are some of the success
and challenges you’ve
experienced?

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

Unique Challenges of
API Affinity Groups
 Varying Racial/Ethnic
Identification
 Lack of Racial Cohesiveness
 Racial Oppression Model for
Affinity Groups
 Ranking of Oppressions
 Cultural Barriers
 High Numbers in Our Schools

Varying Ethnic Identifications

An Artificial Construct

The Story of Asian Pacific America

Excerpts of Asian Pacific American History
 1763 Filipinos settle Saint Malo
 1778 Chinese sailors land in Hawaii
 1820s Chinese immigration begins in earnest
 1865 The Central Pacific Railroad Co. recruits Chinese
workers for the transcontinental railroad
 1878 Chinese are ruled ineligible for naturalized
citizenship
 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act is passed

 1941 Japan air force attacked Pearl Harbor; FBI arrests
pro-Japanese community leaders
 1941-45 Filipino resistance movement, working closely
with U.S. Army, fights the Japanese invaders
 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive
Order 9066 on February 19, uprooting 100,000 people of
Japanese descent on the west coast to be sent to
Internment camps.
 1943-1945 Japanese Americans volunteer for the US
Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team and becomes
the highest decorated military unit in US history
 1946, the Luce–Celler Act of 1946 grants naturalization
opportunities to Filipino Americans and Indian Americans
(which included present-day Pakistanis and Bangladeshis)

 1968 Term “Asian American” is coined as a part of the
Asian American Movement, a radical movement for
social justice (Red Guard)
 1975 More than 130,000 refugees enter the U.S. from
Vietnam, Kampuchea, and Laos as Communist
governments are established there following the end of
the Indochina War.
 1982 Vincent Chin is accused of being a Japanese
(being blamed for loss of jobs) and beaten to death.
 1987 First formal signing of the Proclamation of Asian
Pacific American Heritage Week by the White House

Emergent Themes
 The Perpetual Immigrant
 The Worker Not Owner
 Black or White or Neither?
 Weak as a Socio-Political Group
 Ethnically Separated

Myth of the Model Minority
 Overly Hard Working and Tireless
 Will Work Under Extreme Circumstances
 Quiet and Cooperative
 Serene, Smart, Resilient
 Doesn’t Seek the Limelight

Legacy of the Myth
 Outsourcing of Cheap Labor
 Orientalism in Health Care
 Tokenism and Minimalization
 Stress of Achievement
 Funneling into STEM Fields
 Where Are You From?

Recent Influx of Asian Pacific Americans

Recent Influx
in Our Schools
Source: Department of Homeland Security, The Wall Street Journal

Recent Emergent Themes
 Highly Educated
 Socioeconomically Well Off
 Not Really People of Color
 Weak as a Socio-Political Group
 Ethnically Separated

Recent Model Minority Incarnation
 Overly Hard Working and Tireless
 Quiet and Cooperative
 Serene, Smart, Resilient
 Doesn’t Seek the Limelight
 Driven by “Tiger Moms”

What Kind of API Are Your Students?
 East Asian
 Southeast Asian
 South Asian
 Pacific Islander
 Multiracial
 Transracially Adopted
 International Student
 3rd Generation or Later
 Recent Immigrant
 Refugee
 And…

How Do the Obstacles Manifest?
 Varying Racial/Ethnic
Identification
 Lack of Racial Cohesiveness
 Racial Oppression Model for
Affinity Groups
 Ranking of Oppressions
 Cultural Barriers
 High Numbers in Our Schools
 Other?

Stage 1: Identify the Need
 Gather data around the
school’s population
 Gather research on the
challenges groups face
 Gather research on the
benefit of affinity groups,
explicit conversations
 Gather data around need
and desire
 CONNECT TO YOUR
MISSION

Stage 2: Determine Format and
Definitions
 Affinity, Alliance, or Interest?
 Identities/Identifiers
 Timing
 Space
 Facilitators
 Group Goals or Mission
Statements
 Curriculum

Stage 3: Communicate and Invite
 Initial Communication from
Head
 Communicate the Need, the
What, the How, and the Who
 Communicate Definitions,
Goals, and Missions
 FAQs
 Faculty/Staff,
Parents/Guardians, Students

Stage 4: Facilitate Groups
 Identity Pride
 History
 Positive Change and
Activism
 Opportunities and
Challenges
 Strategies for Success
 Supporting Each Other

Stage 5: Wash, Rinse, Repeat
 Assess Effectiveness
 Make Improvements
 Re-Launch Every Year
 Utilize Student/Family Voice
 United Front

Possible Affinity Group Curriculum
 Culture Share
 Celebrations of
Holidays/Events
 Identity Exercises
 Current Events
 Movies
 Field Trips
 “What Do I Do If…”

Factors Leading to More Success
 Pride > Struggle
 Deflection of Blame
 Inclusive of Full Spectrum
 Who’s in the Room
 Youth Driven Curricula
 Opportunities to Share
 Collective Action

Factors Leading to Less Success
 Lack of Consistency
 Lack of Budget
 Lack of Curricula
 Reinforcement of
Stereotypes
 Chauvinism
 Adult Agenda
 Visitors and Gawkers

Reflection
What information was
new, useful, interesting,
worrisome, etc.? What
questions do you have?
What’s missing?

Resources
Full resources, web links,
downloadable documents, and more can
be found at:
https://sites.google.com/a/sgs-
wa.org/sgsprofessionaloutreach/affinity-
group-resource-page
(or go to tiny.cc/rosettalee and scroll down for
“Affinity Group Resource Page” under
“Generally Used Sessions”)

Our Responsibility To Children

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

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