We ran a Students of Color affinity group for grades 3-5 at our school and hope to be able to meet again later this year. We used to meet during lunch (pre-COVID) which was so lovely, but since that’s currently not possible with all of our protocols, we are trying to find another time and space. We’ve found that many schools have affinity groups for older students, but want to share support and ideas for starting an affinity group with some of the younger ones as well. Our crew really benefited from it and it was a time we all looked forward to as a breather during the week!

What to Prepare

A general overview of your proposal/plan to share with administrators so they know and take this endeavor seriously. Everything about this process is easier if you have administrator buy-in. They will be bombarded by at least a few parents as you get going, soon enough.
Maps/globe
Vocabulary: Race, ancestors, minority, majority, POC, BIPOC, see below
General ground rules you want to pitch to the students (ie: what is said here stays here, what is learned here leaves here.. Or something that allows them to tell stories and talk freely about what they want and need without becoming too messy or mean of a situation if it is about a classmate or one of your colleagues). It will get messy, FYI. And we wanted students to share whatever was on their mind, but we were careful that we didn’t want all the kids leaving the room at the end of the group dog piling or mad at a certain kid that was talked about during group.
- Along with this, general expectations for how you would like students to behave in the space. For us, teacher-led rules that were non-negotiable were about cleaning up our classroom and respect for one another. We recommend teaching these explicitly like you would in your classroom to set everyone up for success, you are a new group together (from different classrooms!) with new personalities. It is hard for them otherwise to know what part of this get together is casual vs. what part is regular school so be really clear so they can be successful. You can also choose where to make room for them to add in what they want the group to be and expectations/rules they have etc.
Games, food, and memories are part of forming a community. Make a plan with the admin to set yourself up for some of these to be expected and supported in your group.
At minimum, a second adult. We recommend this for a few reasons, practically speaking, a weekly commitment is hard for anyone to always be able to make (things come up!) and it’s important to not cancel the group as much as possible (the kids will let that be known!). Also, more teachers of color means a fuller community and more connections for everybody :). In addition to this, tough things come up, and it is important to have another adult in the room to balance out how to respond and also to discuss with after if you need to handle a difficult situation in a careful way etc.
A space! A time! Where will you meet? When? We had our meetings in our classroom which was great for us (and our crew), but it also meant we had to ensure the rest of our class knew they couldn’t come barging in the room at lunch or stay after to ask a question or manage a meltdown. Think about what space will work best for you all collectively that you can get to.

Expected Bumps & Pushback

We were told that 3rd graders don’t know what race they were.
Push back from students & families who are not part of the affinity group. We had parents claiming this is segregation and a violation of the Civil Rights Act.
Teachers who don’t agree, like it, or understand and might pass this feeling on to other students knowingly or unknowingly. Also, teachers pitching a white affinity group.
“Tan” students trying to come to our group, or kids trying to bring their friends and explaining why they could or should come who weren’t POC.

As mentioned above, talk about someone who upset or hurt a student’s feelings. Think about how you want (and need) to navigate this for the students/families and your position. Things will come up.
Time! It’s limited! Plan for a little bit of passing time. Kiddos coming from different classrooms and grades will need some wiggling time and they will talk and joke as they see each other and enter the room. Also consider the buffer of clean up (it is their responsibility in our group!). So if you want to plan a discussion topic or specific activity, think with your teacher brain about the realistic amount of time you have to do it and how it can work.

Useful Explanations & Language

Explain affinity group means we share an facet of identity - also we share being in the minority
This is the one time a week we are in the majority
Explaining to students that people of color don’t trace their ancestry back to Europe
A communal event any culture/community might have (going to Temple, celebrating a Quince, going to a Friends meeting) you might need and want space from someone who doesn’t share that cultural background so you can just BE. Be with your community, relax, share, laugh, eat etc. and not feel the gaze of someone outside or answer their questions for what they don’t understand about your community right at that moment! A big part of enjoying affinity is getting to be with your people and relax!

Activities We Loved & Our Favorite Parts!

The joy! The laughs! And selfishly, it was a community for both of us, too! It was also a nice way to check in with POC kiddos from different grades who we had our eyes on in a routine way and make sure they were feeling cared for and doing okay.
Weekly share - they loved having the time to share and be unfiltered in ways that felt different from their classroom and school day experience. Any way that we could step our voices off and give their voices and bodies the space to just be, we tried to for the short time they had this space! Even if we wanted to, they never would’ve passed up on their share time (even when we said we’d use the time for games or other fun stuff!) as they really wanted to talk.
Sharing positive current events and moments in history!
Games & food are part of becoming a community!
Kids connecting from different groups.
Kids from different POC backgrounds learning more about one another and their backgrounds without the white gaze! Just because we’re all some kind of brown, doesn’t mean we suddenly know everything about everyone else. We loved the learning moments that got to happen for and with our students in this smaller setting.
Celebrating and being proud. Kids shared a lot of things they did with family, but also other parts of their lives that when we checked in with their teachers they didn’t hear about in class. This group was so excited to cheer or to join in with kids in being proud of themselves for something they accomplished or a way they handled a tough moment.
Which segways nicely to the shared knowledge/advice. Students were really thoughtful and supportive about advice and being supportive of how to handle some of the tougher parts of being a minority in our school. They said it in ways only they could have and also heard one another in ways that only could be heard from a peer. We found this really powerful and beautiful.
Music! We had some fun/ dancing.
Books! Our end of the year gift to our students were books (surely you are shocked!) and it was really nice to write a note to each one of them and give them a book to take with them as they graduated from our division and left our group for the older POC group.
A meet up with the older kids! We had some meet ups with the older POC group which was great for both groups. Knowing personalities, thinking about what would be the best use of time, planning something that works for all ages are all things to consider. We found that our kids really just wanted to...talk with one another.

Other Thoughts

It’s worth it! It really is! Our kids told us so, families told us so, and we felt it, too.
You also have affinity and are not alone! You can always reach out to others (or us!) for tips or thoughts about what is happening in their affinity groups.
Your kids, like always, will guide a lot of what you do so no two affinity groups will be exactly alike.
A big part is just jumping in. Our school is now used to the concept and we look back years later and remember a lot of the bumps (we are always and still learning of course) and are grateful to have gotten it off the ground so it can be where it is today for today’s students. Even if we haven’t and won’t ever make it ‘perfect’ they deserve their own space.

Resources

Resources from Rosetta Lee's website

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