Becoming AWARE

"The idea of an all-white group still evokes images of Ku Klux Klan meetings and it just sounds weird to some people."

By Clare Robbins

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What happens when a group of young white people get together to talk about racial issues? The concept is catching on in places like Los Angeles, where high school students recently started an awareness group for white kids on campus. Youth Radio's Clare Robbins explains why some white teens and young adults, including herself, are separating themselves to talk honestly about the role that race plays in their lives. (September 24 on KQED)

I’m part of an awareness group for white people. We talk about how we can stand up to racist remarks and actions, and how we can unlearn racist attitudes we may have heard growing up white.

A similar group is forming at Cleveland High School. It's called AWARE. So far about 30 students participate—all white. Most have completed a unique unit on race and racism, and want a space to keep that conversation alive outside the classroom.

But why for white people only? Twelfth grader Jaryn Saritsky says it’s important to talk about racism with everyone, but sometimes it’s hard to be really honest when there are students of color in the room.

JARYN (on tape)
It’s not the responsibility of people of color to help white people. White people need to be able to evolve on their own... Because we have the luxury of just forgetting it all the time.

CLARE
We might have that luxury of ignoring racism...but we shouldn’t. People get funny looks on their faces when I talk about the group I’m in. The idea of an all-white group still evokes images of Ku Klux Klan meetings, and it just sounds weird to some people.

Explaining it to others isn’t always easy. Sixteen-year-old Joelle Broffman has to do it all the time.

JOELLE (on tape)
My friend, he’s Armenian, and he asked me the other day what we talk about... I said we talk about white privilege... And when I first said that before I was even done, I saw a whole change in his face and I was like, “Oh shoot, I have to finish before he gets the wrong idea.”

CLARE
But even the term “white privilege” is hard for some people to understand until they see it in action. It made sense to Joelle one day while she was shopping.

JOELLE (on tape)
I was with a friend. She’s Latina. She walked into a store. I walked in maybe 10 minutes after her. She was looking around and no one asked her if she needed help. As soon as I walked in, three people asked me if I needed help... And I was like, “Oh, they didn’t ask her if she needed anything.” You know...

For many students at Cleveland High School, it’s taken a while to even identify as white. That’s because many of them are Jewish. Sixteen-year-old Will Leivenburg says his parents do support his newfound passion for anti-racism, but they don’t always agree with him. Like the one time they made a joke about a Latino person on TV.

WILL (on tape)
I was like, “But you can never understand what they go through.” And then they were like “Okay, how about this Will? They can never understand what Jews go through.” And I go “Listen. Okay?”

And I was about to explain to them the fact that Jews can hide themselves, their religion because of white privilege. And they can't really be recognized because they're Jewish, you know? And that was one more thing that created a little bit of tension between my parents and I.

CLARE
Generational differences have played out very differently for Debbie Winters and her daughter Lisa. Lisa graduated from Cleveland last year, and around that time started actively attending AWARE meetings.

Lisa tells her mom that she didn’t think her parents would understand her new activity. She admits she figured her parents wouldn’t understand, but she’s glad she was wrong.

LISA (on tape)
I was very private about it, I didn’t want you guys to know, to know...

DEBBIE (on tape)
But then you did, later on, it was so interesting because I think when you were younger we were teaching you concepts and then all of a sudden...you started getting more comfortable and then started buying us books, and then it was like, “Wait, I’m so comfortable I want to share this."

CLARE
When Lisa’s home on her college break, she finds her parents are just as active in the AWARE meetings as she is.

Back at Cleveland High School, there are still a number of white students who say they’d never join a group like AWARE. Some of them don’t believe white privilege even exists, or that racism is a big problem today. Others told me they are dedicated to being colorblind, and an all-white, anti-racist group is a step backwards...not forwards.

Now, you might think this is all very “LA.” But these groups exist all over the country. There’s even a national gathering called the White Privilege Conference that’s celebrating its seventh year. The gathering includes multi-cultural and white groups like AWARE. This year’s target audience? Young people.