The Problem of `Authentic Experience': Storytelling in Anti-Racist and Anti-Homophobic Education

Educational workshops are a common approach to addressing racism and homophobia in institutional and organizational settings. One underlying rationale of these efforts is that more knowledge of “the other” — non-white and queer participants — will lead to greater equity. This article investigates this premise through empirical research into anti-racist and anti-homophobic workshops in a variety of settings. In particular, our analysis focuses on the uses of “storytelling” and other workshop strategies commonly employed to encourage the disclosure of personal stories by and about the “other.” We argue that, particularly in anti-racist contexts, these strategies have exacted a heavy toll on the tellers, reinforced the exclusionary notions of identity that underlie a racist culture, and had only a limited effect in fostering organizational change. While many of these same problems are present in anti-homophobia educational workshops, differences in the relations of power between the “tellers” and the “listeners,” between who is solicited to tell stories and how, and in the nature of sexual versus racial identity also suggest important distinctions between these different forms of educational practice. Within this context however, queer youth of color and transgender youth continue to report that storytelling can exact a heavier toll on them than others. There is little empirical literature analyzing anti-oppression workshops and their effects in both schools and community organizations. Our study addresses this gap in the sociological literature.