The Communication of Solidarity in Friendships among African American Women

Much of the previous research on culture and friendship is comparative, highlighting different patterns and/or preferences for friendship communication between various racial and ethnic cultures. However, relying on Houston's (2002 Houston , M. (2002). Seeking difference: African Americans in interpersonal communication research, 1975–2000. Howard Journal of Communications , 13, 25–41. [CSA] [CROSSREF] [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) call for experiences from within African American cultures and Shuter's (1990 Shuter , R. ( 1990 ). The centrality of culture . Southern Journal of Communication , 55 , 237 – 249 . [CSA] [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar] 1998 Shuter , R. ( 1998 ). Revisiting the centrality of culture. In T. K. Nakayama, J. N. Martin, & L. A. Flores (Eds.) , Readings in cultural contexts (pp. 25 – 31 ). Mountain View , Calif. : Mayfield. [Google Scholar]) notion of the “centrality of culture,” the authors describe in-depth cultural values and communicative meanings for friendship that exist within a given culture. Thirty-six African American women described their experiences with intraracial friendship communication. Their descriptions suggest that at least one function of the intraracial communication for this group of women is to construct solidarity among African American friends. Three themes emerged around the core concept of solidarity: friendship dichotomies, Black vernacular, and “authentic” communication.