Abstract for: Unintended Consequences of White Allyship Behavior in an Activist Community: A Community Based System Dynamics Intervention

This project was conducted in an activist-oriented community in the United States that regularly experienced cycles of internal conflict related to racism and other forms of oppression during the late 2010s. It explores whether Community Based System Dynamics (CBSD) can be used to shift white mental models of white ally work away from callouts and towards peer mentorship to relieve the burden of emotional labor on people of color. Iterative 1:1 CBSD interviews with community members were used to develop a causal loop diagram of the factors creating a toxic racial climate. The CLD was used to identify the need to intervene on toxic white callout culture and a CBSD workshop was designed as an intervention to shift white participants' mental models. Formative program evaluation was conducted to assess participants’ change in mental models as well as the workshop’s acceptability. Participants shifted away from thinking of themselves as someone who should be a champion in calling out other whites and towards thinking of themselves as a bridge who can help recruit & peer-mentor other white people in anti-racist movement. White workshop facilitators also reported experiencing a change in how they thought about their role in anti-racism. This project was centered on the hypothesis that diverse communities living within systemic racism need white members to be capable of resolving harm they cause to people of color & build self-efficacy to prevent future harm. This process is inhibited by an intra-white callout culture that incentivizes shaming & white silence. This silence harms people of color, degrades trust, and prevents white people from building skills to repair harm.