Organizing from Mutual Interest: White Antiracists Understanding Their Stake

Organizing out of mutual interest is a powerful anchor for rigorous, principled white antiracist struggle. The mutual interest approach emphasizes that everyone, including white people, has a stake in ending white supremacy. Yet there is much to learn about how grassroots activists understand and relate to mutual interest. To address this gap, the current study asks: How do white antiracists express their personal journeys of exploring and relating to their mutual interest? Using a participatory action research approach, interviews were conducted with 26 white antiracist organizers, and thematic analysis was used to create 5 themes presented in this paper. The themes reveal that: white antiracists do not first arrive to antiracist organizing space because of mutual interest; there are challenges that stand in the way of people identifying their mutual interest; disconnection from others and self is a steep cost of racism for white people; experiences and identities across class, ability, gender, and other salient identities are anchoring points for mutual interest; imagination and visioning a transformed world are intimately connected to shared stake. This study’s contributions include: the key role of organizations in fostering mutual interest, the importance of critical consciousness, and the holistic entry points to mutual interest.