The white mirror: Face to face with racism in group analysis part 1—mainly theory

Abstract

Group analysis privileges the social and political, aiming to address individual distress and ‘disturbance’ within a representation of the context it developed and persists in. Reproducing the presence and impact of racism in groups comes easily while creating conditions for reparation can be complicated. This is despite considerable contributions to the subject of racism by group analysts. By focusing on an unconscious, defensive manoeuvre I have observed in groups when black people describe racism in their lives, I hope to build upon the existing body of work. I will discuss the manoeuvre which I call the white mirror. I aim to theoretically elucidate the white mirror. I will argue that it can be understood as a vestigial trauma response with roots as far back as the invention of ‘race’. Through racialized sedimentation in the social unconscious, it has been generationally transmitted into the present day. It emerges in an exacerbated way within the amplified space of analytic groups when there is ethnically-diverse membership. I argue it is inevitable and even essential that racism emerges in groups as a manifestation of members’ racialized social unconscious including that of the conductor(s). This potentially offers opportunities for individual, group and societal reparation and healing. However, when narratives of racism are instead pushed to one side, regarded as a peripheral issue of concern only to minority black or other members of colour, I ask whether systems of segregation, ghettoization or colonization are replicated in analytic groups. This is the first of two articles about the white mirror. The second article which is also published in this issue highlights practice implications.

‘Listen with love’

“…This dynamic is traumatising, and most likely retraumatising of previous occurrences where their experiences of racism were met with similar dismissal. Responses like these play into the denial of truth poignantly described as the 'white mirror', which describes an unconscious defence mechanism to prevent group members who don't experience racism from having to face their links with historical or personal racism (Aiyegbusi, 2021). For all members of the research team, regardless of race, there was also the possibility of experiencing recognition trauma, which encompasses the strong emotional response to becoming aware of being a victim of racism or of belonging to a perpetrator group (McKenzie-Mavinga, 2016).…”

The white mirror: Face to face with racism in group analysis part 2—mainly practice

“…In my previous article (Aiyegbusi, 2021), I purposely described historical socio-political contexts whereby black people were terrorized within state sanctioned white racist regimes. I identified the psychic manoeuvres employed by perpetrators to defend against coming face to face with the reality of their terrorism.…”

“…Of particular import is that where there is habitual mobilization of the white mirror the efficacy of some of Foulkes’ group specific therapeutic factors and principles (Foulkes, 1983, 1990; Foulkes and Anthony, 1984) are brought into question. Instead the characteristics of segregated social structures may be reproduced, offering a home to white members but marginalization, othering and suffering to black members (Aiyegbusi, 2021; Blackwell, 2020b; Kinouani, 2020b; Stevenson, 2020).…”

“…This is my second article about a form of racialized group mirroring I call the white mirror. In my previous article (Aiyegbusi, 2021) I introduced the underpinning theory informed by trauma perspectives, group analytic, psychoanalytic and anti-racist literature, my own experiences and observations in a variety of group roles, and clinical discussions with colleagues. I presented my belief that the white mirror is an unconscious group trauma response mobilized by multiple white and white identified people when black people speak of racism.…”

Racialized misogyny: Response to 44th Foulkes Lecture

“…Sustained action to counter racialized misogyny is much more than a hyper-vigilance of recognition. Given that we are all inevitably implicated in intersectional racist misogyny, it is inevitable that 'systems of segregation, ghettoization or colonization are replicated in analytic groups' (Aiyegbusi, 2021a(Aiyegbusi, , 2021b. The scaffolding that supports group analytic thinking and practices must grapple with the aporetic that emancipatory metanarratives are 'implicated in the narrative it criticizes' (Caselli, 2005: 105).…”