Too much talking, not enough listening: the racial contract made manifest in a mixed-race focus group interview

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this article, the authors utilize C.W. Mills’ Racial Contract Framework as a tool to unpack how racial power dynamics manifested in a mixed-race focus group interview designed to understand the participants’ insights on race, incarceration, and community. The focus group interview included four research participants: Two White women, one Black woman, and one White man. While the interview was framed as a collaborative, generative discussion, we observed contributions made by the Black woman to be rebuffed or dismissed by the White man, who positioned himself as the expert on the interview topic. The article concludes with implications and recommendations for researchers as they design and enact focus group interviews across racial lines in pursuit of racial justice and equity.