A Threatening Opportunity: Conversations About Race Between Black & White Friends

Similarities are foundational to building and maintaining friendships, but for cross-race friends, differences in experiences related to race are also inevitable. I theorize that conversations about race-related experiences are a threatening opportunity. In Part I, Black and White friends expected that these conversations can enhance closeness and intergroup learning, but these benefits are accompanied by identity threat. Part II examines real-time video conversations between existing Black and White friends and reframes conversations about race to address friends’ identity-based concerns. Findings revealed that Black and White friends are relatively well-positioned to discuss race-related experiences, and the appraisal intervention had long-term benefits for Black friends' authenticity and closeness. Taken together, this work highlights the benefits as well as the risks of conversations about race for cross-race friends and begins to uncover strategies to help friends engage in these conversations productively.