Ties That Blind: Perpetuation of Racial Comfort and Discomfort at a Community College

Interviews with 17 African American students and 19 White students were employed to examine interracial relations at a predominantly White community college campus. Seen through the lens of Granovetter's strength of ties theory, the interview findings revealed that strong intraracial ties and the absence of weak interracial ties inhibited communication between White and African American students, perpetuating the feelings of racial discomfort that students brought with them to the college campus. These findings illuminate the need for higher education to intentionally deconstruct racial discomfort through an analysis of the social structures that perpetuate the status quo of uncomfortable race relations.