Cliques: Another view

To the extent exclusivity becomes guise for precluding interaction with the Black Gay community, denying membership in that community and ignoring its concerns, cliques are to be avoided, if not scorned

by Charles R.P. Pouncy

I guess one can gauge the merit in an article like "Cliques" by the extent to which it forces its a readers to think. If this is true, then I found it to be quite a successful article. Although I think it failed to adequately distinguish cliques from ordinary friendship groups, the article did raise some interesting questions and provided a few interesting insights--one the most important being the nature of the cliques' exclusionary function.

While the author noted that the exclusivity maintained by some cliques is a source of frustration and annoyance to outsiders, he stopped short of fully exploring the purpose and effect of this function in some groups. In my experience, exclusivity is sought not merely to exclude people who in some way differ from the members of the clique but is also, though not invariably, used to insulate the members of the clique from public identification as Gay people. Although cliques initially appear to have few, if any, of the attributes generally associated with topics which deserve serious consideration, these particular cliques do merit examination by our community.

They merit scrutiny not merely because they aid and abet the larger society's oppression of Black Gay people, but because they frequently promote on insidious form of self-oppression. These particular cliques appear to consist of people who have attained, or aspire to attain, the larger society's definition of success, which includes the appearance of having money, cars, real estate and assorted other possessions, such as wives and children. Although such individuals generally have the power and influence to shield themselves from the types of discrimination that most Black Gay people face, they prefer to live their lives among hangers and mothballs. To make their closeted existence secure they must structure their social interactions in a manner that limits their potential for exposure as Gay people.

The clique provides a means of accomplishing this end. We allow these people to oppress us by desiring to emulate them and by perceiving their inability to relate to us, in some way related to our individual worth, when it is in fact indicative of their inability to deal with the freedom, openness and community responsibility that comes with self-acceptance. These particular cliques have additional negative impacts on the Black Gay community. By limiting their involvement in our community they support the perpetuation of misconceptions regarding our numbers, influence and diversity and elevate the fear and shame, that most of us fight and conquer, to enviable virtues.

This impact is probably greatest on our children who they have already deprived of achievement models. However, despite what I have said above, I believe that cliques are basically good things. Many of them provide a core group that sponsor functions which enhance the lives of Black Gay Washingtonians, but even some of them could exercise a bit more community responsibility. To the extent, however, that exclusivity becomes guise for precluding interaction with the Black Gay community, denying membership in that community and ignoring its concerns, cliques are to be avoided, if not scorned.