Negotiating Invisibility

Abstract

Referencing Ralph Waldo Ellison's 1952 novel Invisible Man, psychologist Anderson J. Franklin has proposed that the "invisibility" detailed in Ellison's work--the experience of having one's true sense of self rendered invisible by racial stereotypes--is not only a very real experience encountered by Black men in contemporary society, but one that can serve to confound their relationships and personal sense of agency. To better understand the experience of invisibility, the current study utilizes a multiple-case, case study approach to analyze several videotaped sessions of a therapeutic support group organized specifically to address race-related stressors in the lives of the Black male participants. The transcripts of each session are analyzed using Critical Discourse Analysis, an analytical approach that investigates actors' language, its implicit meanings and assumptions, and the manner in which it reflects power differentials operative in society. The findings of the study reveal the presence of an intra-racial, as well as an internalized form of invisibility not currently found in the literature pertaining to Franklin's theory of invisibility. Further, the current study expands our understanding of how invisibility is experienced by Black men by identifying a variety of strategies used by members of the support group to counter those experiences and become "seen." Finally, the fact that the group was largely comprised of college-educated, professional Black men yields valuable insights regarding the race-related, emotional functioning of an infrequently studied population. The study's findings are discussed in terms of their implications for group as well as individual mental health service delivery for Black men.