Is Alcoholics Anonymous reaching minorities?

MINNEAPOLIS - The 50,000 people attending the Alcoholics Anonymous convention were overwhelmingly white. Not so in Meeting Room 208C, where 200 recovering alcoholics of all colors pondered the question: ''Is AA reaching out to minorities?''

As one speaker after another, identified only by their first names, approached the microphone, the answer was mixed.

A survey conducted in 1998 found that 88 percent of AA's members were white, 5 percent were black and 4 percent were Hispanic.

The organization's structure complicates the discussion of what AA should be doing to attract minorities. AA lacks a central governing body, and the more than 97,000 groups that have formed around the world do so on their own, without dues or membership fees.

When those groups form, some are predominantly white, others mostly black. Some members speak only Spanish. Some are for women, others for gays and lesbians. Groups can form with a specialized population in mind, but on one condition: No one can be excluded. If a Hispanic woman shows up at a meeting started by white men, she's in.

Everyone at AA is an alcoholic first. They're bound together by their common struggle to stay sober, one day at a time. For some, that also opens their minds.

The gathering in room 208C on Friday, the second day of a four-day convention, reflected AA's success in breaking down cultural barriers.

''While I have always thought myself to be accepting of other cultures and other races, I'm finding now that AA has helped me to improve on what I thought I was,'' said Warren, a member of AA's general service staff in New York.

''I'm an African-American man. I travel around the country and attend meetings, and certainly I've been welcomed, even in places where I've felt some trepidation,'' Warren said. ''But people embrace me because I'm a member, and that has really broadened my understanding of what it means to be tolerant and understanding.''

That is particularly evident when AA members travel or relocate and search for a local meeting. Often, groups are diverse enough - or the acceptance level high enough - that a comfort level is immediately established.

''The unifying variable is that these people have the addiction,'' said Dr. Sheila Specker, director of the special populations treatment program at the University of Minnesota. ''The important thing is that people feel comfortable and connected.''

Sometimes they do not. If newcomers don't feel comfortable, Warren said, members will gladly steer them to a group where they will. When this is not possible, the consensus at Friday's meeting was that people of color should stick it out.

''Some people come to the door and don't see anyone inside who looks like them, so they don't come in,'' Dorothy, who is black, told the group. ''But there are others who haven't come to the door yet. That's why you need to stay.''