Topic 9 - Ethnicity

Alexander:

• The youths she studied felt there were “symbolic markers” of being black.

• They felt there is something about certain styles of dress, music, walking and talking, that make them instantly recognisable as “black”. 

• Wearing baggy jeans, distinctive handshakes, rap music and the use of slang were ways in which the black youth identified with black culture. 

Poole:

• Her research allows us to see how ethnic identities are created by the media. 

• She found Islamophobia in the media with words like “terrorism”. 

• She discovered that this image of Muslims as negative was only accepted by people who didn’t know any Muslims personally. 

• People who had Islamic peers were less likely to accept the media version of a Muslim identity as being problematic. 

Ghuman

• Ethnicity can influence norms and values into which a person is socialised. 

• British Asian children were taught norms and values that contrasted to many mainstream white British values. 

• Such as respecting elders and being inter-dependent. 

Hewitt

• They felt a deep sense of unfairness because every culture seemed to be celebrated except their own. 

• They tried to adopt symbols of white or “English” cultural identity. 

• E.g. The Union Flag was regarded with suspicion because of their association with far-right racist groups. 

• He argues that ways must be found of allowing white people to be proud of their own cultural traditions. 

 

Back

• Suggests that most of his sample in a London council estate were creating hybrid identities. 

• They swapped ideas from heritage cultures and came up with identities which fused norms. 

• E.g. he found white youth with dreadlocks, British Asian youth using reggae in their music, etc. 

Johal

• He focused on second and third generation British Asians - sometimes referred to as “Brasian”. 

• Found that this group have a dual identity in that they inherit an Asian identity and adopt a British one. 

• This results in Asian youth adopting a “white mask” to interact with white peers at school, but emphasising their cultural difference when necessary. 

• The idea of a mask suggests that ethnic minorities sometimes feel pressure to “act” in a certain way to fit in. 

• Also suggests Britain is not as multicultural and accepting as some suggest it is. 

Modood et al.

• They conducted a study of a sample of African Caribbeans living in Birmingham in order to chart changes in their culture over time. 

• He found that second and third generation were less religious than the first generation who were predominantly Christian. 

• There was less use of cultural dialects and language. 

• Most second and third generation considered themselves as black rather than West Indian like the first generation. 

Zempi

• Experienced extreme racism when she tried wearing the burqa in her participant observation. 

• She found Islamophobia was experienced on a daily basis by the women she spoke to. 

• This shows that perhaps our society is becoming more racist. 

Bhopal

• In her book “White privilege”, she highlights how societies such as Britain are still very much focused on the culture of the white majority. 

• They marginalise ethnic minorities. 

• E.g. education curriculums are often ethnocentric whereby content primarily teaches about white European history and excludes any other ethnic groups.