Hybrid Identities in the Diaspora: Second Generation West Indians in Brooklyn

How does ethnic identity manifest among contemporary second-generation West Indian youth? In this essay I argue that the ethnic identities of post-1990s second-generation West Indian youth in Brooklyn are best characterized as “hybrid identities.” Diaspora communities like the one created by West Indian immigrants in Brooklyn provide ideal conditions for the development of hybrid identities, the fusion of two or more cultures coexisting in a single individual (Smith and Leavy, 2008). In addition to the question already posed, this paper will explicate how second-generation West Indian youth experience, make sense of and express the inherent complexity of identities that emerge from living in a hybrid cultural space. My analyses are based on the premise that there is something new and different about the way in which second-generation West Indian youth today conceptualize their ethnic identities (Richards, 2007) as opposed to their representation in publications based on the Brooklyn West Indian experience in the 1980s and early1990s (Waters, 2001, Zephir, 2001). Most prominent among them is the work of Waters (2001) who described a cultural disconnect between most working class West Indian youth and their immigrant parents. Waters, (2001) and others predict that the greater salience of ethnicity among middle class youth would rapidly erode, much like their working class counterparts, as racial discrimination became a more prominent fixture in the lives of these young people (Waters, 2001; Portes and Rumbaut, 2001; Kasinitz, Battle and Miyares, 2001)

Ethnic Identity on Display: West Indian Youth and the Creation of Ethnic Boundaries in High School

The black immigrant population in New York City has grown exponentially since 1990, such that West Indians now compose the majority of the black population in several neighbourhoods. This article examines how this ethnic density manifests among youth in high school, and how it has influenced ethnic identity formation among second-generation West Indians. My findings are based on twenty-four interviews and eight months of participant observation in two Brooklyn high schools from 2003 to 2004. The results show that in both schools, Caribbean island identities have become a ‘cool’ commodity within peer groups. Further, although it was important to express pride in one\u27s island identity, these young people often blurred their national origin boundaries by drawing on Jamaican popular culture as way of projecting a unified ‘West Indian identity’. The research also uncovers evidence of a de-stigmatization of Haitianness as a way to incorporate them as cultural insiders into the larger Caribbean collective

When class is colorblind: A race-conscious model for cultural capital research in education

Sociologists of education frequently draw on the cultural capital framework to explore the ways in which educational institutions perpetuate inequality in schools and the larger society. However, these studies adhere to a white centered “class-based master-narrative,” to legitimize and perpetuate the assumption that racial differences are secondary manifestations of class-based structures. The class-based master-narrative elevates a one-dimensional view of inequality as rooted primarily in class-based stratification and downplays the fact that the economic elites who inhabit these dominant social positions are predominantly white. In this essay, I propose a race-conscious framework to challenge the colorblind assumptions and deficit perspectives inherent to the cultural capital framework. The race-conscious model (a) focuses on how racial stratification impacts the cultivation, transmission, and activation of cultural capital on the individual and institutional levels and (b) highlights the harmful impact of the lack of racial literacy that is inherent to the white habitus

Cultural Capital in the Classroom: The Significance of Debriefing as a Pedagogical Tool in Simulation-based Learning

Although social inequality is critical to the study of sociology, it is particularly challenging to teach about race, class and gender inequality to students who belong to privileged social groups. Simulation games are often used successfully to address this pedagogical challenge. While debriefing is a critical component of simulation exercises that focus on teaching about social inequality, empirical assessments of the significance and effectiveness of this tool is virtually nonexistent in sociology and other social sciences. This paper analyzes the significance of debriefing in a simulation game called “Cultural Capital in the Classroom” in order to address this lacunae in the pedagogy literature. The analyses reveal that the simulation contributed to students developing a greater degree of empathy for the working class and that the individual debriefing was a crucial step in developing students’ critical thinking skills. Students gain even deeper insights during the collective debriefing session, which influenced them to question the validity of the ideology of meritocracy

Bridging the theoretical gap: The Diasporized Hybrid in Sociological Theory

In a nation of immigrants, most American ethnic groups have at some point wrestled with how to reconcile having an identity that is rooted simultaneously in their countries of origin and in the United States, particularly when they are also racialized ethnic minorities. This hybrid identity often blends divergent cultures and traditions. And sociologists, intent on explaining these tensions, have focused on the experiences that have shaped these identities for over a century. As a result, the theoretical roots of contemporary hybridity theories such as the segmented assimilation perspective, can be traced back to “classical” theorists of race, pluralism, and identity such as Robert Park, Horace Kallen, and W.E.B. Dubois. This chapter examines these roots, with the exception of DuBois’s theories of double consciousness (found in Chapter 2) to provide a holistic sociological account of theories of hybrid identities. We suggest that despite the changing nature of immigrant experiences today due to globalization, there is still significant continuity between the processes and outcomes of ethnic identity formation among 19th and 20th century European immigrants and the more racially and ethnically diverse post-1965 immigrants to the United States

Downward Residential Mobility in Structural-Cultural Context: The Case of Disadvantaged Black Mothers

Sorting out the various macro and micro causes of Black mothers’ downward residential mobility is extremely difficult, though past research has been fairly successful in identifying and explaining the mechanisms by which structural factors constrain Black residential change. The socio-historical context in which Black mothers operate, however, is largely ignored in these studies. We argue that past scholarship on Black women’s social history offers some helpful insights into the “residential desires and decision making” related to Black women’s social location. This paper pinpoints instances of downward residential mobility among a sample of disadvantaged Black mothers and works to elucidate both structurally- and culturally-related circumstances that help to explain them. In particular, it seeks to connect “residential desires and decision making” to sentiments Black women have had historically toward their family and community obligations. This study interweaves quantitative and qualitative data from the Baltimore Study, which traces the movement of disadvantaged Black mothers in and out of socioeconomic categories, including in and out of distressed neighborhoods over a 30-year period of their life course (approximately 1968-1996)

Credit/Skills Recovery Pilot Project: Documentation Report for the Boston Public Schools

In support of Boston Superintendent Carol Johnson’s Acceleration Agenda and call for “graduation for all,” the Boston Public Schools launched a pilot Credit/Skills Recovery Program in the summer of 2008. The pilot targeted a population of young people—18 years and older— who were one to four courses short of graduation and sought to help them gain needed credits to graduate and build career and college success skills. An analysis conducted by BPS with the Parthenon Group had identified this group—youth who are “old and close to graduation”—as being at high risk of dropping out of high school. To reach this group, the district implemented the pilot with the intent of providing students with another opportunity to earn credits toward their diplomas, while also surfacing practices that could inform the design of a similar program to be expanded and offered during the regular school year

Clearing the Path for First-Generation College Students:Qualitative and Intersectional Studies of Educational Mobility

Clearing the Path for First-Generation College Students comprises a wide range of studies that explore the multidimensional social processes and meanings germane to the experiences of first-generation college students before and during their matriculation into institutions of higher education. The chapters offer timely, empirical examinations of the ways that these students negotiate experiences shaped by structural inequities in higher education institutions and the pathways that lead to them. This volume provides insight into the dilemmas that arise from the transformation of students’ class identities in pursuit of upward mobility, as well as their quest for community and a sense of “belonging” on college campuses that have not been historically designed for them. While centering first-generation status, this collection also critically engages the ways in which other dimensions of social identity intersect to inform students’ educational experiences in relation to dynamics of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, gender, and immigration. Additionally, this book takes a holistic approach by exploring the ways in which first-generation college students are influenced by, and engage with, their families and communities of origin as they undertake their educational careers.https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/1305/thumbnail.jp

Is Your University Racist?

Racism is often construed as individual acts motivated by racial prejudice. Thus, it is challenging to understand institutional racism. Institutions do not have feelings like people do, nor do they have the consciousness to think and make decisions based on racial prejudice. So how can we identify racism within higher education institutions, even liberal ones that profess to value diversity, equity and inclusivity