Shifting the Mirrors: Second-Generation Nigerian Children in Ireland Using Sports to Feel Empowered

• In Event: Considering Sport, Activity, and Exercise in Youth Education

Abstract

This study uses the case study method to explore how three primary-grade children of Nigerian immigrants in Ireland used sports to feel more empowered in Irish society. The paper argues that the children experienced racism from White peers, teachers, and others in their school and community that led to negative distortions of social mirroring (Suárez-Orozco and Suárez-Orozco, 2001), but that the students’ participation in two team sports in school— Gaelic football and soccer— helped the children access embodied cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1986) to “shift” the social mirrors and feel more included in Irish society.

Author

• Donald R. McClure, St. John's University