Once You Look Black, We Are All the Same: A Narrative Approach to Understanding Race/Ethnicity

• In Event: 130 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Roundtables (one-hour). Table 01. Identity and Presentation

Abstract

Drawing on preliminary qualitative research from a pilot study, this working paper uses a narrative approach to understand how second-generation middle class Black Caribbean immigrants describe experiences of race and ethnicity in their everyday lives. Research presented are taken from interviews with 10 American-born adult children of Hispanophone, Anglophone, and Francophone Caribbean immigrants who racially identified themselves as Black and described instances at which they became aware of their ethnicity and their performances of it. Participants’ narratives point to the nuanced ways gender and class also intersect with performances and processes of race and ethnic identity assertions in complex ways. The research presented underscores the value of using an Internarrative Identity approach, derived from Ajit Maan to understand the articulation of race and ethnic identity practices/performances and processes.

Author

• Yndia S. Lorick-Wilmot, Northeastern University