Ethnographic Insights of a "Double-Consciousness" in Carver City- Lincoln Gardens, Tampa, Florida

• In Event: Florida in the Forefront

Abstract

For centuries, many African Americans in the United States of America have navigated systemic and systematic racism and racialization. The impacts of racial segregation that were perpetuated through Jim Crow Laws in the South still permeate the consciousness of some African Americans in ways that reveal for some there is still to some degree a “double-conscience” when it comes to being Black and American (Dubois, 1899). This community study is a mixed-method collaborative ethnography (conducted during the heightened threats of COVID19) through a Black Feminist Anthropological lens to gain insights on intergenerational interpretations of the heritage, Blackness and experiences with people, places, and racialized spaces. Carver City- Lincoln Gardens in Tampa, Florida is a historically Black community that began to develop during Jim Crow and many of those families have remained for decades. This research examines socio-cultural nuances that lead many Black residents of Carver City- Lincoln Gardens to consider the state of Black people in American society as one of stagnation and progression since many racists elements from the past remain engrained in present day society, particularly in the formerly segregated United States South. Further, this project offers suggestions for improving methodological approaches to better meet research needs under restricted conditions. This study draws from and contributes to existing literature in the anthropology of heritage and the "anthropology of segregated spaces" (Jackson 2010) discourse, and adds a gendered lens to research on the discourse of segregated spaces.

Author

• Lisa Armstrong, University of South Florida