Towards a triangle of Black middle-class identity
Towards a triangle of Black middle-class identity
In this chapter I argue there are three modes of Black middle class identity, which individuals towards each identity mode adopting specific cultural repertoires. Firstly is the identity mode labelled strategic assimilation. Here, individuals adopt repertoires of code switching and cultural equity; they switch identities when around the White middle class, and strive to consume dominant cultural capital to achieve a cultural equity with White middle class people. Secondly, there are those towards the ethnoracial autonomous identity mode. They reject the strategy of code switching through their repertoire of browning, and through their repertoire of Afro-centrism they prioritise consuming cultural forms which give positive representations of Black diasporic histories, knowledges, and identities. Lastly are those towards the class-minded identity mode. They adopt repertoires of post-racialism – arguing that we are ‘beyond racism’ – and de-racialisation, seeing themselves as ‘middle class’ rather than Black.
Keywords: Racial identity, Black middle class, Race and class, Cultural Sociology, Cultural repertoires, Middle class
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