Maxine Craig
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195152623
- eISBN:
- 9780199849345
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195152623.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This book is a study of black women as symbols, and as participants, in the reshaping of the meaning of black racial identity. The meanings and practices of racial identity are continually reshaped ...
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This book is a study of black women as symbols, and as participants, in the reshaping of the meaning of black racial identity. The meanings and practices of racial identity are continually reshaped as a result of the interplay of actions taken at the individual and institutional levels. In chapters that detail the history of pre-Civil Rights Movement black beauty pageants, later efforts to integrate beauty contests, and the transformation in beliefs and practices relating to black beauty in the 1960s, the book develops a model for understanding social processes of racial change. It places changing black hair practices and standards of beauty in historical context and shows the powerful role social movements have had in reshaping the texture of everyday life. The Civil Rights and Black Power Movements led a generation to question hair straightening and to establish a new standard of beauty that was summed up in the words “black is beautiful.” Through oral history interviews with Civil Rights and Black Power Movement activists and ordinary women, the book documents the meaning of these changes in black women's lives.Less
This book is a study of black women as symbols, and as participants, in the reshaping of the meaning of black racial identity. The meanings and practices of racial identity are continually reshaped as a result of the interplay of actions taken at the individual and institutional levels. In chapters that detail the history of pre-Civil Rights Movement black beauty pageants, later efforts to integrate beauty contests, and the transformation in beliefs and practices relating to black beauty in the 1960s, the book develops a model for understanding social processes of racial change. It places changing black hair practices and standards of beauty in historical context and shows the powerful role social movements have had in reshaping the texture of everyday life. The Civil Rights and Black Power Movements led a generation to question hair straightening and to establish a new standard of beauty that was summed up in the words “black is beautiful.” Through oral history interviews with Civil Rights and Black Power Movement activists and ordinary women, the book documents the meaning of these changes in black women's lives.
Zain Abdullah
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195314250
- eISBN:
- 9780199871797
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195314250.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter covers relations between longtime Black residents and newly arrived West African Muslims. During their settlement, African immigrants try to reconcile their Black identity with their ...
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This chapter covers relations between longtime Black residents and newly arrived West African Muslims. During their settlement, African immigrants try to reconcile their Black identity with their Muslim identity, but relations between them and their Black counterparts are often strained. Blacks view them as scornful invaders, and Africans see American-born Blacks as incorrigible slackers. Although Harlem residents have held a positive view of Muslims over the years, the Islamic identity of Africans is disregarded in their ongoing conflict. Some Africans are embraced as role models or cultural brokers, while other Blacks see their African clothing and religious practices as an opportunity to reclaim their African heritage.Less
This chapter covers relations between longtime Black residents and newly arrived West African Muslims. During their settlement, African immigrants try to reconcile their Black identity with their Muslim identity, but relations between them and their Black counterparts are often strained. Blacks view them as scornful invaders, and Africans see American-born Blacks as incorrigible slackers. Although Harlem residents have held a positive view of Muslims over the years, the Islamic identity of Africans is disregarded in their ongoing conflict. Some Africans are embraced as role models or cultural brokers, while other Blacks see their African clothing and religious practices as an opportunity to reclaim their African heritage.
Korie L. Edwards
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195314243
- eISBN:
- 9780199871810
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195314243.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
In a race sensitive society, how people racially identify and the salience of these identities influence their associations, including the churches they to choose to attend. This chapter explores the ...
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In a race sensitive society, how people racially identify and the salience of these identities influence their associations, including the churches they to choose to attend. This chapter explores the racial identities of interracial church attendees, and the role of racial identity for explaining who attends interracial churches.Less
In a race sensitive society, how people racially identify and the salience of these identities influence their associations, including the churches they to choose to attend. This chapter explores the racial identities of interracial church attendees, and the role of racial identity for explaining who attends interracial churches.
Zain Abdullah
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195314250
- eISBN:
- 9780199871797
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195314250.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
A recent influx of one hundred thousand West African immigrants is creating an enclave that Harlem residents now cal, Little Africa. Because most Americans view Islam as an Arab religion, many ...
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A recent influx of one hundred thousand West African immigrants is creating an enclave that Harlem residents now cal, Little Africa. Because most Americans view Islam as an Arab religion, many disregard the Muslim identity of these Black immigrants. Black Mecca, however, begins not here but with an African desire to attain the American dream. Arrival is met with a host of challenges, including the meaning of Black identity and notions of belonging. Since most of these immigrants come from Francophone countries, the difficulty they face in an English-speaking world is much more than they anticipated, and American English in particular poses an interesting dilemma. Despite these and other issues, African Muslims primarily from Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, and Guinea have created religious activities and institutions that have transformed Harlem into a new kind of sacred city. Yet, as in most cities, urban residents without proper means undergo their own unique set of problems, which force African Muslims to redefine this jihad or struggle on their own terms. Most work an inordinate amount of time, taking a little money for themselves but sending more to relatives back home. While family is generally a tremendous resource abroad, New York presents special circumstances where some are called to become matchmakers for friends and embrace local residents as kin. In the end, Black Mecca is a book about hope and what we can learn from the West African Muslim search for it in a place like Harlem.Less
A recent influx of one hundred thousand West African immigrants is creating an enclave that Harlem residents now cal, Little Africa. Because most Americans view Islam as an Arab religion, many disregard the Muslim identity of these Black immigrants. Black Mecca, however, begins not here but with an African desire to attain the American dream. Arrival is met with a host of challenges, including the meaning of Black identity and notions of belonging. Since most of these immigrants come from Francophone countries, the difficulty they face in an English-speaking world is much more than they anticipated, and American English in particular poses an interesting dilemma. Despite these and other issues, African Muslims primarily from Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, and Guinea have created religious activities and institutions that have transformed Harlem into a new kind of sacred city. Yet, as in most cities, urban residents without proper means undergo their own unique set of problems, which force African Muslims to redefine this jihad or struggle on their own terms. Most work an inordinate amount of time, taking a little money for themselves but sending more to relatives back home. While family is generally a tremendous resource abroad, New York presents special circumstances where some are called to become matchmakers for friends and embrace local residents as kin. In the end, Black Mecca is a book about hope and what we can learn from the West African Muslim search for it in a place like Harlem.
André Brock Jr.
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781479820375
- eISBN:
- 9781479811908
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479820375.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
Taking a step backward from overt digital practices, this chapter looks at a digital artifact so widely used that it has become communicative infrastructure: the web browser. Its framing of our ...
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Taking a step backward from overt digital practices, this chapter looks at a digital artifact so widely used that it has become communicative infrastructure: the web browser. Its framing of our entire online information content and practice shapes digital identity through interactions with online services, while its customizability encourages perceptions of individual, rather than social, technocultural identity. This chapter looks at the Blackbird browser, specifically targeted to Black users, to unpack how browsers can shape Black identity from a technocultural framework. While digital interfaces are so mutable that they encourage beliefs of universalism and individualization, this chapter argues that racial digital practices can and do shape information design and behaviors.Less
Taking a step backward from overt digital practices, this chapter looks at a digital artifact so widely used that it has become communicative infrastructure: the web browser. Its framing of our entire online information content and practice shapes digital identity through interactions with online services, while its customizability encourages perceptions of individual, rather than social, technocultural identity. This chapter looks at the Blackbird browser, specifically targeted to Black users, to unpack how browsers can shape Black identity from a technocultural framework. While digital interfaces are so mutable that they encourage beliefs of universalism and individualization, this chapter argues that racial digital practices can and do shape information design and behaviors.
André Brock Jr.
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781479820375
- eISBN:
- 9781479811908
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479820375.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
The introduction begins with an ecological claim: that Black folks have remade internet spaces through Black sociality and distributed digital practices. As a result, Black cyberculture can be ...
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The introduction begins with an ecological claim: that Black folks have remade internet spaces through Black sociality and distributed digital practices. As a result, Black cyberculture can be understood as the protean nature of Black identity mediated by various digital artifacts, services, and practices, individually and in concert; or Blackness as an informational identity premised upon libidinal online expressions/practices of joy and catharsis about being Black, expressed through semiotic and material relationships between content, hardware, code, and culture.Less
The introduction begins with an ecological claim: that Black folks have remade internet spaces through Black sociality and distributed digital practices. As a result, Black cyberculture can be understood as the protean nature of Black identity mediated by various digital artifacts, services, and practices, individually and in concert; or Blackness as an informational identity premised upon libidinal online expressions/practices of joy and catharsis about being Black, expressed through semiotic and material relationships between content, hardware, code, and culture.
André Brock Jr.
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781479820375
- eISBN:
- 9781479811908
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479820375.003.0006
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
Black Twitter’s most visible moments—such as #BlackLivesMatter—can be understood as a political representation of Black online identity. But whose politics and to what ends? Twitter’s mutable nature ...
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Black Twitter’s most visible moments—such as #BlackLivesMatter—can be understood as a political representation of Black online identity. But whose politics and to what ends? Twitter’s mutable nature engenders technocultural uncertainties about what Twitter is good for; similarly, the service’s performances of Black online activism also contribute to volatile in-group and out-group discourses on whether Black folk are “appropriate” technology users alongside whether Black political concerns can be properly articulated online.Less
Black Twitter’s most visible moments—such as #BlackLivesMatter—can be understood as a political representation of Black online identity. But whose politics and to what ends? Twitter’s mutable nature engenders technocultural uncertainties about what Twitter is good for; similarly, the service’s performances of Black online activism also contribute to volatile in-group and out-group discourses on whether Black folk are “appropriate” technology users alongside whether Black political concerns can be properly articulated online.
Maxine Leeds Craig
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195152623
- eISBN:
- 9780199849345
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195152623.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter follows the use of women as symbols in the fractured politics of the Black Power Movement. As the movement for black liberation fragmented, images of the beautiful black woman and calls ...
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This chapter follows the use of women as symbols in the fractured politics of the Black Power Movement. As the movement for black liberation fragmented, images of the beautiful black woman and calls for stylistic conformity were frequently employed in attempts to forge a unified black identity and to maintain solidarity within black political organizations.Less
This chapter follows the use of women as symbols in the fractured politics of the Black Power Movement. As the movement for black liberation fragmented, images of the beautiful black woman and calls for stylistic conformity were frequently employed in attempts to forge a unified black identity and to maintain solidarity within black political organizations.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781846314827
- eISBN:
- 9781846316258
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/UPO9781846316258.002
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter examines the idea of Africa as a lost homeland for diasporic black Britons and the attempts to reconnect with the continent. Pan-Africanist political ideals originated in the twentieth ...
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This chapter examines the idea of Africa as a lost homeland for diasporic black Britons and the attempts to reconnect with the continent. Pan-Africanist political ideals originated in the twentieth century and have remained effective in the 1980s, as reflected by the popularity of such resistant movements as Rastafarianism. Two influential late twentieth-century books that tackle black identity draw heavily on W. E. B. Du Bois: Cedric Robinson's Black Marxism and Paul Gilroy's The Black Atlantic. In his authoritative survey of Afrocentrism, Stephen Howe describes a negative form of Afrocentrism and how it differs from a pride in ‘shared African origins’ and ‘an interest in African history and culture’. However, sustaining his distinction may seem problematic because Africa is central to various articulations of black British cultural politics. Due to Africa's affective power, Howe's empiricism cannot fully explain its full weight within contemporary antiracism.Less
This chapter examines the idea of Africa as a lost homeland for diasporic black Britons and the attempts to reconnect with the continent. Pan-Africanist political ideals originated in the twentieth century and have remained effective in the 1980s, as reflected by the popularity of such resistant movements as Rastafarianism. Two influential late twentieth-century books that tackle black identity draw heavily on W. E. B. Du Bois: Cedric Robinson's Black Marxism and Paul Gilroy's The Black Atlantic. In his authoritative survey of Afrocentrism, Stephen Howe describes a negative form of Afrocentrism and how it differs from a pride in ‘shared African origins’ and ‘an interest in African history and culture’. However, sustaining his distinction may seem problematic because Africa is central to various articulations of black British cultural politics. Due to Africa's affective power, Howe's empiricism cannot fully explain its full weight within contemporary antiracism.
Sarah Azaransky
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199744817
- eISBN:
- 9780199897308
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199744817.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter covers Murray's career and writings as a young lawyer in the late 1940s through the 1950s. It explores her development of a new kind of American history and an account of black American ...
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This chapter covers Murray's career and writings as a young lawyer in the late 1940s through the 1950s. It explores her development of a new kind of American history and an account of black American identity as integral to her democratic thought. In response to McCarthyist insinuations that she is disloyal, she published a family memoir that portrayed her multiracial family and the history of violence against which it was formed. In the late 1950s, Murray left the United States for Ghana in search for a sense of home, but ultimately concluded that her racial identity and history made her irrevocably American.Less
This chapter covers Murray's career and writings as a young lawyer in the late 1940s through the 1950s. It explores her development of a new kind of American history and an account of black American identity as integral to her democratic thought. In response to McCarthyist insinuations that she is disloyal, she published a family memoir that portrayed her multiracial family and the history of violence against which it was formed. In the late 1950s, Murray left the United States for Ghana in search for a sense of home, but ultimately concluded that her racial identity and history made her irrevocably American.
Nadia E. Brown
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199352432
- eISBN:
- 9780199352456
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199352432.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
Chapter 5 examines how Black women state legislators employ forms of Black political identity when representing their constituents, specifically when it comes to groups that are constructed as ...
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Chapter 5 examines how Black women state legislators employ forms of Black political identity when representing their constituents, specifically when it comes to groups that are constructed as deserving and undeserving constituents. By exploring Black women’s stances on marriage equality legislation, which, this study contends, is a racialized issue for African Americans, this chapter demonstrates that the elected women have a nuanced view of Black political identity. As in the previous chapter, the chapter incorporates a generational analysis to show that the younger African American women state legislators are more progressive and push back against the tropes of Black culture that construct same-sex marriage as deviant.Less
Chapter 5 examines how Black women state legislators employ forms of Black political identity when representing their constituents, specifically when it comes to groups that are constructed as deserving and undeserving constituents. By exploring Black women’s stances on marriage equality legislation, which, this study contends, is a racialized issue for African Americans, this chapter demonstrates that the elected women have a nuanced view of Black political identity. As in the previous chapter, the chapter incorporates a generational analysis to show that the younger African American women state legislators are more progressive and push back against the tropes of Black culture that construct same-sex marriage as deviant.
Carol A. Horton
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195143485
- eISBN:
- 9780199850402
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195143485.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
The early Civil Rights movement radicalized the postwar liberal agenda by infusing it with much more expansive conceptions of both racial equity and social justice. While postwar liberalism remained ...
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The early Civil Rights movement radicalized the postwar liberal agenda by infusing it with much more expansive conceptions of both racial equity and social justice. While postwar liberalism remained focused on the problem of Jim Crow segregation in the South, the movement also emphasized problems of racial discrimination and segregation in the rest of the nation. At the same time, it encouraged the development of a new form of racial consciousness, particularly a more positive and empowered sense of black identity. The movement also advocated an essentially social democratic agenda, whose primary goal was to increase social and economic equity among all Americans. By the early 1960s, these commitments had created a pronounced rift between “white liberals”, who favored the more moderate politics of postwar liberalism, and the Negro movement, who supported the new form of social liberalism developed by the Civil Rights movement.Less
The early Civil Rights movement radicalized the postwar liberal agenda by infusing it with much more expansive conceptions of both racial equity and social justice. While postwar liberalism remained focused on the problem of Jim Crow segregation in the South, the movement also emphasized problems of racial discrimination and segregation in the rest of the nation. At the same time, it encouraged the development of a new form of racial consciousness, particularly a more positive and empowered sense of black identity. The movement also advocated an essentially social democratic agenda, whose primary goal was to increase social and economic equity among all Americans. By the early 1960s, these commitments had created a pronounced rift between “white liberals”, who favored the more moderate politics of postwar liberalism, and the Negro movement, who supported the new form of social liberalism developed by the Civil Rights movement.
Candis Watts Smith
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781479823543
- eISBN:
- 9781479811113
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479823543.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter discusses the group boundaries of Black identity. These boundaries have traditionally been shaped by historical and ongoing processes of racialization—the macro and micro processes that ...
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This chapter discusses the group boundaries of Black identity. These boundaries have traditionally been shaped by historical and ongoing processes of racialization—the macro and micro processes that ascribe Blacks as stigmatized, lower status in the ethnoracial hierarchy of the United States. African descents have been subsumed through these boundaries into an all-encompassing and homogenized Black identity in a society where internal intraracial (or ethnic) differences are less important than interracial differences. The chapter also examines the transition from embracing an ascribed racial or ethnic group label to feeling a sense of attachment with other individuals who have also been placed in that category. It identifies five stages that a Black person experiences as his or her racial identity evolves: pre-encounter, encounter, immersion-emersion, internalization, and internationalization-commitment.Less
This chapter discusses the group boundaries of Black identity. These boundaries have traditionally been shaped by historical and ongoing processes of racialization—the macro and micro processes that ascribe Blacks as stigmatized, lower status in the ethnoracial hierarchy of the United States. African descents have been subsumed through these boundaries into an all-encompassing and homogenized Black identity in a society where internal intraracial (or ethnic) differences are less important than interracial differences. The chapter also examines the transition from embracing an ascribed racial or ethnic group label to feeling a sense of attachment with other individuals who have also been placed in that category. It identifies five stages that a Black person experiences as his or her racial identity evolves: pre-encounter, encounter, immersion-emersion, internalization, and internationalization-commitment.
Nadia E. Brown
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199352432
- eISBN:
- 9780199352456
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199352432.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
The introduction situates representational identity theory and my conceptualization of a Black political identity in preparation for theorizing Black women’s political behavior. It proposes that ...
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The introduction situates representational identity theory and my conceptualization of a Black political identity in preparation for theorizing Black women’s political behavior. It proposes that African American women legislators’ views of a Black political identity influence their legislative decision making. The representational identity theory that this chapter builds upon goes beyond taking simply race or gender identities as mere starting points to explain Black women’s legislative behavior.Less
The introduction situates representational identity theory and my conceptualization of a Black political identity in preparation for theorizing Black women’s political behavior. It proposes that African American women legislators’ views of a Black political identity influence their legislative decision making. The representational identity theory that this chapter builds upon goes beyond taking simply race or gender identities as mere starting points to explain Black women’s legislative behavior.
Zandria F. Robinson
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781469614229
- eISBN:
- 9781469614243
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469614229.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. The book explores how region intersects with other axes of identity and difference in the black South. It is set in Memphis, ...
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This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. The book explores how region intersects with other axes of identity and difference in the black South. It is set in Memphis, Tennessee, the first big city stop heading north out of the Mississippi Delta, and uses the city as a grounding site and case for exploring race, class, gender, and regional identities.Less
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. The book explores how region intersects with other axes of identity and difference in the black South. It is set in Memphis, Tennessee, the first big city stop heading north out of the Mississippi Delta, and uses the city as a grounding site and case for exploring race, class, gender, and regional identities.
Candis Watts Smith
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781479823543
- eISBN:
- 9781479811113
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479823543.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter examines various dimensions of Black racial identity, and compares the determinants of racial identity of African Americans with those of Black immigrants. The Model of Racial Identity ...
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This chapter examines various dimensions of Black racial identity, and compares the determinants of racial identity of African Americans with those of Black immigrants. The Model of Racial Identity (MMRI) identifies four dimensions of Black racial identity. The first dimension, racial salience, concerns the extent to which one's race is a relevant part of one's self-concept at a particular moment or in a particular situation. The second dimension is racial centrality, which “refers to the extent to which a person normatively defines himself or herself with regard to race.” The third dimension, racial regard, “refers to a person's affective and evaluative judgment of his race in terms of positive-negative valence.” Finally, ideology is the dimension that corresponds to “individuals' beliefs, opinions, and attitudes with respect to the way one feels that members should act.”Less
This chapter examines various dimensions of Black racial identity, and compares the determinants of racial identity of African Americans with those of Black immigrants. The Model of Racial Identity (MMRI) identifies four dimensions of Black racial identity. The first dimension, racial salience, concerns the extent to which one's race is a relevant part of one's self-concept at a particular moment or in a particular situation. The second dimension is racial centrality, which “refers to the extent to which a person normatively defines himself or herself with regard to race.” The third dimension, racial regard, “refers to a person's affective and evaluative judgment of his race in terms of positive-negative valence.” Finally, ideology is the dimension that corresponds to “individuals' beliefs, opinions, and attitudes with respect to the way one feels that members should act.”
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226298245
- eISBN:
- 9780226298269
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226298269.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
One striking consequence of the tragedy of race in the United States has been a preoccupation with identity formation among African Americans. Because most African Americans entered this fragile ...
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One striking consequence of the tragedy of race in the United States has been a preoccupation with identity formation among African Americans. Because most African Americans entered this fragile experiment in democracy as chattel, the question of who they take themselves to be has been intimately connected to a political and social reality that denied them recognition. How should African Americans understand themselves as individuals and as a group in relation to a nation that historically denied them recognition? A lot is at stake when racial identity in the United States is discussed. And one thing is certain: conceptions of black identity continue to animate the political choices of many African Americans, prompting concerns about how such ideas might affect efforts to secure justice in the democracy that is America. How we think about black identity affects how African Americans understand notions of virtue, right, and the good. This chapter outlines two ways of understanding black identity—an archaeological approach and a pragmatic historicist approach—in each case focusing on its ethical dimensions.Less
One striking consequence of the tragedy of race in the United States has been a preoccupation with identity formation among African Americans. Because most African Americans entered this fragile experiment in democracy as chattel, the question of who they take themselves to be has been intimately connected to a political and social reality that denied them recognition. How should African Americans understand themselves as individuals and as a group in relation to a nation that historically denied them recognition? A lot is at stake when racial identity in the United States is discussed. And one thing is certain: conceptions of black identity continue to animate the political choices of many African Americans, prompting concerns about how such ideas might affect efforts to secure justice in the democracy that is America. How we think about black identity affects how African Americans understand notions of virtue, right, and the good. This chapter outlines two ways of understanding black identity—an archaeological approach and a pragmatic historicist approach—in each case focusing on its ethical dimensions.
Charles Price
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814767467
- eISBN:
- 9780814768464
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814767467.003.0004
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Religion
This chapter examines how people like the Rastafari come to place Blackness and religion at the center of their self-concept, how they turn stigma into an asset, and how these acts relate to ...
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This chapter examines how people like the Rastafari come to place Blackness and religion at the center of their self-concept, how they turn stigma into an asset, and how these acts relate to fashioning a collective identification called Rastafari people. It uses nigrescence theory, a discrete formulation of Black identity theory, to explain the processes involved in becoming and being Rastafari. The nigrescence model explains why and how people elevate Blackness to a primary identification imbued with satisfying meaning. In order to attend to the moral and religious dimensions of Rastafari identity, the chapter also incorporates some ideas from religious conversion theory into its conception of nigrescence.Less
This chapter examines how people like the Rastafari come to place Blackness and religion at the center of their self-concept, how they turn stigma into an asset, and how these acts relate to fashioning a collective identification called Rastafari people. It uses nigrescence theory, a discrete formulation of Black identity theory, to explain the processes involved in becoming and being Rastafari. The nigrescence model explains why and how people elevate Blackness to a primary identification imbued with satisfying meaning. In order to attend to the moral and religious dimensions of Rastafari identity, the chapter also incorporates some ideas from religious conversion theory into its conception of nigrescence.
Zandria F. Robinson
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781469614229
- eISBN:
- 9781469614243
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469614229.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter considers the ways in which the South has been represented by and through several publics, from academics to rappers to filmmakers. It begins with a discussion of the place of region in ...
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This chapter considers the ways in which the South has been represented by and through several publics, from academics to rappers to filmmakers. It begins with a discussion of the place of region in African American identity, and then uncovers the discursive black South as it has been produced and consumed by myriad publics, especially African American publics. By traversing the black South(s) popularized in the American imagination by literature, art, dance, film, music, and television, the chapter elucidates the narratives emergent from and in the name of the black South and the function of such narratives for black identities historically and contemporarily. Finally, it shows how processes of place accomplishment and regional representation inform post-soul southern identity.Less
This chapter considers the ways in which the South has been represented by and through several publics, from academics to rappers to filmmakers. It begins with a discussion of the place of region in African American identity, and then uncovers the discursive black South as it has been produced and consumed by myriad publics, especially African American publics. By traversing the black South(s) popularized in the American imagination by literature, art, dance, film, music, and television, the chapter elucidates the narratives emergent from and in the name of the black South and the function of such narratives for black identities historically and contemporarily. Finally, it shows how processes of place accomplishment and regional representation inform post-soul southern identity.
Ismail K. White and Chryl N. Laird
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691199511
- eISBN:
- 9780691201962
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691199511.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter offers a detailed explanation of the racialized social constraint model of black political behavior. It argues that black support for the Democratic Party has over time become a ...
More
This chapter offers a detailed explanation of the racialized social constraint model of black political behavior. It argues that black support for the Democratic Party has over time become a normalized form of black political behavior for which blacks actively hold one another accountable. In developing this argument, the chapter first reviews the relevant literature on African American political behavior and discusses how many of the insights gained from this research point to the importance of group-based expectations in ensuring compliance with group norms of black political behavior. It then engages the microfoundations of black political behavior, building on insights from mainstream political behavior and social psychology to identify the precise mechanism by which black partisan homogeneity is likely maintained. The focus is on how various incentives for compliance with group norms and sanctions for defection from these norms result in the maintenance of black political unity. The chapter also discusses the unique way that these norms relate to black identity, building on insights from the psychological theory of role identities. All of this leads to a set of general expectations for what can be observed if this framework for understanding black political behavior holds.Less
This chapter offers a detailed explanation of the racialized social constraint model of black political behavior. It argues that black support for the Democratic Party has over time become a normalized form of black political behavior for which blacks actively hold one another accountable. In developing this argument, the chapter first reviews the relevant literature on African American political behavior and discusses how many of the insights gained from this research point to the importance of group-based expectations in ensuring compliance with group norms of black political behavior. It then engages the microfoundations of black political behavior, building on insights from mainstream political behavior and social psychology to identify the precise mechanism by which black partisan homogeneity is likely maintained. The focus is on how various incentives for compliance with group norms and sanctions for defection from these norms result in the maintenance of black political unity. The chapter also discusses the unique way that these norms relate to black identity, building on insights from the psychological theory of role identities. All of this leads to a set of general expectations for what can be observed if this framework for understanding black political behavior holds.
