black canadian mothers' soclallzatlon of children to...
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BLACK CANADIAN MOTHERS' SOClALlZATlON OF CHILDREN TO RESPOND TO SITUATIONS INVOLVING
RACIAL PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION
DONNA J. WOOLVERTON
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Arts
Graduate Programme in Social Psychology York University
Toronto, Ontario
January 1999
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Black Canadian pubthers' Çocialization of Children to Espond to Situations
bvo1ving Raciaï Prejudice and D i s c r i m i n a t i a n
1
a thesis submitted to the Faculiy of Graduate Studies of York University in partial fulfillment of the requirernents for the degfee of
Permission has been granted to the LIBRARY OF YORK UNIVERSITY to lend or seIl copies of this thesis, to the NATIONAL LiBRARY OF CANADA 10 microfilm this thesis and to fend or sel1 copies of the film, and to UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS to publish an abstract of this thesis. The author reserves other publication rights, and neither the thesis nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's written permission.
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Abstract
This study examines how black Canadian mothers socialize their children
to respond to situations involving racism, and seeks to fiIl a gap in existing social
psychology research literature on this subject. Most Canadian studies have
focused on ethnic identity and prejudice development in children, or on studying
prejudice from the perpetrator's, rather than the victim's, viewpoint.
The present study used the grounded theory method to analyze data
collected in individual interviews conducted with seven wornen who identified
themselves as black, mothers, and Canadian. This study provides evidence that
mothers' strategies for teaching responses to racism form a complex and inter-
related pattern of approaches. A theoretical mode1 is presented to account for
these strategies. Four main categories of data were found to provide the
foundation for the hierarchical structuring of the theoretical model. The first
main category coded data pertaining to the respondents' own negative racial
experiences; these appear to form the basis of their personal philosophies and
how they explain racism to themselves. The second category reflects
participants' reports that strategy selection depends on the context of the child's
social situation; that is, whether the situation occurs within the child's
institutional domain (e.g., school) or within herlhis private dornain (e-g., in the
neighbourhood). Data in the third category represents respondents' attempts to
mediate the effects of racism on the child by making consistent and sustained
efforts to build and protect the child's self-esteem. Mothers reported
approaching this task through the use of such strategies as emphasizing the
child's cultural or ethnic heritage, teaching respect for other cultures, and
stressing the value of education in self development. In addition, al1
respondents sought to de-emphasize the importance of skin colour. Finally,
data in the fourth main category reveal respondents' awareness of the structure
and contents of the black stereotype. It was found that the stereotype of black
males is an important factor in mothers' assessments of their sonsJ future
opportunities, as well as for their potential safety risks. Respondents did not
express the same level of concern for daughters' safety, but reported that the
stereotype is likely to negatively affect young black women's careers and
advancement opportunities. Thus, in advocating strategies to deal with racism,
an individual mother's assessrnent of social factors related to the black
stereotype is likely to cause her to counsel different courses of action for sons
than for daughters.
Acknowledgements
I owe a great deal of gratitude to the women who participated in this
research project, for their tirne and willingness to discuss some of their own, and
their children's personal experiences with racism. They brought insight, dignity
and even humor to the discussion of a troubling subject; this type of research
could not be done without them.
I am both grateful and indebted to my supervisor, Dr. Richard Lalonde,
who provided constant and valuable guidance, direction and support in the
research reported in this Thesis. He always made himself available to help me,
always gave me wise counsel and feedback and, perhaps best of all, was aIways
a pleasure to work with. I also extend my sincere appreciation to both
Dr. Erin C. Hewitt and Dr. Anne-Marie Ambert, who served on my Supervisory
Cornmittee. They generously provided helpful advice on qualitative research
design and methodology, and helped me to develop more effective interviewing
techniques.
My deepest personal thanks are owed to rny family, who have provided
constant encouragement while I pursue rny academic goals: my husband J.J.,
who has washed more dirty dishes in the last few years than he did during his
entire bachelorhood, and my children Michael and Katie, who delight me. I am
also profoundly grateful to my mother, Mrs. Alice Ray, for her integrity and
personal strength; she is my mainstay. I am fortunate to be surrounded in my
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personal life by outstanding female role models: rny rnother, Alice Ray; Kathryn
Stephens; Marge Ray; Jeanine Brannigan; Doretta Haubrich; Wendy Tryhorn;
Karen Vanyi; and my favorite Aunt, Jean Green, who is always an inspiration to
our family. Many thanks to al1 of you.
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Table of Contents
. . . . . . . . . . . Abstract
Acknowledgrnents . . . . . . . . . . .
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . .
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . .
Research on Children and Racism . . . . .
. . . . . . . Mothers' Parenting Roles
Overview of the Present Study . . . . . .
Race of Interviewer Effects . . . . . .
. . . . . . . Theoretical Perspective
Terms Used in the Present Study . . . . . .
Method . . . . . . . . . . .
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . .
Research Participants . . . . . . . . .
Data Collection . . . . . . . . . . .
Memos . . . . . . . . . . .
Results of Prelirninary Study . . . . . . . .
Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . .
Overview of Grounded Theory Technique . . .
Units of Analysis and Method . . . . . .
Core Category: Mothers' Strategies and Theoretical Mode1
. . . . . . . Emergent Data and Unexpected Findings
. . . . Main Category: Mothers' Persona1 Philosophy
. . . Mothers' Personal Experiences with Racisrn
Mothers' Explanations of Racism . . . . . .
Surnmary . . . . . . . . . . . .
Main Category: Mothers' Actions . . . . . . . .
The Child's "Institutional" Domain . . . . . .
The Child's "Private" Domain . . . . . . .
What Mothers Tell the Child to Do . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . Surnrnary
. . . Main Category: Building the Child's Self-Esteem
Positive Aspects of Race . . . . . . . .
. . . . . Add ressing the C hild's Self-Esteem
The Value of Education . . . . . . . . .
Emphasizing Ethnic Diversity . . . . . . .
Addressing Colour Issues . . . . . . .
Summary . . . . . . . . . . .
Main Category: RaceIGender Stereotypes . . . . .
The Family's Values . . . . . . . . .
Respondents' Perceptions of Black Fernafe Stereotype
Respondents' Perceptions of Black Male Stereotype
Summary . . . . . . . . . . .
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . .
References . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Appendix A - Consent To Participate in Research Form . .
Appendix 6: Interview Questionnaire . . . . . . .
Appendix C: Personal Information Sheet . . . . .
Appendix D: Sample of Transcription Format . . . .
Appendix E: Fact Sheet for NUD*IST@ Software . . .
List of Tables
Table 1 : Participants' Demographic Information . . . 25
Table 2: Number of Text Units Per Interview . . . 27
Table 3: The Research Model
Core Category: Mothers' Strategies . . . 38
Table 4: Main Category: Mothers' Personal Philosophy . . 44
Table 5: Main Category: Mothers' Actions . . . . . 67
Table 6: Main Category: Building Child's Self-Esteem . . 81
Table 7: Main Category: Race/Gender Stereotypes . . 95
Introduction
The decades since the 1960s have produced much social research on
various topics related to racism, including such themes as the formation and
maintenance of stereotypes and the attitudes hypothesized to be involved in
racial prejudice and discrimination. This study examines how individuals from
one socially disadvantaged group Say they respond to situations of perceived
racism. The focus of this study is black Canadian mothers' self reports
regarding what they teach their children about responding to situations involving
racial prejudice andlor discrimination.
Most research in psychology and sociology has centred on studying
prejudice from the point of view of the perpetrators, rather than victims, with
relatively little ernpirical research focussing on the victims' resulting reactions or
behaviours. Sociologists have generally interviewed members of social groups
who have experienced discrimination, while psychologists have tended to use
lab studies to examine victims' responses to some sort of social injustice -- the
majority of these being framed within social psychological theories of intergroup
relations (e.g., Kawakami & Dion, 1993; Lalonde & Cameron, 1 993; Lalonde &
Silverman, 1994; Wright, Taylor & Moghaddam, l99O). In these studies,
participants either experience or read about a situation of injustice (e.g., being
refused entry into a group after demonstrating the necessary qualifications) and
then rate the extent to which they endorse a number of specific individual or
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collective actions.
One current area of research in the U.S. concerning the socialization of
black children has focused on the development of identity and in-group attitudes
(e-g., Spencer, 1983). It appean that since about 1985, an emphasis in
psychology has been on developing typologies of parental styles of racial
socialization, as assessed retrospectively. Although there have been sorne
Canadian studies on ethnic identity and prejudice developrnent in children (e.g.,
Aboud, 1988; Doyle, Aboud & Sufrategui, 1992), studies on parental racial
socialization cannot be easily found in the existing literature. Social scientists,
and educators in particular, have talked about the parental role in socializing
children to deal (either positively or negatively) with racial issues, but there has
been relatively little documentation in the professional literature on the parental
perspective. In the little research that has been done in the area of how parents
socialize children to behave when confronted with prejudice and discrimination,
it appears that few researchers have asked minority parents (and mothers,
specifically) what they Say to their children when encountering these situations.
It seems there has been little effort by psychologists to systematically examine
minority mothers' roles in teaching their children about how to deal with various
forms of racism. If the popular notion that racism is ubiquitous is correct, then
this is a serious oversight. The overall social importance of investigating a
broad range of factors related to black wornen, their children and issues of
3
racism cannot be overstated. By 1991, black women comprised 21 % of al1
visible minority females in Canada, and visible minority women represented 13%
of women In Ontario. More specifically, 40% of al1 visible minority women living
in Canada in 1991 resided in Toronto. At the same time, and particularly
relevant to the current study, 79% of al1 visible minority women aged 15 and over
in Canada were immigrants (Statistics Canada, 1995, pp. 11 i - l47) , as were al!
of the participants in this study, as described below . Thus, questions addressed
in this research might also be productively applied to other sarnples of minority
wornen and their children.
In this study, prejudice is defined following Allport (1954, p. 9) as a
negative attitude, an "antipathy based on a faulty and inflexible generalization",
and discrimination as any behaviour which denies "individuals or groups of
people equality of treatment which they may wish" (Allport, 1954, p. 50). Thus,
prejudice is seen here as a way of thinking, a predisposition to respond in an
unfavourable manner to members of a racial or ethnic group. Discrimination is
seen as types of action or ways of behaving towards those others. The terrn
"racism" is used as a shorthand reference, a term that collapses real or
perceived instances of prejudice or discrimination under one label.
Research on Children and Racism
Allport (1954) suggested that children learn prejudice as a result of
hearing racial labels, coupled with the emotions associated with those labels.
Following Allport, other researchers started with the presumption that children
are colour-blind and learn prejudice over time from significant others (Schofield,
1986). More recently, research has shown that racial prejudice exists in children
as young as five years old (Aboud, 1988; Aboud 8 Doyle, 1996a; Aboud &
Skerry, 1984; Doyle & Aboud, 1995). The level of prejudice may decline,
however, between the ages of 5 and 9 years as a function of social-cognitive
development, such as the growth of role-taking skills and perceptual
differentiation. In a repeated-measures test, Doyle and Aboud (1 995) tested
children in kindergarten and again in Grade 3. Measures indicated that declines
in prejudice over time were associated with the development of the perception
that people of the same race can be different from one another, and that people
of different races can be similar.
White Canadian children between the ages of 8 and 11 years have been
found to express prejudice toward black, "Native lndian", and Chinese minorities
(Aboud & Doyle, 1996b, their ethnic labels). Canada allowed immigration of
279,400 people from the Caribbean and Bermuda in 1996; of these, 186,850
chose to reside in Ontario (Statistics Canada, 1996 Census). A national survey
by Berry and Kalin (1995) indicates that West lndian blacks and South Asians
5
(Indo-Pakistanis and Sikhs) are among the least favoured groups in Canadian
society and may be potential targets of discrimination. Therefore, it seems
reasonable to assume that minority children in Toronto, particularly black
children, may be exposed to situations of racial prejudice and discrimination,
perhaps even as early as the age at which they attend day care or kindergarten.
Some parents may be hesitant to discuss race with their children, fearing
that drawing a child's attention to it will sensitize them to the differences, rather
than similarities, between people (Aboud & Doyle, 1996b; Kofkin, Katz &
Downey, 1995). Aboud and Doyle (1 996a) found that third-grade white children
(8 to II years old) were not able to accurately predict either their parents' or
friends' attitudes toward race, even though they judged both to be similar to their
own. In that study, however, the researchers did not examine whether, or how
much, parents and their children talked about racial attitudes and issues. In the
absence of discussion, children in the study rnay have made assumptions
regarding the attitudes of significant others. Phinney and Chavira (1995)
interviewed three groups of minority high school students and their parents in
the U.S. to investigate ethnic socialization by parents. The black parents,
compared to both Japanese-American and Mexican-American parents in the
study, reported prejudice as a problem and mentioned discussing it with their
children significantly more frequently than did parents from these other two
ethnic minority groups.
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Kofkin et al. (1995) support these findings and report that more black
parents than white parents (54% compared to 39%) believe it is important to
discuss race with children. Black parents (54%) actually talked about race with
the child, whereas slightly less than half as many (26%) white parents did so.
Black parents were also more likely than white parents to talk about the child's
own racial identity (49% versus 12%). The content of farnily discussions about
race also seems to Vary significantly between black and white parents and
children, with white parents focusing more on abstract considerations, such as
equality, and the idea that we are al1 the same. Black parents tend to focus
more on the everyday aspects of race. Possibly because prejudice and
discrimination will affect the child directly and powerfully, the child will need to
understand what prejudice is and have a clear sense of hislher own worth.
Probably for these reasons, black parents prefer to wait until the child is at least
5 years of age before discussing race. Aboud (1993) found that when race is
openly discussed, positive racial attitudes expressed by parents and friends may
moderate or facilitate a reduction in prejudice in children under the age of 12
(Aboud, 1993).
Mothers' Parentinci Roles
Parenting roles may differ significantly between mothers and fathers.
Research has reported that adolescents may tend to perceive fathers as having
7
more rigid and formal attributes, as being authority figures who set behavioural
guidelines and give advice on practical matters. Mothers, more than fathers, are
perceived as having a combination of the attributes of authority, equafity,
intimacy, and conflict (Pipp, Shaver, Jennings, Lamborn, & Fischer, 1985;
Youniss & Smollar, 1985). Paulson and Sputa (1 996) examined differences in
materna1 and paternal parenting styles as well as parental involvement with
children in Grades 9 and 12. 60th adolescents and parents perceived mothers
to be more involved in parenting than were fathers during both Grade 9 and
Grade 12. In addition, children and mothers themselves tend to report mothers
as higher on firm control, acceptance, and closeness compared to fathers
(Forehand & Nousiainen, 1993), and mothers have been found to rate fathers as
less accepting of their children than they rate themselves (Schwarz, Barton-
Henry & Pruzinsky, 1985).
Despite a general trend in North America for fathers to be more involved
in child rearing than previous generations have been, wornen still contribute a
significantly greater arnount of tirne than do men to child care and household
work, to caring for their partners' needs, and to caring for elderly farnily members
(Brannen & Moss, 1988; Charles, 1993; Parr, 1998; Warde & Hetherington,
1993). Women apparently continue to be the primary care-giver in parent-child
relationships (Doucet, 1995). Steinberg (1 996) did an in-depth study of how
families divide household labour, and found that women, more often than men,
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were responsibIe for al1 child-care tasks, except driving children to and from
school. Statistics Canada survey data for 1992 show that, regardless of the
number or ages of the children in the home, employed women devote roughly
twice as much time to daily child care than do employed men. When an
employed parent must care for a sick child, it is considerably more likely that it
will be the mother, rather than the father, who is absent from work to do so. In
fact, employed women lose an average of six times as many work days annually
because of family responsibilities than do men (Statistics Canada, 1995, p. 68-
70). Thus, it appears that women still retain primary parenting responsibilities.
The fact that mothers, compared to fathers, are likely to spend
considerably more time with their children, is sometimes reflected in the small
details of everyday living. Daniel and Effinger (1996) discuss an interesting oral
tradition of passing on proverbial advice from one generation to the next within
the black community. Respondents reported that their primary care-givers,
usually identified as mothers, gave advice that stressed moral values, education
and hard work -- advice these respondents remembered as sustaining and
guiding them through life.
The structure and organization of family life practiced by West lndian
immigrants, of al1 socioeconomic levels, to Canada rnay take various forms,
including "legal marriage, common-law marriages, visiting unions, and [some
result in] 'illegitimate' births resulting from casual unions" (Henry, 1994, p. 57).
9
Because of the Iingering effects of colonial slavery and neo-colonial racial,
economic and social practices in the Caribbean, black men have often been
unable to be the primary wage earners in their households. Thus, West lndian
women must often "produce, provide, control, and manage the resources
necessary to meet the daily needs of themselves, their children, and possibly
other members of their households" (Henry, p. 60). In this case, the
responsibility of child raising generally falls to the mother, who in turn relies on
help from her extended family, along with whatever help the father can provide.
First- and second-generation West lndian immigrants to Canada may face a
systematic economic racism that serves to reproduce family structures found in
the Caribbean, with mothers acting as primary wage-earners and socializers of
children (Henry, Tator, Mattis & Rees, 1995).
For al1 of these reasons, this study focuses exclusively on black mothers'
roles (as opposed to black parents' roles, in general) in socializing their children
to respond in negative racial situations.
Overview of the Present Studv
The researcher's basic direction comes from the questions shelhe wants
to answer, and the investigative strategy that best fits those questions. This
study was designed to make use of the grounded theory approach to analyse
data derived from audio-taped interviews. Research participants were asked to
1 O
respond in an open-ended manner to a short set of questions prepared before
the interview. Participants' individual responses (protocols) were transcribed
and explored. Text units pertaining to these protocols were used to inductively
generate categories, dimensions and interrelationships in the later analysis in a
manner similar to that described by Rennie, Phillips, and Quartaro (i 988). A
cornputer software program specifically designed for qualitative data analysis,
Non-Numerical Unstructured Data lndexing Searching and Theorizing 4.0
("Nud*lst"), was used for al1 phases of the coding and analysis processes.
A qualitative research approach is a valuable investigative tool on its own,
but it can also provide critical insights on how to develop and design
experiments to test specific hypotheses in the future. The purpose of this basic
research was to understand and interpret the ways black mothers talk to their
children about racism. The premise is that parental racial socialization of
children is an important factor in the development of behaviour taken in
response to discrimination, and the goal was to identify some of the factors that
comprise parents' teaching strategies. The research design began with the
assumption that black mothers can comrnunicate, and a researcher can access,
the personal experiences and strategies they use to socialize their child(ren) to
deal with racism. Data collected in this study should be useful in developing an
understanding of the process of parenting white dealing with, and teaching a
child to respond to, racism.
II
In qualitative research, the data generally consists of three general parts.
The first is the participants' direct quotations that reflect their personal
perspectives and experiences, that is, the interview texts themselves. The
second part of the data includes memos written (as soon as possible aller each
interview) to record impressions of the participant's life circumstances as she
explained them. These life circumstances include the number and ages of her
children, whether or not she is married, where and how she might be employed,
her approximate annual income, where she was born and how long she has
lived in Canada, and (sometimes briefly) how she sees her own ethnic identity.
The final part of the data is the depth of the individual protocolsl that is, the
extent to which each participant is willing to disclose her personal experiences
and feelings (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Maxwell, 1996; Rennie et al., 1988).
Race of Interviewer Effects
Possible effects of cross-cultural or cross-racial interviewing is an issue
that had to be taken into consideration in the overall research design (Maxwell,
1996). Depending on the type of research being done and the methodology
ernployed, social researchers sometimes find it advantageous to use "racial
matching" between the interviewer and the participants. This may, in fact, be the
most appropriate procedure in some investigations. In this study, black
Canadian women were interviewed by myself, a white, middle-aged, and upper
12
middle-class woman. The basic argument for same-race matching is the
assertion that a black (or an Asian, or a Native American, etc.) researcher is
more able to elicit open and honest responses from a participant who does not
have to be wary of being polite or acting in a way that is nomative to the
mainstream culture. This argument has been questioned in recent years (e.g.,
Rhodes, 1994) for several reasons. First, it assumes that there is some single
tnrth or reality that can be understood only between people who share a
common racial or ethnic identity. The idea here is that racism is an intrinsic part
of North American (and for that matter, European) white culture; thus, black
people's distrust of a white interviewer is bound to carry over into the interview
situation itself, and the account given will be a distortion of the "truth".
Alternatively, a black researcher might understand a white participant's account
through a cultural filter, due to their own first-hand experience with racial
prejudice. Erving Goffman (1 959) proposed that the individual sense of self,
rather than being a stable entity, is continuously re-created in social interactions
with others (see also works by psychologists Gergen & Gergen, 1988;
Harré, 1993; Potter & Wetherell, 1987). Goffman claimed that in any social
situation, the individual is faced with a problern of information control -- which
data about herselWhimself should be revealed and which should be hidden
(Goffman refers to this as "face work"). The individual implicitly daims to be a
certain kind of person (whether truthfully or not) and expects to be treated as
13
such (Bock, 1988). If this is the case, then people are capable of presenting any
number of versions of themselves, each of which is a real and honest expression
at that time. Personal accounts, therefore, should always be thought of as being
complex and situation dependent. There is no valid philosophical justification for
considering accounts derived frorn same-race interviewing to be inherently
superior to those obtained in cross-racial interviews. All personal accounts can
be thought of as being cornplex, contingent, and offered by the participant as
partial expressions of the many aspects of their own reality. Both the design and
analysis stages of this project were approached with this basic assumption:
there is a possibility of multiple external realities, each defined by the personal
perspective of individual participants, as expressed at a certain time and in a
certain context. Thus, it was not expected that unmediated, incontestable truths
would be discovered in the data set.
Second, there may often be something of an advantage to the interviewer
being seen as an "outsider" -- one to whorn certain things must be explained. It
was hoped that at least some respondents would choose to elaborate on
information other black women would be expected to take for granted. It was not
assumed that a white interviewer talking with black participants would be
operating under a handicap. Nevertheless, it was an inescapable fact that there
are differences between myself, as a researcher (white, female, and a student
representing a prestigious institution), and participants, and that these
74
perceptions would constitute part of the context of the interview situation itself.
Theoretical Persoective
There has been a great deal of debate over the last couple of decades
over the idea that qualitative research methodologies stand in epistemological
opposition to the traditional, positivist methods (Dey, 1993, 1995; Fisher, 1997;
Kirk & Miller, 1986; Miles & Huberman, 1994; Patton, 1990; Sitverman, 1993).
Positivisrn's roots lie partly in the natural sciences, and this is reflected in both
experimental research designs and in the way research results are written and
presented. The positivistic viewpoint proposes that there is an external reality
that can be discovered and known, and traditional experimental designs set out
to test hypotheses about particular aspects of that reality. The quantitative
researcher creates a consistent falsifiable hypothesis; that is, one that can be
tested and shown to be false (see Ray, 1993, p. 49, on Popper's falsification
approach to scientific inquiry). Research data are assumed to be objectively
observed and classified. Results of this type of research can be reported in a
logical, sequential and linear fashion and supported by statistical presentations.
In addition, the traditional researcher is considered to be an objective observer
located outside the phenornenon which is being investigated. Another's interna1
feelings, emotions, beliefs, rneanings, and motives cannot be observed.
Traditional researchers must devise indirect measures of these and make
inferences regarding thern based on statistical probabilities.
Qualitative researchers tend to believe that certain interna1 aspects or
characteristics unique to each individual can be accessed by simply asking
participants about them. We assume (but do not unquestioningly trust) that
respondents can present the truth as they see it. The researcher then takes a
distinctly subjective approach to analyzing and presenting the data by actively
interpreting and re-stating participants' words for the public arena, al1 the while
realizing that these words could be interpreted in any number of different ways.
My theoretical biases are partly derived from feminist and postmodern
viewpoints that share an emphasis on the proposition that al1 research is value-
laden and contains biases, and that knowledge is linguistically constituted and
grounded both contextually and historically (see Acker, Barry & Essevetd, 1997;
Bryman & Burgess, 1994; Edwards & Ribbens, 1998). 1 believe that one can
learn something about people simply by asking them questions, that there is
some level of reality which can be accessed through people's accounts of their
own lives. At the end of the day, however, the process of interpreting our data
leaves us uncertain whether we have "got it right" or not. Our conciusions,
based on subjective data, must always be open to criticisrn. Having said that, 1
must acknowledge an assumption that I have made throughout the analysis in
this study. 1 believe we live in a racist society; that bias is bound to colour both
my selection of theoretical perspectives on which to mode1 rny project, and my
16
subjective interpretations of the data. Canadian society may be less racist than
other countries; in fact, that is often a proposition one hears both in the media
and in the popular culture. It rnay, in fact, be the case that we are less racist
than, Say, South Africa, the Netherfands, the U. S., or any nurnber of other
countries that rnight be cited. However, there are certain social facts that are
hard to ignore: Our economic, political and legal systerns are underpinned by
Western (i.e., white) philosophies, are creations of Western culture, and are
dominated by white males.
My approach is also influenced by the positivist research methodology
that I have been taught since beginning my undergraduate studies. Some
qualitative researchers advocate that, since qualitative research cannot be
objective in the same sense as traditional research, qualitative researchers
should simply reject the notions of objectivity in considering the rigour of their
methods (Agar, 1986; Marshall & Rossman, 1989). The logical conclusion to
this line of thought is that since no viewpoint can be entirely objective, then al1
points of view should be considered equally valid. This viewpoint would leave
the researcher with no alternative but to argue a series of viewpoints. This is not
a defensible position to take if we are to try to pursue any scientific method of
inquiry. There are things "out there" that can be known in their context, even if
those things are intangibles. Another choice is argued by Krk and Miller (1986)
and Fisher (1997). They stress that qualitative research can be rigourous and
17
believable if the researcher's assumptions and processes are clearly set out for
others to evaluate. Kirk and Miller redefine reliability as "the degree to which the
finding is independent of accidental circumstances of the research" and validity
as "the degree to which the finding is interpreted in the correct way" (p.20).
Therefore, I attempt throughout the discussion of my processes of analysis in
this study to identify my assumptions and biases (at least those I recognize).
A related issue of concern in qualitative research is that of replicability.
Positivist methodology stresses replication as a safeguard in experimental
research design. Simple replication of a new finding is a powerful way to
decrease the likelihood that it has been obtained only by chance. The ability to
replicate a piece of research, especially over multiple demonstrations, speaks to
its reliability. The problem faced in qualitative research, then, is how can a new
finding be replicated if it is predicated on subjectivity and interpretation? Rather
than reject considerations of objectivity, reliability and validity as unimportant to
qualitative research, Strauss and Corbin (1 WO), arguing for the replicability of
grounded theory research, state that:
" . . . given the theoreticat perspective of the original researcher and
following the sarne general rules for data coilection and analysis, plus
similar conditions, another investigator should be able to arrive at the
same general scheme" (p. 15).
18
Thus, another researcher working with the original data collected in this study,
and using a grounded theory analysis guided by the theoretical view presented
above, should be able to construct a theoretical rnodel not entirely dissimilar
from the one presented in this paper. Further, to the extent that subjectiveness
can be shared (e-g., people working within a certain theoretical paradigm,
sharing cultural "knowledge" or assumptions, etc.), different analysts may
produce similar interpretations.
Terms Used in the Present Study
In the last decade or sol there has been a shift in the media in the United
States from using the term "black" to "African American". Speight, Vera and
Derrickson (1 996) found that 41% of their sample preferred to be called black.
Of the respondents who chose to be called African American (30% of their
sample), most of these had ideological reasons for their preference -- either
symbolic, political or cultural in nature. This study uses the term black, following
the position of Grant and Orr (1996), that while the term African Canadian (or
African American) may reflect some measure of ethnic pride or in-group
identification, it rnay also serve to misrepresent everyday experiences of black
people in Canada. Black people of ail ages continue to be confronted with the
reality of racism; they still hold lower positions in the economic and political
arenas than do whites. The use of terms such as African Canadian may serve to
19
trivialize or even obscure the real effects of racism experienced by blacks in Our
society. Respondents in this study self-selected a variety of ethnickacial identity
labels. Three of the seven referred to their West lndian heritage, using the
labels "West Indian" and "Jamaican". Two participants identified themselves as
"black", and two chose not to indicate their ethnicity or race. In a study
conducted by Boatswain and Lalonde (1 988), the label preferred by most of the
their respondents was "black. That study also provides evidence that the
individual who chooses a West lndian label rnay be identifying with her ethnic or
cultural heritage, or her place of birth or country of origin. Thus, the respondent
who chooses a Caribbean or West lndian label may not be referring to race, but
to other aspects of personal identity.
Method
Procedure
Personal interviews were conducted with seven women who identified
thernselves as black, Canadian, and mothers. The research sessions were
audio-taped. I used a set of already prepared questions (see Appendix B) to
structure the interviews, but tried to encourage fully open-ended responses. The
purpose of an open-ended response format was to access the perspective of the
participants without introducing preconceived categories which they might use to
organize their memories of personal experiences. The goal was to elicit
20
responses that would lead to some understanding of respondents' thoughts and
feelings and how they see their world. Five of the seven participants received a
shortened, sample version of the interview questions at least one day before the
scheduled interview session. All but one interview was conducted in York
University's Behavioural Sciences Building.
The range of interview lengths was between 50 minutes and slightly over
90 minutes. Before beginning each interview, the purpose of the research was
explained, and the participant was told that she coutd stop the interview at any
time or refuse to talk about anything that made her uncornfortable. Each
participant was given an envelope containing the agreed-upon $25 participation
fee before the interview began, so the session could be stopped at any point
without fear that payment could be withheld for any reason. Each participant
agreed to allow the interview to be audio-taped, and each signed a Consent To
Participate in Research Form (Appendix A) and a Receipt for a $25 research
fee. In addition, each woman filled out a Personal Information Sheet
(Appendix C) designed to collect certain demographic information, the
compilation of which is shown in Table 1. Participants were offered the
opportunity to receive a summary of the results of this study when completed; al1
requested copies.
Research Partici~ants
Five of the seven respondents were parents or staff recruited from a
Toronto Daycare Centre; one participant was a secretary/adrninistrative
assistant with the same organization with which the Daycare Centre is affiliated.
The final participant was recruited through East York Comrnunity Care, a non-
profit organization that provides in-home care services, where her rnother is
employed. Participants were paid $25 for participating in this study. These
participants comprised a small, relatively hornogeneous research sample. The
homogeneity of the group allowed identification of commonalities among
participants' experiences in raising children who, as members of a minority
group within a dominant culture, are likely to be exposed to racism. AI1
participants have been given pseudonyrns in this study to protect their
anonyrnity.
Participants' Demoaraphic Characteristics: The sample of participants
recruited for this study was found to be fairly hornogeneous with respect to total
number of years of education, place of birth, ethnic self-identification and
number of children. Participants' ages range from 25 to 49 years (M = 36.4).
As previously mentioned, al1 participants in this study are immigrants to Canada,
with six of the seven frorn the West Indies. Of these, al1 have some degree of a
recognizable West lndian accent when they speak. The seventh participant's
parents originated in the West lndies and imrnigrated to Canada via England,
22
where she was born. In this sample, participants' total tirne spent living in
Canada ranged from 17 to 28 years (M = 21.3).
Respondents' total years of formal education ranged from 1 1 to 16
(M = 14.3). Six of the seven had some formal, post-secondary education. Of
these, five had taken university classes, and one had attended three years of a
Seminary school affiliated with her church. One participant, who had only eleven
years of standard public education, reported that she has subsequently gone
back to school and earned her Ontario high school equivalency certificate.
Five of the seven participants are in sirnilar econornic circumstances as
reflected both by their responses during the interviews, their occupations
(daycare workers), andlor by their home addresses indicated on the Consent to
Participate in Research form. One participant earns a higher salary than that of
the first five participants, and she is a single mother and the sole support of three
children. Thus, her discretionary income is sirnilar to that of some of the other
participants who may earn less incorne themselves, but who may be married or
living with a partner who shares expenses. The seventh participant is a single
mother of four young children. Her only incorne is derived from Public
Assistance, and she clearly represents the lowest-income member of the sample
for this study. The children represented in this study ranged from approxirnately
three months to twenty-four years of age at the time of the interviews with their
mothers. This broad age range allowed the collection of data pertaining to
23
children throughout the developmental stages. Between them, the respondents
in this study had a great deal of experience in raising black children within a
predominately white society.
Data Collection
These sessions were relatively short, one-time occasions. They were not
"in-depth" interviews. More than once, after talking with a participant for a while, I
felt that if we were to meet and talk again, I would be able to learn much more
about her and her child(ren)'s approach to dealing with racism. We were, after
all, strangers trying to discuss issues that must be intensely personal -- what
could be more personal than a mother's desire to protect her child from any sort
of harm? In addition, we came face-to-face as women with obvious differences
between us: the colour of our skin, employment status and age. As a graduate
student, I may represent a prestigious academic institution. I sought knowledge
they might be able to give me, should they choose to do so. The participants
were aware that the ultimate goal of rny research was to transform bits and
pieces of their private experiences into public theories.
Each participant except one was interviewed for approximately 1 to .5
hours. The exception is a single mother of four children who had no access to
daycare facilities. We met at a fast-food restaurant near her home, where her
children could occupy themselves ât a "Playland" during the interview. These
24
circumstances dictated a somewhat shorter interview session, about 50 minutes,
with numerous interruptions. This resulted in the length of this interview, and the
resulting number of transcribed text units, being less than half as long as the
shortest of the previous six interview sessions. A summary of the number of text
units obtained from the total series of interviews is shown in Table 2, with and
without this shorter interview included. Here, a "text unit" is simply the number of
lines of transcription obtained from a single interview session. For example,
transcription of the 75-minute audiotape of interview number four resulted in
twenty-eight pages, broken down into 1,287 lines of text, or "text units".
All interviews were audio-taped. The tapes were transcribed as soon after
the sessions as possible. The text was edited during transcription to omit
expressions such as "uh", "ah", "um", and sirnilar utterances. When several
repetitions of words occurred, such as "you know ... you know", the text was
edited to delete the second occurrence. Ellipses are used where words have
been omitted from sentences in the text, but care has been taken not to lift any
phrase from its original context. For the most part, the respondents' grammar
was not edited. Where the meaning of text was unclear because it relates to a
previous discussion, words are enclosed in parentheses to clarify the context of
Table 1. Participants' Demoeraphic Information
Characteristic Gloria 1 Maya Rosa Bell Naomi Simone
Age 36 1 42 49 34 25 36
Years of Education 14 11 15 14 16 14
Place of Birth Panama Jamaica West West England Jamaica Indies lndies
Years in Canada 24 19 28 17 17 22
Coretta
Jamaica
Ethnic Self- Identification
1 (a) 1 Black 1 West 1 ~ ~ a c k 1 (a) I ~ a m a i c a n lndian
Canadian West lndian
Family lncome < $70 e $50 < $50 < $50 < $50 c $50 ($000Near)
w
No. of Children 3 3 3 3 2 3 (Female 1 Male) (2 1 1) (1 1 2) (2 11) (1 / 2) (1 11) (1 12)
a Participant did not indicate her ethnicity.
b Participant identified herself as a single mother and stated that her primary source of income was Public Assistance; there rnay be some additional, but lirnited, support frorn family.
Note: Every participant had at least one child of each sex; this sample represents a total of 9 girls and 12 boys.
26
the reference. Proper narnes of the respondent's friends or farnily members were
replaced by descriptions in brackets: for example, "John" was replaced with the
indicator: [son's name].
Memos
One important part of the rnethodology for the grounded approach to
qualitative analysis is the use of bracketing, or the recording of the researcher's
personal thoughts, biases, concerns, etc. in written memo format. Qualitative
researchers need to get their personal thoughts and ideas down on paper to aid
in later analysis. Memos were written directly after each intewiew and, as
different parts of the analysis progressed, thoughts and impressions were
recorded at each phase (per Glaser, 1978, 1992; Maxwell, 1996; Rennie et al.,
1988). Some mernos pertain to methodological issues, and some to assumptions
and experiences relevant to the research. Memos were kept informal, and were
systematically organized and indexed.
Results of Prelirninary Studv
In the grounded theory approach, data collection can be influenced by the
data that emerges from each protocol (Rennie et al., 1988, p. 141). Based on the
pilot interview with the first participant, both the Persona! Information Sneet
Table 2.
Number of Text Units Per Interview
Text Units in Interviews I 6 (Participants 1 through 6)
Maximum Participants ( N )
Mean 1 Std. Dev. Minimum
When Participant no. 7 Is included
7 31 8 (no.7)
1287 (no. 4)
28
(Appendix C) and the set of interview questions (Appendix B) were revised with
rninor changes. All data obtained from this first interview have been included in
this study.
Data Analysis
Overview of Grounded Theory Technique
The inductive strategy chosen for this research project is the grounded
theory method first developed by Glaser and Strauss (1 967) and subsequently
modified by Glaser (1 978) and by Rennie et al. (1 988). Analysis begins as soon
as data from the first protocols are sorted into preliminary descriptive categories
and memoed, so that data collection, coding and analysis occur concurrently.
Because the outcornes of each protocol influence the emerging analysis,
the earliest data may indicate a need to re-word or re-phrase parts of the
question set, or to rnodify the interview approach, the setting, etc., as the
research process continues. In fact, this did turn out to be the case. As
previously mentioned, the set of interview questions was modified after the first
interview. It was subsequently modified during the third interview and from then
on, to include the question: "How would you or your child's father react if the child
wanted to date interracially?" There were three reasons for including this
question: (1) it tended to focus the discussion more closely on a specific area of
blacklwhite interrelations for which most people could be expected to have an
29
opinion; (2) it was intended as a check on any previous statements related to
racial stereotypes, attitudes, and biases; and (3) it was a way to elicit the
respondent's marital status without directly asking. In other words, if a
respondent had previously stated that "race isn't an issue; we're al1 the same
inside", and then later stated that if their child dated someone of another race, it
would make the parents "very unhappy", this became an indicator that additional,
clarifying information needed to be elicited from the participant.
Units of Analvsis and Method
According to Glaser (1978), "the discovery of Grounded Theory implicitly
assumes that the analyst will be creative" (p. 20). Identifying connections
between seerningly unrelated experiences, and recognizing patterns of meaning
in respondents' narratives cannot be done by any computer program. The
researcher needs to continually work at developing the skill and ability to be
sensitive to the data.
The text data were first loosely organized into what Rennie et al. (1 988)
refer to as meaning units (p. 142). For researchers who do not use computer
programs and must do al1 the clerical work by hand, meaning units ("Mus") are
derived by reducing the core meaning of a sentence or phrase into as brief a
condensation as is possible without any loss of meaning to the unit. Meaning
units are then typed ont0 index cards and physically sorted into different
30
categories. Allocating a text unit to multiple categories then entails either
photocopying or retyping each meaning unit or index card the appropriate
number of tirnes. Rather than using this index-card technique, a cornputer
program was used that is designed to store, categorize and analyze qualitative
data -- the Non-Numerical Unstructured Data lndexing Searching and Theorizing
4.0 (Nud'lst) software (Appendix E provides a surnmary of this program's
features).
The format used in transcribing the audiotapes into text was informed by
Gee's (1 986, 1989) work on linguistic analysis and narrative construction. Gee
proposes that all spoken narratives, even casual everyday speech, are made up
of idea units that are set off by discourse markers (1968, p. 392). These idea
units are essentially the same as Rennie's meaning units. Appendix D shows an
example of block-style transcription versus Gee's style of indicating idea units.
Transcribing and formatting each protocol into Word Petfect files in this general
manner made it relatively easy to block text on-line within Nud*lst and assign it to
a category or to multiple categories. Thus, using Gee's style at the initial
transcription of each audiotape produced a preliminary sorting of the MUS
sequenced in each protocol.
Use of a program such as Nud*lst allows the researcher to constantly refer
to the entire context of an MU as she or he cross-categorizes, moves, sorts or
searches for data within the entire text document. ln addition to the interview
transcripts themselves, the data is also comprised of memos, the researcher's
comments and notations on text units, observations made shortly after the
interviews, and the demographic information obtained from and recorded for each
participant. Meaning units do not have to be condensed, but can be allowed to
remain embedded within their original text. The Nud*lst software preserves each
MU in its context, with no loss of rneaning. This feature may allow the researcher
to be sornewhat bolder and creative with the data than the older cut-and-paste
techniques allow. One is less hesitant to assign a piece of data to multiple
categories when there is no need for repeatedly re-typing or otherwise physically
duplicating it, sorting it by hand, etc.
Grounded theory analysis requires that initial data categorization must be
able to be re-conceptualized and re-sorted as the analysis progresses. Glaser
(1 978) states that:
. . . the major goal of coding is to use a rnethod that facilitates high
sortability and flexibility . . . [and that the analyst] sorts both memos on a
code and the code with data so he [sic] can see exactly how he grounds
his memo, hence his theory. (p. 71)
The Nud*lst software allowed the data in this study to be organized and
sorted into temporary hierarchies that reflected category and subcategory
relationships. Nud*lst can also provide some descriptive statistics. For example,
one can search and record the percentage of text in each protocol in which a
reference to the word prejudice is found. This feature allowed an assessrnent of
the arnount of evidence in the text units related to any particular question,
conclusion or threat (e-g., the number of discrepant instances found and from
32
which, or how rnany, sources they were obtained).
A potential downside to the ability to easily alfocate an MU to any number
of categories is that one can expand the coding process too far. As Fisher notes,
"instead of data reduction, we have invented data proliferation" (1997, p. 23).
And although Nud*lst is an efficient tool for organizing text data, it is still the case
that qualitative data analysis requires the researcher to devote a great deal of
time to cycling and recycling through the data, and thinking and re-thinking small
pieces of information.
The capabilities of critical thinking, intuition, and the capacity to develop
theoretical insights are not within the scope of abilities of computer software.
However, even though Nud*lst is just a tool, the use of computer software for
data analysis may tend credibility to the overall qualitative research process.
Once a text unit of any length is imported into the program, it is never "lost" - a
search of matching or related text will always locate it. Any data, once it is coded
into a category, will automatically appear any time that category is accessed.
Using the Nud*lst program meant that MUS could be any length. Nud*lst
proved to be a powerful tool for organizing the text data. The organization of
hundreds of text units for each interview transcript was a demanding and time-
intensive project, even with the computer software; it required recording,
categorizing, sorting, searching, and a subsequent re-sorting of the text units.
The researcher using Nud*lst needs to resist, at least in the earliest stages of
descriptive coding, the potential for the software to force a shape to the data.
There is a risk of allowing the structure of the program to lead to a too-quick
structuring of the data. Because Nud*lst is constructed to build data into a "tree"
33
from the bottom up, the user might be tempted to force the early categories into a
hierarchical shape.
The first phase of analysis was essentially a discovery stage. Meaning
units were grouped into categories that were initially given descriptive labels that
corresponded to patterns of language that emerged as common arnong the
participants. Meaning units were often assigned to more than one relevant
category. Coding the first interview protocol produced a series of unlinked,
descriptive categories. With the analysis of each succeeding interview text,
descriptive categories were created to contain new pieces of information, and text
was assigned to existing categories where appropriate. Thus, MUS were
categorized in an open manner into every category into which their properties fit
(in accordance with Glaser, 1978, p. 56). These descriptive categories began to
address the questions: "what is going on?" and "how?".
After al1 transcripts were coded, reports were generated and printed
directly from the database to show data contained in each descriptive category;
then the process of conceptually linking these categories together began. In
some cases this meant merging categories, where there were no substantive
differences in the overall meaning of the MUS contained in each. In a couple of
cases, categories were discarded as irrelevant to the particular questions
addressed in this study. For example, al1 text that referred to either the mother's
or the child's emotions, in situations involving racism, was originally coded into
one of two categories entitled "Emotions". The descriptive category labelled
"Mother's Emotions" coded rnothers' feelings in response to perceived injustice
for her child. The MUS variously described anger, hurt, and fear for the child's
34
physical safety. Data coded here had already been cross-coded into two other
relevant categories that describe differences in how mothers talk to their
daughters versus their sons. Those two categories, in turn, later built toward
another level in another section of the analysis. Thus, "Mother's Emotions" was
found to be a redundant category and was eliminated.
Respondents' reports of their children's emotions were also coded at the
initial stage of analysis, under the label "Child's Emotions". Not surprisingly,
mothers interpreted their child's feelings as hurt, anger, and frustration. Although
interesting, these categories are not truly relevant to the focus of this study.
These were, therefore, eliminated from further analysis. Similarly, a descriptive
category labelled Child's Actions (in response to a racial experience) was
dropped from further analysis, but a memo pertaining to this category was fited
under the main category, Mothers' Actions. The significance of the individual
child's responses in negative racial encounters is discussed in the section
entitled "Child's Private Domain".
As the relationships between any two or more descriptive categories
became clear, they were linked together to form a higher-order category that
subsumed the characteristics of each. It became apparent that some categories
were related to each other in clusters and some of these were merged together.
As analysis progressed, both the descriptive and the higher-order categories
saturated, and it was observed that the incorporation of new protocols into the
analysis did not result in the development of new categories or new relationships
between existing categories. With the incorporation of data from the fifth
interview into the database, no new descriptive categories were created. The
sixth and seventh protocols coded completely to existing categories.
In the following sections describing results obtained in this study,
examples of the data and analyses of the data are presented in each section.
Discussion of each, along with notations regarding related issues, are also
presented sirnultaneously. The results of the analysis are represented by a
model of the core category, Mothers' Strategies, which subsumes four main
categories (Table 3). These four main categories are each constructed from two
or more higher-order categories, each of which subsume numerous descriptive
categories. Some of the descriptive categories, in turn, are comprised of
subcategories that have been merged together. Where this is the case, the
process of analysis that led to the merge is noted and discussed in the relevant
section of this study.
Core Category: Mothers' Strategies and Theoretical Mode1
The core category that emerged from the data, Mothers' Strategies, was
clearly driven by the research questions pertaining to how respondents attempt to
teach their children to respond to racism. Four main categories comprise the
core category; each of these, in turn, is comprised of a number of descriptive
categories. The main categories are: (1) Mothers' Personal Philosophy,
36
(2) Mothers' Actions, (3) Building Child's Self-Esteem, and (4) RaceIGender
Stereotypes. The hierarchical structure of the core category is represented in
Table 3.
Emergent Data and Unexpected Findings
Data that led to the construction of the main category entitled Mothers'
Personal Philosophy were the least expected cornponent of this analysis. The
interview sessions were originally structured around how mothers talk to their
children about racism. Although the set of interview questions cornprised a rather
broad range of discussion material, it seems that respondents had thoughts
about racial issues they wished to discuss. For example, four of seven
respondents talked about instances of racism which they (not their children) had
experienced. That their personal rnemories were painful was obvious, even to an
inexperienced interviewer. in each case, no effort was made during the interview
to lead the participant into a change of subject; the stories these respondents
related were relevant to the main focus of this study.
Four elements emerged as common to the recounting of these
experiences:
(1) In every case, the stories were unsolicited during the interview.
37
(2) The stories were specific to each respondent's own experiences and
appeared to be unrelated to any situation she discussed that involved her
child(ren).
(3) Three of the seven respondents reported immigrating to Canada as young
students and having encountered systematic discrimination in the
Canadian public school system; each of these participants focused on
acadernic racism as having been of significance in their personal lives.
(4) The stories were invariably followed by comments to the effect that "things
are changing now".
Five of the seven respondents volunteered their personal feelings about
the difficulty of teaching their children how to deal with racism. Within these five
protocols, data revealed a pattern of mothers wanting to protect their children
from the knowledge that racism exists. In this research sample, participants who
discussed this issue expressed the desire to forestall serious talks about racism
for as long as possible* This trend in the data is represented by the following two
reports:
Maya: "But I don't . . . didn't want to burden the children with this stuff. I
take the pain for al1 that (racism) and it's wrong. I don't know. But
when certain situations arise, I don't want to tell them that 'This is
exactly what's happening', because 1 don't feel they can
Table 3. The Research Model: Hierarchical Structure of the Core Category,
Main Categories, Higher-Order Categories, and Descriptive Categories
II CORE CATEGORY: II Mothers' Strategies
Main Categories:
Mot hers' Personal Mothers' Acts: Experiences (6) Within Institutional
Domain (2)
Mothers' Within Private Explanations of Domain (4) Racism (to Self) (3) Tells Child to Act:
Within Institutional Domain (3)
RaceIGender Stereotypes
Within Private Domain (6)
Hiqher-Order Cateaories:
Building Child's Self-Esteem
Mothers' Personal Philosophy
Positive Aspects Family's of Race (2) Values (2)
Addressing Child's RaceIGender Self-esteem (4) Stereotypes (4)
Value of Education (2)
Emphasizing Ethnic Diversity (4)
Addressing Colour Issues (6)
Mothers' Actions
The number of descriptive categories subsumed by each higher-order category is
shown in parenthesis.
39
comprehend the maanitude of it . . . I haven't jumped ahead and
pointed out that this is happening because of race, because I don't
think they quite comprehend, especially the youngest one, he's 12,
he doesn't realize that there are biases."
Maya's report offers support for Kofkin et al. (1 995), who reported that
black parents tend to discuss race issues with their children la ts than do both
Asian and white parents and, generally, may prefer to wait until the child is older.
Note that this respondent reports her belief that her son, at age twelve, is still too
young to comprehend "the magnitude" of racisrn. As reflected in the following
example, another participant appeared to fear that alerting her children to
exarnples of racism would exaggerate their perception of it:
Gloria: "What am I going to tell them? That they must be aware of racial
discrimination? I can't Say that to my kids. I can't Say that to them.
Why? Then they're going to think that way. I don't want that!"
Gloria's children were aged five, eight, and eleven at the time of the
interview. These text units support research findings that black parents may fear
that discussing race issues with children will sensitize thern, causing them to
focus more on what is different between people, rather than what we have in
common (Aboud & Doyle, 1 W6b; Kofkin, et al. 1995).
In addition to a general reluctance to discuss race-related issues with a
child who is too young, respondents in this study also reported using the
40
foilowing strategies to try to protect the child. First, they focus on helping to
build the child's self-esteem. Second, they talk to the child about specific ways
to deal with situations (i.e., what to "say back"). An analysis of the respondents'
reports of their own behaviour reveals that al1 respondents but one (who
reported never having had school problems with any of her children) appear to
befieve they must be pro-active in making sure the child is treated fairly within
the school system. There are two cornponents to this: (1) making sure that the
child's work is graded fairly, by impartial teachers, and (2) trying to ensure that
the child's individual abilities are recognized and opportunities (either
advancement or remedial) are provided comrnensurate with those abilities.
Being pro-active entails sharing with other parents the information they have
gathered on how to "access the system". Sorne participants expressed the view
that instances of racism can be seen as "just ignorance" on the other's part.
Finally, one respondent, the oldest, shared the viewpoint that raising kids is fun:
Rosa: "People get so heavy! (Laughs) Just lighten up. There's fun and
laughter in raising a child as well."
It is interesting that, in the discussions that centred on how they deal with
their children on issues of racism, respondents' reported preferences covered a
broad range of strateg ies. For example, Maya expressed being very protective
of her children and wishing to protect them from racism for as long as possible.
Alternatively, Simone said that she does not see racism as a problem for her
41
children and, although her family has discussed it, "Personally, for me though, I
do not see race as a big issue."
The overall structure that emerged from the analysis of data obtained in
this study is reflected in Table 3. This model summarizes the results of this
study; it represents strategies used by the black Canadian mothers in this
research sample to teach their child(ren) how to cope with situations involving
racial prejudice and discrimination.
Main Category: Mothers' Personat Philosophy
This main category, represented in Table 4, emerged from data pertaining
to three separate areas related to each mother's personal experiences. First,
some participants reported experiences related either to their own, or to their
partner's employment. Second, respondents described negative academic
experiences. Finalty, respondents reported instances that occurred within a
general social context. The descriptive categories that coded instances of each
are shown below. These descriptive categories constructed two higher-order
categories: Mothers' Experiences with Racism, and Mothers' Explanations of
Racism. These two categories represent what might be considered to be the
philosophical foundations from which these women conduct some of the most
basic aspects of their daiIy lives -- raising black children in an arguably racist
society.
Mothers' Personal Exneriences with Racism
This higher-order category emerged from data that coded to three
descriptive categories: Job-Related Experiences, Academic-Related
Experiences, and Other Social Experiences. Data in these categories reflect
respondents' accounts of persona1 experiences with racism.
Job-Related Exneriences: Reports of job-related racism were obtained
from three participants. Bell told two stories, one pertaining to her own
employment and another related to her husband's former employment.
Bell: "1 remember one summer in rny work . . . I wore a shirt that had a
picture of Malcolm X on it. And ail it was, was a picture - no
words, no nothing, just a face. My husband was so proud that he
bought it for me, and it's in my closst on the floor because I've
never worn it again. 'Cause it offended some of the white
Canadian staff that felt that he represented something that was
violence. Therefore, to Wear his face on a shirt means that I'm
saying the violence is (okay). You know what I mean? So I chose
not to, therefore (wear it). Life continued merrily on. It's my work, I
need it, so I can't put up too much of a resistance."
Bell stated she was upset that something so simple as wearing a T-shirt got the
reaction it did from her supervisor. Gloria reported two sirnilar experiences.
43
Gloria: "1 used to Wear a T-shirt (to work) that said something about black
pride being beautiful or something like that. And you believe it,
somebody got upset."
"1 got in trouble once, my boss yelled at me. I had given [someone]
something and I asked her for it back. And t go, 'Oh, I'm an Indian-
giver now.' Whoa! My boss called me in the office. I got in
trouble, and I thought it (her remark) was nothinq."
Gloria used gestures and voice inflections when she spoke and was quite
animated in recounting these two instances. She reported that she considered
these events to be minor issues, and was upset that they were taken with such
seriousness by her supervisor.
Bell reported that her husband had recently lost his job. Before moving to
Toronto, he had worn his hair in dread-locks, which is a custom in the West
Indies, his original home. For two years, he was unable to find work, but after he
shaved his head, he found a job which he then kept for another six years. He
started growing his hair again and got laid off work. Both Bell and her husband
believed the layoff was due to his new hair length:
Bell: "lt's just M e things, that you kind of go 'Well, it was unfair. We
don't have the proof of why it was unfair or why it was done.' But
we just Say, 'Okay, the possibility's there, that that's what it was."
44
Table 4. Main Cateaorv: "Mothers' Personal Philosophy" emergence from
data contained in descriptive categories.
Mothers' Personal P hilosophy
Higher-Order Categories:
Mothers' Personal Experiences with Racism
Mothers' Personal Experiences: Job Related (2) Academic Related (3) Other Social (3)
Experiences of Close Others (other than child):
Job Related (1) Academic Related (3) Other Social (3)
-
Mothers' Explanations of Racism
Racism Results from Ignorance (3)
Racism Results from Cultural Misunderstanding (2)
Things are Changing Mow (6)
The number of protocols coded to each descriptive category is shown in
parentheses.
45
Rosa related an entirely different type of job-related experience. In this
case, there is no implicit threat to her position; rather, she believes that the
colour of her skin prevents her from being recognized as a manager at her place
of work.
Rosa: "1 would be sitting in the office and sometimes people would come
in, and they would . . . my assistant is white, so they'll go to her
(laughs). I look at them and, you know, you just deal with it. It
is . . . just something you deal with."
While these issues might seem rninor to some, they were clearly not
minor to these women. As each of them told their stories, they were obviously
upset by their memories of those events. Whether they felt that their jobs were
seriously threatened or not, each of these situations reflected some sort of an
injury to their sense of self. The experience Rosa reported was not a one-time
occurrence (she used plural terms in describing it) nor did it jeopardize either her
employment or her position. It may be the most significant indicator in the data,
however, in terms of how black women may believe they are viewed in our
society. Rosa is attractive and was well dressed at our interview. Nevertheless,
she clearly felt that it is the colour of her skin, not whatever other personal
characteristics she presents in her position - such as a professional appearance
- that has been most salient to some of the first-time visitors to her office.
46
Academic-Related Experiences: This descriptive category coded MUS of
two main types. First were the women's own experiences while attending
Canadian public schools, after irnmigrating from their countries of origin. A
second type of experience was coded: those reported as having been
encountered by close family members (other than the respondent's child),
generally the participant's sibling. Four of the participants' protocols coded to
both aspects of this category. In other words, both the respondent and some
other close family mernber experienced what they perceived to be instances of
academic discrimination. This was generally framed within the context of the
Canadian educational system refusing to accept academic credentials earned in
the West Indies. In each case that participants discussed this issue, they said
that both they and their sibling were required to "go back and repeat high-
school courses already completed in their home country. Further to that, once
they completed their high school courses and went on to college or university
level classes, they reported that they continued to feel that their academic
abilities were consistently underrated - that no matter how good they felt their
work was, they believed they received lower grades than white or Asian students
doing similar work.
Bell: "And I made a vow to myself that, having graduated (from high
school) and accepted al1 the 'Cs' and things like that, I would
do it the second tirne around. I am half-way through school ai
47
Seneca, social work, and 1 always told myself: 'It's not going to
happen again'. I had one professor who told me, and to this day
it's scarred me so much that 1 ran and hid for a little while, then 1
resurfaced (laughs) . . . he told me, as a criticism, that I 'wrote too
much like a West Indian'. And 1 looked at him, sickened to rny
stomach, and said, 'Have a merry Christmas, thank you, good-bye'.
And I never had the guts to finish it and Say, 'okay!'."
As has been noted, of the six participants in this study who have West
lndian accents, two have only slight accents; the other four have more
pronounced and recognizable accents when they speak. Possibly, their accents
and/or styles of speech are relevant to how they were perceived upon their
entrance into Canadian schools. They may have been (and, in fact, may
continue to be) easily identified as immigrants. If an individual teacher already
has a knowledge of a cultural stereotype (for example, "West lndians have a
poor command of 'proper' English"), he or she may be automatically biased
when making assessments of the student's overall abilities (Devine, 1989).
The data from Bell's protocol, cited above, supports Moghissi's (1994)
analysis of the issue of racism within the Canadian university system:
It is usually harder to reveal the subtle, unconscious racism of
intellectuals and the incredible tolerance of racism in academic
institutions than to expose a man in the street who cornrnits overt racism
48
. . . The racist and sexist behaviours and practices in academia typically
do not include hard and convincing-beyond-doubt evidence, such as
bodily harm or explicit derogatory statements. This, however, does not
make racism and sexism in academia more benign - far from it.
Academic institutions produce knowledge and reproduce the ideological
make-up of every society. Through educating and training the future elite
of every society, their intellectual produce has far-reaching impacts on the
whole society. (p. 223)
This speaks directly to what respondents related concerning their own
experiences, both as immigrants and as women of colour within the Canadian
academic systern. Participants' accounts of instances of academic
discrimination were not interpreted as being exaggerated. A review of the data
indicates that none of the women couched their experiences in terms of
academic sexism as well as academic racism. Perhaps female instructors were
perceived as being as racially biased as males, and so there was no comparison
to be made between thern (although one respondent did relate an account of a
female professor being very helpful to her). Unfortunately, the overall length of
the interviews did not aIlow time for relevant follow-up questions that might have
teased the two issues - academic racism and academic sexism - apart.
Other Social Exoeriences: This category includes a fairly broad range of
reported experiences. For instance, Naomi reported making two personal
49
observations regarding blackhhite relations. The first was that white people
don't like to stand behind black people (i.e., in line at a bus stop, on a subway
platform, in a grocery store, etc.). She proposed that if a black person is
standing in a white person's path, the white person will go deliberately out of
their way rather than Say "excuse me" to the black person. Naomi allowed that
those were her persona1 judgments: "But as l said, it's not very legitimate; it's
just, you know, a persona1 observation kind of thing."
Another participant related an entirely different type of observation. She
had witnessed an incident on a T.T.C. bus, wherein a white male bus driver had
brandished a baseball bat at some boisterous black boys:
Bell: "And he reached over by his seat and took out a baseball bat and
said, 'You, Leroy, I'm talking to you Leroy'. He said, 'You're al1 a
bunch of Leroy's. Get off the bus.' And the children got off, and
one boy put his foot down and said 'I'm not getting off and he
chased him off the bus with a baseball bat."
These stories are' related to public incidents where, although the respondent
rnay have felt wronged (or felt that members of her racial group had been
wronged), she also perceived that she had little social, or even legal, recourse to
redress the situation at the time.
Mothers' Ex~lanations of Racism
Three main explanations of racism emerged from the data. These
reflected ways in which the participant explained her personal experiences.
Data related to these areas were coded into three corresponding descriptive
categories: (1) Racism Results from Ignorance, (2) Racism Results frorn Cultural
Misunderstanding, and (3) Things are Changing Now.
Racism Results from lanorance: Three of the seven respondents
expressed the view that racism results from the offender's ignorance. In the
following examples, one participant described a white neighbour's fear of (and
hostility toward) her son. She discussed several related issues in this text unit,
so this data was cross-coded to other descriptive categories (and is reported in
other sections of this paper). She framed her description of the offender's
behaviour in terrns of his lacking knowledge:
Rosa: "And maybe because of stereotypes he's heard, so this . . . So, I
think it's lack of knowledge why he's afraid."
Two other respondents provided similar explanations of racism:
Naomi: ". . . in Manitoba it was really because we were black . . . and we
were picked on by Native lndians and by whites. The whites
picked on the Native Indians; and then they have nowhere to turn
- I don't blame anybody. It's just lack of knowledge."
51
Simone: "Well, when you do not know something . . . if you do not have
knowledge about something, you just . . . like a lot of times what
surfaces is ignorance. Even if you don't realize at the time, it's just
downright icrnorance. It's ignorance and . . (long pause)."
Racisrn Results from Cultural Misunderstandinq: This category coded
references to the ways respondents explain racism. These are interpreted as
being explanations the individual personaliy adopts - in other words, answers
she can live with. One participant reported that her daughter's teacher "labelled"
the child as "disruptive" and described her own efforts to have that label
removed frorn her daughter's school file. She attributed the incident to a cultural
misunderstanding, stating that the teacher was evidently unfamiliar with the way
black girls communicate:
Gloria: "You know the issue of people, the biack people, the thing is you
can talk to a person, and carry on a conversation, and go on and
on. Teachers don't understand, and they really should, the
background of the children, and are not always able to assess
what's happening in the group. Black girls talk al1 at the same tirne.
We a do, and I think this is maybe seen as some (kind of) attitude.
And sometirnes maybe it is not understood. But it's just a way of
talking."
52
Naomi perceives that some teachers fait to recognize cultural differences
in a system inhabited by so many different ethnic groups. At the sarne tirne, she
again attributes this type of failure to ignorance on the other's part. She also
proposes, in this exarnple, that it is the teacher's choice to remain ignorant (i.e.,
the situation could be amended):
Naomi: "Some teachers are just, you know . . . 1 won't Say 'an idiot', but
maybe they don't know any better, haven't been exposed as much
as they could be, or don't choose to be as open-minded as they
could be. And it's sad, because they are in a school system
dealing with many different people."
Culturaliy-related style differences in speaking and Iistening have been
shown by numerous scholars to account for systematic misjudgment of minority
children in white, Anglo classrooms (e-g., Erickson & Shultz on white counsellors
and black community college students, 1982; Kochrnan, 1984, on differences in
styles of expressiveness between black and white youths; Philips on Warm
Springs 1 ndian children, 1983).
Teachers may have certain assumptions about what constitutes "proper"
self-display and self-control in the classroom. These can differ markedly from
the linguistic styles that young children may have already learned at home.
Gloria's observation that black girls' conversational style might give rise to
53
"cultural" misunderstanding is also supported by sociolinguists. Tannen (1 994)
states that:
The consequences of style [linguistic] differences work to the
disadvantage of members of groups that are stigrnatized in our
society, and to the advantage of those who have the power to
enforce their interpretations . . . when style differences are found in
encounters between those who hold the keys to societal power --
such as community college counselors, state government
representatives, or job interviewers - and those who wish to benefit
frorn the encounter by getting career advice, government services
or a job, it is the person seeking benefits who systematically loses
as a result of style differences. (p. 8)
Of course, it may be the case that Gloria's daughter was disruptive in the
classroom. Or perhaps the teacher did react negatively to differences in
speaking/ listening styles, as Gloria proposed. Or the teacher might have
reacted to the colour of the child's skin or the loudness of her voice, or to any
number of other individual characteristics the child displayeb. The effect of
discrimination is not always and necessarily the result of an intention to
discriminate; however, the teacher's intentions are largely irrelewant. It is her (in
this case, the teacher was female) assessrnent of the child's behaviour and
intellectual abilities that come to be recorded in the child's permanent progress
54
reports. If it happens that a teacher is negatively influenced by the child's
speakingllistening style, and fails to recognize and correct the misjudgrnent, the
child is likely to suffer unfavourable academic consequences.
It is interesting to note that when Gloria reported the unhappy academic
experiences she had as a young West lndian immigrant, she clearly reported
thern as being instances of racial discrimination. But when she recounted her
daughter's having been "labelled" by a teacher, she framed the experience as
being a cultural misunderstanding.
Thinas are Chanaina Now: Six of the seven respondents endorsed the
notion that social progress has (at least somewhat) eased racial relations in Our
society, so that "things are changing now". These six reported the possibility
that things might be better for their children.
Naomi: "So, hopefutly . . . I'm optimistic, so I say, no, I don't think I will
have to address as much (with my children) as l went through
myself . . . times have changed; it's better than, let's say, twenty
years ago, but I don't think in five years it's gonna disappear. So
you have to be realistic . . . I don't think it's going to just disappear
by the tirne my child gets (to a higher grade). I expect l'II probably
have to deal with school problems. I probably will."
Both Maya and Rosa framed their view that things are changing in the context of
the numbers of mixed-race children they see at the Daycare Centre where both
55
work. (This is discussed further under the main category "RaceIGender
Stereotypes" under the topic of interracial dating.) Coretta couched her view
solely in terms of opportunities opening for women - she viewed her daughter's
future opportunities as being greater than those she has personally experienced:
Coretta: "You know, probably by the time [daughter's narne] grows up,
things are going to change so drastically . . . fields that women
wouldn't have been in before, but they're now open to them.
They're going into different jobs, regardless of colour or breed . . .
it's like we're becoming a more open society."
Gloria proposed that opportunities for black women are presently more limited;
as well, she measured progress by a more modest standard:
Gloria: "l'rn hoping . . . I think these (racial) issues, hopefully, will be dead.
It's dying for me, but I don't know the reality. People accept you,
but as you go up the ladder and you want to achieve - job-wise -
well . . (long pause). . . But I have never heard anyone cal1 my kids
names or anyone cal1 me a 'nigger' or whatever. That's good,
which means that we are breaking away from al1 that . . . now it's
more like, people are more into that 'multi-culture' stuff - mind you,
some people will make remarks and stuff and you look at them and
you wonder exactly what they mean. But they know that even
when they throw remarks, you sort of could take it either way."
56
Gloria's wording here is interesting in that she manages to express both a hope
and a skepticism that things are actually changing. She also rnakes two
references to what she perceives as subtle forms of racism. First, she perceives
that she faces a professional "glass ceiling" because she is a black woman
(although it is not clear whether her advancement in her present position is
limited because of her colour, or whether the range of other employment
opportunities is limited because she is black). Second, she states that people
know better these days than to use terms like 'nigger.' She reports that
derogatory racial references have simply become more ambiguous -- so that
unfavourable or negative comments can be "taken either way".
Of al1 the interview discussions that centred around the view that "things
are changingn, Bell's was perhaps the most cornplex. She reported talking to her
daughter about racism:
Bell: "1 do it with a lot of gentleness. Like, l'II Say, 'You know, there'll
always be people like that, sweetheart. They wonPt always treat
you the same way they'll treat a white person, and it's just
something we can't change' . . . there have been a lot of changes
in years, but there's some things that (people) still can't get over."
However, imrnediately foflowing that text unit, Bell remarked that her parents'
generation had far more prejudices regarding shades of skin colour -- in the
West Indies, it was considered to be socially advantageous for black people to
57
have light skin tones. Bell believes that her generation (Le., longer term
immigrants to Canada) place less emphasis on the desirability of lighter skin.
Thus, sorne things are changing over time -- but not enough, and not fast
enough to protect her own daughter from the effects of racisrn. She advised her
daughter not to expect to be treated Iike (i.e., as well as) a white person. Bell's
feelings that things are changing appear to be somewhat ambiguous. On the
one hand, she says her generation has "improved" their racial attitudes vis-a-vis
those of their parents' generation. On the other hand, black people cannot
change the way white people treat them. Perhaps, then, the only social changes
that have occurred have been within recent generations of black people.
Sumrnary
Respondents' personal philosophies about how to deal with racism, both
in their own lives and in the lives of their children, were not the original focus of
the study. Nevertheless, respondents wished to relate their own experiences.
Participants seemed to need to be able to explain racism to themselves, to make
sense of their own experiences. Data obtained in this study revealed three main
ways of doing so: (1) explaining racism in terms of the offender's ignorance;
(2) choosing to view instances of racism as cultural misunderstanding; and
(3) adopting a perspective that whatever the mechanisms might be that
contribute to racial discrimination and prejudice, these things are changing.
58
These general trends in the participants' ways of thinking about the etiology and
mechanisms of racism may be inseparably tied to the strategies they teach their
children. This paper will show the processes of analysis that link each of these
to the main category, Mothers' Actions, as follows:
1. Ex~lainincl racism in terms of the other's ianorance: As the analysis
progressed, it became clear that when mothers can begin with the underlying
assumption that the offender is simply lacking knowledge, then a logical strategy
is to convince the child to "consider the source" of the offense. Given that the
offender is ignorant, directions such as: "don't let it bother you"; "it doesn't
matter"; or "just walk away from it" become obvious choices for dealing with the
offender. In fact, each of these strategies served as labels for descriptive
categories created in the early stages of coding and analysis.
2. Choosina to view instances of racisrn as cultural misunderstanding:
One of the strategies respondents reported employing with their children was
that of making an effort to expose them to ethnic diversity. They used
community events in and around Toronto to show their children their own
heritage (Le., trips to a Jamaican cultural centre, attendance at a Nigerian street
fair, etc.) and also to introduce them to other ethnic groups' traditions. The goal
seemed to be twofold: (1) to help the child develop a sense of personal self-
esteem, and (2) to teach respect for members of other racial or ethnic groups.
Descriptive categories that coded MUS pertaining to these strategies built
59
towards an understanding of two main categories: Mothers' Actions and
Building Child's Self-Esteem. Respondents in this study were more likely to
attribute their own negative experiences to racial discrimination, but tended to
most often frame those of their child(ren) in terms of cultural misunderstandings.
3. Es~ousinn the perspective that thincis are channing: This philosophy is
linked in rather complex ways to the strategy of teaching the child to transcend
negative racial experiences. First, it is not clear whether, overall, respondents
are truly convinced (and, thus, could consistently maintain to their child) that
social mechanisrns underlying racisrn have substantially changed, or are
changing, in our society. However, respondents may either want or need (or
both) to believe that progress is being made.
Respondents did not directly indicate that framing their beliefs, or
personal philosophies, in these fashions in any way moderated the personal
consequences of either particular or systernatic instances of racism. The
interpretation and organization of their reports in this manner is purely that of the
researcher.
Main Category: Mothers' Actions
This main category originally subsurned two descriptive categories
labelled Mothers' Direct Responses and Mothers' Indirect Responses. These
labels initially collected data consisting of anything respondents reported doing
60
in response to a racial issue involving their child. Initially, the individual
respondent's approach was conceptualized as being either direct (some action
taken, which may include confrontation with a teacher, etc.) or indirect action
(generally, simply talking to, or counselling, the child). Respondents tended to
speak of their child's social worlds in two main ways: interactions that take place
in the context of school, and interactions with friends or neighbourhood children.
In the latter context, any conflicts were viewed as rninor, and relatively little
discussion took place regarding these. In the arena of school, the rnothers
focused on two prirnary components of the child's experience: (4 ) social
interactions with other children within the school setting (i.e., playground and
classroom), and (2) those related to academic situations. There are two sub-
components related to the child's academic situation: the child's relationship
with his or her individual teacher(s), and the school system's overall fairness in
grading/evaluating the child.
While working with these two categories (i.e., Direct and Indirect), a
review was made of al1 of the relevant MUS, and it was noticed that the
respondents' approaches could be envisioned in other terrns. There seerned to
be a feeling among the participants that, in sorne situations, a child's best
strategy is to be low profile or non-confrontational. Thus, participants reported
several strategies that, on first view, appeared to be "indirect". The early
atternpts to sort data related to the school setting seemed to be unsatisfactory,
61
as if the data were being fitted into preconceived categories.
There were some problems with viewing the data in this manner. First,
the participants appeared to be intelligent, competent, pro-active parents who
verbalized real concerns for their child's total welfare. It "felt" wrong to think of
their strategies in terms of being 'indirect", as the term has a connotation of
passivity. It seemed possible that respondents' information might have been
interpreted, thus far, in terms most of thern probably would not endorse.
Second, conceptualizing the respondents' actions as direct or indirect made the
assumption that they base their approach with the child on their own style(s) of
coping behaviour. What that perspective fails to take into account is that there
are real-world consequences for the child that are likely to corne about as a
result of her/his adoption of any particular strategy in any given situation. It is
not the mother who acts, and then faces the consequences -- it is the child who
does so.
The Child's "lnstitutional" Domain
One factor mothers must consider when teaching their children to deal
with racial situations is the child's personal safety. Schools offer structure, both
acadernic and social. There are people on-site whose responsibility entails
protecting the welfare of the child. For these reasons, the rnothers' accounts
were generally not concerned with the child's physical safety while at school.
62
Six participants reported actively rnediating between the child and the
school regarding academic issues. Two of them had actually gone into the
school, asked to view the child's academic file, and had decided which
paperwork would be allowed to "follow" the child through the succeeding school
years. These women saw to it that unfavourabfe comments about their child
were either removed from the school files, or they were guaranteed that labels
used to describe the child's behaviour would not be used again.
Bell: " 1 said, 'You know, they have enough to worry about without having
a trail of paperwork that has negatives in it' . . . So I had to become
a little bit more assertive in my own way, and 1 said, 'Let me see
the school file'. And the Principal withdrew several papers of stuff
and shredded them in front of me . . . And I called them on it, I said,
'That's rnarginalizing my child. I don't like it.' (Laughs) I'm quite
notorious for being in their faces . . .".
Gloria: "That's right. That's why she (daughter) was labelled from grade 1
up to grade 4 . . . So I said, 'Then please, in her report card do net
put that my child is disruptive' . . . she was labelled! . . . Okay. And
1 said, '1 would like you net to refer to my child in that term again'."
A review of the data suggested that the child's and the parent's
relationships with the school could be conceptualized in a different way. Public
school is an institution, an impersonal system, whose mandate is to treat each
63
child equally and fairly, providing the same quality of education to al1 regardless
of their ethnic or racial origins. This is not the case with individual people, who
are relatively free to act in a fair, unbiased, courteous manner - or not. The
parent has legal recourse against the school system if the child is wronged in
any way, even by individual teachers. Perhaps it might be more productive to
think of the school as public - a realm that is governed by institutional rules, and
individual encounters that the child might experience as private, even though
these occur in such public areas as on streets, in shopping mails, or on T.T.C.
(public) buses and the like. For example, in the "private" realm, individuais are
free to couch their comments in "politically correct" terms, can avoid standing
"too close" to someone of another race, can decide not to include a minority
group member in an invitation to an office get-together at lunchtime, etc. For the
black teenager, this "private" reâlm may include being followed through a store
by a clerk who is ostensibly straightening the merchandise. Al1 of these actions
are overt and perfectly legal. Each is also ambiguous. Respondents' accounts
were interpreted to mean that each of these types of actions would have
"private" meaning (perhaps in multiple layers) in their, or their child's, Me.
Re-conceptualization of these data in terms of institutionaVprivate instead
of directlindirect actions resulted in participants' stories assuming a different
structure, and their various strategies could now be viewed as being more
dynamic and positive. The various strategies reported now appeared to be
64
directly tied to three inter-related areas: ( 9 ) respondents' strategies focus
overwhelmingly on building the child's sense of personal self-esteem; (2) their
strategies are linked to considerations of potential consequences (in the context
of the situation), especially for the physical safety of the child; and (3) these
strategies are aimed at achieving a particular social goal, such as resolving a
particular altercation between their child and another person. This
reorganization of the data is represented in Table 5.
Within the context of the parent needing to intervene with the school on
her child's behalf, the conceptual shift in perspective away from direcüindirect
ways of acting, and toward locating the mother's and child's actions within
institutional 1 private realms, is supported by the following examples. Within
these text units, we can clearly see a power issue inherent in the relationship
between the child and the institution. Although an organizational (and legal)
framework exists to oversee the child's academic welfare, the child
herselflhimself can access it only in very lirnited ways. The parent (here, the
mother) must act on the child's behalf.
Bell: "1 had gone to the school with the guidance counselor and said,
'He [stepson] needs help. He is illiterate'. I said, ' I'm net letting
this go, because he's a young black man' . . . so, it's something
that I battle against. And a lot of it has to do with getting myself out
there and getting the information I need, attending workshops . . . a
65
lot of parents don't have the time to find out these things about
school."
Gloria: "My husband says that by me going to the school and talking with
teachers, my kids are not learning to handle it themselves. But 1
have to bel for my kids. I have to be. I am always, always
aware . . ."
Three participants discussed "accessing the system" in these terms -
indicating their belief that it is harder for black parents to discover how to work
within the school system than it is for white parents. The respondents'
perception that this type of knowledge was more easily available to white
parents was not predicated on the fact that they were, themselves, immigrants to
this country. No distinction was made in any of the interviews that the problem
of access was related to immigrant status as opposed to skin colour:
Rosa: "1 think that a lot of white families have more access to the . . . they
know the system, so they know what schools are the best schools,
and so on."
Coretta, a single mother of four, draws Public Assistance. After the
interview was concluded and the tape recorder was turned off, she related that
her son (in Grade 5 at the time of the interview) had had a skin condition,
eczema, on his hands and arms. Without discussion with her, the school
(possibly the teacher or the school nurse, seeing what looked like possible
66
abrasions on his skin) notified Child Services that the boy might be abused at
home. Coretta explained that she had to get a physician to certify that the
problem was due to a minor skin disorder, and that there were no indications of
physical abuse in the home. She stated the belief that the school made her job
as a single parent harder. Rather than acting in tandem to ensure the welfare of
the child, she felt that she and the school acted independently of one another.
Not al1 respondents saw the school in an adversarial light. Simone
related that she had never had school-related problems with any of her three
children. When asked if she believed that teachers are academically fair to
different racial or ethnic groups, she responded:
Simone: "1 would like to think sol but again what I've said to rny children is
that, 'If you do the work, if you know what you know, if you know
what it is you're supposed to know, you're going to get your marks'.
You see what I'm saying?"
Although Bell expressed some frustration with having to intercede
between the school and her son in a rather ongoing rnanner, she also reported
advising him to use the school to mediate when problems arose with other
children. Maya recounted a similar discussion with her son:
67
Table 5. Main Catecrory: "Mothers' Actions" emergence frorn data contained
in descriptive categories.
Mothers' Actions
Higher-Order Categories:
1 Mothers' Acts
II Within Child's uInstitutional Domain:
School: Academic Issues Mediates between child & school
School: Social Issues Deals with social problems:
name calling, fighting
Within Child's "Private" Domain:
Makes use of strategies that also comprise other Main Categories:
1 Build child's self-esteem Stress the value of education and
self improvement Reinforce positive aspects of own
race Teach & emphasize the importance
of ethnic diversity
-
What Mothers Tell the Child to Do
Within Child's "Institutional" Domain:
"Use school as mediator between you and the problem"
"Use positive confrontation to solve the problem"
"Sometimes it's okay to defend yourself'
Within Child's "Private" Domain:
Transcend the Ex~erience:
"Have pride in who you are" "You can become whatever you want
to ben "lt's what's inside you that matters" "Rise above negative experiences" "It doesn't matter 1 wal k away" "Go the extra mile"
Bell:
68
Maya: "But the school is very supportive. I must say that about the
school." . . . I asked him (son) not to retaliate (for being called
"nigger"). Not to go and quit school. Talk to the teachers at
school, tell thern what's happening, make them aware of what's
going on. I also, in turn, phone the school and let the school know
what's happening."
"If they are really into your face . . . 1 encourage them al1 the time, 1
Say, 'Just go straight to the Principal's office . . . donnt even stop to
ask why, just go straight . . . if they see you going to the Principal's
office, they know that someone is going to be involved and you've
made the decision not to stand and argue and fight'."
Acting in this manner, the child does have access to a helpful source of social
powerl authority within the school system. It shoutd be noted, however, that
neither Bell nor Maya let the action for redress remain solely in the hands of the
child. Both followed up their advice to their children by going to the schools and
discussing the incidents with the appropriate personnel.
The Child's "Private" Domain
Seven descriptive categories emerged which eventually constructed the
final conceptualization of the main category, Mothers' Actions. These
subcategories are: School as Mediator, Defend Yourself, Positive Confrontation,
Rise Above It, It Doesnlt Matter, Go the Extra Mile, and Walk Away. There was
69
one other cluster of descriptive categories contributing to the construction of this
main category, those which are also subsurned by another main category
entitled Building the Child's Self-Esteem. The re-conceptualization of the main
category Mothers' Actions shown in Table 5 illustrates how the components of
this category are complex and intertwined with other main categories (each of
the descriptive categories subsumed by other main categories are discussed in
the sections of this report that separately discuss those categories). For
example, every respondent talked at sorne point about teaching their child how
to deal with racism. Each of these reports was followed by a corresponding
reference to reinforcing the child's self-esteem. The notion that self-esteem is
critical to the child's resilience is so pervasive in the data obtained in this study
that a separate main category entitled Building the Child's Self-Esteem emerged
in the conceptuaf stages of the analysis.
There are four descriptive categories that are cross-coded behveen the
main categories entitled Mothers' Actions and Building Child's Self-Esteem. The
various strategies respondents reported using to help their child deal with racism
are not discrete, stand-alone techniques -- they are fully intertwined and
dependent on one another. Therefore, the following categories cross-code to
each of these two main categories:
1. Four respondents said they repeatedly emphasize the importance of
education. Interestingly, al1 four mothers set an example that education is
important by continuing to take classes thernselves.
2. All seven respondents reported stressing ethnic diversity in the
community, and making it a point to expose their children to various ethnic
traditions and practices within Toronto.
3. Al1 seven participants have talked to their child about what it means to
be black; al1 but two have used one technique or another to explain differences
in shades of colour among black people.
4. All seven respondents reported emphasizing positive black imaaes,
usually through exposing the child to their West lndian or African heritages
(some of the participants' partners claimed ancestry through African rather than
West lndian ancestry), such as family and community gatherings, where music,
food and styles of clothing from their countries of origin were displayed. Thus,
certain MUS were cross-coded to more than one descriptive category, because
they were found to have rneaning in different areas of mothers' and children's
social lives. These descriptive categories represent multiple facets that
comprise the teachings these respondents attempt to impart to their children on
a consistent basis. One pattern that emerges from these categories is an
overarching emphasis (from six of the seven respondents) that the child needs
to learn how to transcend the social (racist) realities of our society. Ali the
descriptive categories comprising the main category Mothers' Actions have this
cornmon theme, with the exception of that labelled Defend Yourself; two
71
protocols coded to this descriptive category. Both of these were in the contexf of
boys getting into fights because they had been called "nigger", and both
instances occurred at school. Other than in the context of a racial slur being
directly aimed at her child, respondents did not want the child to resort to
fighting, because of potential consequences to the child.
Beli: ". . . it's not so much that 1 don? want them to hit, but I don't w a ~ t
him to get in trouble for it."
Bell was the only one of the respondents who advised her child to "just ignore" a
racial situation and offer no response; this was coded to the descriptive category
labelled Walk Away, which was later merged with one entitled It Doesn't Matter.
A related (albeit, in this study, an un-researched) factor should be noted.
That is, mothers need to consider the child's likely immediate response to the
situation before they advocate any particufar strategy for dealing with it. Is the
child more likely to fight, to walk away, or to confront the offender with the
intention of discussing the problem? The parent must anticipate how her child is
likely to react, and must then provide the child with a strategy to deal with the
situation in the best way for that individual child. Thus, the child's likely reaction
is an important factor in how the mother frames "how to cope" discussions.
Inappropriate actions might make the situation worse: the child could get hurt or
might get into trouble with authorities.
Bell:
72
Four of the seven respondents expressed feelings that black children,
away from the relative safety of school, might face a variety of difficult problems.
In the shopping mall, young black males might be seen as being too boisterous,
or even as threatening -- targets for suspicion or singling out by the police as
potential wrong-doers.
Rosa: "[her sister] has two sons - one looks like he's white . . . and the
one who looks Iike her more (darker) get stopped al1 the time by
the police, checking seatbelts, wanting to know if he owns the car,
al1 sorts of nonsense."
"If school finishes, one thing I'm really against is (kids) hanging
around. 'You be home by such-and-such a time. Make sure you
go straight home. You do al1 the hanging out at home' . . . He (son)
recently asked both myself and his Dad if he could go to the maIl
with friends, and we just said flat, outright, 'No!' And my husband
said, 'When I have some tirne, I will go with you to the mall; we will
hang out tociether'."
Coretta: "l'm a strict Mom . . . because these days, things can be trouble out
there. I don't want him to be part of it 'cause sornetimes you're at
the wrong place at the wrong time. Yes, I think it does happen . . ."
The views these respondents expressed are closely linked to some participants'
fears that their sons will become involved in situations with the police; this is
covered in more depth in the discussion of the main category entitled
"RaceIGender Stereotypes".
Younger children generally have relatively few social experiences away
from school or the family. One respondent reported that she tries to prepare her
daughter for future social situations in which she will likely not be treated the
same as her white peers:
Bell: "For my daughter (age 8), right now we haven't talked to her how
she will be perceived in the future . . . if she goes out, she's always
with us. So she doesn't see a lot of the negatives, yet. In
preparing her, we talk about how, you know, not very many people
like black people and they will treat you differently."
Respondents' accounts appear to focus on the notion that black children
leam to expect differential treatrnent cornpared to their white peers. The
interactions that mark these differences may come from individuals who act in
subtle ways to impart this main message: simply by virtue of colour, the black
person is located in a different social position than the white person.
Respondents' accounts imply that black children receive implicit messages that
their social status is "other than white". This is communicated both subtly and
implicitly by other-race individuals with whom black people come into daily
contact: in academia, in job interviews and in the workplace, standing in line
and riding on city busses and subways, at shopping centres, in restaurants,
74
trying to hail a taxi, with landlords, and on occasion, with the police or other legal
or social authorities (such as Child Welfare Services). Data reported in this
section fully support research findings by both Essed (1 991) and Kofkin et al.
(1 995).
What Mothers Tell the Child to Do
Most of the above-described strategies that respondents reported taking
on behalf of their child are drawn from MUS that were also cross-coded to the
category entitled Building Child's Self-Esteem. However, these comprise only
half the structure of the main category entitled Mothers' Actions. The following
descriptive categories coded MUS that relate specifically to how respondents tell
iheir children to act in response to a racial incident. In essence, these strategies
are ways of telling the child to deal with, and learn to appreciate and respect
racial or ethnic differences.
Positive Confrontation: Two respondents provided information which
coded to this category. Gloria verbally advised her child to confront some other
children who had been dividing up into groups based on the darknessllightness
of skin colour: "Then I said to tell them that when they Say that, it doesn't make
you feel right." Bell had her daughter confront a similar issue, but in a non-
verbal manner. Her daughter had been teased by schoolmates who insisted that
her natural, braided hair looked like the hair extensions adults Wear. The child
75
kept insisting that her hair was "not fake! It's real!" Bell simply allowed her to go
to school one day with her braids undone:
Bell: "She was thrilled. She goes, 'Okay now they'll see my hair is real!'
(laughs). But she doesn't see it as a negative . . . it wasn't a
cornplaint, it was more curious how to answer them."
Just by showing up at school with her hair undone, the daughter did in fact
confront the children who had been teasing her, proving to thern that hei- hair
was natural. Bell's strategy did not provoke; it focused on natural differences
between the children being interesting.
Within what has been conceptualized as the child's "private" domain,
respondents focused on a series of strategies that seem to be aimed at teaching
the child to transcend negative racial experiences. Although these are
theoretically linked to the main category entitled Building Child's Self-Esteem,
they did emerge as distinct strategies in thernselves.
Rise Above lt: Two rnothers, Maya and Naorni, reported telling their
children to rise above a difFicult situation:
Maya: "And what you have ta do, is you j-& . . . the most difficult would
be to try and rise above this. It's very difficult at times - you'll cry."
Naomi: " . . . still, do what you know is right as a person. Still do what you
know I've taught you to, like respect them, Say 'excuse me', Say
'thank you' - whatever.
76
Go the Extra Mile: Only one interview coded to this descriptive category,
which was retained as a component of Mothers' Actions, as it is clearly one of
many strategies that can be adopted to have the child deal with an experience of
racisrn. Rosa reported that a white neighbour, an older retired man, appeared to
be hostile to her oldest son. Expressions of hostility occurred more than once,
as the older man repeatedly failed to recognize Rosa's son as his neighbour (at
the age of fourteen, her son started growing taller, and Rosa allowed that
perhaps his appearance had changed). Rosa believed the neighbour had made
a judgment about the boy based on a negative stereotype that black males are
potentially aggressive. To show the man that his judgment was in error, she had
her son shovel the snow off both sets of sidewalks:
Rosa: "Yes, yes, yes. A Jewish person. But he's scared, I think. And
maybe because of stereotypes he's heard . . . so I think it's lack of
knowledge why he's afraid. So I don? want [son's name] to
retaliate in a angry fashion to hirn. So, I Say 'These people are old.
You can do the snow between our yard here, you could do two
extra feet.' And just to show him (the neighbour) as well, too, that
he should not be afraid."
It Doesn't Matter: Three respondents advised that "it doesn't matter"
when the child reported sorne instance of racial prejudice or discrimination, A
pattern was observed in these three responses. First, accounts were generally
77
framed in the context that no matter what another person says to the child, the
child should have enough self-confidence to understand that the other is oniy
trying to belittle her/him. This links closely with the mothers' focus on building
the child's self-esteem. Second, every respondent expressed a view along the
lines that these situations are going to happen, whether we want them to or not.
In essence, the wronged individual must choose to what extent they will be upset
by the experience. The general consensus among the respondents was
expressed by one:
Simone: "And I ... you know, these things . . . will occasionally happen, but
you have to be thick-skinned enough not to let it penetrate you,
and do net react, and then think about it . . . And let, in a sense, a
calrn head prevail."
Surnmary
Perhaps mothers' strategies are best conceptualized as being tailored to
the different arenas in which the child's actions and experiences take place.
Mothers' strategies rnay be contingent not only on the location and context of the
experience, but also on how the child is situated within each of those realms.
Mothers must consider the individual child's social location in terms of age,
grade in school and academic standing, as well as the ethnic make-up of both
the neighbourhood and school. If a black teenager is at a local shopping maIl
78
with friends, it matters very rnuch whether it is daytime or dark outside; whether
the child is male or female, and whether shelhe is with same- or opposite-sex
friends.
Respondents were also very sensitive to their perceptions of how the
general culture views, or stereotypes, black youths of both sexes. Respondents
reported both hopes and fears regarding their own perceptions of the social
opportunities, challenges, and threats that might result from those stereotypes.
Every participant in this study has at least one child of each sex; five reported
that they talk with their sons about being black differently than they do with their
daughters.
Main Category: Building the Child's Self-Esteem
Within the first several minutes of the first interview, discussion seerned to
focus on the necessity for black parents to help the child develop a positive self-
image. This main category is comprised of five higher-order categories and
eighteen descriptive categories that code data emphasizing variations on the
notion that "colour is not important - it's what's inside that matters".
Respondents' recurring references to the need for building the child's
self-esteem were interpreted to indicate that most respondents in the sample
consider racism to be fairly pervasive in our culture. Colour does, in fact, matter
in Our society. Essed (1991), among others, has proposed that racism is present
in everyday life, in one form or another. Each of the seven participants
discussed strategies related to helping their children build a strong sense of
being worthy and capable, and of having a clear sense of individual and
ethnicfracial pride. A general consensus among the sampled participants seems
to be that strong, positive self-esteem ought to provide a child with the resilience
one needs to successfully respond to, and cope with, negative racial
experiences.
Five higher-order categories ernerged from the data that coded mothers'
strategies designed to build their child's self-esteem. These were entitled:
Positive Aspects of Race, Addressing Child's Self-Esteem, Value of Education,
Emphasizing Ethnic Diversity, and Addressing Colour Issues. These and the
descriptive categories comprising thern are shown in Table 6.
Positive Aspects of Race
This descriptive category is comprised of data originally coded into two
subcategories which, when combined, account for MUS from six of the seven
protocols. A descriptive category entitled Beauty of Colour coded data from two
protocols: Gloria described two discussions with her child wherein she
emphasized that every colour is beautiful; and Naorni reported emphasizing to
her daughter that every other colour of skin is "jjust as smooth as her own".
80
The second subcategory, Race Positive, coded any reference to positive
aspects of the child's race, and four of the seven protocols coded to this
category. MUS were related to respondents' efforts to make children aware that
they are part of a particular ethnic or racial community. Two respondents
reported making an effort to teach their children about the culture associated
with their respective father's heritage. In one case, the father is from Nigeria; in
the other, the father is from Trinidad. Another participant reported taking her
children to a Jamaican community centre to ensure that they are familiar with
various aspects of that culture -- such as music, foods, and styles of clothing. A
fourth described explaining Trinidadian phrases and proverbs to her children so
that they can understand "the very, very deep wisdom" of the stories from that
culture.
Addressina the Child's Self-Esteem
Four descriptive categories comprise this higher-order category. These
caîegories represent respondents' stratsgies for teaching their children how to
talk about and, perhaps, think about differences between thernselves and others.
These categories are: Name Calling, Child's Self-Esteem, Racial Self-Esteem,
and It's What's Inside that Matters.
81
Table 6. Main Categm: "Building the Child's Self-Esteem" emergence from
data contained in descriptive categories.
Building the Child's Self-Esteem
Higher-Order Categories:
Positive Aspects of
Beauty of Colour (2)
Race Positive (4)
Addressing Child's Self-
Esteem
Name Calling (5)
Child's Self- Esteem (3)
Racial Self- Esteem (1)
What's lnside Matters (6)
Value of Education
Importance of Education (4)
Striving to lmprove (3)
Emphasizing Ethnic
Diversitv
Multi-Cultural Issues (2)
Multi-Cultural Positives (6)
Showing Diversity (4)
School: Ethnic Mix (6)
Addressing Colour Issues
Metaphor (1)
Shades of Colour (5)
Importance of Colour (5)
Colour Preferences (3)
Explaining Colour (5)
Racial Heritage (4)
Numbers in parentheses indicate number of protocols coded to descriptive
category.
82
Five of the seven participants reported having had to deal with their child
being calfed a derogatory name. Participants generally advocated a two-
pronged approach to teaching the child to deal with name-calling situations.
Each respondent (1) atternpted to bolster the child's sense of self-esteem, and
(2) sought to minimize the importance of the event.
Bell: " 1 said, 'You should have enough under your belt by now. I give
you enough at home to know that you're worthy.' So someone
says that (name calling) to you . . . who's the bigger fool, you or
him? . . . I Say, 'And so what?' Name calling - what is it going to do
to you? Nothing!"
The above example highlights both aspects of this general strategy.
The descriptive categories Child's Self-Esteem and Child's Racial Self-
Esteem initially coded MUS that explicitly referenced the term "self-esteem".
During later stages of analysis, it was observed that both of these descriptive
categories could be subsumed under the category entitled It's What's lnside that
Matters, as there were no conceptual differences between the data coded to
each. This final descriptive category also subsumed another subcategory
labelled Don't Discriminate, which recorded MUS pertaining to respondents'
advising their child to not discriminate against others. Four of the seven
participants reported having done so. In each of these cases, respondents
emphasized individual, personal traits over physical characteristics as being
83
important, and attempted to direct the child's focus to the worth of the individual
person. That is, they told the child to consider whether they liked the other
person, not whether they liked the other's skin colour or other physical attributes.
Six of the seven participants reported having discussed and emphasized the
importance of persona1 qualities over physical appearance:
Glork: "lt's (appearance is) unimportant, and what important is the
inside and sharing, and loving each other. You know, that's my
theme al1 the time. "
Maya: "And 1 just basically tell him (son), like . . . 'Look inwards. You
have bad black people and you have bad white people, and in
order for them to keep people down, this is how they go about
name-calling and insulting'. That's just being realistic, dealing with
inadeq uacies."
Rosa: "1 tried to teach her that you dealt with people on who they are, no
matter what their colour is . . . she should try to see who they were
and whether she liked them or didn't like them. They have to look
for the goodness in people and the skin colour."
Naomi: "But again, we dealt with it by saying, 'Everybody's different. They
corne in different colours, different shapes, different sizes. You just
have to . . . you like people because who are they are, not
because of how they look to you'."
84
Sirnone: "You have to give . . . it doesn't matter how, you know, whether
you're the same colours, you feel the same. It's if we're different
inside that's the problem, right?"
Coretta: "You're seeing the value of potential. Whatever is the colour of
your skin, because it's within, it's not what's outside a person, it's
what's in. So you'll bel you know, judged from the colour of
your skin. It's what inside, what you can give out to others, you
know, that matters more."
In these reports, the parent clearly attempts to focus the child's attention on the
notion that "it's what's on the inside of a person that matters".
The Value of Education
Two initial descriptive categories, Importance of Education and Striving to
Improve, comprise this higher-order category. As analyses progressed, it
became clear that these two subcategories could be merged, with no substantive
change in rneaning, to create the new higher-order category. Four of the seven
participants reported a desire that their child(ren) understand the value of
education. Two examples reflect varying degrees of emphasis on this issue:
Gloria: "1 want them to understand that they can do and be whatever they
want to be. I am teaching thern now that it is important to have
your education, and it's important to have a firm background."
85
Another respondent placed more importance on the issue of education:
Coretta: "But I want him (son) to know the value of education, especially
here in Canada. It's not something to be taken lightly. You can &
whatever you want to be, if you put your head to it . . . accomplish
your dream . . . reach for the sky."
The four participants who reported addressing the issue of education with
their children appeared to feel that education can mediate some of the obstacles
their children might be expected to later encounter. This data is not interpreted
as being unambiguous, however. Several respondents also reported having
serious concerns that (1) their children may not be receiving fair and equal
access to quality education (see section entitled Mothers' Actions), and (2) that
black stereotypes may limit the child's future social and professional
opportunities (see section entitled RacdGender Stereotypes).
Emphasizinri Ethnic Diversity
Four descriptive categories related to ethnic diversity emerged from the
data: Multi-Cultural Issues, Multi-Cultural Positives, Showing Diversity and The
Ethnic Mix at School. The firsf two of these coded MUS referencing,
respectively, negative and positive issues related to blacks living in Canada's
multi-cultural society. Gloria's protocol provides an example that reflects
respondents' ambiguous feelings:
86
Gloria: "1 could tell you, I never saw such (racial) segregation before 1
came here to Canada! I never thought about it. I think it becomes
more open when people make emphasis on it . . . I'm hoping,
really, to see that as long as people understand, respect and
appreciate other cultures and know that we're al1 the same - so
what if your colour is different? That's okay."
On the one hand, respondents who directly discussed issues related to ethnic
diversity seemed to propose that it is possible for different groups of people to
"understand, respect and appreciate other cultures", as Gloria stated. On the
other hand, as previously presented in the discussion of the main category
entitled Mothers' Personal Philosophy, respondents' personal experiences of
racial prejudice andlor discrimination were sometimes attributed to cultural
misunderstandings. Thus, participants in this sample seemed to implicitly
endorse the notion that multiculturalism can serve to both mediate and obscure
instances of racism. The descriptive categories entitled Showing Diversity and
The Ethnic Mix at School code MUS from six of the seven protocols, al1
emphasizing the parents' efforts to teach their children about cultures other than
their own. An exarnple is drawn from Maya's protocol:
Maya: "And I try to make them aware of other cultures . . . what creates
most of the hostility are narrow-minded people who can be critical
of other cultures."
87
Maya's report reflects a general consensus among these respondents that
understanding another culturallethnic group or custom might help their children
to (a) be more accepting of others who are different from them, and (b)
appreciate more fully their own differences from those in the dominant (white)
culture.
Addressinci Colour Issues
This higher-order category subsumes five descriptive categories, each of
which expresses an aspect of identifying oneself with, and having pride in, one's
ethnic or racial group. There are two comrnonalities between these
subcategories: they code MUS explaining how different shades of colour can
exist within the same black family, as well as MUS referring to the non-
significance of those colour variations. The overall theme that emerged from the
data was that these respondents desire that their children have pride in
thernselvesy regardless of however dark or light their skin might be. One other
emphasis emerged, that of teaching the child that skin shades are rneaningfess.
Differences in black skin colour was a recurring topic throughout the
interviews. Data from the first interview generated six preliminary categories:
Metaphor, Shades of Colour, Importance of Colour, Explaining Colour, and
Colour Preference. For example, MUS from the following text were originally
coded under a label entitled Metaphor:
88
Gloria: "1 showed her, I said, 'Look at the coffee . . . and I said, look at
when I put the milk in the coffee, it gives a different colour . . . every time I put a different amount of miik in the coffee, it's a
different shade' . . . I used the coffee (metaphor) because we are
al1 mixed in our blood."
Data from subsequent protocols continued to code to these initial
categories as data collection and analysis progressed. As coding progressed, a
pattern ernerged: as respondents talked about how they explained shades of
colour to their child, they invariably remarked that "colour is not important". After
al1 coding was completed for al1 interview protocols, each text was re-examined
for issues related to differences in black skin tones. It became clear that al1 the
initial descriptive categories were tightly linked together under the common
theme of colour differences that can occur within btack families. Thus, each of
these were subsumed under a main category entitled Addressing Colour Issues.
Six of the seven participants reported that shades of black skin colour
were important in their own pasts, as they each immigrated from the West
Indies, where lighter shades of black skin were more socially desirable. Colour
differences within their families of origin were reporteci as being very significant
in these women's earlier Iives.
Bell: "And I remember you asked one question about the different
colours in terms of the Island and how life is. And that is
89
something that was always predominant. Lighter skinned people
were given a head-start. Then the darker skinned people were not
seen as able.''
Naomi related that a major rift had developed in her family one generation
previous to her own. Her light-skinned mother's siblings perceived themselves
as being treated differently by the parents (Le., less well) because they were
darker skinned. The farnity split up over this issue, and Naomi related that she is
only now, after 20 years of family feuding, getting to know her cousins.
Naomi: "Yeah, Mom's really light and we have cousins who are really dark
and there was a big rift, and it's only now in my generation that we
start talking . . . and it was this colour thing, because of one says
'You don? like us because we're really dark. You're just like your
grandmother'. Like there's some black men who won? talk to dark
girls, for instance. It has to be a light-skinned girl, right? Sol it's
sad when it happens, even at that level. But me, I'm just happy
(laughs) . . . (long pause)".
Three respondents reported tension within their immediate families
regarding colour differences between family members. Rosa related that her
aunt was upset when Rosa chose a dark-skinned husband. She reported that,
because of the aunt's strong reaction to her husband's skin colour, she and her
90
husband have now made it a point to talk openly with their children about black
skin colour differences.
Another respondent reported that her mother, who is haif East Indian, is
adarnant that she be referred to as Indian, not black:
Bell: "And we go, 'Yes, Morn, we know!' (Laughs) And the lndian
community said 'Shels net Indian!' You see?"
Bell's daughter looked white at birth and she reported feeling, at first, a personal
struggle to accept her daughterls lighter skin shade. Bell stated she felt relief
that, as the child began to grow older, her skin grew darker.
Two of the participants related that in their immediate families, their own
children had never remarked on nor questioned variations of skin colours within
the farnily. Five of the seven respondents described that, white issues related to
differences in black skin tones can occur within families, it is important to stress
to children that these differences are meaningless.
Naomi reported that when her son was born, the older child, then five and
one-half years old, was upset by the new baby's very light skin colour. Naomi
had not previously discussed shades of colour with her daughter. This data
lends support to research indicating that children notice such racial differences
as skin colour and hair texture as early as age five (Aboud, 1988; Aboud &
Doyle, l996a; Aboud & Skerry, 1984; Doyle & Aboud, 1995):
91
Naomi: "Oh, actually, when my son was born she (daughter) had a little
hard time with his (colour) . . . he's so much lighter than she . . .
really, well, she was reallv upset . . . that he was so much lighter
than she was, 'cause she's darker than I am. She's, like . . . she's
not dark, but compared to him, she's dark and she had a really
hard time with it."
The birth of Naomi's second child created a need for numerous discussions and
explanations with her older child regarding differences in the siblings' skin
colours, along with reassurances to the child that these differences were
unimportant.
Summaw
Six of the seven respondents reported that differences in shades of black
skin colour had been significant and meaningful in their early lives. This may
have been due to the fact that each of these participants had spent their early
years in the West Indies, where there was apparently a hierarchy of socially
desirable skin colours. Regardless of the personal significance of skin colour in
their own lives, each of these respondents reported consistently emphasizing to
their children that black skin colour variations are meaningless.
92
Main Category: RaceIGender Stereotypes
The main category RaceIGender Stereotypes emerged from respondents'
reports of concerns that black children are stereotyped and, therefore, rnisjudged
on a number of levels: social, academic and professional. For purposes of
analysis in this study, the definition for stereotype is taken from Devine and Elliot
(1995, p. 1140) to be "a well-learned set of associations that link a set of
characteristics with a group label". Research has provided direct empirical
evidence to show that, even arnong low-prejudiced white subjects, the black
stereotype can remain a frequently activated and well-organized knowledge
structure (von Hippel, Sekaquaptewa & Vargas, 1997). In recent studies, some
of the traits research subjects ascribed most often to the black stereotype are:
lazy, ignorant, low in intelligence, poor, criminal, hostile, loud, aggressive, and
arrogant (Devine, 1989; Devine & Elliot, 1995; Dovidio & Gaertner, 1986).
Blacks possess knowledge equivalent to that of whites regarding the structure
and contents of black social stereotypes. Data obtained in this study show that
respondents were cognizant of the above-mentioned traits associated with social
stereotypes of both black females and males. Their comments concerning their
daug hters' and sons' experiences and opportunities reflect this awareness.
The main category Race/Gender Stereotypes subsumes two hig her-order
categories and eight descriptive categoties, as shown in Table 7. Data
contained in this main category were obtained in response to the following two
interview questions:
93
1. "How would you or your child's father react if the child wanted to date
inter-racially?" This question was not asked during the first interview -- this
issue came up in the second interview and was incorporated into the set of
research questions beginning with the third interview. All six of the remaining
respondents discussed issues surrounding the possibility of inter-racial dating
within their own families.
2. "Do you find that you teach your daughter different ways to deal with
prejudice and discrimination versus what you teach your son?" Participants'
answers provided insight into some of the issues concerning their child's
academic experiences, issues involving the child's physical safety, and their
perceptions of future opportunities for the child. Concerns did, in fact, Vary with
the sex of the child. Generally, respondents perceived that their sons were likety
to be judged according to the stereotype that young black males are p~tentially
aggressive or violent. These participants also believe that black males are
viewed as being less likely than whites or Asians to achieve success in life.
Generally, mothers were concerned that their daughters' intelligence and talents
may be underrated by our society, and that black wornen are likely to be viewed
as less cornpetent than their white female peers.
The Familv's Values
This higher-order category ernerged from data coded into two descriptive
categories entitled Inter-Race Dating and Academic Issues. These initial
categories coded references to parents' expectations for their child's behaviour,
parents' preferences for their chifd's personal choices, and parents'
assessments of whether or not the child's strengths and abilities will be
recognized by society.
Inter-Race Datinq: Respondents were asked, "How would you or your
child's father react if the child wanted to date inter-racially?" The question
pertained to interracial datinq but respondents unanimously expanded it to
include the idea of marriage and the blending of families that would result. Four
of the six participants who were asked this question responded that, if the date
and the date's family were to treat her child well, she would accept the situation.
Two of these, however, went on to express concerns that if their child married
into another race, it might result in the child being ill-treated by the new, non-
black in-laws. They feared the child would never become a fuily-accepted part
of the new family.
Two mothers, Naomi and Coretta, indicated they would not be happy to
have their daughters date a white male. Naorni indicated that although an Asian
man would probably be acceptable, it would be very difficult for her family to
accept a white man:
Naorni: "They'd be more accepting of (black males dating) white girls, but
for a girl - they're not accepting of white men . . . I don't know, like,
and I've noticed it like even for me. l'II tease him (partner) and Say,
Table 7. Main Cateaory: "RaceIGender Stereotypes" emergence from data
contained in descriptive and higher-order categories.
Race/Gender Stereotypes w Higher-Order Categories:
1 nter-Race Dating *
Expectations for son (s)
Expectations for daughter(s)
Values
Academic Issues
Negative perceptions of corn petence
Low assessments of academic abilities
Mothers' Perceptions of Stereotypes
Daughters Sons
Abilities under- recognized by society
Seen as less competent in the workplace; glass ceilihg
Potentiat troubles with police: criminat stereotype
Stereotype of black male violence and aggressiveness
* In this category, there are six total respondents; there are seven in al1 other
categories. The issue of inter-race dating was not addressed in the first
interview, which served as a preliminary study for this research.
96
'Oh, you're not good enough - I'm going to find me a white man.'
He gets ço mad! He gets really mad . . . guys are like that, they
think it's okay for a black guy to go with a white girl. But as soon
as a black girl chooses a white man, it's like she's committed the
unpardonable sin. There's no forgiving her . . . so, I don't know,
It's . . . I really don't know! I couldn't tell you what it's about."
Four respondents stated that their partners would be very unhappy with
either sons or daughters choosing a partner of another race. In fact, these
respondents al1 predicted more adamantly negative responses from their
partners than they claimed for themselves. Maya reported that she and her
husband agreed that their daughter (nineteen years of age) would be allowed to
make her own choices regarding interracial dating. When asked if the sarne
woufd apply to her sons (ages twelve and fourteen), she responded:
Maya: "Oh, the boys, they know not to do that. They know not to do that!"
Two others, Coretta and Rosa, expressed the preference that their
children not date interracially. Both framed this choice in terms of two different
goals. First, they claimed to want to avoid potential family problems, both within
their own families, and with non-black in-laws. Second, preferences were
framed around the notions that, either raising mixed-race children is problematic
in itself, or that racial issues are (in an unspecified way) more difficult for mixed-
race children to cope with. Either way, the situation is best avoided.
This is a more complex issue than at first appeared. Review of the data
indicates a tension between respondents' explanation of colour issues (to their
97
children) and their own wishes and expectations regarding their child's possible
future relationship with a non-black partner. One participant, when asked how
she and/or her partner would feel about their child dating interracially,
responded:
Rosa: " . . . because, I rnean, deep down I would tike them to marry
someone of their own race, because I think it would be easier . . .
for their children, yes, their whole lives around . . ."
Rosa's youngest daughter had briefly dated a white boy. Rosa reported that
when the girl's father found out about the relationship, he was quite upset, with
the result that the daughter now dates black boys exclusiveiy. Stiil later in the
interview, Rosa stated that, overall, things in Our society are changing:
Rosa: "Well, pretty soon it'll have to change, because I look at the kids in
the Daycare (Centre) and alrnost . . . a large part of them are mixed
now. So, eventually, the numbers will be so great . . . (long
pause)."
This participant reported that she is of mixed heritage herself:
Rosa: "Well, I'm mixed alt through, both sides of the farnily. Both my
mother's side and my father's side are mixed black and white, and
maybe French or something - all sorts of things."
Clearly a tension exists between those two notions. On the one hand, most of
the respondents openly talked about their own mixed heritages. There is an
irnplicit assumption, evident through each of the seven protocols, that Canadian
blacks, unless they or their parents were born in Africa, are likely to h;?ve some
98
proportion of mixed blackfwhite heritage. All of the respondents, in discussing
issues related to colour differences within black famiiies, spoke of colour issues
as if one can begin with the premise that black families in Canada are of mixed
heritage. Nevertheless, two respondents framed their objection to their child's
dating interracially in terms that mixed-race children "have more trouble".
Although they both daim to be of mixed heritage themselves, neither respondent
made any reference to this having caused them problems in the past. The
overall ambivalence in respondents' discussions of this topic is highlighted by
the following exchange:
Interviewer: "Do you think it's harder, then, for the child to be of mixed race?"
Maya: "Yes, I think so. But I also think they'll be the kids that will iiberate
us from this racism that we have now."
Maya explained that her youngest son is lighter skinned than his two siblings.
She reports that he used to ask her about differences in their skin tones. Her
expianation to him was that generations ago, masters slept with their slaves and
"that's how we have this colour mixing coming out now . . . because my great-
grandmother is an Irish woman, so that's why I might be a IittIe bit lighter than
the other ones." She also went on to explain that since her own mother is East
Indian:
Maya: "So, we're al1 mixed somewhere down the line, coming out."
Maya reported that her husband (although rnarried to a woman of mixed
heritage) would be quite unhappy if any of his children dated interracially.
99
Thus, Maya echoes Rosa's proposition that, at some point, an inter-
blending of different racial groups would blur the boundaries separating thern
and, somehow, serve to mediate the racial issues black people now deal with.
Even given the notions that things are changing and that a mixing of the races
might be socially advantageous (sorne day), these respondents reported an
overall reluctance to have their children face the problems they feel would likely
be encountered with interracial dating or marriage.
Rosa's comments have been primarily used in this section to underscore
some tensions that appear to exist in these respondents' social lives - a
dissonance between their discussions of their own mixed heritage, and their
reports that they would generally prefer that their children do not enter into
mixed-racial relationships. Rosa's protocof seemed to best highlight these
tensions, and appears to be representative of a general consensus within the
interview data. Her statements are not interpreted as being contradictory.
Rather, her approach appears to be highly pragmatic: she sirnply wants her
child(ren) to make choices that result in the fewest social problems possible.
Academic Issues: Respondents' reports of concerns regarding the
academic evaluation of their children were cross-coded between this descriptive
category and the main category entitled Mothersl Actions (as previously
discussed). MUS coded to this category refer specifically to respondents'
accounts of academic racism. As analysis of these MUS progressed, it was
observed that respondents' believed that black stereotypes affect teachers'
assessments of black children, with the result that they are seen as less
100
competent, and as having lower potential for academic achievernent than their
white and Asian counterparts.
Rosa reported her two daughters' school experiences. A psychologist (a
professor at a nearby University) had tested each girl at an eariy age.
Rosa: "phe psychologist] said, 'She is gifted and she should be in a
gifted program'. And he says, 'The testing is very biased because
some of the questions they ask are geared to (whites)' . . . And she
didn't get into the stream for the gifted program, and that - I think it
was colour, right there. That was definitely how that went . . . so,
definitely I felt that the . . . colour issue was there. I've never even
discussed this before, actually (laughs). And I think colour
definitely became part of that situation as well."
Rosa reported that the public school the girls attended had not allowed either of
them into "gifted program" classes. She transferred both girls to another school
that she felt would give them somewhat more opportunity. This was a serious
topic for the respondent. In fact, MUS from sixty-six lines of the original text in
this protocol are coded to a descriptive category labelled "Academic
Discrimination".
Bell gave an account of a guidance counsellor at her stepson's school
who assumed that the boy had an anger management problem. Bell believed
the counsellor's assurnption was primarily based on the stereotype of "the angry
black male". Her reasoning was this: the boy was doing poorly in his studies,
he was black and, therefore, the counselor assumed he had an anger
management problem.
Bell: ". . . and a guidance counsellor, going straight to assuming, 'Oh!
We have a young man here with anger management (problems)'.
So, these are the discrimination things that happen. And it
happens so systematically, like it happens so . . . without realizing."
Bell reported going into the school for several years trying to get special help for
her stepson, who had immigrated from Jamaica "almost illiterate".
Bell: "1 have tried since he came into this country for us to get him help,
and each year been told I've already had help. And not seeing any
results . . . and trying to have hirn tested . . . I Say, 'Test him now,
because I want help now', but then not getting help, and them
telling me . . . they'd like to keep hirn back a year. I said, 'No! I
begged you ta keep hirn back a year when he came (to Canada),
and nobody tistened. It wifl frustrate hirn to no end' . . . It takes it's
toll on hirn too, and I feel a of it is discrimination stuff."
Her stepson's only option, at the time of the interview, was to attend a remedial
program for at least a year:
Bell: "lt's a school for special students, it's a school for learning disabled
. . . stuff like that. I realize he's being swept through the system,
and a failing child - it's not going to add to his self-esteem, it's just
killing it! And I don't want hirn swept in it further."
1 02
Bell's report is presented in length (although shortened from the interview text
itself) because she covers so many issues in one section of text. She began by
specutating that a school guidance counsellor had based an erroneous
assessment of the boy on a racial stereotype (discussion had just centred on the
social stereotype that portrays black males as being aggressive, violent, angry).
She then proposed that her stepson has suffered academic discrimination that:
(1) is based on racism; (2) is systematic but subtle, so it can go unrecognized;
and (3) proposes, as a remedy, a learning situation the boy would likely find
humiliating, and which rnight further damage his self-esteem.
These data were interpreted as being conceptually linked to the
opportunities and challenges black children might face, and the choices they
rnight make in response to these. It seems reasonable that these contribute to
the formation of a model of family values, and the higher-order category Family's
Values was allowed to subsume data related to both Inter-Race Dating and to
Academic Issues.
Respondents' Perceptions of the Black Female Stereotv~e
Four of the seven respondents reported that a stereotype of black female
incornpetence results in young black women in the job arena being perceived as
being less able than whites. One perceived consequence of this stereotype is
that opportunities and adwancements may not corne easily to black females.
Maya expressed the view that black women rnay have more job choices than do
1 O3
black males, but that opportunities are still limited, and constrained by skin
colour:
Maya: "Because they see black men as aggressive, and not so much so a
woman. Okay, she's black and she might not be as aggressive
and turbulent as they assume the black men are . . . (but they
think:) 'She can't handle that position, being black!'."
Bell reported that black girls are taught to conform to white social
expectations and, when they enter the work force. might assimilate into a
predominately white workplace environment more easily than rnight young men:
Bell: " . . . girls are taught to do the best you can. Take what you can right
now . . . If you're there for the education, take the education and
whatever else is given to you, take it. So girls are a little bit quieter
in their statements."
Res~ondents' Perceptions of the Black Male Stereotype
A recurring focus within the data was that these participants. overall, believe
that young black males in Toronto are often singled out by the police as targets for
suspicion or harassment. The primary explanation respondents offered for this
phenomenon is that black males are stereotyped in our society as being angry,
potentially aggressive andlor potentially violent. Several respondents talked
about having a fear that their sons might some day be in physical danger because
of the stereotype of the young black male as aggressive and threatening.
Examples from several interviews follow:
i O 4
Rosa: "My biggest concern is that I have a boy who's 14. And you worry so
rnuch because you always feel that in today's society. . . like . . .
there's a stereotype in Toronto right now that the young black males
are, they're either going ta get sornebody pregnant, or they're going
to be stealing somebody's purse, or something like that. 1 think
definitely there is a presumption that . . . and so you worry that he
could be an innocent bystander but he will be targeted. If three of
them get into rnischief at school, bis name will be calfed, and so on.
There is a stereotype out there. You know, if somebody steak
somewhere, the police decide to look for a black male. They're not
going to Say, 'Well, that's [Rosa's] son. He's okay.' They're just
going to grab!"
Rosa had enrolled her son in Tai-Kwon-Do lessons for a while, stating that she
had wanted him to learn self-defence:
Rosa: ". . . To be able to carry himself with self-confidence, because . . .
when you carry yourself differently, I figure you are less likely to be
targeted by people, because they can pick up that you have whole
self-confidence."
In the following text, Bell attributes the stereotype of the aggressive/violent
black male to two factors. First, she links the negative stereotype to the media's
association of black males with crime and other undesirable social behaviours.
Toward the end of this section of text, she returns to that particular point by
explicitly connecting it to her fear that the stereotype of the black male as
1 O5
aggressivelcriminal may lead the police to focus inappropriately on black youths
who are, she notes, socially visible. Second, Bell proposes that the stereotype is
misinformed by a (white) interpretation that mistakes black male assertiveness for
aggression:
Bell: "Because I've iived here for 17 years, and there's a lot of negatives
in the media when it comes to crime or any kind of behavioui that's
negative with young black males . . . they're taught to be assertive
and sometimes assertion is misunderstood as aggressiveness . . . (1
say) 'Stay away from the violence, you know -- rnake choices'. . . but
I don't really Iike it that we have to talk him about, you know, being a
young black boy. I tend to talk to him a little bit more plain, open,
using strong words. l'II tell him, 'You know, you're visible. Young
black kids tend to be boisterous and not everyone understands or
appreciates it. And there are times, if you . . . decide to be a little bit
rambunctious with your friends, and it's mistaken for violence' . . . 1
have really bad feelings when it comes to police and black youth,
especially when it comes to black males, so I pass on a lot of that
information to my stepson."
The following text from another respondent echoes other participants' fears
that their sons may be singled out for trouble, by being visible and in the wrong
place at the wrong time. She reports:
Coretta: "Yeah, [son's namel's the quiet type. So, but still it . . . things c m
happen, right? You can raise your child perfect, if you want to cal1 it
that, and they can be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe
they see a friend in the mall, and they just decide to stay a minute or
two and . . . and the police cornes along and harasses, you know?
Who knows . . . like I'm saying, you know how the police are . . .
Don't place yourself in a position whereby you're going to be in
trouble with the law."
It is interesting, in this example, that simply "staying a minute or two" with a friend
at the mall can be a source of the parent's fear that her son might "be at the wrong
place at the wrong tirne" and thus become a potential target for the police.
Summary
Respondents in the study have a knowledge of black stereotypes. Their
awareness and understanding of stereotypes appears to play an important role in
their assessrnent of their child's opportunities and risks. Young black women may
be seen as having more career opportunities than their male counterparts.
However, several participants expressed the belief that whites have negative
perceptions of black female competence. In their view, black women may,
consequently, find opportunities for professional advancement slower and more
limited than is the case for their white counterparts.
Interview discussions among this sample focused most heavily on the black
male stereotype. There are at least two possible reasons for this emphasis
among this sample of participants. First, harmful social consequences related to
the black stereotype are potentiatly greater for males than for fernales. The
stereotyped association behveen black males and anger, aggression, and/or
violence and crime may lead to white people misinterpreting young black males'
behaviours. More seriously, participants perceive that the stereotype may make
black males the focus of unwarranted police attention. While some participants
expressed concerns over their daughters' academic and career opportunities
being harnpered by racial stereotypes, none reported worrying about their
daughters' physical safety. In contrast, respondents who addressed the issue of
stereotypes were concerned for their sons' total well being, both the social and the
physical safety aspects.
Secondly, five of the seven participants work together in a Daycare Centre.
Each of these women has at least one son. It is likely that they have discussed
the black male stereotype, particularly in Iight of several well-publicized incidents
involving the Toronto Police Department and black crime suspects in recent years.
Discussion
Using data obtained in interviews with a relatively homogeneous sarnple of
participants, and employing grounded theory methodology, this study was able to
identify key factors that comprise black mothers' strategies for teaching their
child(ren) how to respond to situations involving racism. This research provides a
hierarchical model of these factors, and analyses shows these are both
interrelated and context-dependent, The qualitative approach used in this
research was able to document how participants' thoughts about racial issues are
sometimes ambivalent. Questionnaires and hypothesis-testing methodologies
cannot easily tap into issues of ambivalence, which are subtle and must often be
inferred from indirect evidence.
Mothers' personal ~h i loso~hv. This study presents evidence that a
mother's experiences with racism, and the personal philosophy she utilizes to
explain these, may play a key role in how she socializes her child(ren) to respond
to situations involving racism. Data suggest that some of the study's participants
make use of a simple working model in which causes of racisrn are identified, and
at least one solution is proposed. This process model identifies racism as a
problem that results prirnarily from one of two factors, either (1) the perpetrator's
ignorance, or misunderstanding, of cultural differences, or (2) the perpetrator's
having based hedhis judgment(s) on a negative racial stereotype. The model
proposes a solution: educate perpetrators to understand and appreciate
differences between ethnic groups. The majority of respondents endorsed the
notion that "things are changing now", offered as evidence that as education (Le.,
learning to respect cultural differences) is progressing, racism is declining.
Because a parent's personal beliefs might be considered key to understanding
what they try to teach their children, the notion that racism is the result of a failure
to understand andlor respect the cultural differences between social groups
should be enlarged upon here.
Racism explained as cultural rnisunderstandinq. According to Essed
(1 99 1 ), Western societies have "culturalized" racism:
Cultural arguments are used more and more to blame Blacks themselves
for the situation of poverty and their slow rise in the system cornpared to
White immigrants and Asians. . . Underlying this discourse is the
implication that Euro-American cultural standards are uncritically accepted
as the norm and positive standard . . . the discourse of Black inferiority is
increasingly reforrnulated as cultural deficiency, social inadequacy, and
technological underdevelopment . . . [the US.] has begun to witness
declining racism but also increasingly cultural and covert racism.
(pp. 13-14)
Essed is examining a complex social, political and economic framework that
is believed to provide support for racism. In contrast, this research study presents
a micro-view of a relatively small group of respondents, most of whom report that
they, or close family members, have been targets of racism. This study clearly
shows that each of these participants conceptualizes herself as a member of a
distinct social group. The concept of the multi-cultural society views the larger
culture as comprised of more or less equal contributions by numerous ethnic or
social groups. Each group strives to retain its cultural identity while operating
from a minority, but equal, position within the overall framework of the state. This
viewpoint envisions the state as a neutral entity, and attempts to ignore the power
differences inherent between different social groups operating within it. As Essed
points out, an ideological shift from "race" hierarchies to "ethnic" hierarchies
"makes it difficult to distinguish in detail racism from ethnicism in the experiences
of Black women" (1 991, p. 16). In this study, these lines seem especially blurred,
as several respondents seemed to equate "racism" with "cultural
misunderstanding" or "cultural bias", especially when reporting their child(ren)'s
negative experiences. Future research should attempt to more adequately define
and differentiate these two concepts as they relate to black Canadian immigrants'
lives. These appear to significantly affect how respondents think about, and how
they talk about racism with their children. This study has documented how a
mother's personal explanations for racism can form an integral component of her
approach in socializing her child(ren) to respond in negative racial situations.
Canada officially promotes the ideology that the nation represents a "multi-
cultural rnosaic", and this ideology is often favourably contrasted with the "melting
pot" concept advocated by other countries. This viewpoint ignores, however, the
reality that there is a hierarchical order of cultures within the Canadian social,
economic and political framework. One respondent, Naomi, indirectly alluded to
this fact when she stated that it rnight be acceptable for a black wornan to date an
Asian man, but not a white man:
"But as soon as a black girl chooses a white man, i fs Iike she's cornmitted
the unpardonable sin. There's no forgiving her . . . ". In text immediately following the statement quoted above, there is an indirect
indication that this participant perceives an unequal distribution of social power
that is based not only on race, but on gender:
"They'd be more accepting of (black males dating) white girls, but for a girl,
they're not accepting of white men . . . guys are like that, they think it's
okay for a black guy to go with a white girl . . . ".
Another participant, Bell, directly stated that her rnixed-heritage mother strongly
prefers to be referred to as Indian, not black. Based on her physical appearance,
however, the lndian community judges her to be black, not Indian. This report is
interpreted as an indication that both Bell and her mother are aware that there are
different levels of social status attached to these two distinct ethnic groups.
l t 1
This study found that respondents were often ambivalent regarding whether
the cause of discrimination can be solely attributed to a cultural bias or cultural
misunderstanding. For example, Rosa reported that a school failed to assign her
daughter to a programme for advanced students, despite the fact that she was
previously advised by a psychologist that the girl was intellectually "gifted":
"And he (a psychologist) says, 'The testing is very biased because some of
the questions they ask are geared to (whites)' . . . And she didn't get into
the stream for the gifted program, and that - I think it was colour, right
there."
Thus, the respondent believed that discrimination occurred. She attributed the
discrimination both to racism based on skin colour and to culturally biased testing.
Note that she did not daim direct knowledge that the testing was biased. Rather,
she stated that the testing was biased (against btacks) within the context of
reporting an expert's opinion. Another participant, Gloria, directly addressed the
diffÎculty she has faced in trying to separate racism from cultural
misunderstanding:
". . . now i fs more like, people are more into that 'multi-culture' stuff - mind
you, some people will make remarks and stuff and you look at them and
you wonder exactly what they mean. But they know that even when they
throw remarks, you sort of could take it either way."
The perspective of the multi-cultural mosaic tends to associate differences
between ethnic groups as primarily attributable to differences in lifestyles, rather
than to differences in skin colour. This may obscure real differences in power and
privilege between blacks and whites. These issues should be considered in
drawing conclusions in social research.
Buildina the Child's Self Esteem. The socia! identity theory formulated by
Tajfel and Turner (1 979, 1985) provides a valuable framework for interpreting
some of the results of this study. Social identity theory assumes that individuals
are motivated to achieve or maintain a positive social identity. The social group to
which people belong is an important determinant of their social identity, and they
will either atternpt to leave a low-status group, or try to raise the status of that
group. Social identity theory also proposes that self-identity operates on different
levels: on one level, the individual is a separate and unique individual, but on
another level, she/he is also a member of one or more social groups (e.g., ethnic,
religious, etc.) that are either valued or devalued relative to other social groups
within the larger society. Viewed this way, self-identity is somewhat shifting and
context dependent (Cameron & Lalonde, 1994).
Analyses presented in this study show that, in formulating their racism
response strategies, respondents consider the overall context of the situation in
question. This context includes both the child's social location as well as the
power structure, if any, inherent in the circumstances. In a situation where the
parent believes there is a relatively low threat to the child's self-image and well-
being, she is likely to advocate a strategy of transcendence: "it doesn't rnatter, so
look inwards, be the better person, and rise above it". In some instances, a
seemingly minor conflict between children, such as derogatory name calling, can
occur within a context that makes weighing response alternatives somewhat more
complex. For example, if the name calling occurs at school where groups of
113
children are present, trying to ignore the insult might result in the perpetrator
either continuing or stepping up hislher efforts. Fighting might result and the child
might get into trouble with school authorities. The parent may believe that a black
child, already "marginalized" by her colour, may be seen (and perhaps labelled)
thereafter by teachers as being either uncooperative, aggressive, or a
troublemaker. Respondents mainly reported acting in two ways in this type of
situation: first, the child was told to enlist the assistance of school personnel to
mediate the conflict, and then the mothers personally intervened, dealing directly
with the school to resolve the situation. These actions can be seen as (a) keeping
the conflict on an interpersonal level (i.e., as a problem between individual
children), and (b) attempting to constrain the (perceived) tendency of teachersl
administrators to base their judgernent of the child on a racial stereotype that
suggests black intellectual inferiority, aggression, anger, or hostility.
This study has presented clear evidence that these participants put great
emphasis on teaching their child(ren) to place a positive value on their ethnic
heritage. This is indicated by their reported efforts to promote family attendance
at, and discussion of, social events that feature food, music, stories and clothing
representative of the family's ethnic group. Within the framework of social identity
theory, these efforts can be interpreted as parents' attempts to incorporate a
positive ethnic identity into the child's self-identity, or self-esteem. As the child
comes to value and appreciate the group more favourably compared to other
social groups, herlhis own sense of self-esteem is strengthened.
Issues related to self-esteem, education and racism. One other component
of building the child's self-esteem was found to be respondents' emphasis on the
value of education. Four of the seven participants reported teaching their children
that education might allow them to "be whatever they want to be". Keeping the
black child positively motivated to achieve academically may be a difficult task for
some parents, however. It has been suggested that discrimination andlor
harassrnent of black children, by those in positions of authority, can deter them
from concentrating on their studies -- resulting in a cycle in which a lack of
education can lead to ünemployment, violence, and crime (Morgan, 1995).
Ernpirical research has shown that black students rnay be at risk for stereotype
threat, which is defined as "being at risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a
negative stereotype about one's group" (Steele & Aronson, 1995, p.797.) Black
students may be vulnerable to fulfilling a racial stereotype about their intellectual
ability if, in an ability-test situation, they are made aware of the salience of that
stereotype.
More than half of the participants in the present study reported that they
were discriminated against in the Canadian public school systern. These
experiences were explicitly tabelled as instances of racisrn. The manner in which
these accounts were related during the interviews -- such as facial expressions,
hand gestures, inflections and tone of voice -- made it clear that these were
significant and ernotional experiences in the respondents' lives. At least two of
these reports were in the context of recently taken university or college classes;
thus, not al1 occurred in the distant past. When respondents provided accounts of
their children's negative academic experiences, however, they were as likely to
attribute these to being cases of cultural misunderstanding (two respondents) as
to label them as instances of acadernic racisrn ('i:wo respondents). Participants
115
who reported experiencing academic discrimination framed their experiences
within the context of being immigrants, with their previous academic achievements
deemed substandard by Canadian school systems. Perhaps a stereotype of West
lndians as below-average students does exist: recall that Bell reported beirg told
by one professor that she "wrote too much like a West Indian". Perhaps
stereotype threat served in some manner to limit some of these participants'
overall academic performance, whether they were aware of it or not. This might
be an interesting avenue for future research, and is presented here as speculation
only.
Racehender stereoty~es. Mothers in this study reported using their
knowledge of black male and female stereotypes as a foundation for parental
decision-making, in deciding when and where the child would be allowed to go
outside of the school or the home. Respondents made a clear distinction between
their perceptions of, and the social implications of, the black female versus the
black male stereotype. One result of this distinction was that, overall, girls were
reported as being allowed more social freedom than boys.
The majority of respondents in this study believe that young black wome:!
are stereotyped as being less competent in the job arena than white women. Most
also expressed concern that their daughters might have to work very hard to prove
themselves capable of above-average and superior job performance. These
respondents perceived that young black women in the labour market generally:
(1) are disadvantaged compared to their white female counterparts; (2) are
privileged cornpared to young black males; and (3) have more opportunities today,
compared to previous (i.e., the respondents') generations of black women.
I l6
Regarding the first point above, Biernat and Kobrynowicz (1 997) examined
gender- and race-based standards of competence and found that white research
participants set lower minimum competency standards and higher ability
standards for female or black targets compared male or white targets. Based on
this type of research, one might conclude that white employers and/or peers might
expect lower levels of competence and require higher levels of effort for black
females compared to black males. In other words, just by virtue of being male, a
young black man might be expected to be seen as more competent than a black
fernale in the same position. Indeed, Essed proposes that racism "is almost
always gendered", and that it is analytically difficult to attribute white obstruction of
black female professional advancement to racism alone (Essed, 1991, p. 5). From
this point of view, it is possible that race and gender issues intersect to construct a
mode1 of black female incompetence, so that young black women face obstacles
to being seen as worthy of advancement, even in low paying positions.
Respondents in this study who reported experiencing racism did not, however,
directly link any of their experiences to gender discrimination. Iri fact, some
participants believed black women rnight have an easier time than black men,
either in finding jobs or in being assimilated into white-dominated workplaces.
Therefore, it appears that respondents in this study view do not endorse Essed's
viewpoint that black women are victimized by the "double jeopardy" of racism
combined with sexism. However, social statistics do not support respondents'
overalf perception that black women achieve fewer and/or slower on-the-job
advancements than white women. Black women and white women with
comparable credentiais appear to earn comparable incornes. Further, black
117
women with college degrees earn more rnoney than white women with college
degrees, at least in Arnerica (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1990, cited in
D'Soma, 1995, p. 301).
With respect to respondents' second point above, Moss and Tilly (1996)
obtained data from managers at 56 firms in four separate industries to assess
managers' perceptions of the skills black men bring into the labour market.
Overall, black men were judged to be lacking in the ability to interact weH with
customers and CO-workers, and were judged as less motivated to achieve. These
"soft skills" were cited by managers as being increasingly important in the current
cornpetitive labour market. These factors might serve to limit young black males'
access to a variety of positions across industries. That study did not assess
managers' perceptions of young black fernales' marketable skills. However, it
does offer an indication that black men may face challenges to employment,
perhaps even with respect to entry-level positions. On that basis, respondents'
overall belief that young black women may find more job opportunities than young
black men may be at least partially supported by empirical research evidence.
Respondents in this study Iinked some aspects of the black male
stereotype to negative media portrayals of black male youths. If the general
scope of media is seen to extend beyond Canadian-content news and
entertainment programming, then it must be influenced to sorne degree (and is
probably heavily so) by Arnerican culture. American television, news and movies
may be presentirig a fairly accurate portrayal of that country's social statistics: in
the US., young black men are disproportionately involved in violence, both as
perpetrators and as victims (Washington, 1996). Compared with other racial or
118
ethnic groups, black youth are more likely to be injured or killed as a result of
assaultive violence (Christoffel, 1990; Paschall, Ennett, & Flewellin, 1996).
Between 1980 and 7992, the U.S. arrest rates for 10 to 17-year old black males
increased by 89% for aggravated assault, 103% for weapons law violations, and
145% for rnurder. In comparison, the same arrest rates for white youth increased
by 59%, 59%, and 47% respectively (U.S. Bureau of Census, 1993; FBI 1992,
cited in Paschall et al., p. 178). In contrast to reports by respondents in this study,
black parents may need to be concerned for daughters' potential involvement with
violence as well; rates of violent offending for black females are higher than for
white females (Mann, 1990; Sornmers & Baskin, 1992). Even after decades of
social research, there is no clear consensus as to why blacks seem to be more at
risk for violence than whites.
Four of the seven respondents in this study are single. There were indirect
indications from each of these that they and their children participate in either
extended family relationships, or have close community or church associations.
Some research has exarnined black male violence with respect to qualitative
aspects of the family environment, but most studies exptoring this topic have
looked at only one aspect of the family at a time (e.g., a two parent household
versus a single-parent household) (Cernkovich & Giordano, 1987). It is not yet
known to what extent overall family structure, including extended family, is actually
associated with violent behaviour in black youths. Recent research evidence
suggests that the absence of the father in the home is related to violent behaviour,
regardless of the otherwise relative closeness of the family, and that young black
men who live in an urban area without two parents may be exposed to an excess
119
of risk factors for violent behaviour (Paschall et al., 1996). Other research has
suggested, however, that different qualitative family characteristics, such as
parental supervision and disciplinary style, might account for the effects found for
family structure on black male adolescents' fighting behaviour (McLoyd, I W O ) .
Traditional social research has examined black family characteristics through the
lens of white social norms. In Caribbean societies, neocolonial economic
patterns have often forced women to become principal wage earners, decision
makers and heads of their households (Henry, ? 994; Henry, et al., 1995). To
evaluate black, and in particular, West lndian immigrant family structures, parental
roles and responsibilities on the basis of white middle- and upper-class standards
can result in a faulty understanding of the everyday social and economic realities
some of these families may face.
The present study documents respondents' concerns regarding their sons'
risk for becoming exposed to violence. These concerns were generally expressed
in the context of black males being stereotyped as likely to behave in aggressive,
hostile or criminat manners. Unfortunately, both research evidence and social
statistics may serve to perpetuate that kind of stereotype. A complex system of
factors not addressed in this study, including family structure, socioeconornic
factors, and living within an urban environment, appears to put young black males
at a statistically increased risk of coming into contact with violence and/or crime.
However, al1 participants in this study reported being highly involved with
overseeing their children's activities, in setting firm rules regarding when and
where the children (particularly the males) could go and with whom, and in
nurturing extended family and comrnunity attachments. Perhaps future research
120
will discover the extent, if any, to which these factors mediate the risk of violence
for young black males. Overall, the distrust and fear of the police and the legal
system expressed by most respondents in this study parallels the rise of critical
race theory and its critique of liberalism (see Delgado, 1995).
This research has presented a model comprised of nurnerous strategies
respondents use to buffer their child(ren) against racism. Perhaps more
importantly, the model also presents a framework for formulating effective
responses to racial prejudice and discrimination, responses black children can use
to negotiate successful social relationships.
Conclusions
This study has provided evidence that strategies black Canadian mothers
use to teach their children about racism form a complex and inter-related pattern
of approaches. The grounded theory method of data collection and analysis used
in this research has provided a theoretical model of those strategies. Data
collected in this study indicate that respondents draw heavily on their own
experiences with racism in order to formulate strategies to help their child(ren)
respond to situations involving prejudice or discrimination. These strategies are
highly dependent on the mother's assessrnent of the context of the situation, and
her appraisal of potential consequences that might accrue to the child as a resuit
of adopting any specific strategy. It was found that mothers attempt to minimize
the effects of racisrn by being consistently attentive to building the child's sense of
121
self-esteern. Efforts in this regard include: (a) ernphasizing the value of education
in preparing the child to be cornpetitive in society; (b) teaching the child that skin
colour is rneaningless; and (c) emphasizing the positive aspects of Canadian
multiculturalism and teaching the child to appreciate herlhis own racial or ethnic
heritage. Finally, respondents' knowledge of the structure and contents of the
black stereotype was found to be an important factor in the mother's choice of
coping strategy advocated to the child. In addition, mothers may counsel different
courses of action for sons than for daughters.
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Appendix A
CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH
This study is being conducted by Donna Woolverton, a graduate student,
under the supervision of Dr. Richard Lalonde of the Psychology Department at
York University. Participation is voluntarv. and vou should feel free to withdraw
from the studv at anv time. You rnav also withdraw this consent at anv time.
Your responses will be kept completely anonyrnous and confidential.
The research project has been explained to me and any questions have
been answered. I understand the purpose of this study is to atternpt to reach a
greater understanding of how parents explain and cope with their child's exposure
to, or experiences of, racial discrimination. 1 agree to be interviewed for
approximately one to one and one-half (1 to 1-112) hours, during which the
interview with be audio tape-recorded. I understand that the interview will be
transcribed verbatim at a later date.
I agree to allow information about myself and excerpts from my interview to be used in writings and talks about this research project, provided that I remain anonvmous at al1 times.
I (would Iike to have / do not want) the conclusions of this study to be sent
to me.
Name (please print) Date
Street Address Apt. # Signature
City Postal Code Telephone
1 34
Appendix 8
INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE
Do you ever, or will you in the future, discuss race with your child? *
If you have not already done so, will you try to teach your son or daughter
about the cultural practices of your ethnic group?
Have you already tried to teach your daughter or son how to get along in
mainstream Canadian culture?
Have you ever had to talk to him or her about how to deal with experiences
like name calling or discrimination? What strategies do you think would be
best to deal with those situations? *
What is the most important thing you can teach your child about iiving in a
culturally diverse society?
How would you or your child's father react if the child wanted to date inter-
racially?"
If you have both son(s) and daughter(s):
7. Do you find that you teach your daughter different ways to deai with
prejudice and discrimination versus what you teach your son?
Questions adapted from Phinney and Chavira (1995), and Kofkin et al. (1995). * Questions 1, 4, and 6 were given to five participants several days prior to the interview.
Appendix C
PERSONAL INFORMATION SHEET
Please provide some persona1 background information to help us with this study.
Age: Highest grade or degree completed in school:
Were you born in Canada? ( ) yes ( No
If not, how many years have you lived in Canada?
What is your ethnic/cultural background?
How many sons do you have? Their age(s):
How many daughters? Their age(s):
136
Appendix D
1. "Dauahter" Transcri~t transcribed in block style:
"As black mother talking to black daughter, 1 had to telt her what it was
going to be like for her as a black woman . . . 'Cause I think she's too vulnerable.
She's a black woman. 1 had to help her understand that she was a stereotype to
white guys. Because white guys are still told by their fathers, you practice on the
black woman" (Adapted from Essed, 1991, p. 251, c27).
II. "Dauahter" Transcri~t broken into idea units, per Gee (1 986, 19891:
As black rnother talking to black daughter,
I had to tell her what it was going to be like
for her as a black woman . . .
'Cause 1 think she's too vulnerable.
She's a black woman.
I had to help her understand
that she was a stereotype to white guys.
Because white guys are still told by their fathers,
you practice on the black woman.
137
Appendix E
Q.S.R. NUD*ISP 4.0 SOFTWARE FACT SHEET
Q.S.R. NUD*IST (Non numerical Unstructured Data lndexing Searching
and Theorizing) is a multi-functional software system for the development,
support and management of qualitative data projects. This involves the analysis .*. - .
of unstructured data such as text from interviews, as well as other types of
documents. A NUD*IST project contains:
The Data Document Svstem
There is no lirnit to the number and size of documents a project can
handle (except those memory limits imposed by the cornputer being used).
Documents can be on-line plain text files or off-line documents of any sort
(i.e., WordPerfect files), that are imported into the Data Document Systern.
On-line text can be searched with a pattern-based text search facility.
Text searches can be made sensitive to context, restricting searches to
documents or passages with any chosen characteristics.
AI1 data documents, whether on-line or off-line, can have editable "Mernos"
attached to record the researcher's notes and comments about that particular
document.
On-line data documents can be edited freely, even after they are indexed.
The lndex Svstem
At the core of the lndex System is the lndex System Search engine -- an
interlocking set of search tools that can be used for analyses, and for the
expression and testing of theories and hypotheses. The tree-structured lndex
Systern can be constructed and modified by the researcher; it holds the facts,
ideas and concepts the researcher codes into the system as well as her/his
comments about the categories that have been created.
Ali categories in the index system can have editable definitions and "Memos"
attached to them.
The Index Systern acts as taxonornic organizer of the researcher's ideas and
data indexing. The index trees can be rearranged as the researcher's ideas
and understanding of the research project grow and change.
Because of their tree-structuring, index categories can be used to handie
dernographic variables and their values, structured questions and their
multiple- choice responses, and cases, such as interviewees.
A set of 18 "lndex Systern Search" (ISS) operators allow the researcher to
compare, relate, contrast and explore the index nodes -- two, three, or more
at a time. These ISS operators cover boolean and non-boolean
co-occurrences of nodes in the text, lexical and conceptual context relations,
tree-structured relationships of nodes, and construction of n-dimensional
MilesIHuberman qualitative matrices.
139
The "system closure" fxility allows search results to be stored in the Index
System as an index category, making them available for later analysis within
NUD*IST. The ISS, with system closure, amounts to a hypothesis-testing
facility; allows hypotheses of the classical "if A then B" or other formats, to
be expressed and tested for confirming and disconfirming instances.
Document coding can be done on-screen directly in the document.
Clipboard- type cut-and-paste operations allow data to be moved around the
systern as desired.
All retrievals corne up as editable, printable "reports" in their own windows in
the multiple-window interface.
Where it is meaningful, reports provide statistical data on their contents.
Statistics about the project as a whole are always on display to the
researcher.
NUD*ISp 4.0 is pubfished by Qualitative Solutions & Research Pty Ltd. (QSR),
La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia; and distributed by Sage Publications
Ltd, London, England.