ABSTRACT
This paper explores the identities of Britain’s black middle-classes. Drawing upon interviews with seventy-two participants, I theorize a ‘triangle of identity’. This triangle emphasizes how black middle-class identities are constructed within the dynamics of three poles. Firstly, there is the class-minded pole whereby class comes to the fore as a conceptual scheme; secondly, there is the ethnoracial autonomous pole whereby ‘race’ is central to one’s identity and whiteness is actively resisted; and lastly there is the strategic assimilation pole, where one continually moves between classed and racialized spheres of action. This tripartite approach to identity builds upon previous research by further exploring the social, cultural and phenomenological distinctions within Britain’s black middle-classes.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to both reviewers for their comments, which helped to improve this article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
3. Both in my research, and in the ESRC project, this dichotomy between race and class was used as an entry point for discussion rather than a claim that class and race are disparate modes of being. In both projects there was a focus on the ‘“mutual constitution” of race and class’ (Vincent et al. Citation2012b, 261), examining how ‘race and class differently intersect for the respondents in different situations’ (Vincent et al. Citation2012b, 263).
4. It could be that the ethnoracial autonomous mode of experience is more common among women, due to the increased expectations for them to assimilate with racialized beauty standards, which offers an obvious target for resistance. On the other hand, the class-minded experience may be affected by possessing high amounts of economic capital. Future research could explore these associations.
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