Revisiting The Culture Trap: examining structural and cultural inequalities in London and New York City schools

ABSTRACT

To date, sociological research on education and immigration, particularly in the United States, has largely neglected the role of schools in shaping the trajectories of Black immigrants and their children. The few works that consider their schooling, most notably in Britain, focus primarily on one city or school context. The Culture Trap adds a new dimension to the literature by highlighting how differing political-economic forces, school structures, institutional processes, and cultural ideologies play a significant role in the reproduction of status inequalities among Black Caribbeans in the US and Britain – particularly in publicly funded London and New York City schools. In addition to examining the core theoretical and empirical contributions of The Culture Trap, this rejoinder takes stock of the central compliments and critiques advanced by contributors to the symposium on The Culture Trap, and notes dilemmas to be addressed in future cross-national comparisons on race, culture, immigration and education.

KEYWORDS:

• Black youth
• culture
• immigration
• race and ethnicity
• teacher expectations
• education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).