Constructions of racism by British Chinese pupils and parents

Abstract

British Chinese pupils stand out as a high achieving group within the British education system and yet very little theoretical or policy attention has been given to these pupils' identities and experiences of education. In this paper we consider British Chinese pupils' (and parents') reports of their experiences of racism/s and their views on the potential causes of—and their responses to—racism. Analysis teases out several key components within respondents' constructions of racism/s, including popular assumptions (e.g. that Chinese pupils are clever, quiet/passive, and hardworking). It is argued that pupils experienced the seemingly ‘positive’ stereotypes of British Chinese pupils as clever and hardworking as highly negative for a range of reasons and attention is drawn to respondents' negotiations between conflicting identity positions (for example ‘geek’ and ‘tag’). Particular attention is also drawn to interplays of ‘race’/ethnicity and hegemonic masculinity within the production and resistance of racism/s.

Notes

1. The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is the national academic qualification taken at the end of compulsory schooling (school year 11) by young people aged 15–16 years. Grades are awarded from A*‐G, with A* being the highest. Pass grades are from A*‐C and hence comparisons tend to be made using proportions of passes at this level.

2. This latter achievement represents a rapid change over a decade, as Taylor (1987) found that progression to higher education was relatively rare among the Chinese community in Britain.

3. The Parekh report was published on October 11 2000 and reports the findings of the Commission on the Future of Multi‐Ethnic Britain. It was set up in 1998 by the Runnymede Trust (an independent think‐tank focusing on the promotion of racial justice). The commission consisted of 23 expert members and was chaired by Bikhu Parekh.

4. Mirza draws attention to how policy and academic discussions around ‘race’ issues tend to assume or focus (sometimes unwittingly) on young men as the generic subject of such debates. Similarly, theoretical and policy discussions of gender issues have predominantly addressed the issues in relation to white women/men, to the neglect of minority ethnic groups.

5. A sample of 30 teachers were also interviewed as part of the wider research, although their views are reported elsewhere (Archer & Francis, 2005).

6. Nvivo is a qualitative data analysis software package.

7. The recent cultural phenomenon of ‘laddishness’, or being ‘a lad’ has been defined as relating to young men and the practice of taking part in male cultures and hedonistic practices such as ‘having a laugh’, objectifying women, consuming alcohol, disruptive behaviours and the pursuit of ‘macho’ interests and pastimes (Francis, 1999).

8. Broadcast on Channel 4, 19–22 January 2004.

9. Whilst (as we outline in Archer & Francis, 2006) the assignment of social class can be notoriously problematic (especially in the case of minority ethnic groups), it is worth noting that neither MeiLei nor Alice were from professional backgrounds in which geographical mobility might be easier or taken for granted.

10. A disturbing and extreme violent response by particular boys to their ongoing experiences of teasing (which was left unaddressed by teachers' recommendations to ‘ignore it’) is discussed by Klein and Chancer (2000).