Ethnicity and Identity

• Hybrid


  A cross between two or more identities
• Hybrid identities


  • Brasian (British and Asian)
  • Blasian (Black and Asian)
• Hybrid identities can be found in the white British population due to the influence of immigration and global culture
• White wannabees


  White British males who dress in a way that's influenced by hip hop black culture
• Jafrican


  The style of speech and accent used in areas of London by young white people
• Jafrican is a product of multicultural nature of certain parts of London, where mixed groups and ethnic groups influence each other, creating a hybrid dialect
• Upbringing of second-generation Asians in the UK

  • Tradition and family values play an important part
  • Asian children tend to be socialised into the extended family, with emphasis on duty and commitment
• Black Atlantic


  An identity that was not rooted in the UK or in their country of origin, created by shared experiences of racism
• Derrington and Kendall researched ethnic identity in the traveller community and looked into different aspects of society, which saw the challenges of growing up within a minority ethnic group in the UK influences someone's own identity
• Hewitt considers the white backlash against multiculturalism, where policies designed to achieve equality have been branded unfair by the white community, and a white working-class person under pressure economically has often reacted with anger at positive discrimination, in favour of ethnic minorities and feeling the need to defend their ethnic identity
• In contemporary UK, due to the expansion of the EU, most ethnic minorities are from eastern and central Europe white countries, and they also claim to face similar issues relating to discrimination and racism that the Caribbean's also faced in previous decades
• Spencer suggests that EU migrants spend little time socialising with British people, and it was reported that British people don't let you in their circles
• Code switchers


  British Asians who can change their identities across two cultures and will find ways to negotiate their own identity
• Cashmore and Troyna found that there is a tendency for ethnic minorities to turn inwards in the community to seek support from those within their own ethnic community as a response to the racism they experience, which makes religion and culture strengthened as they become sources of identity and support
• Winston James argues the experience of racism is unified in the culture and identity of the African-Caribbean's in the UK, where Black people from the Caribbean have cultural differences based on their island of origin, and also divided based on the darkness of their skin, which is proposed by colonialism, but racism has had the effect of drawing African Caribbean's together
• Jacobson argues many young Pakistanis are adopting a strong Islamic identity as a response to social exclusion from the white British society, and a strong Muslim identity gives them a strong sense of stability and security, where Islamic identity and other religious practises are a form of resistance to marginalisation and racism, and isn't just absorbed through the family, but consciously constructed
• Ethnic identities may become more hybrid, as those from ethnic minorities and those of white British origin are all influenced by each other's cultures in the media, and ethnic hybridity is not a mix between two cultures, but a much more complex process
• Modood found that second generation ethnic minorities from both African Caribbean and Asian backgrounds felt more British than their parents, but still saw their ethnic origin as a key part of their ethnic identity
• Postmodernists argue in a globalised and media orientated society, identity is all about choice, meaning anyone can create their own identity, and hybridity means ethnicity is becoming less significant, however, some would disagree saying that ethnicity and race are still sources of discrimination which affect identity