“A part of the neighbourhood?”: negotiating race in American suburbs

Abstract

Compares race relations in two suburban communities in order to show that middle‐class blacks meet with some success when they temporarily exchange their racial identity for a class‐based identity. Collects data through ethnography and individual interview to examine the conditions under which middle‐class blacks construct and assert a sub‐urban identity. States that success varies with the racial composition of the suburban community and the white neighbours’ level of the satisfaction with the community.

Citation

Lacy, K.R. (2002), "“A part of the neighbourhood?”: negotiating race in American suburbs", International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 22 No. 1/2/3, pp. 39-74. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443330210789951