Ethnicity and Race in a Changing World: A Review Journal Volume 3 Issue 1 2012 Copyright © 2012 Manchester University Press While copyright in the journal as a whole is vested in Manchester University Press, copyright in individual articles belongs to their respective authors and no chapters may be reproduced wholly or in part without the express permission in writing of both author and publisher. Articles, comments and reviews express only the personal views of the author. Published by Manchester University Press, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9NR www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk ISSN 1758-8685 Ethnicity and Race in a Changing World: A Review Journal is a biannual journal, semi peer reviewed and freely available online. Those planning to submit to the journal are advised to consult the guidelines found on the website. The journal is created and edited by the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre, University of Manchester, J Floor, Sackville Street Building, Sackville Street Area, M60 1QD Telephone: 0161 275 2920 Email: [email protected] Ethnicity and Race in a Changing World: A Review Journal Volume 3 Issue 1 Spring 2012 Ethnicity and Race in a Changing World: A Review Journal Volume 3, Issue 1, 2012 Journal Editors: Emma Britain, University of Manchester Julie Devonald, University of Manchester Journal Sub-editors: Ruth Tait, University of Manchester Associate Editors: Professor Emeritus Lou Kushnick, University of Manchester Chris Searle, University of Manchester The Editorial Board: Akwasi Assensoh, Professor, Indiana University Alexander O. Boulton, Professor, Stevenson University Andrew Pilkington, Professor, University of Northampton and Director of Equality and Diversity Research Group Aubrey W. Bonnett, Professor, State University of New York Beverly Bunch-Lyons, Associate Professor, Virginia Tech Brian Ward, Professor, University of Manchester C. Richard King, Associate Professor, Washington State University Catherine Gomes, Dr., RMIT, University Melbourne Celine-Marie Pascale, Assistant Professor, American University Dana-ain Davis, Associate Professor, Queens College David Brown, Dr., University of Manchester David Brunsma, Associate Professor, Virgina Tech David Embrick, Assistant Professor, Loyola University Dorothy Aguilera, Assistant Professor, Lewis and Clark College Fazila Bhimji, Dr., University of Central Lancashire Glenn Omatsu, Professor, California State University H. L. T. Quan, Assistant Professor, Arizona Sate University James Frideres, Professor, University of Calgary and Director of International Indigenous Studies James Jennings, Professor, Tufts University Jo Frankham, Dr., CERES, Liverpool John Moore’s University Kris Clarke, Assistant Professor, California State University Laura Penketh, Dr., University of Manchester Lionel Mandy, Professor, California State University Lisa Maya Knauer, Professor, University of Massachusetts Lucia Ann McSpadden, Coordinator of International Support and Adjunct Faculty, Pacific School of Religion Mairela Nunez-Janes, Assistant Professor, University of North Texas Marta I. Cruz-Janzen, Professor, Florida Atlantic University Melanie E. Bush, Assistant Professor, Adelphi University Melissa Checker, Assistant Professor, City University of New York Michele Simms-Burton, Associate Professor, Howard University Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome, Professor, Brooklyn College, City University of New York Monica White Ndounou, Assistant Professor, Tufts University Nuran Savaskan Akdogan, Dr. , TODAIE Paul Okojie, Dr. , Manchester Metropolitan University Pedro Caban, Vice Provost for Diversity and Educational Equity, State University New York Rajinder Dudrah, Dr., University of Manchester Richard Schur, Associate Professor and Director of Interdisciplinary Studies, Drury University Roderick D. Bush, Professor, St. John’s University Roland Armando Alum, DeVry University Samia Latif, Dr., University of Manchester Silvia Carrasco Pons, Professor, Universitat Autonoma De Barcelona Teal Rothschild, Associate Professor, Roger Williams University Thomas Blair, Editor, The Chronicle Thomas J. Keil, Professor, Arizona State University Traci P. Baxley, Assistant Professor, Florida Atlantic University Uvanney Maylor, Dr., London Metropolitan University Willie J. Harrell, Jr., Associate Professor, Kent State University Zachary Williams, Assistant Professor, University of Akron Contents Editorial Statement: by Associate Editor, Professor Emeritus Louis Kushnick i Essays: Failure is not an Option: Parental Expectations of Nigerian Voluntary 3 Immigrants to the United States by Dolapo Adeniji-Neill, PhD, Adelphi University Class Status and the Construction of Black Masculinity 17 by Trevor B. Milton, State University of New York- College at Old Westbury Comment and Opinion: The Structure and Process Of Racial Identification of Multiracial Infants in 33 the United States: A Research Note By David L. Brunsma, University of Missouri (Virginia Tech as of August 10, 2011), and Priya Dua, University of Missouri. The Characteristics of the Congressional District and Tea Party Victories in 43 2010 by Thomas J. Keil, New College, Arizona State University and Jacqueline M. Keil, Kean University Extended Book Review: Acting White: The Curious History of a Racial Slur Ron Christie 48 Review By Antoinette L. Allen Book Reviews 52 Ethnicity and Race in a Changing World: A Review Journal Editorial Statement This issue contains two peer reviewed essays and two Comments. These pieces deal with issues of Culture and Identity in various settings, as does the Extended Review, crucially provides the necessary contextualisation necessary for moving these discussions forward. The first essay, ‘Failure is not an Option: Parental Expectations of Nigerian Voluntary Immigrants to the United States’ by Dolapo Adeniji-Neill, analyses these issues in the context immigration and its consequences. The author seeks an explanation for the success in education attributed to new African immigrants to the United States, and their children. Dr. Adeniji-Neill investigates the relationship among three factors: parental expectations; socio-cultural experiences; and (adult) children’s internalisation of their parents’ aspirations for them. The conclusion is that Nigerian culture has a strong influence on the upbringing and fulfilment of expectations for the children of the participants. It is important to note that these debates have focused in the past on the performance of children of ‘West Indian’ immigrants to the United States in the mid-twentieth century. The second essay, ‘Class Status and the Construction of Black Masculinity’ by Trevor B. Milton, looks at the issues of Culture and Identity in the context of Black Masculinity. Milton argues, ‘Black Masculinity and its attributes are decreasingly influenced by one’s racial designation and are more influenced by class status’. He identifies the spread of these attitudes across racial boundaries and links ‘poor opportunity structure’ with limitations on the expression of patriarchal male power. This linkage raises fundamental questions about the centrality of patriarchy in the United States and other Western countries, which pride themselves on their commitment to gender equality, at least in principle. The separation of racial designation and class status for analytic purposes in this essay raises questions about the utility of such an approach in societies organised on the basis of structural racism. The Comment piece by David L. Brunsma and Priya Dua, ‘The Structure and Process of Racial Identification of Multiracial Infants in the United States: A Research Note’, analyses the ways in which that new parents of multiracial babies classify their six to twenty-two-month old infants. The authors found a range of categorisation among parents with differing ethnicity identifications, and conclude that these illustrate ‘the nature of race relations, processes of racialization, the structure of racial stratification, and the enigmatic relationship between racial identity and racial identification’. Thomas J. Keil and Jacqueline M. Keil’s ‘The Characteristics of the Congressional District and Tea Party Victories in 2010’, analyses the centrality of racial identity in the origins, character and successes of the Tea Party in the United States’ 2010 mid-term elections. Keil and Keil examined the webpages of 137 Tea Party backed candidates to determine the commonalities and differences in their campaign materials on their websites. They were not surprised to find the positive effect of percentage White on the electoral success of the Tea Party candidate but were by the absence of an effect of status, especially in terms of income and unemployment levels. They conclude that: ‘In some sense, then, the 2010 election was a racial referendum – a reaction by Whites who wanted to ‘take back’ ‘their country’ from the usurpers who had won the 2008 election…. There is a sense among White voters that Whiteness has been devalued as a form of social capital by Mr. Obama’s election and that Blacks, especially, as well as other minorities are receiving disproportionate benefits from his administration’. The Extended Review by Antoinette L. Allen is a review essay on Acting White: The Curious History of the Racial Slur by Ron Christie. This fits it with the theme of Culture and Identity in that Christie argues I Ethnicity and Race in a Changing World: A Review Journal that there is a Black mindset that: ‘prides itself on victimization, government quotas to move ahead, cultural