Identity and Community Co-operation: A Note on Terminology
In: Race: the journal of the Institute of Race Relations, Heft 1, S. 69-76
ISSN: 0033-7277
The importance of studying identity construction for understanding the structural bases of the society & inter-group patterns is affirmed. 'Labels' themselves have no intrinsic, abstract value. It is hyp'ed that the disposition of soc groups, the concatenation of power between & within them & the degree of control diff strata of the groups have over the allocation of material resources is the crucial area of analysis in explaining the bestowal, acceptance, or rejection of labels. A biological definition of identity in terms of race is then discussed in relation to the categories established by the Bradford Educ Committee for British Sch's: eg, Commonwealth parents--child born in UK; Commonwealth parents--child direct from overseas; non-Commonwealth parents, etc. Each category has instructions to the headmaster re health tests & allocation to a Sch. Under the British dispersal scheme, no Sch should have more than 25% of its total made up of immigrant children. Language was not the only consideration for instit'ing a dispersal policy. 'Native' & white on the one hand, & 'immigrant' & black on the other, are used inter-changeably in these categories. The Minister made it clear that West Indians, some of whom are 'natives', are part of the same problem which is said to be posed by non-English-speaking Pakistani & Indian pupils. The 'soc strains' hyp'ed by the British gov's White Paper, arise out of the fact that in a Sch with an overwhelming % of black pupils, the white pupils would feel--what? threatened? insecure? frustrated? lonely? or alternatively, their educ'al progress would be retarded by black pupils. The reverse argument is not publicly heard because black parents have no representation on town councils. The asymmetrical distribution of power remained unchanged. The solution lies in a group consciously defining its own identity. 3 Tables. M. Maxfield.