This thesis is an examination of how white women in interracial relationships and/or white mothers of biracial children understand race. Through interviews with six self-identified white women who have black-white biracial children, I seek to understand what role racism plays in their lives and whether these women have a heightened consciousness about race as a result of being in an interracial family. Using their narratives and a spatial framework, I explore the concept of white supremacy, whiteness and blackness, representations of white femininity and black masculinity in the media, and how white women in interracial relationships cross the colourline in their everyday lives. I suggest that white women learn about colourlined spaces in public, but that they also learn about blackness and teach their biracial children about antiracism in private spaces. Overall, white women need to negotiate rules and norms within racial hierarchies in order to navigate white supremacy.

In an attempt to close the gaps between diaspora and regional studies an Afro-Asian comparative perspective on African and Indian identity will be explored in the countries of Guyana and South Africa. The overlying aim of the ethnographic research will be to see whether blackness can be used as a unifier to those belonging to enslaved and indentured diasporas. Comparisons will be made between the two race models of the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean worlds. A substantial portion will be set aside for a critique of the concept of Coolitude including commentary on V.S. Naipaul. Further, mixing, creolization, spirituality and the cultural politics of Black Consciousness, multiculturalism, and dreadlocks will be exemplified as AfroAsian encounters.

In an attempt to close the gaps between diaspora and regional studies an Afro-Asian comparative perspective on African and Indian identity will be explored in the countries of Guyana and South Africa. The overlying aim of the ethnographic research will be to see whether blackness can be used as a unifier to those belonging to enslaved and indentured diasporas. Comparisons will be made between the two race models of the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean worlds. A substantial portion will be set aside for a critique of the concept of Coolitude including commentary on V.S. Naipaul. Further, mixing, creolization, spirituality and the cultural politics of Black Consciousness, multiculturalism, and dreadlocks will be exemplified as AfroAsian encounters.

No description available.

Doctor of Philosophy / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Walter Schumm / Farrell J. Webb / There is considerable research on concepts of Blackness in America. Much of this research is conducted within a Eurocentric as opposed to an Afrocentric perspective. Social research has established that ideals, social norms, and values about Black minority groups may be shaped by dominant culture premises and that the dominant culture of any society can influence the attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors of minority group members coexisting within that culture. The White racial frame holds that over time a dominant cultural perspective in the U.S. has installed a positive orientation to “White” and whiteness and a strong negative orientation toward racial “others”, particularly toward Black Americans. The present research explores this phenomenon from an Afrocentric perspective, assessing propinquity preferences of non-native Immigrant and native-born American Blacks toward native-born Blacks. Utilizing data drawn from The National Survey on American Life 2001-2003 (Jackson, 2007) the study assessed the degree of Black propinquity (i.e., self-identified feelings of closeness and identity preferences with native-born Blacks) expressed within and between subsamples of native-born African American (n = 3,464) and non-native (chiefly Afro-Caribbean) Blacks (n = 1,118). More specifically, it hypothesized that native-born Blacks would display greater propinquity preferences than Immigrant Blacks for native-American Blacks depicted as more economically-challenged as well as socially affluent and elite; also, it expected they would report greater support for socially undesirable as well as socially desirable Blacks than would Immigrant Blacks. A series of hierarchical regression analyses modeled the unique and joint predictive variance of socio-demographic, socio-economic, and Black (derived) target characteristics within each Black subpopulation against the primary outcome variable (propinquity). Overall regression models for each Black group were highly similar in the proportion of explained variance (27% for native Blacks; 26% for Immigrant Blacks) and weighted contributions of three blocks of variables; derived variables for Black target characteristics contributed most of the total variance within each group. No statistically reliable differences for R score values were found between the two Black subpopulations on these derived variables. Findings are discussed in the context of the White racial frame perspective, secondary data methodology, and future research.

Ce travail vise à mieux comprendre les trajectoires et les conditions de vie de certains bénéficiaires de la politique des quotas, et également à connaître l’opinion de ces bénéficiaires sur l’efficacité du programme en tant qu’outil de lutte contre les inégalités raciales au Brésil. Pour cela, nous avons mené une étude de cas ayant comme but d’analyser l’expérience d’étudiants qui s’auto-identifient comme negros et qui ont eu accès à l’Université d’État de Rio de Janeiro, au Brésil, grâce à la politique de discrimination positive, et qui ont réussi à terminer leurs études universitaires et à obtenir leur diplôme. Nous avons mené des entretiens semi-structurés en soumettant des questionnaires contextuels à neuf anciens bénéficiaires de cette politique. Le guide d’entretien a été construit à partir de six domaines de recherche thématiques : la sélection de l’université et son intégration; l’identité raciale et le racisme; La permanence à l’université; l’intégration sur le marché du travail; la mobilité sociale et économique; et l’évaluation de la politique des quotas. Face aux résultats, nous pouvons dire que le système des quotas de l’UERJ, visant à garantir les droits historiquement niés à des groupes minoritaires tels que les Negros, par exemple, permet de changer de manière considérable les conditions de vie de ces bénéficiaires. Certes, il y a encore beaucoup à faire pour réduire les inégalités raciales et le racisme au Brésil, mais selon les résultats de la présente étude, la politique des quotas peut constituer l’une des étapes qui vont dans ce sens. / This research aims to better understand the trajectories and living conditions of certain beneficiaries of the quota policy and also to know the opinion of these beneficiaries on the effectiveness of the program as a tool to combat racial inequality in Brazil. To do so, a case study was conducted to learn about the experience of black self-declared alumni, who had access to the Rio de Janeiro State University, in Brazil, through affirmative action policy and have successfully completed their university studies and graduated. We conducted semistructured interviews and applied contextual questionnaires to nine former beneficiaries of the policy. The interview script was constructed from six thematic research areas: selection and integration of the University; racial identity and racism; permanence in the University; integration into the labor market; social and economic mobility; and evaluation of the quota policy. In view of the results, it can be said that the quota system in UERJ, which aims to guarantee rights historically denied to minority groups such as the blacks, for example, is helping to significantly change the living conditions of the beneficiaries. While there is still much to be done to reduce racial inequality and racism in Brazil, but from the results found here, apparently, the quota policy can be one of the steps in this direction.

« Il s’est converti à la « philosophie » chrétienne (et non pas à la « religion » chrétienne) », affirme Maurice Sachot (2007, p. 112) à l’égard de la conversion de Tertullien vers 197 après J.-C. Si cette conversion suscite beaucoup de suspicion en ce qui a trait aux rapprochements entre christianisme, philosophie et religion, que dire d'une autre conversion quinze siècles plus tard, celle des esclaves cette fois. Et pourtant, d'aucuns avancent que les esclaves noirs des Antilles se sont convertis à la religion catholique chrétienne. Or, par la Bible les Noirs africains avaient été mis en esclavage, et, cette même Bible les a ré-humanisés. Cependant, ils étaient considérés comme des hommes nés dans l’« ignorance » et vivaient dans un état de servitude. Aussi, à la lumière de la psychanalyse, notre recherche vise à analyser une « conversion » au christianisme des esclaves noirs. Cette révélation pourrait expliquer en partie cette situation mettant en scène deux perspectives contraires : assujettir et ré-humaniser. Décrire ce passage en termes d’une « conversion » au christianisme des esclaves noirs ne ferait que passer sous silence le tranchant des drames humains en cause. Dès lors, cette période des XVIIe et XVIIIe devient le témoin d'un paradoxe religieux qui montre une religion des maîtres et une religion des Évangiles. Il est important de comprendre que cette dernière a été l’objet de croyance et par voie de fait, de libération. Ce travail se veut être une analyse qui révèle des signifiants qui se rattachent à la conversion des esclaves noirs. / He converted to Christian «philosophy» - not to Christa in religion – once said Maurice Sachot, (2007, p.112) regarding Tertullien’s conversion, circa 197 CE. If establishing a relationship between Christianity, philosophy and religion as the foundation of the conversion raises doubts, then how about the slaves conversion fifteen centuries later ? No one has affirmed that Black slaves from the West Indies converted to the Roman Catholic Church. However, in the name of the Bible, Black Africans had been reduced to slavery and it is this same Bible that re-humanized them. Though they remained considered ignorant and were thought to live in servitude. Moreover, our research aims to analyse Black slaves «conversion », to Christianity in the light of the psychoanalysis. This revelation could explain to some extent the contradiction between the two seemingly paradoxical perspectives of submitting versus re-humanizing. By strictly describing this passage as a «conversion », we would be ignoring the human tragedy which exists at the core of it. As such, this scene reveals a religious paradox which demonstrates both a religion promoted by masters and a religion of the Gospels. We must understand that this religion was the object of a belief and de facto, that of emancipation. This work tends to be an analysis which reveals "signifiants" that refer to the conversion of Black slaves.

« Les femmes noires qui aiment les femmes : résistance aux rapports de pouvoir enchevêtrés » aborde les questions de survie d’un point de vue queer et diasporique. Cette thèse soutient que les pratiques et positionnements au quotidien des participantes se situent dans les failles d’un système qui criminalise l’existence même des personnes noir.e.s. L’analyse des conditions de vie de ces femmes permet de mieux comprendre le panorama complexe des systèmes de pouvoir à l’intersection des rapports de classe, de genre, de race et de l’hétéropatriarcat. Elle permet également de reconnaitre leur capacité à créer un espace alternatif, un univers des possibles qui s’oppose aux catégories normatives et hégémoniques. Les réalités des participantes génèrent donc des points de départ où l’altérité devient outil de pensée critique, moyen de résistance et fondement d’un futur substantiellement différent infusé par l’espoir de l’amélioration. Cette recherche se base sur l’autoethnographie, une ethnographie de la participation et des entretiens semi-dirigés de 22 personnes qui s’identifient comme femmes, noires et ayant des rapports sexo-affectifs avec d’autres femmes. Cette thèse porte donc sur le désir et s’appuie sur de multiples apports, majoritairement de théoriciennes racisées, qu’elles soient issues du milieu académique ou fassent partie de mon cercle privé. Elle est formée par de puissants récits, mais également par des silences tout aussi évocateurs, par une attention accrue au domaine du micro et à la description, par une autoethnographie de la participation et par la volonté de dépeindre sur quelques pages ne serait-ce qu’un extrait de la flamboyance de ces femmes. / "Black Women Who Love Women: Resisting Entangled Power Dynamics" addresses issues of survival from a queer and diasporic perspective. This thesis argues that the participants’ everyday practices and positioning are situated within the cracks of a system that criminalizes the very existence of Black people. Analysing these women’s living conditions allows to better understand of the complex landscape of power systems at the intersection of class, gender, race and heteropatriarchy. It also recognizes their ability to create an alternative space, a universe of possibilities that opposes normative and hegemonic categories. The participants’ realities, thus, generate starting points where otherness becomes a tool for critical thinking, a means of resistance, and a foundation for a substantially different future infused with the hope of improvement. This research is based on autoethnography, an ethnography of participation, and semistructured interviews of 22 individuals who identify as female, Black, and have romantic and sexual relations with womens. This thesis, then, centers on desire and draws on multiple inputs, mostly from racialized female theorists, whether from the academic world or from my private circle. It is shaped by powerful narratives, but also by equally impactful silences, by a strong attention to what happen on the micro scale and to description, by an autoethnography of participation, and by a willingness to depict in a few pages even a snippet of these women’s flamboyance.

In this dissertation, African/Caribbean-Canadian women’s experiences of coping with divorce were explored using a qualitative methodology. This study was approached from a Black Feminist paradigm using the lived experiences of Black women as a source of knowledge. Divorce and coping literature provided a theoretical framework for understanding the issues related to divorce in the Black community and effective coping efforts among Black women, particularly as it pertains to divorce. Six separated/divorced women from the same family, representing two generations, were interviewed individually and as a group using a semi-structured interview guide. The participants discussed their reflections on marriage and marital disruption, their post-separation experiences and challenges, and the coping resources they accessed during the divorce process. The participants also discussed how their own marriages and divorces were influenced by the marriages and marital disruptions of their family members. The results from the interviews were reported in a case study format using the voices of the participants to tell their own stories. A grounded theory analysis found that Black women faced the common challenges of starting over, single parenting, financial loss, lifestyle adjustment, and emotional adjustment during the divorce process. To cope with these challenges, the majority, if not all, of the women cited a support network, a sense of responsibility, a positive perspective, spirituality, and independence as effective coping resources. It was the hope of the participants and the researcher that this study would help other women experiencing divorce by illustrating how effective coping efforts can lead to greater happiness after divorce.

In this dissertation, African/Caribbean-Canadian women’s experiences of coping with divorce were explored using a qualitative methodology. This study was approached from a Black Feminist paradigm using the lived experiences of Black women as a source of knowledge. Divorce and coping literature provided a theoretical framework for understanding the issues related to divorce in the Black community and effective coping efforts among Black women, particularly as it pertains to divorce. Six separated/divorced women from the same family, representing two generations, were interviewed individually and as a group using a semi-structured interview guide. The participants discussed their reflections on marriage and marital disruption, their post-separation experiences and challenges, and the coping resources they accessed during the divorce process. The participants also discussed how their own marriages and divorces were influenced by the marriages and marital disruptions of their family members. The results from the interviews were reported in a case study format using the voices of the participants to tell their own stories. A grounded theory analysis found that Black women faced the common challenges of starting over, single parenting, financial loss, lifestyle adjustment, and emotional adjustment during the divorce process. To cope with these challenges, the majority, if not all, of the women cited a support network, a sense of responsibility, a positive perspective, spirituality, and independence as effective coping resources. It was the hope of the participants and the researcher that this study would help other women experiencing divorce by illustrating how effective coping efforts can lead to greater happiness after divorce.