I felt like I was the same as everybody else but then I was being treated differently: Recognising t

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I felt like I was the same as everybody else but
then I was being treated differently
Recognising the impact of others on ethnic
identification

• Saffron Karlsen
• Epidemiology and Public Health, UCL
• s.karlsen_at_ucl.ac.uk

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Workshop plan

• Individual tasks exploring self perceptions
  (10mins)
• Small group discussion (10mins)
• Presentation Findings from qualitative
  interviews (15mins)
• Improving official measures
• Small group task (15mins)
• Group discussion (10mins)
• Lunch

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Individual task 1 Twenty Statement Test
(Kuhn McPartland 1954)

• I would like you to tell me who or what you
  are by filling in ten short statements about
  yourself.
• I am.
• I am interested in how you see yourself as a
  person.
• When you have finished ten statements about
  who you are, fill in the ten statements about who
  or what you are not.
• I am not.

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Individual task 2 Twenty Statement Test
(Ethnicity)

• Using the second form,
• repeat this task, but with statements that refer
  to your ethnic, nation, religious, racial or
  cultural background.
• These may be the same as those you have just
  noted.
• In terms of my ethnicity, nationality,
  religion, race or culture,
• I am.
• I am not.

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Individual task 3 Twenty Statement Test (Labels)

• Repeat this last task again, but thinking about
  the different labels that have been used to
  describe you, which refer to your ethnic, nation,
  religious, racial or cultural background.
• Who used these descriptors? Your family,
  friends, doctors or other people you have met?
• These statements might also include labels
  you have chosen to use yourself, but which no
  longer feel useful.
• In terms of my ethnicity, nationality, religion,
  race or culture,
• I have been described as..by.

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Group work 1 Modes of ethnicity

• In small groups, discuss the different
  descriptors you have listed.
• Think about what each of them mean to you.
  The different ways that we might think of
  ethnicity as being meaningful, relevant or
  important to our lives. (How) Do they affect the
  way you live your life? How do they affect your
  social circles?
• Also think about how different labels are
  used by different people, how the use of certain
  labels has changed, and for what reasons.

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Presentation Findings from qualitative
interviews

• Do people understand what ethnicity is?
• Do people recognise it?
• When do they recognise it?
• Using what criteria is it considered?
• Does it have any relevance in their own lives?
• In what ways are these criteria personally
  meaningful?
• Do people understand why we ask them about their
  ethnicity?
• Are the response options we provide meaningful
  to the way ethnicity plays out in peoples lives?

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Findings from qualitative interviews

• 116 in-depth interviews, HSE followup white
  British, Irish, Black Caribbean, Bangladeshi,
  Indian, Pakistani people
• 47 gave answers in response to a question on
  ethnic background
• Variation in use of terminology, and the extent
  and ways in which ethnicity was meaningful and
  important in peoples lives.

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Findings from qualitative interviews

• Multiple labels
• Multiple meanings
• lifestyle
• upbringing
• memories
• biology
• community
• problems
• victimisation

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Multiple labels

• Both my parents are Irish, you know, and thats
  their origins, my origins I feel are British
  obviously technical Irish, I see myself as a
  British citizen
  (LA20, Irish female, aged 33, born in GB)

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Multiple meanings

• You selected Indian, can you just tell me
  why?
• That's what I am. Well, my whole way of life,
  where I was born, my cultural backgroundit's a
  whole range of things.. it's not just obviously
  where you were born it's more your sort of
  cultural identity as well as, you know, it's the
  physical aspect as well...Indian blood...our
  roots are back in India Most people would
  actually perceive ethnicity as a very sort of
  physical thing, initially, obviously it's what
  you look like
• (CL08, Indian woman, aged 38, moved to
  GB aged 4)

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Lifestyle and upbringing

• it's mostly through living with my parents so
  we're Indian, we do that...we have this way of
  eating...this way of doing stuff (LN117,
  Indian male, aged 36, born in GB)

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Adaptation and responses

• it's mostly through living with my parents so
  we're Indian, we do that...we have this way of
  eating...this way of doing stuff It's not
  really an Indian life, its kind of what
  Indian ought to be in England.
• (LN117, Indian male, aged 36, born in GB)
• Travelling was a big learning curve, I came
  back with this Afro, I was like preaching to
  everybody and saying, look, as Black people we
  have to be more better role models
• (LA17, Black Caribbean male,
  aged 26, born in GB)

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Blood and biology

• You havent got Chinese blood in you because
  you were born in China (CL26, Irish female,
  aged 29, moved to GB aged 1)
• The blood what is flowing in our body, it
  cant be changed so easily Still all my
  childhood memories back home are flowing and will
  flow in my blood. That cant be changed.
  (LN50, Bangladeshi male, aged
  38, moved to GB aged 28)

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Blood and biology

• You havent got Chinese blood in you because
  you were born in China (CL26, Irish female,
  aged 29, moved to GB aged 1)
• The blood what is flowing in our body, it
  cant be changed so easily Still all my
  childhood memories back home are flowing and will
  flow in my blood. That cant be changed.
  (LN50, Bangladeshi male, aged
  38, moved to GB aged 28)
• Elsa is Blackshe's naturally violent
• (NT25, Black Caribbean female, aged 34,
  born in GB)

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The reactions of others

• People judge you the minute you walk into a
  room, they have certain expectations of you and
  how they treat you and expect you to behave.
• (SH07, Indian female, aged 45,
  moved to GB aged 6)
• To them it doesn't matter whether youre
  Pakistani, Indian or Mogadishu or whatever,
  if youre dark coloured then youre a Paki, you
  know?
• (LA63, Pakistani male, aged 37,
  moved to GB aged 11)
• I always Pakistaniyou cant change itbecause
  Im British passport holder now and if I go out
  people wont say Im English, they will say, oh
  youre Asianyoure coloured (BM52,
  Pakistani male, aged 45, moved to GB aged 11)

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Problems of labels 1

• I dont see myself as Afro-Caribbean
  becausewhen I go to the Caribbean they see me as
  English first and foremost Im not from there.
  My parents are from there and if you want to say
  that Im Afro-Caribbean descent then fair enough,
  even then I dont even associate myself with
  that if you want to start talking along them
  traitsyou can be silly about itthe slave
  tradeAfricans were shipped all round the
  worldso you can say, yes, the Black man did
  derive from Africa or whatever butI was born
  here, raised here, this is my culture, yes the
  only thing that you can really identify meis the
  colour of my skin, you know, and even thenthe
  colour of my skin is not black, its brownso it
  gets ridiculous about personal identitywhat you
  should be doing is looking at me
• (LA17,
  Black Caribbean male, aged 26, born in GB)

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Problems of labels 2

• if anyone ever asks me I always say Im mixed
  race but we refer to ourselves as Anglo-Indian
  or, I mean, on looks-wise, people would say Im
  Indian, so if I have to tick a box Ill be
  Asianwhen you come onto job opportunities and
  stuff like that, thats what theyre doing it on
  they're not doing it on, oh, she's mixed race,
  they're doing it on, you know, what you look like
  (LN113,
  Indian female, aged 27, born in GB)

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Group work 2 census question development

• "What is your ethnic group?
• Chose ONE section from A to E, then tick the
  appropriate box to indicate your cultural
  background.
• A White. D Black or Black British.
• British Caribbean
• Irish African
• Any other White background.
  Any other Black background.
• B Mixed. E Chinese or other ethnic group.
• White and Black Caribbean Chinese
• White and Black African Any other
  (write in).
• White and Asian
• Any other Mixed background.
• C Asian or Asian British.
• Indian
• Pakistani
• Bangladeshi
• Any other Asian background.

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ONS Census consultation

• To seek views on users and stakeholders
  detailed requirements and consider the extent to
  which these requirements can be met using the
  Census, in relation to
• Acceptability of questions and terms
• Relative priorities for information, given
  space issues
• Possible future developments to information
  collected
• http//www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/cn_155.as
  p
• ethnicityidentity_at_ons.gov.uk
• Questionnaire deadline 5 March 2007

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Group work 2 census question development

• Any ethnicity questions in the census should
• be understood and be acceptable to the maximum
  proportion of the population possible,
  including those from ethnic minority groups
• meet the needs of data users
• provide the data in a usable format
• The legal definition of an ethnic group states
• An ethnic group is one which regards itself or
  is regarded by others as a distinct community by
  virtue of historical and cultural
  characteristics that will help the group from
  the surrounding community

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ONS Census consultation

• To seek views on users and stakeholders
  detailed requirements and consider the extent to
  which these requirements can be met using the
  Census
• http//www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/cn_155.as
  p
• ethnicityidentity_at_ons.gov.uk
• Questionnaire deadline 5 March 2007
• Saffron Karlsen
• s.karlsen_at_ucl.ac.uk
• Thank you