White Mothers Negotiating Race and Ethnicity in the Mothering of Biracial, Black-White Adolescents

White Mothers Negotiating Race and Ethnicity in the Mothering of Biracial, Black-White Adolescents

Journal of Ethnic And Cultural Diversity in Social Work
Volume 14, Issue 3 & 4
June 2006
pages 125 – 156
DOI: 10.1300/J051v14n03_07

Margaret O’Donoghue, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Social Work
School of Social Work, New York University

Eleven White mothers of biracial, Black/White adolescents were interviewed in a qualitative study to determine whether and how these mothers socialize their children to issues of race and ethnicity. The majority of the women were raising their children with a focus exclusively on an African American culture and not including elements of an ethnicity germane to the mother. Their children identified as biracial privately and Black publicly. The specific strategies utilized by the women to foster ecological competence are discussed.

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