Of Jewel Heritage: racial socialization and racial identity attitudes amongst adolescents of mixed African-Caribbean/ White parentage

Mixed parentage adolescents form an increasing proportion of ethnic minority adolescents in Britain. Few studies have investigated their views and perceptions of their racial identity in terms of their Black heritage. This exploratory study investigated their attitudes towards Blackness, and examined the relationship that this might have with their reported experiences of racial socialization as well as with their self-esteem. Older adolescents were more likely to have positive racial identity attitudes, and a positive relationship was found between racial identity attitudes and self-esteem. Reported frequency of certain types of racial socialization messages increased with age. This was especially pronounced with messages relating to the development of racial pride and messages relating to issues around racism. Those adolescents who lived with both parents reported receiving more proactive racial socialization messages. Tentative conclusions include the possibility that dual identification and multicultural environments are associated with a positive sense of racial identity. These issues need to be investigated further.