African American Girls and the Construction of Identity: Class, Race, and Gender

In African American Girls and the Construction of Identity, Sheila Walker closely examines socioeconomic class and explores the way it shapes how African American girls experience race and gender in the process of their identity formation. While all the girls who participated in the two-year study are African American, their lives are racialized and gendered in significantly different ways, in both public and private spaces. Affluence is not a guaranteed protection against the identity-damaging effects of racism, and poverty is not necessarily a risk factor for an irresolute identity. By examining identity through the lens of class, Walker provides researchers, educators, and parents a more in-depth appreciation of what is a very complex, multi-layered phenomenon.

Author: Sheila Walker
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 09/15/2018
Pages: 204
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.14lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.10w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9781498570084
About the Author
Sheila Walker is professor of psychology at Scripps College and chair of the Intercollegiate Department of Africana Studies at The Claremont Colleges.