Racial identifications and childhood socialisations in White and racially mixed environments: the case of the Black African middle class in France and the UK

Focusing on Black African middle-class individuals in France and the UK, this article argues that whether respondents’ early socialisation took place within White versus racially mixed contexts impacted attitudes towards Whiteness and racial identifications. It shows how those raised in White environments had internalised these places as the norm and identified with White people. This pattern contrasted with the experiences of respondents raised in mixed places who experienced racial boundaries between them and White people. Moreover, this article highlights how the racial composition of their childhood neighbourhood influenced their Black and African identifications. Some of the interviewees socialised in White spaces did not feel attached to their African heritage or at ease with Black peers. Others had developed a late collective Black identification by learning about African history or through socialisation at university. Conversely, those raised in diverse environments more frequently voiced their African heritage and Black identifications.