Dissertation Research: African American Cultural Politics and Social Action

大多数对美国黑人的研究都集中在下层阶级的社会问题上。 该项目涉及美利坚大学人类学学生的论文研究，该学生将研究非裔美国精英。 该项目将研究非裔美国妇女使用“文化政治”：种族、文化符号、历史和社会互动与她们参与反对种族主义和经济不平等的有针对性的社会行动之间的关系。 学生将采访约 100 名非裔美国女性，这些女性分为宗教和世俗领袖和非领袖，这些女性来自国家、州和市政府办公室或组织的精英女性群体。 访谈将重点关注生活史、应对歧视、自我形象的形成以及社会行动的参与。 这项研究很重要，因为它将记录如何利用文化政治来对抗负面形象和种族主义并促进社会变革。对宗教和世俗背景的关注将为少数精英成员如何利用可用的社会和文化资源来发展积极的自我形象并影响社会政策提供有价值的信息。该项目的结果应该引起普遍关注，特别是考虑到总统种族委员会引起的关注。

Most research on American Blacks focuses on the social problems of the lower classes. This project involves the dissertation research of an anthropology student from American University, who will study African American elites. The project will study the relation between African American women's use of `cultural politics`: ethnicity, cultural symbols, history and social interaction and their involvement in focused social action to counter racism and economic inequality. The student will conduct interviews with a sample of about 100 African American women divided into religious and secular leaders and non-leaders drawn from an elite population of women involved with national, state and municipal offices or organizations. The interviews will focus on life history and engagement with discrimination, the formation of a self image, and involvement with social action. This research is important because it will document the use of cultural politics to counter negative images and racism and to promote social change. The focus on religious as well as secular contexts will provide valuable information on how members of a minority elite use the social and cultural resources available to them to develop positive self-images and influence social policy. The results of this project should be of general interest, especially in light of the attention generated by the presidential commission on race.