Dissertation Research: African American Cultural Politics and Social Action

大多数关于美国黑人的研究都集中在下层阶级的社会问题上。 本项目涉及一位美国大学人类学专业学生的论文研究，他将研究美国黑人精英。 该项目将研究非裔美国妇女利用“文化政治”（种族、文化象征、历史和社会互动）与她们参与有重点的社会行动以打击种族主义和经济不平等之间的关系。 该学生将对大约100名非洲裔美国妇女进行采访，这些妇女被分为宗教和世俗领袖以及来自国家，州和市政办公室或组织的女性精英群体的非领导人。 访谈将侧重于生活史和参与歧视，形成自我形象，并参与社会行动。 这项研究很重要，因为它将记录文化政治的使用，以打击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提供宝贵的信息，说明少数群体精英成员如何利用他们所拥有的社会和文化资源来建立积极的自我形象和影响社会政策。这一项目的结果应引起普遍关注，特别是考虑到总统种族问题委员会引起的关注。

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.