Del i serien Perspectives on a Multiracial America

Cosby Cohort

Blessings and Burdens of Growing Up Black Middle Class

Inbunden, Engelska, 2013

AvCherise A. Harris

1 809 kr

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The Cosby Cohort examines the childhood experiences of second generation middle class Blacks who grew up in mostly White spaces during the 1980s and 1990s. This probing book explores their journey to upward mobility, including the discrimination they faced in White neighborhoods and schools, the extraordinary pressures placed upon them to achieve, the racial lessons imparted to them by their parents, their tenuous relationships with Black children of other classes, and the impact that all of these experiences had on their adult racial identities. At young ages, this generation of middle class Blacks, whom Harris coins as the Cosby Cohort, was faced with racial displacement, frustration, and the ever-present pressure to emerge victorious against the pull of downward mobility. Even in adulthood, they continue to negotiate the tensions between upward mobility and maintaining ties to the larger Black community and culture. While these young Blacks may have grown up watching The Cosby Show, as the book reveals, their stories indicate a much more complex reality than portrayed by the show.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2013-02-14
Mått164 x 238 x 26 mm
Vikt544 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
SeriePerspectives on a Multiracial America
Antal sidor270
FörlagBloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN9781442217652

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Harris offers an interesting insight into the life experiences of 'second generation middle class blacks.' Based on interviews with adult African American men and women who had grown up during the 1980s and 1990s with parents who were the first to achieve middle-class status, the book explores the ways in which this precarious status influenced child-rearing strategies and socialization. She dubbed her informants the 'Cosby Cohort' because of both the era in which they were raised and the fact that The Cosby Show represented the same group she was interested in interviewing. Many informants compared the lessons transmitted in The Cosby Show to their own experiences growing up, where educational achievement and speaking standard English, among other things, were highly emphasized. Harris poses the question of what was gained and what was lost. Though everyone she studied had achieved professional success, many had struggled against the claim that they were 'acting white' and thus felt isolated from both the black and white communities; they were culturally and socially adrift. Harris's book offers insights into the complexities of living in this cultural and racial space. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries.