Derron Wallace is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Education at Brandeis University, and Research Associate at the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester. He is a cultural sociologist of race, ethnicity, and education. His research and teaching interests are concerned with the analysis and amelioration of structural and cultural inequalities that shape schooling in the United States, Britain, the Caribbean, and around the world.

• Acknowledgments Preface Introduction: The Power of the Culture Trap Part I: Constructing the Culture Trap 1. Model and Failing Minorities? Divergent Representations of Black Caribbean Achievement 2. Black Caribbean Immigrants and the Legacies of Empire 3. Tracking Structures and Cultures: The Role of Academic 'Ability' Grouping Part II: Negotiating the Culture Trap 4. Distinctiveness and the Secret Life of Social Class in Representations of Culture 5. Deference and the Gendered Rewards of 'Good' Behavior 6. Defiance and Black Students' Resistance to Cultural Racism Conclusion: Dismantling the Culture Trap in Schools Appendix: Organizing Methods for Ethnographic Fieldwork Notes About the Author References Index

This is an important contribution to our understanding of how discourses and practices of racial representation work to shape and perpetuate ethnic inequalities in our schools. Wallace's comparative ethnography of schools in London and New York offers a unique insight into how ideas of culture and identity are formed historically and politically, and how these are lived by those caught in the trap of ethnic expectations. With a sharp eye for detail and an ear for the voices of young people, teachers, and parents, Wallace breathes new life into an old, and seemingly intractable, problem.

Derron Wallace is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Education at Brandeis University, and Research Associate at the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester. He is a cultural sociologist of race, ethnicity, and education. His research and teaching interests are concerned with the analysis and amelioration of structural and cultural inequalities that shape schooling in the United States, Britain, the Caribbean, and around the world.

• Acknowledgments Preface Introduction: The Power of the Culture Trap Part I: Constructing the Culture Trap 1. Model and Failing Minorities? Divergent Representations of Black Caribbean Achievement 2. Black Caribbean Immigrants and the Legacies of Empire 3. Tracking Structures and Cultures: The Role of Academic 'Ability' Grouping Part II: Negotiating the Culture Trap 4. Distinctiveness and the Secret Life of Social Class in Representations of Culture 5. Deference and the Gendered Rewards of 'Good' Behavior 6. Defiance and Black Students' Resistance to Cultural Racism Conclusion: Dismantling the Culture Trap in Schools Appendix: Organizing Methods for Ethnographic Fieldwork Notes About the Author References Index

This is an important contribution to our understanding of how discourses and practices of racial representation work to shape and perpetuate ethnic inequalities in our schools. Wallace's comparative ethnography of schools in London and New York offers a unique insight into how ideas of culture and identity are formed historically and politically, and how these are lived by those caught in the trap of ethnic expectations. With a sharp eye for detail and an ear for the voices of young people, teachers, and parents, Wallace breathes new life into an old, and seemingly intractable, problem.

Derron Wallace is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Education at Brandeis University, and Research Associate at the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester. He is a cultural sociologist of race, ethnicity, and education. His research and teaching interests are concerned with the analysis and amelioration of structural and cultural inequalities that shape schooling in the United States, Britain, the Caribbean, and around the world.

• Acknowledgments Preface Introduction: The Power of the Culture Trap Part I: Constructing the Culture Trap 1. Model and Failing Minorities? Divergent Representations of Black Caribbean Achievement 2. Black Caribbean Immigrants and the Legacies of Empire 3. Tracking Structures and Cultures: The Role of Academic 'Ability' Grouping Part II: Negotiating the Culture Trap 4. Distinctiveness and the Secret Life of Social Class in Representations of Culture 5. Deference and the Gendered Rewards of 'Good' Behavior 6. Defiance and Black Students' Resistance to Cultural Racism Conclusion: Dismantling the Culture Trap in Schools Appendix: Organizing Methods for Ethnographic Fieldwork Notes About the Author References Index

This is an important contribution to our understanding of how discourses and practices of racial representation work to shape and perpetuate ethnic inequalities in our schools. Wallace's comparative ethnography of schools in London and New York offers a unique insight into how ideas of culture and identity are formed historically and politically, and how these are lived by those caught in the trap of ethnic expectations. With a sharp eye for detail and an ear for the voices of young people, teachers, and parents, Wallace breathes new life into an old, and seemingly intractable, problem.