Watley, G. (2010) Conceptions of home and identity amongst Northamptonshire people of Caribbean origin. Paper presented to: Association of Caribbean Historians (ACH) 42nd Annual Conference, Bridgetown, Barbados, 10-14 May 2010.
This paper will commence by introducing general information about Afro-Caribbean people in Northamptonshire, England in the 1960s onwards, as well as strands of isolation inherent in being few in number in a county and country that was often socially and institutionally hostile to Afro-Caribbeans. This writing will continue within two key concepts, looking inward and looking outward in terms of both a localized Afro-Caribbean community, as well as individuals’ home and ethno-racial identity related influences and manifestations. Generational differences between first and second generation Afro-Caribbeans will be analysed within these concepts, giving the reader an understanding that differing superficial manifestations of culture masks similar rationale for wishing to (re)create Black cultures in this British locale. This paper will then conclude by stating that minority ethnic cultural pride and affirmation does not necessarily have to result in exclusion of ethnic outsiders despite many Afro-Caribbeans choosing to exclude themselves from the locale by moving to areas with larger concentrations of co-ethnics. Furthermore, the public acceptance of a given minority group as members of their community can occur where the minority group can be conceptualized as being a contributor to the community
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