Page 108 - White Lives The Interplay of 'Race', Class, and Gender in Everyday Life

Seeing, talking, living ‘race’ 101
Beverley returned to the issue of confidence and being streetwise when I
pointed out that one of the differences between London and the countryside
was that it was ‘more multicultural’. Her response showed that part of what
being ‘streetwise’ entails was being able to ‘cope’ with racialised difference.
The need for confidence in being on the streets again recalled a fear of ra-
cialised aggression:

Yes, it is definitely. And it’s good that they’ve known that as well. It’s as
if they’ve started off there first and just like put bang into it, you know.
I think they’ve got a lot of confidence now, more than they would if
they started off there. Because when they come here, they do go round
to the shop on their own, which is literally round the corner. I think if
they hadn’t lived here first, they’d never have the confidence to do that.
Because my youngest step-son’s like that, he’s not got the confidence.
Funny really, because different areas, how it affects the children. I think
my youngest will be much tougher than Kevin [older son] really.
(Interview 42)

This sense of fear and the need to behave in different ways in differently
racialised areas comes out clearly in the following extract from Emily, who
was one of the few women I interviewed who had grown up in London, in
fact in Camberwell:

Emily: When I go to Brixton, I’m conscious of being white. Very much
so. I don’t very often go there for . . . simply, I don’t need to go
there. I go to Bromley if I want to go shopping. But yes, I am
conscious because I . . . yeah, I can be walking in the street, and
be the only white person in the street. I do feel conscious. I’ve
never been hurt there or anything, but I do feel conscious.
BB: But do you think that makes you act differently than when
you’re . . .?
Emily: I am very quick in walking and things like that, yeah. And I walk
very assertively I think. But the word . . . I’ve been told that if
you walk like this, they won’t mug you! Do you know what I
mean? Um, I don’t know. I don’t know really. Yeah, I suppose I
am. I mean, my kids have been up there with me, and I wouldn’t
jeopardise their safety, so I can’t feel that much threatened up
there. They’ve been up there with me.
(Interview 21)

The question of whether an area is regarded as ‘black’ or ‘white’ or a ‘nice
mix’ or an ‘extreme mix’ is largely subjective. Whereas, for both Helen and
Heather, Camberwell was a racially ‘mixed’ area, for Joan, who lived on a
council estate, it was ‘black’: