Page 79 - White Lives The Interplay of 'Race', Class, and Gender in Everyday Life

5 Seeing, talking, living ‘race’

Introduction

‘Race’ is a sensitive issue for white people to talk about. It is a modern taboo.
When I started the pilot interviews for this research, I soon discovered the
urgent need for a good external microphone. The microphone on the tape
recorder would pick up much of what was said in the interviews, but often
the introduction of the subject of ‘race’ would cause a sudden drop in volume
and what the interviewee said would be lost. This was not something that I
noticed at the time, but it became frustratingly clear when I played back the
tape afterwards. Dropping one’s voice when speaking suggests that the con-
versation has touched on a sensitive topic, a subject that has to be dealt with
carefully and where one would not want to be misunderstood or overheard.
It also creates a conspiratorial atmosphere and suggests a relationship of
trust in which confidences can be shared. Dropping one’s voice when talk-
ing about ‘race’ indicates the sensitivity of the subject. White people (apart
from those espousing extreme racist positions) are generally anxious not to
be seen as racist – hence the clichéd coupling of a prejudicial or racialised
statement with ‘I’m not a racist but . . .’. However, the simplest way not to
appear racist is to avoid talking about ‘race’ altogether. This was a strong
instinct for many interviewees. They did not refuse to talk about ‘race’, but
appeared to prefer not to do so. Because of my reluctance to introduce too
directly what I knew was a sensitive topic, I would often introduce ques-
tions about ‘race’ in a way in which they were coupled with either class or
gender, or even both. For instance, ‘do issues of race or class ever come up
with your children?’. This ‘weak’ form of questioning provided an exit route
for those who wanted to avoid talking about ‘race’, and it was very rare for
someone to choose to respond to the ‘race’ element of the question first. The
following extract shows how it can be difficult to maintain ‘race’ as a topic
of conversation. Helen attempted to answer the question but was constantly
diverted to other subjects:

BB: So it must, I mean the kind of racial mix that you grew up with
must be very different from here?