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Race, ethnicity, interests, and linguistic variation at a primarily Black Miami middle school

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2021, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Linguistics.
Miami, Florida has the highest percentage of foreign-born residents in any large US metropolis and is characterized by Caribbean culture and economic practice in a way that is unseen in many other US cities. Haitian immigrants have been flowing rapidly into historically African American communities since the 1970s. Adults who grew up in these communities have mentioned the need to align along ethnic lines or hide their ethnic identities during middle school due to the ethnic tensions caused by competition between African and Haitian Americans. Racial and ethnic identities are not thought to be solidified until late adolescence or early adulthood but the experiences one has in early adolescence can have a large effect on the directions in which these identities develop. This dissertation explored how youths see themselves fitting in the complex social milieu of a historically Black Miami neighborhood that has been characterized by immigration from Haiti over the past 30 years and by economic gentrification over the past five. I conducted an eight-month ethnography with sixth graders at a lower-income primarily Black middle school I refer to as Michael Irvine Middle School (MIMS). I asked: 1. How do sociocultural structures surrounding race and ethnicity play out in the social groupings at MIMS? 2. What does English sound like at MIMS? 3. In what ways do linguistic features vary individually and between social groups? The students as a whole were unable to describe their racial, ethnic, and social identities with depth, but the primary social splits were along racial, ethnic, and social lines. The students in this school do not report ethnic tensions between African and Haitian American peers, like their parents reported. The most important social split is between the phenotypically and culturally defined Black and Hispanic groups. A secondary split within the Black group, is a distinction mirroring the tensions discussed by adults. They students have aligned themselves between US- and non-US-socialized groups. These groups reflect the ethnic tensions of the greater community but shifts the focus away from outright ancestral heritage to the participation in culturally salient differences such as accessories, hairstyles, and behaviors. For the linguistic analysis, I examined a total of 8 variables each of which has been shown to vary between varieties of English due to reasons related to region, identity, and bilingualism (i.e., present tense copula; third-singular, plural, and possessive -s; /æ, a, o, ai/). I found differences at all three social divisions, though not all students participate in these linguistic differences and not all are easy to see at first glance. The linguistic variance and the students’ attitudes towards this variation support the social structures that are the most important to the children at MIMS and, in turn, speak to the social distinctions and associated ideologies that are also important at the community and national levels.
Kathryn Campbell-Kibler (Advisor)
Donald Winford (Committee Member)
Leslie Moore (Committee Member)
Cynthia Clopper (Committee Member)
409 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Sims, N. (2021). Race, ethnicity, interests, and linguistic variation at a primarily Black Miami middle school [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1627035076442121

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Sims, Nandi. Race, ethnicity, interests, and linguistic variation at a primarily Black Miami middle school. 2021. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1627035076442121.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Sims, Nandi. "Race, ethnicity, interests, and linguistic variation at a primarily Black Miami middle school." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1627035076442121

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)