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Parenting Black children in White spaces: Skilled African migrants reflect on their parenting experiences in Australia
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Parenting Black children in White spaces: Skilled African migrants reflect on their parenting experiences in Australia

Kathomi Gatwiri and Leticia Anderson
Child & Family Social Work, Vol.26, pp.153-162
08/10/2020
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Abstract

Intercultural Parenting Black Children African Immigrants Race Australia Family Dynamics Social Work Community Service (excl. Work)
This paper employs a Critical Race Theory (CRT) perspective to probe the experiences of skilled African migrants parenting black children in Australia, a predominantly white country. Two key themes emerged from this study: 1) the need to explicitly teach children about race and racism and to foster positive racial identities and 2) the complexities of navigating tensions between " African " and " Western " cultural values. Participants demonstrated high levels of awareness of intercultural parenting approaches, and a desire to blend the best aspects of African and Australian cultural values in their own parenting practice. A significant paradox was also apparent in the tension between parental desires to inculcate pride in African ancestry and culture, whilst simultaneously encouraging children to " curate " their blackness to minimize experiences of racialization. Social workers in Australia often play a critical role in the lives of migrant families as they support them to negotiate transitions in parenting contexts. Although this paper only offers a perspective on the parenting experiences of skilled African migrants and how they creatively manage the tensions and change emerging from this process, we suggest that this understanding helps to expand knowledge on the complexity of parenting in multicultural, transcultural and intercultural contexts.

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