Racism and parenting: The experiences and resilience of Afro-origin parents raising children in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Abstract

This study investigates and develops an in-depth understanding of the racism experienced by Afro-origin parents and their children in Gothenburg, Sweden, the toll it takes on them, and their coping strategies. It is a qualitative study, based on in-depth, semi-structured, qualitative interviews with six female and three male Afro-origin parents. CRT and resilience theoretical framework were used to analyse the data and further elucidate the racism experiences of this group. The study adds to previous critical scholarship, which cautions that parents’ experiences of racism impacts not just the parents themselves, but the whole family, and mainly the children. The findings show that racism in Gothenburg is experienced anywhere, both covertly and overtly and it affects the social, psychological, and economic well-being of both parents and children. In most cases, Afro-origin parenting is complicated by these challenges, the obstacles they face in trying to report racism and the Swedish parenting expectations. It is my hope that the findings from this research will help policy developers to advocate for policies that tackle the structural and institutional ways that racial discrimination and inequality operate.