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Multicultural Living?

Experiences of Everyday Racism Among Ghanaian Migrants in London

Queen Mary, University of London, UK, j.herbert{at}qmul.ac.uk

Jon May

Queen Mary, University of London, UK

Jane Wills

Queen Mary, University of London, UK

Kavita Datta

Queen Mary, University of London, UK

Yara Evans

Queen Mary, University of London, UK

Cathy McIlwaine

Queen Mary, University of London, UK

Since the 1990s migrants from smaller, legally differentiated and non-citizen immigrant groups have formed the main flows of migration to the UK and yet they have been overlooked in academic and public debates and agendas. While much academic research has been devoted to racism, the new forms of racism which accompany the `new migration' have also received little attention. This article, therefore, demonstrates the continuing importance and changing nature of contemporary racisms as experienced by Ghanaians; a less-established migrant group. The article traces the particular forms of racisms experienced within their working lives as well as their diverse responses to racism: a relatively unexplored dimension of discrimination. The various coping strategies which the workers developed to overcome difficulties are highlighted, at the individual and collective levels, and this reveals the importance of diaspora groups and transnational links. It is argued that focusing on responses to racism is a crucial facet in helping to understand the actual impact of racial discrimination and also avoids portraying minority ethnic groups as the passive recipients of racisms. The article is also an intervention into the current debates about multicultural Britain. It is argued that the current discourse on the failures of multiculturalism should focus less on minority ethnic groups as the principal problem for integration and engage with the issues of racism, exclusion and material inequalities which penetrate the lives of low-paid migrant workers.

Key Words: diaspora • Ghanaians • migrants • multiculturalism • racialization

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