All Lads Together?: racism, masculinity and multicultural/anti-racist strategies in a primary school.

This article examines the articulation of racism and masculinity within the context of a multi-ethnic, inner-city primary school. It draws upon data derived from a year-long ethnographic study of Anne Devlin Primary School. The author spent three days a week, on average, observing and interviewing the school's three parallel, vertically-grouped, Reception/Year 1 infant classes (ages 5 to 6). The school itself is more ethnically diverse than its catchment area with roughly half its children being white whilst a quarter are South Asian and a quarter African/Caribbean. The first and most immediate context within which racist incidents were more likely to emerge was in competitive situations. A senior management team was trying to engage African/Caribbean boys through the promotion of football and other sports. This element of their multicultural/antiracist strategy was, in turn, increasing the popularity of football generally amongst the other children including the infants. On the other hand, however, when the author approached the question of where and when are racist incidents more likely to occur? The focus was increasingly drawn to football as a context within which not only were Asian boys almost systematically excluded from playing but, of the occasional boy who was allowed to play, he was far more likely to be subject to racist abuse than in other contexts. Girls on the other hand were significantly marginalized and excluded. It is therefore necessary that not only class that needs to be taken into account in any anti-racist strategy, but also gender. Masculinity, in this instance as expressed through football, provides one important context for the emergence of racism. It is this complex relationship between race, gender and class and the way in which they articulate at times to mutually reinforce and reproduce each other that requires more attention and understanding.