ABSTRACT
Racist name-calling, observing racism, and describing racism as present in their school were more often reported by boys and young people from working-class families. Being a mixed-parentage girl in a middleclass girls’ school was thus a very different and easier experience from being a mixed-parentage boy in a mainly working-class school. In such schools racialised insults and ‘cussing’ were often an accepted part of masculine youth culture. This was also the case in some of the boys’ independent schools, where the few black or mixed-parentage boys could feel very isolated. While in some contexts mutual racialised insults were seen by the young people as ‘joking’ or a form of play, they could rapidly escalate into hurtful racist abuse. In contrast, middle-class girls’ schools were a relatively safe haven for mixed-parentage girls.
