ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on data from in-depth interviews with second-generation Black Caribbean boys and girls from a state secondary school in South London. The data provided suggest that Black cultural capital is a locally determined resource that affects relational and affective bonds among Black Caribbean young people. Although it is conceivable that Black cultural capital may be acquired by and ascribed to Blacks and non-Blacks, proving authenticity in peer networks is a much more challenging exercise. The discursive construction of authenticity constitutes an attempt to police performances and practices classified as Black. Authenticity is necessary for the classification of in-groups and out-groups and the establishment of permanent or stable group affiliations. Black cultural capital, as defined by Prudence Carter, is an important extension of Bourdieu's notion of cultural capital. The Black in Black cultural capital is based on entrenched racialised worldviews youth possess, and is mediated by ethnicity, nationality and locality.
