Understanding racism and masculinity: Drawing on research with boys aged eight to sixteen

Racism, like the majority of criminal behaviour, is, in the main, a masculi ne pursuit. The paper addresses the continued marginalization of race, raci sm and gender (particularly masculinities) to mainstream criminology throug h examining the intersection of race, racism and masculinity with reference to the author's research with Asian, Afro-Caribbean and white boys on thei r experiences of racism. Masculinities theory is employed for its insight i nto multiple layers of oppression and identity development in relation to b eing young, working class, black-and male. Theoretical insights and empiric al evidence are forwarded under the three broad headings of 'concealed, com plex, and contentious' research. Towards the end, the paper focuses on Asia n boys' apparent aggression towards Afro-Caribbean and white boys, to confr ont the stereotype of 'white aggressor/black victim' whilst relating these findings to theories of masculinity and oppression.