Racialized forecasting. Understanding race through children’s (to-be) lived experiences in a Danish school context

Abstract

ABSTRACT Is it possible to address racism without mentioning race? Based on two cases from an ethnographical field study conducted in a Danish elementary school, this article investigates how students of colour (aged 10–13) predict future encounters with racism and share their concerns with how to deal with these potential encounters. Inspired by Sara Ahmed’s notion of emotions and concept of past histories of contact and pushes, this article examines how to understand emotions of race when two students share their concerns about for instance, being able to defend themselves and verbalize fear of not belonging. What I am suggesting is that emotions of race are not only shaped by the students’ past experiences but that race also works through emotions of concern about the future as racialized forecasting. These racialized forecastings surface as experiences connected to the children’s black and brown bodies, where their emotions of race intersect with ideas of gender and age. The analysis will show how the children struggle to address their race experiences as they push and are being pushed by race-blind discourses, making it very difficult for the students to make sense of their feelings.