Paper short abstract:

This paper draws on two ethnographic projects, one focusing on the experiences of Egyptian migrant parents, the other on parenting professionals, to discuss the elusiveness of race and racism in welfare encounters in Amsterdam.

Paper long abstract:

This paper draws on two ethnographic projects, one focusing on the experiences of Egyptian migrant parents, the other on parenting professionals, to discuss the elusiveness of race and racism in welfare encounters in Amsterdam. In a context in which non-white Dutch figure as burden for, or threat to Dutch society, discussions in two Amsterdam Parent and Child Teams were surprisingly devoid of racial labels, and culturalized assumptions were rarely voiced. Professional protocol and language strips parents of racial, class and other markers, referring only to generic family structures featuring 'mother', 'father', and children, 'boy age 5', 'girl of 9'. This is productive of a color-blind practice that obscures subtle racialized power dynamics between overwhelmingly white Dutch middle class female professionals and mostly poor migrant parents.

On the other side of the table, a 'racism-without-racists' (Bonilla-Silva, 2003) instilled uncertainty and doubt in the Egyptian parents. So, despite evidence of discrimination in society at large, parents found it hard to substantiate their haunting sense of discrimination and alternative explanation for low grades or harsh punishment were always at hand. And, as the burden of proof falls solely on the subjects of racism themselves, parents who sensed racism hardly brought it up, out of fear for repercussions, but also because there was never any hard evidence and so oftentimes they were not even sure themselves. Instead, parents anxiously attended to the wellbeing of their children, particularly in school contexts, in order to minimize the possibility of their children being discriminated against.