Understanding the identity choices of multiracial and multicultural Afro-European and Black women living in Germany

This grounded theory study investigated the identity choices of
highly achieving multiracial and multicultural Afro-European and
Black immigrant women living in Germany and the role these choices
played in their personal constructs of coping and self-empowerment.
10 open-ended narrative interviews, field observations formed the
data base; whereby the field observations where used to affirm or
disaffirm evolving hypothesis. The historical, social, and cultural
context in which these women live is reviewed, and key terms such
as racism and discrimination are clarified. The individual racial
identity choice and coping strategies were analyzed, and a
theoretical model was developed describing the a) causal conditions
that influence and form racial identity choices, b) phenomena that
resulted from these causal conditions, c) the contextual attributes
that influenced type of strategy developed, d) intervening
condition that have an impact on the type of strategy developed, e)
the strategies themselves, and f) the consequences of those
strategies. The components of the theoretical model are first
described and then illustrated by narrative excerpts.