Racial Discrimination and African Americans' Travel Behavior: The Utility of Habitus and Vignette Technique Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • This study investigated African Americans travel behavior using Bourdieus concept of habitus. In-depth and face-to-face interviews were conducted with 13 middle-class African Americans. Vignette technique was used during the interviews. The study identified four salient themes: (1) racial discrimination during travel, (2) fear of racism, (3) storytelling and safety instructions: social reproduction of the fear of racism, and (4) race-related travel choices. The findings showed that informants travel behavior was linked to an acute fear of racism. They affirmed that African Americans travel patterns need to be conceived as a defensive mechanism against potential racial discrimination. Implications for research methods and tourism management are discussed.

published proceedings

  • JOURNAL OF TRAVEL RESEARCH

altmetric score

  • 1

author list (cited authors)

  • Lee, K. J., & Scott, D.

citation count

  • 49

complete list of authors

  • Lee, KangJae Jerry||Scott, David

publication date

  • March 2017