Butterfield’s conception of West Indian self-identity reminded me of a concept I learned last semester in Sociology 101. This concept is called the Looking-Glass Self, created by Charles Horton Cooley in 1902. It says that we view ourselves and form our identities based on impressions of how others perceive us. Essentially, what it is saying is that our self-identity, how we think of ourselves, is a product of how other people view us. Butterfield’s analysis of West Indian identity is a perfect example of this concept.
The primary question that Butterfield deals with is how West Indians view themselves; do they see themselves as either West Indian or an assimilated American identity? Or is their identity more fluid than that? Meaning, is there a unique combination of both pan-Caribbean and American identity mixed together? Butterfield does careful fieldwork by going to different communities of West Indians in New York City and asks about the dynamics of the people at home, in school, in the market, at a hair salon, and the general perceptions of how they see themselves. Almost across the board, the West Indians perceptions of themselves seem to directly stem from a very unique combination of external sociological factors: home (their first-generation parents); their ethnic enclave (if any); the way that teachers treat them or their expectations of the West Indians knowledge of the “Black” experience; the social groups in high school where you had to choose which group you belonged to; the connection to other second-generation students in college; the cops’ suspicion of all Black people regardless of their ethnicity. The list goes on and on. All these concepts are products of society that exerts an influence on the West Indian identity and contributes to their self-identification. It could be argued that with so many complicated external factors that go into the formation of such an identity, it is no wonder that their identity is so fluid. This concept of the Looking-Glass Self could also be helpful in understanding the self-identification of other ethnic groups as well.
