Understanding the Relationship between Race and Leisure Activities and Constraints: Exploring an Alternative Framework

Abstract

This study addresses the continuing relevance of race as a persistent societal issue in the U.S., and tackles criticism (Floyd, 1998 Floyd, M. F. 1998. Getting beyond marginality and ethnicity: The challenge for race and ethnic studies in leisure research. Journal of Leisure Research, 30: 3–22. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Henderson & Ainsworth, 2001 Henderson, K. A. and Ainsworth, B. E. 2001. Researching leisure and physical activity with women of color: Issues and emerging questions. Leisure Sciences, 23: 21–34. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Philipp, 1995 Philipp, S. F. 1995. Race and leisure constraints. Leisure Sciences, 17: 109–120. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) regarding the lack of models to guide research that links race and leisure constraints. Shaw's (1994) Shaw, S. M. 1994. Gender, leisure and constraint: Towards a framework for the analysis of women's leisure. Journal of Leisure Research, 26: 8–22. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] framework for analyzing women's leisure is explored as a potential vehicle for understanding racial variation in leisure constraints. More specifically, leisure constraints and preferences of African-Americans and Caucasians were examined, and some of the findings challenge the results of previous studies by suggesting African-Americans are not as constrained as are Caucasians. Our findings do, however, support previous research that indicates the two racial groups have distinct leisure preferences. Several explanations for the findings are discussed, particularly the concept of resistance as introduced by Shaw (1994) Shaw, S. M. 1994. Gender, leisure and constraint: Towards a framework for the analysis of women's leisure. Journal of Leisure Research, 26: 8–22. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar].