The complex and nuanced manner in which class, gender and ethnicity tend to shape and reinforce inequalities in educational outcomes is rightly of great interest to educators, policy makers and researchers here and across the world. However, little attention is given to how culture intersects with these factors resulting in unequal schooling experiences and therefore differential outcomes for students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Perhaps that鈥檚 because it鈥檚 a complicated task and one that requires a deep understanding of the education field, its practices and discourses. Into this gap steps Derron Wallace with his new book, The Culture Trap. I first came across Wallace on a BBC Thinking Allowed podcast on Pierre Bourdieu in 2016. He was one of the panellists exploring the legacy and ideas of the French sociologist who, as I previously explored in these pages, coined the term 鈥榗ultural capital鈥. His performance made an impression on me, so I was keen to read his ambitious new book, in which he argues that educators鈥 obsession with Black Caribbean students鈥 culture is 鈥渁n alibi for racism in a putatively post-racial society鈥. Drawing on his ethnographic study of second-generation Black Caribbean pupils in schools in London and New York, Wallace carefully, vividly and critically examines the historical factors and structures that account for differences in their educational achievements. Building on his reading of Bourdieu, Wallace theorises the concept of 鈥榚thnic expectation鈥, which shows how ethnic perceptions are used as a lever to form a 鈥榗ulture trap鈥. Since the 1920s, Black Caribbean pupils have been deemed a high-achieving ethnic minority group in New York. Later from 1950s, perceptions of the same ethnic group in Britain鈥檚 schools have been the mirror opposite. The perceptions, on both sides of the Atlantic, are borne out by their outcomes. National statistics on Black Caribbean pupils鈥 achievement in England remain nothing if not concerning. Wallace鈥檚 argument that Caribbean identity has been framed as a liability is compelling Wallace attributes this racial achievement gap to expectations, but is it evident in everyday school practices that teachers have accepted a dominant narrative that Black Caribbean pupils are less capable compared with other pupils, even those from other minority groups in the UK? His central premise is that teachers鈥 expectations come to shape their pupils鈥 eventual outcomes, but this argument is not without problems. Wallace maintains that 鈥渋n London, [鈥 Caribbean culture and collective identities are marginalized and stigmatized as 鈥榚thnic penalties鈥欌. But I can recall teaching many Black Caribbean pupils who achieved well in school, and while some didn鈥檛 reach their potential, at least some of their under-achievement could be attributed to sub-cultures that came into conflict with school rather than schools鈥 low expectations. But any good sociological text should lead you to question your own individual experience, and Wallace鈥檚 argument that Caribbean identity has been framed as a liability in the UK and that school practices such as setting reproduce racial and ethnic inequalities which align 鈥淐aribbean culture to failure鈥 is compelling. When he elucidates on the logics of school and ethnic expectations, his argument that Black Caribbean pupils have 鈥渋nternalised ethnic expectations which are mostly low鈥 accounts for some of the school-resistant sub-cultures I鈥檝e encountered and makes for a persuasive interpretation of the group鈥檚 persistently concerning outcomes. Indeed, the scope of this study exemplifies how Black Caribbean parents鈥 perceptions come to impact on their children, perpetuating the problem across generations. Further, Wallace argues that 鈥淏lack Caribbean young people confirm their participation in symbolic violence鈥, and I would have liked to know more about the interaction of race and social class at this juncture. But this is a practical book too; part 2 is dedicated to strategies Black Caribbean pupils use to negotiate 鈥榯he culture trap鈥 in order to overcome the intergenerational stereotypes that threaten to hold them back 鈥 an enlightening read for any teacher with Black Caribbean pupils. Overall then, Wallace鈥檚 book did enough to alleviate my concern that the idea of a culture trap was too simply and purely deterministic. I found it a fascinating, timely and beautifully written book, and I will be digesting its arguments about the role of culture in reproducing racialised inequality for a long time to come.