I found a link on NPR's website to a fairly current article and story they covered concerning the disadvantage African American students are facing in middle-class or affluent schools. The story outlines possible reasons why black students are failing, most interesting of which I feel concerns an identity crisis. Scholars have hypothesized that perhaps black students are more influenced by their poor counterparts (poor black children) than are white students, and they must navigate being middle class while also dealing with the pressure to remain "authentically black."
Cooper, a high school sociology teacher, performs simple studies in her class and exposes students' discriminatory patterns, and suggests that black students even conform to stereotypes against their own race.
It is a captivating article and has a link where you can hear what was actually aired on radio.
Does anyone else find this interesting, as it is certainly pertinent to what we've been learning about in class. I think it poses a new facet that we have not yet dealt with specifically, and that it the manner in which middle-class African American children deal with both historical and contemporary inequality while balancing their family's own affluence.
The link is. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114327591
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I thought this article was really interesting, and brought up a point that I hadn't thought about much before. The "Minority Achievement Gap" has been evident for years, but has often puzzled many people. The teacher Cooper in this article thinks that black stereotypes are so powerful, that students are very limited in the kind of personality traits they can exhibit. The fact that middle-class African American students are on equal academic grounds in elementary school, but then fall behind in middle and high school is very telling. The article says they often look to act and fit in with the poor black children and don't do well academically because it means they are "acting white." It also mentioned the glorified street image of African Americans in the media and that many kids are looking for that "street credibility" they see in their black counterparts. When peer culture doesn't fit the mold of a classroom, what does a student do? This is the time where students really grow into their self identity. One parent mentioned his son was a sweet momma's boy at first and then developed a "swagger." I think most people can understand the feelings of peer pressure and wanting to fit in and belong somewhere. However, the extent to which African Americans go through this based on their race was really eye-opening. I think a good alternative, thought I don't know it's success, was in "I Am A Promise" with the all boy classroom, and male teacher. They were taught that just because one person does something, doesn't necessarily make it a reflection of their race. I think kids need to be re-enforced that doing well academically is important and have a positive role model, other than parents to turn to.
ReplyDeleteThis article was intresting. I agree with the article, in that this people are constantly trying to fit in and find their self identiy. If this article is true in what they are saying, I feel tat the most effective way to deal and create a change would need to happen through the media. Until the media changes I do not see how one can really influence he change unless the student themselves want. The problem with self idenity is that you cannot force them to veiw even though society constanly tries to push people into the box.
ReplyDeleteI found this article really interesting. I can understand why the African-American students feel that they need to do poorly in school and why they feel like they need to act a certain way in order to fit in with their friends and whatnot. I've seen this happen with Latino students also. I remember specifically in one of my classes in high school, some of the students (they were Latinos) were talking about how Alberto Gonzales, the then attorney general of the U.S., was a "coconut". My teacher asked them what that meant and they said it was someone who was brown on the outside and white on the inside. I had not actually really heard about that, but it let me in to what they were thinking. They, as well as others, think that if you do well in school you are essentially trying to be white. I think this is kind of the same thing that the African-American students have to deal with. It is always difficult being from a minority group because you have your parents wanting you to do well in school and go on to college. On the other hand, you have some of your peers thinking that you are trying to be something you're not because you are doing well in school.
ReplyDeleteI also found this article to be very interesting how it pointed out the "Minority achievement gap" that I have never thought about before. I think stereotypes play a large role in this achievement gap because children tend to try and act like the stereotype of their particular race. Black children feel that if they were to act smart and do well in school, they would be acting like a white student. This is where the achievement gap starts to develop. I can understand the peer pressure of what your peers expect or even others of your race expect from you in school. I remember growing up in school and always expected from my parents to be at the top of my class and expected to only get A's. I remember them telling me that their expectations from me were different from what other races expect from their kids because they thought I was capable of more. To them B's were average and C's were practically failing. My peers in elementary school through high school assumed I would be really good in math and everything else and only got A's because I was Asian and most Asian's are smart. This just goes to show that in a way, we created this minority achievement gap due to our assumptions and peer pressure to cause people of certain races to become a certain way.
ReplyDeleteI too thought that it was a very interesting article. I liked the fact that the article identified the major themes of stereotypes and students' self image as a major factor in their lives and success in school. Although I do believe that the achievement gap for some minorities is due to the believe that they don't want to become a "white student," I also believe in what Prudence Carter has to say as she states, "Instead, minority students are conforming to a peer culture that gets in the way of forming good relationships with teachers or feeling part of a school community." I think that the ability of a students success in school is more than not wanting to be the "white student," but more of peer pressure. One of my good friends (who is white), as a young student, was always in the TAG program and was clearly smarter than me. But as we both went into high school, I graduated valedictorian, and he flunked out. The people he began to hang out with in high school had an immense pressure on him to forget his studies and to become like one of them. While I do believe that minorities begin to act a certain way because they want to preserve the fact that they are part of a certain culture, I think that the environment (including their location in the United States, as well as their peers around them) plays an even larger role in the achievement gap, regardless of race.
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