A new study examining the
interactions of black and white high-achieving students in elite,
private high schools reveals how today's millennial generation is
negotiating race, identity and academic success. In a paper presented
Aug. 8 at the 104th annual meeting of the American Sociological
Association (ASA) in San Francisco, Michelle Burstion-Young, a
University of Cincinnati doctoral student in sociology, says she is
breaking new ground in sociological research – exploring culture and
race in the leadership class of the millennial generation – in
academically competitive environments where an achievement gap does not
exist.
Burstion-Young's study focused on a survey and
follow-up interviews with approximately 20 students representing three
private prep high schools in the Midwest, including an all-male,
all-female and co-ed school.
"Schools are one of the most
important sites to study if we are to gain an understanding of how
racial interaction is shaped," Burstion-Young writes in the study.
"Schools are important not only because they perform the function of
education, but also because they are key to how children and young
adults become socialized."
"Little is known about how students
negotiate the social world of school or how being labeled black (by
others and/or self) may influence their social decisions, either by
removing options (such as being purposefully excluded or not being
included) or creating other options (such as a black social world),"
she writes.
Burstion-Young's study examined what she called four coping strategies used by minority students in predominantly white schools
Assimilation
– "Acting white" or "acting black" in this environment was not a
question of academics, but identity. According to Burstion-Young, both
black and white students were dedicated to academic excellence and
there were no differences in academic standards. Contrary to previous
studies which state that high achieving blacks are viewed as "acting
white," Burstion-Young says the black students identified with black
culture through association with consumer culture, such as fashion and
music, as well as slang and social circles. The students who did not
connect to black culture on these levels were viewed as "acting white"
– academic achievement (or lack thereof) had little to do with it. In
at least one case in this study, an African-American student became so
integrated into the white community that she lost her connectedness to
her own family and culture, greatly upsetting the family and,
Burstion-Young says, eliminating the spirit of integration in creating
a generation of bridge-builders across cultures, identifying with each
other but accepting and respecting cultural differences.
Integration
– Burstion-Young says she found that most of the students actually
strived to be bi-cultural or integrated in their dealings with people.
Almost all of them placed a great deal of value on being connected with
their own black culture and also with the majority (white) culture. She
states that they felt that the former was necessary in order for them
to have a support system, and that the latter was necessary in order to
learn how to be successful in "the real world." Because the students
valued being bicultural, associating with white students was not enough
to be considered "acting white." Exclusive association with whites was
the determining factor.
Separation – During school visits,
separation between the races was particularly noted during time spent
in the school cafeteria. "Separation is an important strategy for
cultivating and maintaining a sense of black culture and while many
school officials and white students discourage it on principle," writes
Burstion-Young, "most of the black students realize that by not
engaging with the black group, they risk being completely ostracized in
the long run."
Marginalization – An example would be a shy
student representing the only African-American in an AP class. Yet, the
same student could be included in extracurricular activities or join
African-American friends for lunch in the school cafeteria.
In
conclusion, Burstion-Young states that separation seems to be the most
popular coping strategy for the social space of students outside of
their prep school environments. "The black students in this study were
very interested in spending their 'free time' with family, friends and
neighbors outside of school," states Bastion-Young. "Because our most
intimate connections with people tend to happen intra-racially, the
family, friends and neighbors they sought during their free time were
overwhelmingly of the same race as themselves."
During school
hours, the study revealed that social separation was more likely to
occur due to lack of access to the majority/minority, such as not being
invited to parties; a lack of interest in the social majority/minority,
such as displaying no interest in attending a party or event that
crossed racial lines; or preoccupation with one's own culture so that
students were not purposefully excluding the other race, but not
actively including them.
"For all of these reasons, the
terms of most of the school life of blacks seem to be dictated by the
dominant culture," writes Burstion-Young. "Therefore many of the
students feel they must be instrumental in seeking a black cultural
space. When they do, the black students themselves are often accused of
being the sole cause of racial separation which I refer to as the 'self
segregation paradox,' because it obscures the role the dominant group
has in maintaining social separation."
"One of the most
important findings of this study," writes Burstion-Young, "is that most
students simultaneously use a variety of different coping strategies,
but they do so in somewhat different combinations for somewhat
different reasons. At the center of their negotiations, however, is an
overall concern with identity; more specifically, their coping
strategies are geared towards reconciling different, and sometimes
contradictory, expectations on identity."
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