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December 1, 2004
Black Students Don’t Have an Aversion to Academic Achievement,
Study
Research shows that African American children do not have a cultural prejudice towards
academic achievement. Previous studies have indicated that negative regard to achievement
at school is a process that develops over time and is more likely to take place in schools
were minority students are less represented in the most challenging courses. |
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Methods
The research project, titled "Breeding Animosity: The 'Burden of Acting White' and
Other Problems of Status Group Hierarchies on Schools," followed 125 pupils between
the
years 2000 and 2001 in North Carolina elementary, middle and high schools. Authors
evaluated components associated with low minority participation in gifted programs,
honors classes and Advanced Placement classes.
Interviewers asked students a standard set of questions about their grades, academic
placement, course selection and sentiment toward school, learning and achievement,
as well as other aspects of the school experience. Teachers, administrators and
counselors were also interviewed.
Results
Findings of the study indicated that during the primary years there was no apparent
aversion to academic excellence. Researchers discovered that adolescent youth in
North Carolina had a generally negative attitude toward academic achievement
despite one’s race. 11 schools reported anti-achievement attitudes. In these eleven
schools, negative sentiment toward academics was highly related to minority under
representation in the most challenging courses. African American children developed
a sense of animosity towards high performing students in those courses.
Researchers claim that findings of the study counter the claims of well-known African
American figures like entertainer Bill Cosby and politician Barack Obama. They claim
that anti-achievement sentiment is part of the cultural psyche of black children, who
fear being labeled “trying to act white” if they excel academically.
Conclusion
Researchers stated that African American children who are fortunate enough to
strongly excel during the elementary grades via advanced placement classes are often
characterized by peers as “wannabes” and “Uncle Toms.” These
derogatory comments denote poorer performing children’s assertion that black children
don’t belong in the
world of high academic achievers.
Authors concluded that oppositional stances to achievement are not fostered in the black
community but rather created in learning environments under specific conditions.
The research suggests that animosity toward high-achieving students - regardless of
race - grows over time and develops from a general concern among elementary-age students
about arrogance to a more focused concern among adolescents about
academic inequities between status groups.
Complete findings of the study appear at Duke University’s School of Public Policy
website at http://www.pubpol.duke.edu/people/faculty/darity/SAN04-03.pdf.
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