Racelessness as a Factor in Black Students' School Success: Pragmatic Strategy or Pyrrhic Victory?

Autor/in	Fordham, Signithia
Titel	Racelessness as a Factor in Black Students' School Success: Pragmatic Strategy or Pyrrhic Victory?
Quelle	(1986), (45 Seiten)Verfügbarkeit
Beigaben	Tabellen
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Tagungsbericht; Academic Achievement; Adolescents; Black Achievement; Black Students; Coping; Ethnicity; Group Unity; High School Students; High Schools; Kinship; Racial Attitudes; Social Mobility; Social Structure; Urban Schools + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Schulleistung; Adolescent; Adolescence; Adoleszenz; Jugend; Jugendalter; Jugendlicher; Bewältigung; Ethnizität; Gruppenidentität; High school; High schools; Student; Students; Oberschule; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin; Rassenfrage; Soziale Mobilität; Sozialstruktur; Urban area; Urban areas; School; Schools; Stadtregion; Stadt; Schule
Abstract	This paper examines the complex relationship between black adolescents' ethnic identity, school performance, and the effect of the larger social structure on the interaction of these phenomena by reference to the concept of racelessness. This concept captures the endemic tensions and conflicts experienced by black Americans as they seek to define their relationship to the dominant society. Despite the growing acceptance of ethnicity and ethnic identity in the larger American society, a strong ethnic identity in the school context appears to be negatively sanctioned among black adolescents. The paper is divided into four sections. The first, presenting the theoretical model undergirding the proposed analysis, describes the structure of the shared cultural system--fictive kinship--existing in the black community as background data. The second section reviews existing research literature and autobiographical data on the efficacy of racelessness as a strategy for academic excellence and vertical mobility. The third part reviews research suggesting that black students must develop a raceless persona to achieve academic success. The fourth and final section concludes with implications and suggestions for minimizing the need for racelessness as a strategy for social mobility and academic excellence among black adolescents. A six-page reference list is appended. (LHW)
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2004/1/01