Niggers no more: a critical race counternarrative on Black male student achievement at predominantly White colleges and universities

Abstract

A methodological approach popularized by critical race theorists is used in this article to oppose dominant discourse concerning the social and educational status of Black men in America. Specifically, this counternarrative on student achievement was derived from face‐to‐face individual interviews with 143 Black male undergraduates at 30 predominantly White colleges and universities across the USA. Exemplified via five composites constructed from the overall sample are resistant responses to subordination and racist stereotyping; confrontations with the cyclical reproduction of low expectations for Black male leadership and achievement; and an industrious rejection of what I refer to throughout the article as ‘niggering’. Also offered herein are implications for postsecondary faculty, administrators, and researchers.

Keywords:

• critical race theory
• Black men
• higher education