The Struggle for Identity for African American Adolescent Males in a Predominantly White, Affluent School

Abstract

Rarely do researchers choose to focus on the schooling experiences of African American males, and almost never are their experiences understood from the African American male perspective regarding race and racism in predominantly White and affluent neighborhoods and schools. This article aims to discuss qualitative research that indicates African American males at Sunnyside High School do not experience race in the same way. The article begins with a discussion regarding the importance of understanding how race manifests in high school as adolescence is a particular time when youth are making meaning about race and identity. The 15 participants are described, as well as the qualitative methods used to gather data (i.e., focus groups and interviews). Findings for this article are discussed in terms of the most salient theme emerging from open coding (i.e., racist stereotyping) and are framed in terms of how racist stereotypes manifest, as well as how they are defined and understood at Sunnyside by the participants. Last is a discussion of the findings, providing further insight into the ways in which participants navigate racist stereotypes, and the implications it has for the emerging identities of the participants.

Keywords:

• African American male
• stereotypes
• racism
• identity
• suburban education

Notes

The scholarship reported on in this article comes from the author's dissertation completed at DePaul University in Chicago, IL.

1. Risk is viewed as “an exacerbation of normative challenges and competencies due to larger sociopolitical processes (i.e., racism, sexism) and/or lack of resources” (Spencer, Fegley, Harpalani, & Seaton, 2004, p. 230).

2. All personal and institutional names in this study are pseudonyms to protect the identity of the students.

3. Jamal and Bill used the term them throughout the focus group. It was clear that they were speaking about other African American males in the school, with whom they clearly did not identify.