Disrupting an imposed racial identity or performing the model minority? The pursuit of postsecondary education by young African immigrant men in Southern Ontario, Canada

ABSTRACT

This article examines how young African immigrant men in Southern Ontario cope with the dominant racial identity at school in an effort to improve their academic performance and access postsecondary education (PSE). Critical race theory in education is employed to explain how the young men distance themselves from stereotypes about Black masculinity by regulating their own behaviour and differentiating themselves from their Caribbean immigrant peers. Sixty-seven young men who had immigrated to Southern Ontario from several African countries over the last 10 years were interviewed individually and in focus groups for the study. The findings suggest that the research participants adopted a model minority status within an educational system that clearly embodies racist and systemically oppressive frameworks.

KEYWORDS:

• Young African immigrant men
• Canada
• racial identity
• Black masculinity
• school
• postsecondary education
• critical race theory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Cameroon, Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Zimbabwe.

2. Pseudonyms have been used throughout this article to conceal the identities of research participants.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [Insight Development Grant 210603].