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The Urban Review

, Volume 47, Issue 3, pp 563–576 | Cite as

School Ethnic–Racial Socialization: Learning About Race and Ethnicity Among African American Students

  • Adriana Aldana
  • Christy M. Byrd
Article
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Abstract

Research has sought to understand how parents socialize their children around race and ethnicity, but few studies have considered how contexts outside the home are also important sources of socialization. In this paper we review and integrate literature on practices in school settings that have implications for ethnic–racial socialization using a framework based on Hughes et al. (Dev Psychol 42(5):747–770, 2006) review of parental socialization. The practices reviewed include cultural socialization, preparation for bias, promotion of mistrust, egalitarianism, colorblindness, and silence. Our review shows a wide range of practices in education that may influence the development of ethnic–racial identity and ethnic–racial consciousness, but more research is needed to understand the role that schools play in developing African American youth’s understanding of race and identity.

Keywords

Race/ethnicity Socialization Multicultural education Youth 
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© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Social WorkCalifornia State University, Dominguez HillsCarsonUSA
  2. 2.Department of PsychologyUniversity of California, Santa CruzSanta CruzUSA

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