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The Urban Review

, Volume 36, Issue 2, pp 81–100 | Cite as

Perceptions of “Acting Black” Among African American Teens: Implications of Racial Dramaturgy for Academic and Social Achievement

  • Sonja Peterson-Lewis
  • Lisa M. Bratton
Article

Abstract

Content analysis of 56 African American high school students' descriptions of the meaning of “acting Black” revealed five underlying content dimensions: (1) academic/scholastic, (2) aesthetic/stylistic, (3) behavioral, (4) dispositional, and (5) impressionistic. With the exception of the qualities in the aesthetic/stylistic category, the respondents attributed primarily negative qualities to “acting Black.” Although Black youths' perspectives on “acting White” has been a topic of great interest among those concerned about the academic achievement gap between Black and White youths, results of the present study suggest that the quest to improve academic and social achievement among African American youths will need to focus on altering youths' definitions of “acting Black.”

acting Black acting White racial identity and achievement identity politics dramaturgy of race 
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2004

Authors and Affiliations

  • Sonja Peterson-Lewis
    • 1
  • Lisa M. Bratton
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of African American StudiesTemple UniversityPhiladelphiaUSA
  2. 2.U.S. Forestry ServiceAtlantaUSA

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