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.”
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Akbar, N. (1981). Mental disorders among African Americans. In J. Jones, Black Psychology (3rd ed.) pp. 339-352. Berkeley, CA: Cobbs-Henry Publishers.
Allport, G. (1954). The Nature of Prejudice. Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Collins-Eaglin, J., and Karabenick, S. A. (1993, April). Devaluing of academic success by African American students: On ''acting White'' and ''selling out.'' Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Atlanta, GA.
Cook, P. J., & Ludwig, J. (1998). The burden of ''acting White'': Do Black adolescents disparage academic achievement? In C. Jencks and M. Phillips (Eds.), The Black-White Test Score Gap (pp. 375-400). Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.
Cross, W. (1992). Shades of Black: Diversity in African American Identity. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Fanon, F. (1968). The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press.
Ford, D. (1994). Rejection or confirmation of racial identity: A dilemma for high-achieving Blacks? Journal of Educational Thought 28(1):7-33.
Fordham, S., & Ogbu, J. (1986). Black students' school success: Coping with the ''burden of ''acting White''''. The Urban Review, 18(3):76-205.
Fordham, S. (1991). Racelessness in Private Schools: Should we deconstruct the racial and cultural identity of African American adolescents? Teachers College Record, 92(3):470-484.
Goffman, E. (1956). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Garden City, NJ: Doubleday.
Holliday, B. G. (1985). Developmental imperatives of social ecologies: Lessons learned from Black children. In H. P. McAdoo and J. L. McAdoo (Eds.), Black Children: Social, Educational, and Parental Environments (pp. 53-69). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Jencks, C., & Phillips, M. (Eds.). (1998). The Black-White Test Score Gap. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.
Kardiner, A. & Ovesey, L. (1951). The Mark of Oppression: Explorations in the Personality of the American Negro. New York: The World Publishing Company.
Kunjufu, J. (1985). To be Popular or Smart? The Black Peer Group. Chicago: African American Images.
Majors, R. (1989). Coolpose: The proud signature of Black survival. In M. M. Messner & M. Kimmel (Eds.), Readings in the Sociology of Men and Masculinity, (pp. 83-87). New York: McMillan.
Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (1989). Designing qualitative research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
News and Views: ''Acting White'': Is it the silent killer of the educational aspirations of inner-city Blacks? (1997, September 3). Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, p. 93.
Ogbu, J. (1985). A cultural ecology of competence among inner-city Blacks. In M. B. Spencer, G. K. Brookins, and W. R. Allen (Eds.), Beginnings: The Social and Affective Development of Black Children, (pp 45-66). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Pettigrew, T. F. (1964). A Profile of the Negro American. Princeton, NJ: D. Van Nostrand Company.
Spencer, M. B. (1985). Racial variations in achievement prediction: The school as a conduit for macrostructural cultural tension. In H. P. McAdoo and J. L. McAdoo (Eds.), Black Children: Social, Educational, and Parental Environments. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Spencer, M.B., Noll, E., Stoltzfus, J., & Harpalani, V. (2001). Identity and school adjustment: Revisiting the ''''acting White'''' assumption. Educational Psychologist, 36(1):21-30.
Stanton-Salazar, R. (1997). A social capital framework for understanding the socialization of racial minority youths. Harvard Educational Review, 67(1):1-27.
Steele, C. M. (1997). A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance. American Psychologist, 52(6):613-629.
Steinberg, L., Dornbusch, S., & Brown, B. (1992). Ethnic differences in adolescent achievement: An ecological perspective. American Psychologist 47(6):723-729.
Steinberg, L. (1996). Beyond the Classroom. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Thompson, R. F. (1974). African Art in Motion: Icon and Act. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
West, C. (1993). Race Matters. Boston: Beacon Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Peterson-Lewis, S., Bratton, L.M. Perceptions of “Acting Black” Among African American Teens: Implications of Racial Dramaturgy for Academic and Social Achievement. The Urban Review 36, 81–100 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-004-0614-2
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-004-0614-2