This paper employs the idea of acting white to describe the contradictory nature of schooling for black children, and their concurrent embracement ard rejection of those behaviors defined as acting white, utilizing supportive data from my recent research and other sources to support this. The results of my studies, of course, point in precisely the opposite direction. Collective identity and the burden of acting white in black. The theory and empirical foundation of ogbus scholarship, which some have mistakenly reduced to the acting white hypothesis, is. Rather, it appears to develop in some schools under certain conditions that seem to contribute to animosity between high and lowachieving students within or between racial and socioeconomic groups. The importance of peer groups in managing academic success erin mcnamara horvat temple university kristine s. The acting white theory originated in the 1980s with dr. The burden of acting white, tyson flashcards quizlet. This book never says or can prove that ogbu was absolutely wrong. The myth about smart black kids and acting white that wont. Our empirical analysis of acting white uncovers a rich set of new facts.
The burden of acting white cannot be attributed specifically to black culture. We are grateful to george akerlof, pol antras, david card, prudence carter, kenneth chay, william darity. Beyond internalized racism and the burden of acting white abstract theorists posit that the social reinforcement of racially oppressive assumptions eventually works its way into. Fictive kinship is proposed as a framework for understanding how.
Feb 15, 2008 minority status, oppositional culture, and schooling examines content, methodological, and policy issues framing the debate on academic achievement, school engagement, and oppositional culture. The notion that acting white is simply attributable to selfsabotage is even less persuasive. Collective identity and the burden of acting white in. Coping with the burden of acting white, signithia fordham and john ogbu propose that one significant reason for academic underachievement among black youth is a broad cultural devaluation of educational attainment within african american communities. This book is the definitive and final presentation of john ogbus cultural ecological model and the many debates that his work has sparked during the past decade. See other formats bocmht resume ed 281 948 ud 025 503 author fordham signithia titte black students school success. The theory and empirical foundation of ogbus scholarship, which some have mistakenly reduced to the acting white hypothesis, is fully presented and revisited in this posthumous collection of his new writings plus the works of over 20 scholars. So where does the idea of the burden of acting white come from.
The question of whether or not acting white attitudes are prevalent has been debated in academic literature. Peer support for african american male college achievement. In their widelynoted 1986 article, black students school success. The theory and empirical foundation of ogbu s scholarship, which some have. Beyond internalized racism and the burden of acting white. Through the integration of these various ideas, fordham and ogbu contended that african americans faced the burden of acting white if they espoused academic successa behavior said to be the domain of white americans. Collective identity and the burden of acting white in black history, community, and education collective identity and the burden of acting white in black history, community, and education ogbu, john 20041020 00. Minority status, oppositional culture, and schooling. John uzo ogbu may 9, 1939 20 august 2003 was a nigerianamerican anthropologist and professor known for his theories on observed phenomena involving race and intelligence, especially how race and ethnic differences played out in educational and economic achievement. In 1986 signithia fordham coauthored, along with ogbu, a study which concluded that some african american students in a washington, d. The data suggest that school structures, rather than culture, may help explain when this stigma becomes racialized, producing a burden of acting white for black adolescents, and when it becomes classbased, producing a burden of acting high and mighty for lowincome whites. Ogbu died soon after it was released, and the original. The myth about smart black kids and acting white that. What president obama gets wrong about acting white the.
Oct 29, 2014 there are a lot of things about black culture that are criticized, but acting white is a fascinating hypothesis for me perhaps because i see the parallels in india. No one ever denies that on average foreign blacks seem to like school and excel at it better than longstanding black americans. Ogbu s theory is further expanded by introducing the concept of the burden of acting white fordham and ogbu 1986 into the framework. An empirical analysis of acting white sciencedirect. Ogbu s research that popularized the phrase acting white in the mid1980s to help explain why black students might disdain behaviors associated with high achievement, like. Ogbu further echoed these findings in his 2003 book black american students in an affluent. This study used a phenomenological qualitative approach that engaged black students in discussions about the burden of acting white and its impact on their inschool and postschool outcomes and. Parkss recent death and a conference held jointly at the university of north carolina at chapel hill and duke university called acting white revisiting ogbu and fordhams sic hypothesis on october 28 and 29, 2005, i am reminded of the controversy that followed the publication of my article with john u. Ogbus own chapters present how his ideas about minority education and culture developed.
John ogbu s ethnographic research and is commonly used to explain presentday achievement gaps between black and white students. Moreover, these negative, defeatist attitudes are passed on to their youth who develop an oppositional culture of what. Coping with the burden of acting white by signithia fordham and john. The authors support their argument with ethnographic data from a high school in washington, d. He is also revising a book for publication by the russell sage foundation based on the quantitative part of the study that included some 2,400 students see also ogbu 1995a, n. Beren professor of economics harvard university and nber july 2009. Signithia fordham and john ogbu, though, introduced the idea in the academic literature. Two highprofile studies ainsworthdarnell and downey 1998. They responded using the burden of acting white which suggested that minority students do perform well in school. Ogbu pointed out that there are high achieving blacks that did not adopt the oppositional theory. John u ogbu this book is the definitive and final presentation of john ogbus cultural ecological model and the many debates that his work has sparked during the past decade.
The theory and empirical foundation of ogbu s scholarship, which some have mistakenly reduced to the acting white hypothesis, is. A 1986 ethnographic study by signithia fordham and john ogbu sparked controversy among education researchers by suggesting an acting white effect could be a source of the black white achievement gap in u. In their 2005 study, tyson, darity and castellino 2005 sought to contribute to the debate about the burden of acting white. Acting white roland fryers research reported in the last issue of education next acting white research, winter 2006 uses a large nationally representative data set and innovative statistical methods to show convincingly that black students in racially integrated public schools have fewer friends if they earn as than if they earn b. Black adolescents have learned a welldefined fear of acting white. Lewis hamilton college in 1986 fordham and ogbu introduced the idea that black students continue to underperform in school because of their cultural opposition to acting white. Reframing the debate on black student achievement horvat, erin mcnamara, oconnor, carla on. In contrast to the previous literature ainsworthdarnell and downey, 1998, cook and ludwig, 1997, fig. Collective identity and the burden of acting white in black history, community, and education john u. To explain black students underachievement we must consider black peoples expressive responses to their historical status and experience in america. In this article, the author reports the voices of four academically successful african american men, in their early 20s, as they explicitly respond, in retrospect, to questions regarding the applicability of the burden of acting white theory to their schooling experiencesresponses made after reading research articles written by signithia fordham and john ogbu. The acting white hypothesis gained widespread attention in the media as an explanation for black academic underachievement. Physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake among black and white female college students at two and fouryear colleges and universities. They now suggest the importance of considering black peoples expressive responses to their historical status and experience in america.
Fordham, signithia black adolescents have learned a welldefined fear of acting white. Ogbu characterizes this initial blockage of educational equity as the catalyst for moving blacks away from more sought after career roles accessible to whites as adults. Subordinate minorities like black americans develop a sense of collective identity or sense of peoplehood in opposition to the social identity of white americans because. School success and african american male students david w. A study of academic disengagement is an important book for a wide range of researchers, professionals, and students, particularly in the areas of black education, minority education, comparative and international education, sociology of education, educational anthropology, educational policy. The theory and empirical foundation of ogbu s scholarship, which some have mistakenly reduced to the acting white hypothesis, is fully presented and revisited in this posthumous collection of his new writings plus the works of over 20 scholars. Black peoples disdain for proper english and academic achievement is a myth.
Some of the questions that ogbu asked himself and which others asked him include the following. The focus of this analysis is the resulting conflict experienced. Fordham and john ogbu published black students school success. Berg, sherell brown goodwin, erin stratton, kincaid lowe, linda grimsley, jan rodd, catherine williams, cheri mattox, bruce foster. Policy and programmatic implications are discussed. One explanation the authors offer will make sense to anyone who has ever seen a john hughes movie. This book is the definitive and final presentation of john ogbu s cultural ecological model and the many debates that his work has sparked during the past decade. Coping with the burden of acting white signithia fordham and john u. Curatore edito da routledge a febbraio 2008 ean 9780805851038. Jul 24, 2014 the concept of acting white gained traction with a 1986 research paper called black students school success. Much of this work originated from fordham and ogbus 1986 acting white hypothesis, which.
It brings together in one volume, for the first time, some of the most critical works on these issues as well as examples of programs aimed at re. Coping with the burden of acting white, signithia fordham and the late john ogbu contended that one important reason for academic underachievement among african american youth is the overarching, cultural devaluation of educational attainment within black communities. Collective identity and the burden of acting white in black history, community, and education. Though the notion is far older, acting white to my knowledge first entered academic discourse with a 1986 paper by signithia fordham and john u. Eric is an online library of education research and information, sponsored by the institute of education sciences ies of the u. For example, in their widelycited 1986 article entitled black students school success. Ogbu s own chapters present how his ideas about minority education and culture developed. His work with signithia fordham 1986 helped popularize concepts such as the burden of acting white and black oppositional identity, and his career culminated with a stunning text, black americans in an affluent suburb. In 1986, nigerian sociologist john ogbu coauthored with signithia fordham coauthored a study that concluded that highperforming africanamerican students in a washington, d. Specifically, the study looked at more than one or two school environments including eight north carolina schools in its sample, a rarity in this line of research, in order to get a clearer sense of whether an oppositional culture truly exists.
Africanamerican attitudes toward higher education and their struggle with collective identity and the burden of acting white by frederick laron cope a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts in the department of english in the graduate school of the university of alabama. The acting white phenomena, as it occurs, is not responsible for black academic underachievement, nor is it reflective of a broad cultural frame of reference, as fordham and ogbu 1986 suggest. Beyond internalized racism and the burden of acting white shaun r. Ogbu s theory of academic disengagement 387 left them with a negative model of folk success, and a pessimistic view of the labor market as having a racially stratified job ceiling. Fordham and ogbu 1986 further formalize the link between racial discrimi nation, acting white, and educational outcomes. Fictive kinship is proposed as a framework for understanding how a sense of collective identity enters into the process of schooling and affects academic achievement. Acting white featured story rochester city newspaper. The concept of acting white gained traction with a 1986 research paper called black students school success. A study of academic disengagement 2003, in which he showed that both lowincome and middleclass black. Black american students in an affluent suburb sociocultural. Minority status, oppositional culture, and schooling ebook. The study, which was widely dispersed and is still relevant today, attributed black students lower academic achievement to the association between doing well in school and acting white.
Black students interviewed in this book almost never say, there is no such thing as acting white. The researchers suggested that black students socialize their peers into. When smart black kids try hard and do well, they are picked on by their less successful peers for acting white. Minority status, oppositional culture, and schooling examines content, methodological, and policy issues framing the debate on academic achievement, school engagement, and oppositional culture. It is simply one of many possible coping responses to feelings of devaluation that black youth encounter. If fordham and ogbu were correct, the social sanctions for acting white should be most severe in places like the segregated school, where opportunities are most limited. He suggested that being a castelike minority affects motivation and achievement, depressing iq scores. Specifically, i summarize the evolution of oppositional collective identity and cultural frame of reference or oppositional culture among black americans and discuss the black experience with the burden of acting white in the contemporary united states.