The Acting White Accusation, Racial Identity, and Psychological Well-being in African American Adolescents


Book Description

The acting white accusation (AWA) is defined as being accused of exhibiting what is perceived by other Black youth as stereotypical "White" characteristics, . This may occur in areas such as school achievement, dress, speech, or socializing with certain peer groups. Adolescents accused of acting white may be rejected and ostracized by their peer group during adolescence--a time when the opinions of peers are particularly salient. Research suggests that the acting white accusation (AWA) creates distress for African American adolescents, and being accused of acting white may significantly impact adolescent's functioning. The goal of the current study is to evaluate the relationship between the acting white accusation, racial identity, and measures of psychological well-being. The current study examined the relationship between experiencing the AWA, racial identity, educational beliefs, and psychological well-being among 107 African American adolescents. Direct ("You are acting white") and indirect ("You dress preppy") accusations were examined. Results indicated significant differences with adolescents who directly and indirectly experienced the AWA reporting higher anxiety than those who only indirectly experienced the AWA. Adolescents who endorsed certain positive educational beliefs received the AWA more frequently. Regression analyses showed that educational beliefs predicted the amount of bother adolescents reported experiencing. The implications of these findings, as well as limitations and directions for future research are discussed.







Well Water:Not My Real Name


Book Description

Racial identity, or the significance and meaning that individuals attribute to race, is recognized as a key factor in how African Americans cope with racism experiences. Unfortunately, however, the few studies that have examined African Americans’ responses to racist events have failed to account for differences across situations that African Americans experience, making it difficult to ascertain whether differences in coping are due to person variables, the situation, or both. In the present study, we adopted a stress and coping approach to examine the relations among racial identity, racism-related stress appraisal, and coping with lifetime racism experiences.




The Acting White Accusation, Social Anxiety, and Bullying Among Black Girls in a STEM and Non-STEM School


Book Description

Previous research indicates that the acting White accusation (AWA) is one of the most pertinent and detrimental accusations a Black adolescent can encounter. The AWA arises when a Black adolescent's ethnic/racial identity (ERI) is perceived as being not Black enough by another Black adolescent or group of adolescents. The AWA is one of the most harmful accusations a Black adolescent can hurl at another because it is an attack against one's ERI, and can occur during a time when identity development is most salient. Given that the AWA is embedded in ERI, it has implication for the psychological well-being of Black adolescents. Studies have shown that the AWA was positively associated with general anxiety, social anxiety, and bullying victimization. One group of individuals in particular who may be negatively impacted by the AWA are Black adolescent females in STEM disciplines, which is due to their double minority status. Several sociocultural factors related to ERI have been identified as contributing factors to the underperformance of Black students in STEM, including stereotype threat and low self-efficacy. Another potential factor affecting these students might be the AWA. This study investigates the relationship between the AWA, social anxiety, and bullying among Black female students who attend a STEM school, and compare this group to Black females who attend a non-STEM school.







Racial Identity in Context


Book Description

"This book presents a series of insightful discussions centered around the concept of identity as the key to understanding how racial minorities define reality, experience changes in racial consciousness, and perceive themselves and the world around them. This volume brings together many influential thinkers, writers, scholars, and researchers who tell a story that is deeply embedded in American society and still unfolding. The chapters are concise, well written, and presented in a sequence that captures the power and vision of Clark's testimony, rationale, methodology, and subsequent discoveries, which have altered the landscape of psychology. This volume is a must read for laypeople, students and professionals from a range of disciplines including psychology, social work, law, theology, ethics, sociology, and American history who will be impressed by the power and scope of the deeply probing analyses. This volume examines the continuing reality of racism but takes us beyond conceptions of "damage" to illuminate the strengths and resilience of African American culture. In a fitting tribute to Kenneth B. Clark, the contributors treat the cultural and historical context of racial identity as essential for a psychological analysis"--Jacket. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved)







Minority Status, Oppositional Culture, & Schooling


Book Description

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. Organized as a dialogue between John Ogbu and the scholarly community, Minority Status, Oppositional Culture, and Schooling is essential reading for anyone interested in the study of the academic achievement gap




Perspectives of Black Histories in Schools


Book Description

Concerned scholars and educators, since the early 20th century, have asked questions regarding the viability of Black history in k-12 schools. Over the years, we have seen k- 12 Black history expand as an academic subject, which has altered research questions that deviate from whether Black history is important to know to what type of Black history knowledge and pedagogies should be cultivated in classrooms in order to present a more holistic understanding of the group’ s historical significance. Research around this subject has been stagnated, typically focusing on the subject’s tokenism and problematic status within education. We know little of the state of k-12 Black history education and the different perspectives that Black history encompasses. The book, Perspectives on Black Histories in Schools, brings together a diverse group of scholars who discuss how k-12 Black history is understood in education. The book’s chapters focus on the question, what is Black history, and explores that inquiry through various mediums including its foundation, curriculum, pedagogy, policy, and psychology. The book provides researchers, teacher educators, and historians an examination into how much k- 12 Black history has come and yet how long it still needed to go.




Handbook of Children and Prejudice


Book Description

This handbook examines the effects and influences on child and youth development of prejudice, discrimination, and inequity as well as other critical contexts, including implicit bias, explicit racism, post immigration processes, social policies, parenting and media influences. It traces the impact of bias and discrimination on children, from infancy through emerging adulthood with implications for later years. The handbook explores ways in which the expanding social, economic, and racial inequities in society are linked to increases in negative outcomes for children through exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Chapters examine a range of ACEs – low income, separation/divorce, family substance abuse and mental illness, exposure to neighborhood and/or domestic violence, parental incarceration, immigration and displacement, and parent loss through death. Chapters also discuss discrimination and prejudice within the adverse experiences of African American, Asian American, European American, Latino, Native American, Arab American, and Sikh as well as LGBTQ youth and non-binary children. Additionally, the handbook elevates dynamic aspects of resilience, adjustment, and the daily triumphs of children and youth faced with issues related to prejudice and differential treatment. Topics featured in the Handbook include: The intergenerational transmission of protective parent responses to historical trauma. The emotional impact of the acting-white accusation. DREAMers and their experience growing up undocumented in the USA. Online racial discrimination and its relation to mental health and academic outcomes. Teaching strategies for preventing bigoted behavior in class. Emerging areas such as sociopolitical issues, gender prejudice, and dating violence. The Handbook of Children and Prejudice is a must-have resource for researchers, graduate students, clinicians, therapists, and other professionals in clinical child and school psychology, social work, public health, developmental psychology, pediatrics, family studies, juvenile justice, child and adolescent psychiatry, and educational psychology.