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Students, researchers debate the ''acting white'' stigma for blacks
The Virginian Pilot ^ | 6/17/06 | Philip Walzer

Posted on 06/17/2006 11:38:57 AM PDT by wagglebee

Courtney Smith figures she heard it nearly every day she was in public school:

“Courtney acts white.” “Courtney talks white.” “Courtney thinks she’s all that.”

Just because she did well in school and spoke proper English.

“The black friends I did have, we were the overachievers,” said Smith, now a 20-year-old journalism major at Norfolk State University who hopes to be a news anchor. “We knew that we 'talked white,’ and we were going to continue doing that. We didn’t care if we were teased.”

The “acting white” theory – that some black students are dissuaded from trying their hardest in school for fear of being teased by peers – has moved beyond academia and into public consciousness. It often comes up in discussion of the persistent gap in educational achievement between blacks and whites.

Now a group of researchers is saying the focus on the theory of acting white isn’t right.

“Somehow it has reached a level of prominence that is not warranted,” said Erin McNamara Horvat , one of the co-editors of “Beyond Acting White,” a collection of essays recently published by Rowman and Littlefield .

“It’s an explanation and it’s easy,” said Horvat, an associate professor of urban education at Temple University. “For some people, it puts the problem back on the students themselves.”

Horvat acknowledges that black students face pressure not to “act white.” She’s seen it in her own research. Yet she says it’s just one of many factors, including school financing and the distribution of top teachers, that could explain the “achievement gap.”

Plenty of high-achieving black students besides Smith have shrugged off the “acting white” comments.

“As I’ve gone through my whole school career, people have called me white because I’ve made good grades and didn’t conform to the stereotype,” said Ixavion Wright , 18, who graduated Thursday from Norfolk’s Lake Taylor High School. “My whole take on it was, I didn’t really care. I chose to be different. I just went to school and did what I had to do to make good grades.”

Wright graduated at the top of his class, with a 4.0-plus average – his only B was in calculus. He plans to begin pre-med studies at the University of California at San Diego in the fall. Wright, however, thinks the “acting white” pressure influenced other students: “They feel they’re supposed to be cool, and cool is not supposed to be making good grades in school.”

Douglas Reeves , an author and researcher on education in Boston, said a web of factors, including the availability of Advanced Placement courses and experienced teachers, influences the achievement of black and white students. “Acting white,” he said, shouldn’t be discounted.

“What we have is a generation of research and common sense that peer pressure is really important,” said Reeves, who is a paid consultant for Norfolk Public Schools. “Peers follow peer pressure for good and ill.”

He also noted the work of Harvard University researcher Roland Fryer , who examined thousands of teen responses to a national mental health survey. Fryer found that the popularity of white students soared, while the popularity of black and Hispanic students plummeted, when their grades rose above a 3.5 average .

The effect, he wrote, was more pronounced at integrated schools than at predominantly black schools. Fryer declined to be interviewed last week , saying in an e-mail that he didn’t want to “get into a back and forth discussion with other scholars on this.”

Horvat’s book, however, cites opposing research. One essay concluded that black students, particularly in the early grades, “value education and want to do well academically.” Another, interviewing black students in Charlotte, N.C., found that many avoided high-level courses not for fear of “acting white,” but because they saw too few blacks in them.

Yardan Shabazz , an English teacher at Indian River High in Chesapeake, can’t escape the “acting white” debate. He makes a speech at least once a year after a bright student gets mocked by another student. It goes like this: “What are you implying when you accuse this student of acting white? You’re saying that only whites should be able to speak clearly?”

“It has been my soapbox for so many years,” Shabazz said, but he acknowledges it probably has little effect.

The “acting white” theory originated 20 years ago with the doctoral dissertation of Signithia Fordham , who studied teens at a Washington high school. Now the Susan B. Anthony professor of gender and women’s studies at the University of Rochester, she has complained that her work has been wrenched from its context and oversimplified.

“Acting white,” Fordham said Friday , is not limited to schools. Nor, she said, should black students be seen as the culprits; the issue stems in large part from experiences with racism.

Zina McGee , a sociology professor at Hampton University, agreed that the “acting white” phenomenon – which she termed “quite influential” – is linked to obstacles facing students, such as reduced expectations for blacks in the classroom.

The Rev. B. Courtney McBath , the senior pastor at Calvary Revival Church in Norfolk, got razzed for “acting white” when he was growing up in Tennessee. That didn’t stop him from attending MIT.

The best defense, McBath thinks, is “the environment of the home. If parents have taught their children that education can lead you to success in life, then the 'acting white’ idea is not as influential in the life of that child.”

And it doesn’t have to be parents. Daniel Davis , 19, a recent graduate of Princess Anne High in Virginia Beach, counts “older African Americans, teachers and counselors” as his inspiration. “A lot told me that I had potential and I could go far,” said Davis, who is headed to Norfolk State. “It stuck in my head.” So he turned the “acting white” insults into “a positive thing making me do better for my future.”

Some successful black students say they haven’t been plagued by “acting white” taunts. Darius Vines , 18, who will graduate Sunday from Kempsville High in Virginia Beach and enroll at Howard University, thinks he was shielded by hanging out with those of different races and immersing himself in a range of activities.

For Wright, the valedictorian at Lake Taylor, it was never a tough battle.

“I chose to break down the barriers, as far as the stereotypical African American male, and do well in school,” he said. “I think everyone else should achieve as high as they can, because in the end it’s all going to pay off.”


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2civilized; 2cultured; 2educated; actingwhite; africanamericans; black; hip; hiphop; hiphopcommunity; hop; ixavion; race; racecard; racial; schools; urban
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To: don-o

81 posted on 06/17/2006 4:45:23 PM PDT by Crispus Attucks Patriot
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To: Doctor Stochastic
"You're lucky they don't feel like you are obligated to support them."


Trust me, they will and they do.

"....cuz I moved up outta the ghetto - so I ain't real now?"
-Tupac Amaru Shakur, "I Ain't Mad At'cha"
82 posted on 06/17/2006 4:51:22 PM PDT by Crispus Attucks Patriot
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To: Thombo2
Some classes are weighted more than others...so getting an A in AP chem class would be worth more(over 4.0)than getting an A in a regular chem class or a home ec. class (worth 4.0).

I guess kids were taking the easier classes and getting A's just to be top in the class......now the kids who want to be at the top take ridiculous numbers of AP classes (and even do things like drop band in order to carry more classes that are heavily weighted).
83 posted on 06/17/2006 5:00:09 PM PDT by socialismisinsidious ( The socialist income tax system turns US citizens into beggars or quitters!)
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To: Bernard
"Eventually this country will have to make a decision about what to do with the spiritual grandchildren of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society legislation; the people who were stranded in the SuperDome after Katrina and all the people like them all around the country who have no education, no jobs, no money, and no ability to do for themselves."

- In our area we are able to get the FOX Sports radio station. Many players and black fans are able to call in and offer their comments, especially about basketball issues. While the callers are invariably polite, their ability to express themselves and articulate their views and opinions are an embarrassment. With sentences larded with "man" and opinions which, because of their poor grammer and pronunciation are barely understandable, they seem to be operating at below a grammar school level.
I despair that such products of our school system will ever be able to function effectively in a society which now demands that communication skills are virtually a prerequisite for success.
84 posted on 06/17/2006 5:02:45 PM PDT by finnigan2
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To: wagglebee

This problem isn't confined to black students. Unfortunately one of my sons (white) once told me that if he studied hard in high school he would be "acting Asian".


85 posted on 06/17/2006 5:21:42 PM PDT by wideminded
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To: wagglebee

ping


86 posted on 06/17/2006 5:47:25 PM PDT by N2Gems
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To: EDINVA
Possibly it's an age thing with teen-agers, period?

Probably. I don't know. Cooperating was considered sissy-like also.

87 posted on 06/17/2006 6:17:32 PM PDT by CAWats (And I will make no distinction between terrorists and the democrats.)
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To: wagglebee

Ho-hum. Just keep failing and making excuses, but not on my dime.


88 posted on 06/17/2006 6:21:26 PM PDT by toddlintown
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To: UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide
Beware if one does escape. He'll breed a whole new species of crabs that won't stay in the bucket!

Maybe. Ogbu's research in Shaker Hts., OH, showed that the children of successful blacks often climbed back into the bucket of their own accord. With help, of course, from the 'mainstream' thug culture.

89 posted on 06/17/2006 6:40:21 PM PDT by Right Wing Assault ("..this administration is planning a 'Right Wing Assault' on values and ideals.." - John Kerry)
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To: beelzepug; Thombo2
Some classes are weighted more than others

Also, schools that have + and - letter grades will call A 4.0 and A+ 4.333.

90 posted on 06/17/2006 6:42:54 PM PDT by Right Wing Assault ("..this administration is planning a 'Right Wing Assault' on values and ideals.." - John Kerry)
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To: wagglebee

Choices. We all make them and we reap the consequences of the decisions we made and acted out.


91 posted on 06/17/2006 6:44:12 PM PDT by Spirited (`)
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To: wagglebee

A friend who is a black, professional woman in L.A. has bemoaned this forever.
If 'acting white'= being educated, speaking basic English,having goals,etc; then 'acting black' must be being UNeducated, unintelligible speech, and having no goals for betterment.
And this is GOOD?
Please tell me that an entire race of people have not only defined- but defend- being black as poor, stupid,lazy and illiterate.


92 posted on 06/17/2006 7:36:42 PM PDT by ClearBlueSky (Whenever someone says it's not about Islam-it's about Islam. Jesus loves you, Allah wants you dead!)
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To: ClearBlueSky

I think it's still okay to excel in some sports and rap music.


93 posted on 06/17/2006 7:38:22 PM PDT by wagglebee ("We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." -- President Bush, 1/20/05)
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To: ClearBlueSky

Nail - hammer

Good


94 posted on 06/17/2006 7:47:49 PM PDT by don-o
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To: Navy Patriot
"This goes to show how susceptible young people are to propaganda and indoctrination. That's why the left wants and controls the schools and universities."

Which is exactly why we need more conservative teachers in the schools.
95 posted on 06/17/2006 8:27:12 PM PDT by Old Student (WRM, MSgt, USAF(Ret.))
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To: Crispus Attucks Patriot
"Trust me, they will and they do.

'....cuz I moved up outta the ghetto - so I ain't real now?'
-Tupac Amaru Shakur, 'I Ain't Mad At'cha'"

I've gotten a lot of mileage out of liking one of his songs in discussions with the kids I've taught. Now you've made it look like I need to check out another of them...
96 posted on 06/17/2006 8:31:23 PM PDT by Old Student (WRM, MSgt, USAF(Ret.))
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To: wagglebee

Why should it amaze you? They don't have a chance because of the discrimination so why should they even try. The only answer to this is to seek government's help. Affirmative action, reparations, ebonics training and welfare to even the score. The achievers are traitors and should be discouraged at all costs or the culture will be lost forever.


97 posted on 06/17/2006 8:45:37 PM PDT by Joan Kerrey
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To: operation clinton cleanup

Unfortunately the DNC takes this crap out of the High Schools and applies it to adult black Republicans.

Well said


98 posted on 06/17/2006 8:46:38 PM PDT by Joan Kerrey
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To: wagglebee
“Acting white,” Fordham said Friday , is not limited to schools. Nor, she said, should black students be seen as the culprits; the issue stems in large part from experiences with racism.

Of course. it's whitey's fault that the taunt "acting white" ever formed.

Please...

And of course the SUCCESSFUL black students will say the taunt didn't affect them. It's self-evident, isn't it?

It's the group you ask if you want the answer to be "no".

99 posted on 06/17/2006 8:52:35 PM PDT by stands2reason (Rivers will run dry and mountains will crumble, but two wrongs will never make a right.)
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To: wagglebee
“What we have is a generation of research and common sense that peer pressure is really important,” said Reeves, who is a paid consultant for Norfolk Public Schools. “Peers follow peer pressure for good and ill.”...John McWhorter in his book Losing the Race talks about how he ran into "acting white" intolerance while growing up and gives some insightful case studies of some of his students who engaged in self-sabotage rather than "act white" during his time as a professor of linguistics at Stanford - a good read.....
100 posted on 06/17/2006 9:11:28 PM PDT by Intolerant in NJ
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