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It's Not “a Black Thing”: Understanding the Burden of Acting White and Other Dilemmas of High Achievement

Publication ,  Journal Article
Tyson, K; Darity, W; Castellino, DR
Published in: American Sociological Review
August 2005

For two decades the acting white hypothesis—the premise that black students are driven toward low school performance because of racialized peer pressure—has served as an explanation for the black-white achievement gap. Fordham and Ogbu proposed that black youths sabotage their own school careers by taking an oppositional stance toward academic achievement. Using interviews and existing data from eight North Carolina secondary public schools, this article shows that black adolescents are generally achievement oriented and that racialized peer pressure against high academic achievement is not prevalent in all schools. The analysis also shows important similarities in the experiences of black and white high-achieving students, indicating that dilemmas of high achievement are generalizable beyond a specific group. Typically, highachieving students, regardless of race, are to some degree stigmatized as “nerds” or “geeks.” 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 class-based, producing a burden of “acting high and mighty” for low-income whites. Recognizing the similarities in these processes can help us refocus and refine understandings of the black-white achievement gap.

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Published In

American Sociological Review

DOI

EISSN

1939-8271

ISSN

0003-1224

Publication Date

August 2005

Volume

70

Issue

4

Start / End Page

582 / 605

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Related Subject Headings

  • Sociology
  • 4410 Sociology
  • 1608 Sociology
 

Citation

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Chicago
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MLA
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Tyson, K., Darity, W., & Castellino, D. R. (2005). It's Not “a Black Thing”: Understanding the Burden of Acting White and Other Dilemmas of High Achievement. American Sociological Review, 70(4), 582–605. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240507000403
Tyson, Karolyn, William Darity, and Domini R. Castellino. “It's Not “a Black Thing”: Understanding the Burden of Acting White and Other Dilemmas of High Achievement.” American Sociological Review 70, no. 4 (August 2005): 582–605. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240507000403.
Tyson K, Darity W, Castellino DR. It's Not “a Black Thing”: Understanding the Burden of Acting White and Other Dilemmas of High Achievement. American Sociological Review. 2005 Aug;70(4):582–605.
Tyson, Karolyn, et al. “It's Not “a Black Thing”: Understanding the Burden of Acting White and Other Dilemmas of High Achievement.” American Sociological Review, vol. 70, no. 4, SAGE Publications, Aug. 2005, pp. 582–605. Crossref, doi:10.1177/000312240507000403.
Tyson K, Darity W, Castellino DR. It's Not “a Black Thing”: Understanding the Burden of Acting White and Other Dilemmas of High Achievement. American Sociological Review. SAGE Publications; 2005 Aug;70(4):582–605.
Journal cover image

Published In

American Sociological Review

DOI

EISSN

1939-8271

ISSN

0003-1224

Publication Date

August 2005

Volume

70

Issue

4

Start / End Page

582 / 605

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Related Subject Headings

  • Sociology
  • 4410 Sociology
  • 1608 Sociology