“I thought I’d have more trouble with white people!”: Exploring racial microaggressions between West African immigrants and African Americans

Racial tensions continue in 21st-century United States through the communication of racial microaggressions. We are interested in the communication of racial microaggressions directed towards West African immigrants by people with whom they expected to be allied, African Americans. Sixteen people who identified as West African immigrants were interviewed about communication struggles with African Americans in this qualitative, interpretive analysis. Owen’s thematic analysis was employed to analyze interview data. Results suggest the communicative impact of racial microaggressions on recipients is far-reaching and consequential. Narratives illustrate microaggressive communication occurs daily through invalidating, dismissive lines of questioning as well as targeted name calling and pejorative dialogue.     

Selection for special education services: the role of gender and socio-economic status

Children from some demographic groups disproportionately receive special education (SE) services. Due to methodological shortcoming in existing work, it remains unclear whether this is due to real differences in academic needs or cultural selection/bias. Hence, in a community sample of 1250 Norwegian children, we examined the role of third grade SE services, academic test scores, behavioural problems, and teacher’s level of helplessness in mediating the effect of family socio-economic status (SES) and students’ gender on fifth-grade SE services. Results revealed no direct effects of either gender or SES on fifth-grade SE, but four mediated pathways were identified: (1) Boys had a greater likelihood of receiving fifth-grade SE services when (a) they previously received SE and (b) they experienced more ADHD symptoms, both in third grade. (2) Students from low-SES families were more likely to receive SE services in fifth grade when (a) they performed poorly in math in third grade and (b) their teacher reported greater feelings of helplessness when teaching these students. The findings are discussed with respect to the differential-needs hypothesis, mechanisms of cultural selection and the possibility of gendered selection for SE at younger ages.     

第二次刚果战争爆发原因探析

二十世纪末发生在刚果的战争,是第二次世界大战以后非洲地区最大规模的地方冲突。第二次刚果战争的爆发主要有四个原因:不可弥合的种族冲突;安全需求与地缘政治因素;巨大的经济利益;刚果政府的腐败和软弱。第二次刚果战争在非洲具有典型性,对其他国家有借鉴意义。     

Ain’t nobody got time for dad? Racial-ethnic disproportionalities in child welfare casework practice with nonresident fathers

BackgroundGiven fathers’ potential role in bringing about desired child welfare case outcomes, researchers have begun to identify factors that impact agency efforts to identify and involve fathers. Racial-ethnic inequality and bias are not among factors studied, despite longstanding evidence that racial-ethnic minority children make up a disproportionate share of the child welfare population.ObjectiveWe set out to identify racial-ethnic patterns in initial casework activity with nonresident fathers and explore whether select factors explain racial-ethnic differentials.Participants and SettingCaseworkers of 1,754 children in foster care in four U.S. states were surveyed.MethodsBivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with whether agencies identified, located, and contacted nonresident fathers.ResultsAgencies were less likely to identify nonresident fathers of Black, Latinx, and Multiracial children, relative to those of White children. Among fathers whom agencies identified, Black and Latinx fathers were less likely to be located. Among fathers whom agencies located, Black and Latinx fathers were less likely to be contacted. Whereas greater rates of international mobility among Latinx fathers explained agencies’ disproportionately low rates of contact, no other factor explained racial-ethnic differentials.ConclusionWe find evidence of historical racial-ethnic disproportionalities across the three initial stages of casework practice with nonresident fathers in U.S. child welfare systems. Though more recent data are needed, this research suggests that racial-ethnic minority foster children are more likely than White foster children to be denied the benefits of agency-father contact, whether due to societal or systemic racial inequalities.     

Intergroup Contact,Media Exposure,and Racial Attitudes

The present investigation uses intergroup contact and media systems’ dependency theories to illuminate the relative significance of various sources of information in shaping Caucasian-American attitudes toward African-Americans. It uses empirical data from an exploratory survey of college students to build a chain of related variables that link primary sources of information (face-to-face versus mediated) to stereotypical beliefs, perceived internal causal attributions for African-Americans’ failures, and prejudicial feelings toward African-Americans. Results suggest that face-to-face sources of racial/ethnic out-group information are more effective than mediated sources in prejudice reduction. The discussion includes theoretical and practical implications of the findings.     

Patterns of intergroup attitudes in South Africa after 1994

In the heterogeneous South African society, race has become not only the major organizing principle, but also the primary unit of social analysis. The concept “intergroup relations” has consequently predominantly been associated with racial relations and “intergroup attitudes” with “interracial attitudes”. Interest in South African race relations has furthermore been enhanced by the tumultuous struggle against apartheid. A substantive body of research acquired during apartheid indeed points to interracial tension. The advent of a new political dispensation in 1994 has been accompanied with expectations that increased intergroup contact, in particular, would result in improved interracial relations. The current study investigates intergroup attitudes after 1994. Three countrywide surveys were conducted in 1998, 2001 and 2009 using representative samples of all major racial groups. The results indicate that overall attitudes were more positive among more affluent and urbanized communities. However, there are indications of prevailing negative relations, in particular between Blacks and Afrikaans-speaking Whites. While the attitudes of Afrikaans-speaking Whites seem to have become more positive, that has not been the case to the same extent for Blacks. Blacks also appear to be less positive towards English-speaking Whites than during apartheid. Overall, the results point to more positive intergroup attitudes in some instances, but also to potential emerging points of tension.     

Reducing suspension for minor infraction and improving school climate perceptions among black adolescents via cultural socialization: A multi-informant longitudinal study

Racially disparate school disciplinary practices create inequitable circumstances for minority and immigrant youth around the world. In the U.S., Black youth are more likely than their White peers to be suspended for minor, non-violent infractions. This study explores (a) whether school cultural socialization practices reported by Black students (N = 544; M_age (SD) = 12.45 (1.57); 49% boys) and teachers (N = 38; 84% female) were linked to a reduced likelihood of receiving suspensions for minor infractions and (b) the extent to which Black students' perceptions of school climate mediated this relation. Results indicated that school cultural socialization was linked to a decreased likelihood of being suspended for a minor infraction and improved school climate perceptions for Black students. Black students’ perception of school climate mediated the link between school cultural socialization and suspensions for minor infractions. These results highlight school cultural socialization as a promising approach for increasing cultural responsivity and equity within schools, reducing racial bias, and expunging unjust disciplinary responses.     

Racial Perceptions of Young Children: A Review of Literature Post-1999

It has been argued that intervention strategies designed to reduce racial prejudice in young children have been based on weak theoretical models of racial stereotyping and prejudice with little effect on the reduction of racial bias. This paper examines the social-cognitive and intergroup scholarship post-Bigler (J Soc Issues 55(4), 687–705, 1999), with an emphasis on the development of racial prejudice in young children. The purpose of this paper is not to argue for a particular theoretical approach, but to provide an overview of some of the important pieces of research. Findings indicate that social learning and cognitive development models need to be understood when implementing curriculum designed to reduce racist beliefs and attitudes in young children.     

Silence speaks: Whiteness revealed in the absence of voice

In this hybrid article, the author attempts to weave together the theoretical implications of whiteness theory and a theorizing of silence on teacher education practices, research with her own students that explored these implications, and reflections on her own pedagogical practices and location as a white teacher educator teaching about race and diversity. In teacher education courses intended to explore issues regarding the implications of diversity in schools, silence is often encountered in work with white students who have not examined their identity in the context of a racial discourse. This article explores the nature and intent of these racially inhabited silences that emerged in two teacher education courses comprised predominately of white preservice teachers.     

Do sports help students stay away from misbehavior,suspension, or dropout?

This paper explores whether high-school sports are functional and accessible activities to keep students from school disciplinary behaviors. For this purpose, we included students racial and linguistic status, socioeconomic status, sex, and prior academic performance with the school’s proportion of free-lunch recipients and minorities, to understand how sport participation affects students of diverse groups. Additionally, the study implemented a multilevel mediation modeling to the Education Longitudinal Study (ELS) data and assessed student dropouts with sequential mediators of sport participation, school misbehavior, and suspension. The findings of the study largely revealed that White students participated in sports more than Black, Hispanic, and Asian. Likewise, students who speak English as the primary language and male students participated in sports more than their counterparts. White sport participants displayed fewer incidents of suspension than White non-sport participants. Black, Hispanic, and White sport participants had lower dropout incidents than their non-sport-participating counterparts.