School ethnic-racial socialization and critical action among Black youth
We explore the interaction of different types of school ethnic-racial socialization, youth’s perceptions of the messages that schools and their agents broadcast about race and ethnicity, as it shapes Black youth’s critical action, the individual and collective action that youth engage in to combat o...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.924930/full |
| _version_ | 1811307894532997120 |
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| author | Gabrielle Kubi Christy M. Byrd Matthew A. Diemer |
| author_facet | Gabrielle Kubi Christy M. Byrd Matthew A. Diemer |
| author_sort | Gabrielle Kubi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We explore the interaction of different types of school ethnic-racial socialization, youth’s perceptions of the messages that schools and their agents broadcast about race and ethnicity, as it shapes Black youth’s critical action, the individual and collective action that youth engage in to combat oppression and racism. In particular, the co-occurrence of critical consciousness socialization (emphasizes racial inequity; CCS), cultural socialization (celebrates youth’s culture/s; CS), and color evasive socialization (de-emphasizes and thus delegitimizes the importance of race; CES) are explored. The adaptive culture and Mustaffa’s conceptualization of Black lifemaking, an aspect of freedom dreaming in which Black people define and care for themselves in ways (such as critical action) that counter dominant, anti-Black ideologies, serve as the overarching theoretical frameworks. As both the adaptive culture paradigm and critical action necessitate a target of resistance, we hypothesize that CES, in providing Black youth something to resist against, may actually serve as a positive moderator between CCS and/or CS and their critical action. We investigate these questions among a sample of Black adolescents (n = 285, M = 15.09 years, and SD = 1.38 years). Benjamini–Hochberg corrected hierarchical moderations with age as a covariate and socialization type and interaction between types as predictors revealed that the interaction between CCS and CES significantly predicted critically conscious action [β = 0.25, SE = 0.08, t(193) = 2.54, and p < 0.05] and political anti-racist action [β = 0.21, SE = 0.09, t(193) = 2.38, and p < 0.05]. Critically conscious action was more frequent among Black youth who perceived greater CES. The relationship between CCS and political anti-racist action was stronger among those who perceived greater CES. These findings may provide comfort to those worried about CES’ impact. Black youth simultaneously socialized with CCS seem to develop a critical consciousness that allows them to trouble CES and to be critically active despite it. Engaging in varied, frequent critical action allows Black youth to continue the life-making which improves the Black American experience and drives their freedom dreaming. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T09:12:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-89a75f09972a4f728bae9d660dd00732 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2504-284X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T09:12:17Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-89a75f09972a4f728bae9d660dd007322022-12-22T02:52:50ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Education2504-284X2022-11-01710.3389/feduc.2022.924930924930School ethnic-racial socialization and critical action among Black youthGabrielle Kubi0Christy M. Byrd1Matthew A. Diemer2Combined Program in Education and Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesDepartment of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, United StatesCombined Program in Education and Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United StatesWe explore the interaction of different types of school ethnic-racial socialization, youth’s perceptions of the messages that schools and their agents broadcast about race and ethnicity, as it shapes Black youth’s critical action, the individual and collective action that youth engage in to combat oppression and racism. In particular, the co-occurrence of critical consciousness socialization (emphasizes racial inequity; CCS), cultural socialization (celebrates youth’s culture/s; CS), and color evasive socialization (de-emphasizes and thus delegitimizes the importance of race; CES) are explored. The adaptive culture and Mustaffa’s conceptualization of Black lifemaking, an aspect of freedom dreaming in which Black people define and care for themselves in ways (such as critical action) that counter dominant, anti-Black ideologies, serve as the overarching theoretical frameworks. As both the adaptive culture paradigm and critical action necessitate a target of resistance, we hypothesize that CES, in providing Black youth something to resist against, may actually serve as a positive moderator between CCS and/or CS and their critical action. We investigate these questions among a sample of Black adolescents (n = 285, M = 15.09 years, and SD = 1.38 years). Benjamini–Hochberg corrected hierarchical moderations with age as a covariate and socialization type and interaction between types as predictors revealed that the interaction between CCS and CES significantly predicted critically conscious action [β = 0.25, SE = 0.08, t(193) = 2.54, and p < 0.05] and political anti-racist action [β = 0.21, SE = 0.09, t(193) = 2.38, and p < 0.05]. Critically conscious action was more frequent among Black youth who perceived greater CES. The relationship between CCS and political anti-racist action was stronger among those who perceived greater CES. These findings may provide comfort to those worried about CES’ impact. Black youth simultaneously socialized with CCS seem to develop a critical consciousness that allows them to trouble CES and to be critically active despite it. Engaging in varied, frequent critical action allows Black youth to continue the life-making which improves the Black American experience and drives their freedom dreaming.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.924930/fulladaptive cultureantiblacknessethnic-racial socializationactivismcritical actionBlack youth |
| spellingShingle | Gabrielle Kubi Christy M. Byrd Matthew A. Diemer School ethnic-racial socialization and critical action among Black youth Frontiers in Education adaptive culture antiblackness ethnic-racial socialization activism critical action Black youth |
| title | School ethnic-racial socialization and critical action among Black youth |
| title_full | School ethnic-racial socialization and critical action among Black youth |
| title_fullStr | School ethnic-racial socialization and critical action among Black youth |
| title_full_unstemmed | School ethnic-racial socialization and critical action among Black youth |
| title_short | School ethnic-racial socialization and critical action among Black youth |
| title_sort | school ethnic racial socialization and critical action among black youth |
| topic | adaptive culture antiblackness ethnic-racial socialization activism critical action Black youth |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.924930/full |
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