Acting white

Acting white, from an epithet applied to black people, and also within ethnic groups such as Asians and Native Americans and sometimes culturally diverse groups such as Latinos and Hawaii residents, refers to a perceived betraying of one's culture by incorporating the social expectations of white society, particularly in the United States. [Kelley, Raina. [http://www.newsweek.com/id/73347 The Search for Thugs] , "Newsweek". December 10, 2007.] Black people that act white are sometimes referred to as Black Anglo-Saxons a term coined by comedian Paul Mooney

Case studies

Though not all scholars define acting white in precisely the same way, most definitions include a reference to situations where some minority adolescents ridicule their minority peers for engaging in behaviors perceived to be characteristic of whites. In 1986, Nigerian sociologist John Ogbu co-authored, along with Signithia Fordham, a study that concluded African American students in a Washington, D.C., high school did not live up to their academic potential because of the fear of being accused of "acting white," echoed in his 2003 book "Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement". He concluded that the black students' own cultural attitudes hindered academic achievement and that these attitudes are too often neglected. However, as Ogbu made clear in his seminal work "Minority Education and Caste" (1978), school disengagement among caste-like minorities occurs because of the glass ceiling placed by white society on the job-success of their parents and others in their communities. He reasoned that non-whites "failed to observe the link between educational achievement and access to jobs." [cite book |last= Carter|first= Prudence |title= Keepin' It Real: School Success Beyond Black and White |series=Transgressing Boundaries: Studies in Black Politics and Black Communities |publisher= Oxford University Press, USA |year= 2005 | pages=29 |isbn= 0-1951-6862-3 ]

Though the study's conclusion gained a popular foothold and has been exposed by figures such as Bill Cosby, a later study challenged its validity. In 2003, Karolyn Tyson, a sociologist, and William Darity Jr, an economist, both at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, directed an 18 month study at eleven North Carolinian schools. The study concluded that white and black students have essentially the same attitudes about scholastic achievement; students in both groups want to succeed in school and show higher levels of self-esteem when they do better in school. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/12/magazine/12ACTING.html?ex=1260594000&en=37bb3e44882a21bc&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland NYTimes] ]

A 2006 study titled "An Empirical Analysis of "Acting White" by Roland G. Fryer, Jr. at Harvard University and Paul Torelli suggested that the phenomenon probably had little to no effect on students achieving at average levels, but might explain a significant role in the disparities between black and white students at high achievement levels. [ [http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/fryer/papers/fryer_torelli.pdf Harvard.edu Economics] ]

ee also

*Stereotype threat
*John Ogbu
*Cultural assimilation

References

External links

* [http://www.educationnext.org/20061/52.html Acting white at educationnext.org]
* [http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/fryer/papers/aw_ednext.pdf Harvard Study]
* [http://www.pbs.org/newshour/essays/july-dec04/page_9-27.html Online NewsHour - Acting White]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/04/AR2005060400126.html The Price of Acting White]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/12/magazine/12ACTING.html?ex=1260594000&en=37bb3e44882a21bc&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland The Acting White Myth]
* [http://www.hoover.org/publications/ednext/3212736.html Hoover Insititue]
* [http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2004/10/05/burden/ La Shawn Barbers Corner]
* [http://www.nber.org/digest/jan06/w11334.html National Bureau of International research]
* [http://www.diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_5719.shtml Diverse Education]
* [http://www.springerlink.com/content/n508482060h051q0/ Springer link]