Black Parents, Race, Racism, and Schools

• In Event: Struggles of Race, Identity, and Racism as We Advocate for Our Children in Public Schools

Abstract

A growing body of professional literature has examined the important role that parents play in the educational outcomes of their children (Epstein, Simon & Salinas, 1997) Much of this literature has documented the important role that parents can play in enhancing the academic achievement of their children’s school performance through participation in school sanctioned functions such as Open House, membership in school-based organizations such as the Parent Teacher Association, volunteerism in classrooms, and the maintenance of a consistent level of involvement in students’ academic progress such as the tracking of homework completion and accuracy (Barnard, 2004; Fan & Chen, 2001). Parental involvement has garnered additional attention since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 made it mandatory for schools to essentialize parents’ roles in school reform efforts. Largely absent from the discourse on parental involvement has been the roles, practices, and strategies of involvement for Black parents. This absence from the literature is noteworthy given the important role that involvement plays in educational success and Black students’ perennial underperformance in U.S. schools. Though a small number of studies have begun to investigate the ways that Black parents engage in schools (Howard & Reynolds, 2009, Cooper & Datnow, 1996), additional research is necessary if we wish to use parental involvement as one of the efforts that can be taken to improve the schooling performance of Black students.
Inexplicably absent from the research literature on parental engagement has been the role of race and racism, and how it influences families of color. Research has shown that positive parent involvement and fathers involvement in particular has contributed to increased cognitive competence, empathy, self-efficacy, fewer behavior problems, and overall improved school performance (Amato, 1994; Pleck, 1997; Radin, 1994), however, most of this research has been conducted with White middle-class parents. This proposal includes key findings from a case study of two dozen African American parents and their efforts to advocate for their children. These findings revealed that 1) a pressing need to challenge an overwhelmingly prevailing among belief among school personnel that Black parents are absent and uninvolved in their children’s educational endeavors, 2) Black parents report that race and racism play a salient role as they seek to advocate on behalf of their children, and 3) Black fathers experience a different reaction from school personnel compared to their White male and Black female counterparts. These findings suggest that there remains a pressing need to identify the specific approaches and practices that Black parents use in their attempts to develop authentic relationships with school personnel in order to improve their children’s chances for academic success. Moreover, it is essential to examine relationships and interactions between Black parents and non-Black school personnel.

Author

• Tyrone C. Howard, University of California - Los Angeles