Two Strikes Against Me: Conversations About Race and Gender Among Black Males in Middle School

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: Race With...: Mapping the Intersections in Black Education

Abstract

A considerable amount of scholarship has been published on Black male identity discourse. However, little research examines these processes from the perspectives of adolescent Black males. For many adolescent Black males, how they see themselves and their places in the world is largely shaped by the meanings, values and messages attached to their race and gender. This study examined how eleven Black 8th grade males attending a predominantly Black urban middle school understood and experienced race and its impact on their identities. Drawing on data from three focus group discussions, findings from this study highlight the importance of having conversations about race to learn how to better support adolescent Black males academically, socially, emotionally, and psychologically as they navigate society.

Author

• Effat Id-Deen, Michigan State University