How African Immigrant Parents and Their Children Experience Predominantly White High Schools

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Deconstructing Dominant Narratives and Centering Ancestral Knowledge Across the PK–20 Spectrum (Table 10)

Abstract

U.S. schooling systems marginalize Black students, causing poor academic outcomes. U.S. schools serve white students better than all Black students but are slightly more successful in serving immigrant-origin Black students than their Black U.S.-origin peers (Calzada et al., 2015; de Brey et al., 2019; George Mwangi & English, 2017). In this study, we interviewed five Black youth and parent pairs. The parents were Black African immigrants and the youth, their children, were attending predominantly white high schools in the Midwest. We found both parents and teens believed teachers had low expectations for Black students and that many factors curtailed their sense of belonging. Their experiences and recommendations suggest ways to improve schooling for Black students.

Authors

• Friday Akway Gora, Mankato Public Area Schools District

• Suki Jones Mozenter, University of Minnesota - Duluth