Navigating Tensions and Togetherness: A Quantitative Ethnographic Exploration of Black College Students’ Intragroup Experiences

• In Event: Overcoming Master Narratives: Unforgetting, Reimagining, and Reconstructing Through Quantitative Ethnography

Abstract

Objective
Existing intra-Black relationship research often emphasizes conflict between Black Americans (BA) and Black immigrants (BI; African, Caribbean, or Afro-Latinx), fueled by colorism and competition, neglecting the cultural similarities and shared struggles that promote unity (Dhuman, 2023; Leath et al., 2022). Recent studies suggest that shared experience with racial discrimination fosters collective consciousness and solidarity among Black students (George Mwangi et al., 2016; Thelamour et al., 2019).
This paper draws on Quantitative Ethnography (QE) to examine how Black college students interpret and enact intra-Black solidarity. As a convergence methodology, QE integrates qualitative depth and quantitative modeling within a single dataset and theoretical stance (Shaffer, 2017). By combining narrative analysis with computational modeling through Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA), this study explores the following question: What patterns of connection exist between unity subcodes across Black ethnic groups?
Methods & Analysis
375 Black students (Mage = 19.81; 67.2% female; 55.2% BI) from a PWI in the Northeastern U.S. provided written responses about intra-Black group dynamics experiences (Fall 2019 and Spring 2021). Data were inductively coded and analyzed using Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA; Shaffer, 2017) to explore connections among five UNITY sub-codes (Table 1). Ethnicity was the unit of analysis, and each response was a stanza. The models illustrated weighted code connections using a means rotation (Figure 1). Mean network graphs compared BA and BI students’ responses.
Findings
Preliminary ENA models revealed meaningful variation in how Black ethnic groups conceptualize solidarity. BA students frequently linked UNDERSTANDING and SHARED STRUGGLE, emphasizing mutual recognition of racialized experiences. For example:
…I feel like [B]lack people as a whole have a solidarity with one another because of our skin color and act as though we've known each other for years. The interaction between two [B]lack strangers is very comfortable, as if we understand each other's struggles and are nice to each other to give a sense of familiarity. This is especially common in situations with limited [B]lack people.
BI students, however, highlighted COMMUNITY SPACE and CONDITIONAL RESPONSE TO CRISIS, reflecting organized, often institutionally anchored expressions of solidarity:
Yes, I have experienced this[solidarity] when brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated and Hermanos of La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Incorporated both donate water to families in Newark.
A difference network showed statistically significant divergence (t(110.12) = -2.23, p = .03, d = .34), suggesting African immigrant students (M = -0.04, SD = 0.14, N = 66) prioritize collective action and communal support in times of crisis, while BA students (M = 0.01, SD = 0.13, N = 155) foreground shared experiential knowledge and affective bonds.
Significance
This study sheds light on how solidarity is constructed differently within the African Diaspora, shaped by immigration histories, social context, and cultural meaning-making. Rather than framing difference as division, this research repositions interpretive variation as epistemically generative. Using QE as a tool to unforget intra-group complexity, we surface plural expressions of Black unity that resist flattening narratives and reaffirm solidarity as a site of resilience, cultural affirmation, and resistance.

Author

• Adaurennaya C. Onyewuenyi, The College of New Jersey