Academic Armor: Black Male Faculty and the Exhaustion of Racial Battle Fatigue

• In Event: Reimagining Black Masculinities: Exploring the Educational Experiences of Black Boys and Men

Abstract

This study explores the lived experiences of Black male faculty in U.S. higher education through the lens of Racial Battle Fatigue (RBF). Drawing on semi-structured interviews with seven Black male professors across Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), the research highlights the psychological, emotional, and physiological stress responses that emerge from chronic racial microaggressions, tokenization, and inequitable labor expectations. Four themes emerged: emotional labor and the burden of representation, institutional contrasts, racialized scrutiny and tokenization, and strategic navigation amid fatigue. The study calls for institutional transformation that centers care, accountability, and structural change rather than continuing to valorize individual resilience in the face of unrelenting racialized stressors.

Authors

• Edwin Nii Bonney, Clemson University

• Antonio L. Ellis, American University

• Darryl Corey, Radford University