Academic Privilege and Social Segmentation: Experiences of Middle Class African Americans in Central City Public Schools

• In Event: 2484 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 18. Race and Ethnicity in Education 2

Abstract

Using in depth interviews of parents in the City School District of Albany, in Albany NY, this study explores how African American middle class families navigate an academically struggling urban district with relatively few public school options, the strategies they utilize in this process, and some of the social consequences for both students and parents that result from these strategies. Findings suggest that these families work to enroll their children in specialized programs at the elementary level and honors level classes at the post-elementary levels. Certain consequences result from such placements. The participant’s children are largely separated from lower-income students, other African American students, and develop more school friendships with white classmates. For parents, social segmenting also appears. Parents of the students in the specialized and honors programs tend to only form relationships with the other parents of similarly-placed students. Parents, however, largely justify this social network segmentation.

Author

• Paul Thomas Knudson, University of Massachusetts-Amherst