Poster #78 - School Racism, Psychological Adjustment, & School Staff Support: Tales from Latinx and Black Youth

• In Event: 3-206 - Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Section - Education, Schooling

Integrative Statement

Statistics show that many Latinx and Black adolescents are performing at a lower academic level, with higher rates of school drop out than White adolescents (NCES, 2016). One explanation is feeling unwelcome or a lack of belonging at school (Rangel-Clawson, 2017), which can result from school racism. Guided by critical race theory (CRT; Delgado and Stefancic, 2012) and Boomer’s (2011) research on school racism, the current qualitative study explored Black and Latinx adolescents’ perceptions of school racism and the psychological consequences associated with their perceptions. It was hypothesized that Black and Latinx adolescents would perceive racism in their school, since students of color generally experience and witness racism in their everyday lives (see Allen, 2017). It was also hypothesized that Black and Latinx adolescents, who experienced racism at school, would experience mental health issues such as depression and anxiety (Nauert, 2015). Given that scholars endorsing CRT encourage the exploration of counter narratives that allow Black and Latinx adolescents to articulate their feelings associated with their school experiences (Delgado and Stefancic, 2012; Woodson, 2017; Woodson, 2017), student interviews were critical to the current study to give students voice in shedding light on their experiences with school racism. Boomer’s (2011) research explored school racism among students of color, in a predominantly White high school in rural Georgia. The students of color reported school racism and their regular experiences with it. To determine if the results would be similar for students of color in a different type of school environment and community, a purposeful sample of 7 Black and 16 Latinx adolescents attending a minority serving suburban high school in Central California were recruited for the current study. Students were interviewed using questions similar to those used by Boomer (2011). Interview data were analyzed using the constant comparative method (Ucer & Trundle, 2011), where two themes emerged: (1) school staff’s lack of awareness of school racism and consistent disciplinary action and (2) the negative impact of school racism on students’ psychological adjustment. For the first theme, a Latinx female student commented that, “saying that word [nigga or nigger] is being accepted and no one is like saying anything about it…no one brings it up that we say a racist slur, a racist slur, all the time…I’m pretty sure if teachers can hear someone cursing they surely could hear the slurs being thrown around so willy nilly.” For the second theme, a Latinx female student commented that she was not proud to be Mexican when discussing her perceptions of school racism, while a Black female student reported feeling out of place due to her negative school experiences. Similar comments from other students suggest that school racism persists and that the psychological effects related to it can be damaging. Suggestions will be given for addressing school staffs disciplinary reactions to school racism and students’ psychological adjustment.

Authors

• Terry Lynne Murray, California State University Stanislaus
  Presenting Author

• Aletha M Harven, California State University Stanislaus
  Non-Presenting Author