Racial Identity and Critical Consciousness at the College Transition: Examining Reciprocal Associations Between Exploration and Action

• In Event: Racism and Other Identities on Youth Wellbeing and Learning: Use of Intersectionality

Abstract

Record setting Black political engagement among youth in the 2008 and 2012 elections demonstrated great promise in Black youths’ political involvement, which had been on the decline after the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements of the 1960s and 1970s (Fisher 2012; Williams & Clement 2016). Historically, Black college students have played a critical role in advancing Black civil rights and Black consciousness through campus protests, bus boycotts, and sit-ins both within and outside of campus spaces (Rogers 2012; Rojas 2007). Modern Black social movements such as #BlackLivesMatter and #SayHerName rapidly expose Black young adults to how Blackness is connected to racial inequity and discrimination. Involvement in such movements and participation in mainstream political activities (e.g. voting, volunteering for a political campaign) provide youth with pathways to challenge social inequity through policy change. Given this recent increase in Black young adults’ political involvement (CIRCLE 2018), it is imperative to examine the factors that maintain sustained engagement over time. Yet, little work examines how such activism might vary based on individuals’ exploration of and clarity about what it means to be Black.
An important link likely exists between the types of political activity that Black youth engage and their process of examining what it means to be Black. Drawing from racial identity and critical consciousness development theories, I elucidate how racial identity development processes (i.e. exploration) and critical action (i.e. behaviors related challenging social inequality) influence one another. As political activity is an important form of critical action for Black young adults, I focus on its relationship with racial identity development processes. Analyzing a sample of Black college students from the Minority College Cohort Study (MCCS; N=237), I use cross lagged panel modeling to examine the directional relationships between racial identity exploration and critical action. Preliminary analyses suggest the model of racial identity exploration and critical action had adequate fit [CFI=0.94; RMSEA= 0.11 CI [0.04, 0.18], SRMR=0.05] and indicated that the racial identity exploration was a significant predictor of critical action across three time points* [Wave 1 to Wave 2 = 0.07 S.E.= 0.020 p<.05; Wave 2 to Wave 3 = 0.21 S.E.= 0.08 p<.05] for Black college students. Political activities were also predictive of racial identity exploration, but this association was relatively weak [Wave 1 to Wave 2 = 0.02, S.E.= 0.01; p<.05 Wave 2 to Wave 3: = 0.18, S.E.= 0.06 p<.05]. However, such associations indicate that racial identity exploration and Black college students’ political activity may have a reciprocal effect on one another over the college years.
While the literature supports theoretical connections between racial identity and the critical consciousness processes, this work provides new empirical evidence of how racial identity and critical consciousness may intersect to shape Black emerging adults’ identities as American citizens. Continued investigation of racial identity and critical consciousness processes will inform strategies that support the sustained critical action of Black communities.

*Wave 1=Freshman year, fall semester Wave 2: Freshman year, Spring Semester Wave 3: Sophomore year, spring semester

Author

• Channing Jamielle Mathews, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Presenting Author