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African-American Parents' Experiences in a Predominantly White School

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African-American Parents' Experiences in a Predominantly White School Syracuse University SURFACE Dissertations - ALL SURFACE June 2017 Opportunity, but at what cost? African-American parents' experiences in a predominantly white school Peter Smith Smith Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/etd Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Smith, Peter Smith, "Opportunity, but at what cost? African-American parents' experiences in a predominantly white school" (2017). Dissertations - ALL. 667. https://surface.syr.edu/etd/667 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the SURFACE at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations - ALL by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract National measures of student achievement, such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), provide evidence of the gap in success between African- American and white students. Despite national calls for increased school accountability and focus on achievement gaps, many African-American children continue to struggle in school academically, as compared to their white peers. Ladson-Billings (2006) argues that a deeper understanding of the legacy of disparity in funding for schools serving primarily African- American students, shutting out African-American parents from civic participation, and unfair treatment of African-Americans despite their contributions to the United States is necessary to complicate the discourse about African-American student performance. The deficit model that uses student snapshots of achievement such as the NAEP and other national assessments to explain the achievement gap suggests that there is something wrong with African-American children. As Cowen Pitre (2104) explains, however, “the deficit model theory blames the victim without acknowledging the unequal educational and social structures that deny African- American students access to a quality education (2014, pg. 212). To reframe the deficit discourse, Linda Darling-Hammond (2010) identifies key factors contributing to an opportunity gap including, unequal access to qualified teachers and a lack of access to high-quality curriculum. This dissertation examined the opportunity gap at a particular predominantly white school. Specifically, I explored the experiences of African-American parents as they navigated and negotiated the institutional challenges and everyday racism they faced in a suburban environment. Four African-American parents from one suburban school district took part in this study. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and observations, and was informed by theoretical work around race, racism, systemic racism theory, whiteness, racial microaggressions, and the unconscious habits of racial privilege. Results of this study revealed that African-American parents experienced various manifestations of institutional racism and everyday occurrences of microaggressions that required them to navigate and negotiate this suburban environment. Institutional racism and everyday instances of microaggressions restricted parents’ ability to fully access the educational opportunities that were available for their children. OPPORTUNITY, BUT AT WHAT COST? AFRICAN-AMERICAN PARENTS’ EXPERIENCES IN A PREDOMINANTLY WHITE SCHOOL by Peter C. Smith B.A., Tufts University, 1988 M.S., Syracuse University, 1991 C.A.S., Syracuse University, 2003 Dissertation Submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Cultural Foundations of Education Syracuse University May 2017 Copyright © Peter C. Smith 2017 All Rights Reserved Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank the parents who generously donated their time and perspectives that form the basis of this work. I am forever grateful for their willingness to take part in this research and to share their stories. My tremendous thanks and immense gratitude go to my committee members, Dr. Barbara Applebaum, Dr. Gerald Grant, and Dr. Jeffery Mangram. I deeply respect and appreciate your commitment to education and social justice. Your helpful advice, support, and intelligence broadened my perspectives and enabled me to craft a better dissertation. I sincerely appreciate your willingness to hang in there and to support me during this long process. Thank you to my parents for your love, support, and unfailing belief that this dissertation should be finished. Most of all, thank you to my family, Mary, Bridget, Molly, and Greta who gently pushed, prodded, and provided other means of support through the writing of this dissertation. I love you very much. v Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem ....................................................................................................1 Trends in Recent Research ..................................................................................................6 Context ..............................................................................................................................12 Overview of Dissertation Chapters ...................................................................................15 Summary............................................................................................................................17 Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................................19 A Brief Overview of Residential Segregation Patterns in the 20th Century......................19 Why African-American Parents Choose to Move Their Children to Suburban Schools ..20 The Experience of African-American Students in Predominantly White Schools ...........26 African-American Parents in Schools and in Predominantly White Schools ...................31 Theoretical Considerations................................................................................................37 Race .......................................................................................................................37 Racism ...................................................................................................................40 Systemic Racism Theory.......................................................................................40 Whiteness ..............................................................................................................43 Racial Microaggressions and the Unconscious Habits of Racial Privilege...........46 Summary............................................................................................................................49 Chapter 3: Methods and Procedures..............................................................................................51 Background........................................................................................................................51 Methodology......................................................................................................................56 Why Qualitative Methods......................................................................................57 vi Symbolic Interactionism........................................................................................60 Methods and Data Collection ............................................................................................62 Why Interviewing? ................................................................................................62 Data Collection......................................................................................................64 Data Coding and Analysis .....................................................................................66 Selection of Participants ....................................................................................................67 Description of Participants ................................................................................................68 Limitations.........................................................................................................................71 My Subject Position ..........................................................................................................72 Chapter 4: Geography of Opportunity...........................................................................................77 The Experiences of Parents at Their Previous Schools .....................................................79 Leaving the Existing School System.................................................................................84 Characteristics of Schools Parents Hoped to Find ............................................................88 Choosing Lexington School District and Eastside Middle School ...................................92 Resources at Lexington School District ............................................................................95 Summary............................................................................................................................99 Chapter 5: Institutional Barriers and Double Standards..............................................................103 It is All About Respect: Stuck on the Outside.................................................................110 Unable to Develop Partnerships ......................................................................................122 Unequal
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