UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Theorizing the ghetto: The intersection of resources, psychology, and oppression in the construction of Black identity and consciousness Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4vw79479 Author Parker, Lynette Publication Date 2013 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Theorizing the ghetto: The intersection of resources, psychology, and oppression in the construction of Black identity and consciousness by Lynette Parker A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in Charge: Professor Daniel Perlstein, Chair Professor Zeus Leonardo Professor Waldo Martin Fall 2013 Copyright © 2013 Lynette Parker Abstract Theorizing the ghetto: The intersection of resources, psychology, and oppression in the construction of Black identity and consciousness By Lynette Parker Doctor of Philosophy in Education University of California, Berkeley Professor Daniel Perlstein, Chair This dissertation examines the structural, political and ideological processes associated with the historical transformation of Compton from a White suburb to a Black ghetto. It addresses the structured racism that kept the city divided despite the class status and achievements of early Black residents. In this study, I examine the history of resource allocation and expenditures, and how resources were mismanaged and misused to the detriment of Compton and its residents. Using qualitative interviews of 20 African-Americans who grew up in Compton and attended neighborhood schools, and a quantitative analysis of demographic shifts alone side resource changes, this study theorizes the complex ways in which resources, psychology, and identity interplay in the creation of the ghetto and ultimately underachievement. The major findings were that White ideology of Black inferiority structured much of the history of Blacks in Compton. Resistance to the label of inferiority burdened Compton’s middle- class Blacks as they tried every effort to assimilate. Whites had imagined Blacks as inferior and segregated them, discriminated against them, and committed to their failure. Many Blacks ultimately answered the call of inferiority through the process of interpellation, and began to accommodate Whites – and indeed perpetuated the ghetto. The last finding was that Black Comptonites operated under a complex process of structuring and restructuring their behavior, and navigating their responses and silences through, what I term fourth-person consciousness. Through this consciousness, Blacks demonstrated contradictory positioning, (re)humanization of the space, evasion, and a double-bind of (unequal) opportunity. This was a pointed effort to resist the stereotypes projected on to Compton. 1 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iv Chapter 1 – Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 Literature Review ....................................................................................................................... 2 Resource Inequities ................................................................................................................. 2 Misuse of Resources ............................................................................................................... 3 Psychological Impact of Ghetto Schooling ............................................................................. 5 Formulation of Black Student Identities ................................................................................. 8 Process of Racialization (of Blacks) ....................................................................................... 8 Black Identity and Academic Achievement ........................................................................... 5 Outline of Chapters ................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 2 – White Imagination and the Making of the Ghetto ....................................................... 5 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 12 To Make a White Suburb – Compton ....................................................................................... 12 Maintaining the Space and Keeping Up Appearances .............................................................. 13 Suburban Performativity – Culture of Compton ....................................................................... 14 Policing –Protecting the Image ................................................................................................. 14 Mapping Suburban Segregation ................................................................................................ 15 Teaching Suburbia - Schools as Reflection of the White Community ..................................... 19 Fight or Flight – Beginning of the White Exodus .................................................................... 20 Black Suburban Compton ......................................................................................................... 21 Still Keeping Up Appearances .................................................................................................. 23 The Mirage of Black Success ................................................................................................... 24 Would You Believe Niggers? ................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 3 - The Formation of Ghetto Compton ............................................................................ 26 Black Takeover of White Space and White Exodus ................................................................. 26 White Ideology at Work ........................................................................................................... 27 City and School Politics under Black leadership ...................................................................... 28 Answering The Hail – Black Ghetto Comptonites ................................................................... 31 Music Culture ........................................................................................................................... 32 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 34 Death of the Native Culture ...................................................................................................... 34 Chapter 4 - City and School Resources and the Masking of the Ghetto ....................................... 36 Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 36 Quantitative Data Discourse Analysis ...................................................................................... 38 City Resources .......................................................................................................................... 39 Parks and Recreation ................................................................................................................ 41 Education Spending/Revenue Resources into Schools ............................................................. 43 School Expenditures ................................................................................................................. 44 ADA and Spending ................................................................................................................... 47 Quantitative Data Discourse Analysis ...................................................................................... 48 Quantitative Data Ethnography ............................................................................................. 48 Data Discourse Analysis ........................................................................................................... 50 i Knowledge ............................................................................................................................ 50 Social Relations .................................................................................................................... 51 Social Identity ....................................................................................................................... 52 Chapter Discussion ............................................................................................................... 52 Chapter 5- Intersecting Identity of Place, Resources, Psychology ............................................... 55 Methods .................................................................................................................................... 55 Sample ................................................................................................................................... 55 Interviews .............................................................................................................................