BLACK PARENTAL PROTECTIONISM Jada Phelps Moultrie Submitted To
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REFRAMING PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT OF BLACK PARENTS: BLACK PARENTAL PROTECTIONISM Jada Phelps Moultrie Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Education, Indiana University October 2016 Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Doctoral Committee May 1 1, 201 6 ii Dedication This is dedicated to all Black parents, specifically, the participants in this study, as well as my parents and my grandparents. Each name recalled in dedication, I have drawn my strength from and is how I got through this journey. I would specifically like to dedicate this work to Violet Hogan my fifth great paternal grandmother and my own mother, DiLynn Valerie Thomas Phelps, and father, Marcus Anthony Phelps I. My brother, Lil’ Marcus Anthony Phelps II, father of my nephew, Marcus III. In spirit Ruth and Elzie Phelps, parents of Michael and Morris Smitherman, Marcus, Marietta, Mitchell, and Molly Phelps; In spirit Pearl and Terrell Thomas I, parents of Edith, Terrell “Bro”, Marilyn, Kenneth, DiLynn, and Van Veen Thomas; Robin Khan, mother of Antoin Moultrie; and Antoin Mandel Moultrie, my husband and stepfather of my son Stephen Jaden Mosby, “Victorious Leader”, father of my son Andric Jasiri Moultrie, “Fearless Warrior” and father to my daughter, Alaira Janie Lynn Moultrie, “the Great Unifier and Beautiful Gift from God”. We are rich in family. Together we rise. iii Acknowledgments It is a rarity for me to feel inferior, particularly because I know that it was and arguably remains the primary weapon used to destroy people of color. However, the world of academia, particularly as an uncharted place to African American females in this colonial era, the inferiority that I thought I killed rose again. Without my dear friends, loved ones, colleagues, and peers, all of whom believed in me, I would have died a premature death never realizing my highest potential. I am unable to acknowledge everyone in this section, but I want you all to know that the power you gave me through your life support, I pay and plan to always pay tribute by being my best. Thank you for this rebirth. Dr. Jomo Mutegi, my dearest brother from another mother, thank you for your patience, advice, the opportunities you gave me, and your most precious time. Dr. Jim Scheurich, my academic dad, thank you for teaching and guiding me. But most importantly, thank you for believing in my scholarship. Dr. Carlton Waterhouse, thank you for wanting to work with me. It is such an honor to know that someone like you wants to work with someone like me. Your dedication in teaching me CRT, I believe will further advance this theory in education. Dr. Samantha Scribner, you are the busiest person I know and it is an honor that you took the time to help me in writing, teaching, and helping me find my way through this dark journey. Dr. Gerardo Lopez, I have never forgotten your courses and your enthusiasm over my insights as a master’s student. After years of undergraduate and masters courses, you were the first critical professor I had opening my eyes to a space that I found myself awaiting to be in. Thank you for always pushing me. iv I would also like to acknowledge several others who have been instrumental in shaping this body of research and supporting my efforts throughout this process. Dr. Barbara Dennis, thank you for introducing me to critical qualitative methodology. Dr. Rob Helfenbein and Dr. Brendan Maxcy, thank you for teaching me about the politics of education. Dr. Robin Hughes, thank you for introducing me to CRT and for always having my back. Dr. Kathleen King Thorius and Dr. Seena Skelton thank you for your support throughout these years and for widening my critical lens. Dr. Crystal Morton, thank you for your support and sisterly advice. Dr. Erin Macey thank you for being a great friend, for your assistance in critical ethnographic methodology, and for having two babies while dissertating-it made me feel like I was in good company. My cohort one family, Nathanial, Brandon, Tiffany, Aly, Cathy, Vicki, and Troy, we are forever friends. To my Great 8 sister scholars, thank you for standing with me in solidarity. To the 1997-2001 (Championship) Ball State Women’s Track and Field Team, all that we did prepared me to stay strong, focused, and stride through the finish line…even if the monkey is on your back. To the Phelps and Thomas Family, there are no words that can describe our family’s triumph for we are like a phoenix rising from the ashes and I thank you for passing on the strength needed to extend our legacy. To my mother and father, DiLynn and Marcus Phelps, my beloved parents, your devotion to me as your daughter is humbling. I hope to live up to your expectations. To my brother, DJ Mr. Marcus, stay strong and I am proud of you bro-you got my dream job! To my children, Victorious Leader (Stephen), Fearless Warrior (Andric), and the Great Unifier, Beautiful Gift from God (Alaira), you taught me patience and the beauty of laughter that I so desperately needed in these times. To my husband, Antoin Moultrie, your beautiful v soul, your emotional strength, and your togetherness held me together. I am and will always be forever yours. – Love Jada vi Jada Phelps Moultrie REFRAMING PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT OF BLACK PARENTS: BLACK PARENTAL PROTECTIONISM In 1787, Prince Hall, a Revolutionary War veteran, community leader, and Black parent, petitioned the Massachusetts legislature on behalf of Black children demanding a separate “African” school. Hall claimed that Black children were met with continuous hostility and suffered maltreatment when attending White controlled schools. Many have documented similar claims and actions by Black parents throughout history. These experiences present a consistent insidious counter-narrative of parental involvement challenging the notion of race neutral schools but congruently demonstrate a racial phenomenon in the purview of parental involvement that is undertheorized. Considering these experiences, my central research question was, how is one involved as a Black parent in their child’s education? Among 16 sets of Black parents, this study explored the relationship between race, racism, parental involvement using critical race theory (CRT), and critical qualitative research methods. Findings indicate that Black parental involvement included the consideration of how race and racism in schools may impact, at the very least, their children’s academic achievement, which led to two means of protection of their children from anticipated or experienced school- related racism; racial socialization, which was chiefly exercised as involvement at the home level, and racial vigilance, which seemed to be a pervasive form of involvement at the school and home level. I consider the totality of these parental involvement means, Black parental protectionism drawing from Mazama and Lundy conception of racial protectionism. This finding should reframe our understanding of parental involvement vii but the implications of Black parent protectionism suggest that Black children need protection from racist institutions. When considering the treatment of Black children in White dominated schools over the last four centuries, perhaps Black parents have been their children’s only saving grace to escape the continuous racial maltreatment in schools through time. Instead of falling into traditional research paradigms, which typically relate involvement to achievement, this study concludes with questioning if Black children can receive an optimal education in a pervasive system of racism in schools regardless of Black parental protectionism. James Joseph Scheurich Ph.D., Committee Chair viii Table of Contents Chapter I .............................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review ............................................................................................................ 8 Theory, Methodology, and Research Design .................................................................. 9 About the participants. .............................................................................................. 10 Findings & Analysis ...................................................................................................... 11 Racial vigilance and racial socialization. .................................................................. 11 Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 14 Chapter II: Literature Review ........................................................................................... 16 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 16 Foregrounding Parental Involvement ........................................................................... 17 What is parental involvement? .................................................................................. 18 Ambiguous .................................................................................................................... 18 Inconsistent ..................................................................................................................