Challenge Index -- Race, Culture and Education

Prof. Angel Harris of the University of Texas Dept. of Sociology was online Tuesday, May 22 at 2 p.m. to discuss what he's learned from his studies of racial achievement gaps.

A transcript follows.

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Angel Harris: Introduction:

I am a Professor of Sociology, Population Studies, and Afro-American studies at the University of Texas at Austin. While my general interests are in stratification and inequality, I am particularly interested in education. Education is becoming increasingly important for upward socio-economic mobility in the United States (U.S.) and abroad and has been linked to societal inequalities in health, income, and other important characteristics. Thus, education plays a central role in social and economic well-being, particularly for women and minority groups. Given that the minority population within the U.S. has been steadily increasing and is projected to comprise 45 to 50 percent of the U.S. population in 2050, understanding racial differences in achievement is important for scholars, educators, and policy makers. My research focuses on how students' perceptions about the future influences their decisions of whether to invest (or disinvest) in schooling. Specifically, I focus on identifying factors that contribute to African Americans' lower academic achievement and Asian Americans' higher academic achievement relative to Whites. With this brief introduction out of the way, I am ready to discuss questions you might have about this issue.

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Silver Spring, Md.: I think class has much more to do with things than race in today's modern society. I live in a very mixed area of Silver Spring. The difference between how I work with my kids outside of school and some of the less affluent parents is night and day. I am black, if that is important.

My wife even had one of our neighbor's kids over OUR house to study regularly. She even had the girl bringing her report card to our house.

Angel Harris: While social class is important, it accounts for only about one-third of the racial achievement gap. For example, the racial achievement gap exists in affluent school districts. Thus, race remains a major factor. This is not to say that the source of the problem is racism fueled by a dislike for ethnic minorities. Rather, many studies find that school personnel respond to children based on perceptions of race and gender and use these concepts as a basis for specific patterns of regulation. Schools are racially coded spaces where racialization-the assignment of persons to racial categories with symbols, attributes, and other meanings viewed as primordial to those categories-occurs. Thus, racial categorization is not a neutral or benign process, but one imbued with power; racial boundaries are created as persons are simultaneously included and/or excluded from a range of resources and opportunities based on how they are labeled.

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Bowie, Md.: It's considered a truism that the key to a successful school is "involved" parents. But parents tend to be involved in proportion to their own education. Does involvement by parents with a poor educational background improve a school?

Angel Harris: Parental involvement is regarded as very important for children's academic success. In fact, one of the aims of the No Child Left Behind Act is to get parents involved (section 1118). The logic behind this that involvement by parents of poor achievers will lead to gap convergence. However, what my research finds is that Black parents tend to respond to poor achievement using punitive responses (punish, withholding privileges, etc.). In contrast, White parents respond to poor performance in more non-punitive ways (contact faculty, help child more, etc.) This is important because punitive responses lead to a decline in reading and math achievement. Non-punitive responses lead to an increase in achievement. Thus, Black parents do more of what hurts and less of what helps. It seem that if we are going to ask them to be involved, we should be able to suggest how to respond to children's poor achievement.

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Upper Marlboro, Md.: How does class factor into the discussion? For example, in Prince Georges County, areas like Mitchelville, Bowie and Upper Marlboro that have a large number of high income blacks seem to have the same underperforming schools as lower income areas like Suitland and Forestville. Isn't there typically a correlation that higher income = better schools?

Angel Harris: Indeed, this is why race still matters. Several studies on blacks' differential disciplinary rates suggest school practices are partially to blame. Specifically, these studies find cultural discontinuity between black families and the institutionalized structure of schools, which value cultural norms and standards of "mainstream" white middle-class society, results in school personnel placing greater emphasis on black children's behavior. For example, a common finding is that school personnel view the dress and behavior of black males as recalcitrant and oppositional and exert strict control over them. Thus, culturally based assumptions about black males lead them to face constant regulation of their dress, behavior, and speech. Similarly, other studies find that white and Asian American children are viewed as non-threatening, black (and Latino/a) children are considered dangerous and therefore face constant surveillance and greater discipline for behavioral infractions. The interesting thing about this is that this has also been found in predominantly Black schools with predominantly Black faculty!

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Silver Spring, Md.:"boundaries are created as persons are simultaneously included and/or excluded from a range of resources and opportunities based on how they are labeled."

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Yes but that applies to myriad personality and physical attributes as well, race is only one of the ways we label people. To pull out race when there are so many other things that could be addressed seems not very productive in today's society.

Angel Harris: Many of the things I raise above also applies to gender. While other physical attributes include height, weight, and eye color, race and gender are the ones that carry stereotypes within the academic domain. Height and weight might matter more within athletic domains. I cannot recall ever hearing a stereotype about tall or short people and achievement. But I could be wrong.

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Washington, D.C.: Thank you for taking my question,

How much of this is culturally based? Meaning, for African-Americans, how much of this comes from the gangster-rap culture? Speaking poor English, not going to school, and being violent is glorified in many quarters of the community, so how can we not expect poor school results?

Angel Harris: Unfortunately, the achievement gap appears as early as the first grade and widens over time. By age 17 the average black student is four years behind the average white student; black 12th graders score lower than white 8th graders in reading, math, U.S. history and geography. Thus, many of the cultural issue you raise might be a response to poor school achievement.

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Dayton, Ohio: It seems that one of the fundamental assumptions made by the media is that intelligence in black children and white children are identically distributed, so the achievement gap must be due to poverty, culture, etc. Is there any research that shows that IQs are distributed the same or differently among members of the races?

Angel Harris: The obvious study that comes to mind is the work by Herrnstein and Murray's "The Bell Curve." However, it is difficult to assess the IQ issue because there are different types of intelligences (e.g., street wise, school wise, etc.). Ultimately, IQ tests favor one type of intelligence over another. It just so happens that Whites are advantaged on the domain IQ tests measure.

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Eugene, Ore.: Hi Prof. Harris,

Thanks for being online; this is a great idea. I'm a graduate student, hoping to become a professor in seismology one day. Although I've worked with black (and white) Africans, I have encountered very very few black Americans in geology and seismology. It seems that not many black students take classes in the physical sciences. Do you have any thoughts on: why this is the case, and what I can do as a professor to promote better representation? Thanks.

Angel Harris: Given that the achievement gap appears early, students place themselves on a given trajectory. If that trajectory does not include algebra and calculus, many occupations can be closed off. I suspect this is what is going on.

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Boston: If teachers and staff at school are responding to students based on race, why is it that students from Africa and the Caribbean manage to do so well? They have a language and culture barrier to work around too. By the time I was in high school and college I was practically the only American born black person in my peer group, definitely the only guy. How can you divorce the teacher bias from the lack of work ethic by the students?

Angel Harris: This is a popular theory which was first advanced by anthropologist John Ogbu. Basically, he argues that immigrant minorities excel academically and domestic minorities do not. However, what is important to mention is that Caribbean and African people lose their advantages over generations. Thus, second and third generation immigrants often have the same characteristics as Black Americans. This is a puzzling issue and there is still much research that needs to be done.

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Silver Spring, Md.: What is the difference between Asian-American students and African-American students? Why do Asian-American students achieve so highly, while African-American students do so poorly, across socioeconomic classifications?

Angel Harris: It is important to note that Asian Americans are not homogeneous. We here a lot more about those who perform well academically. However, as a group Asian American outperfom Whites partially because of the importance placed on academics. For instance, past research has shown Asian parents prefer success in academics above success in other child activities. Many studies have found that while White parents are satisfied if their child is successful in several activities such as sports, music, or school, Asian parents are content only with high academic performance. However, there is also research that finds that this comes with a cost in mental health.

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Bethesda, Md.: building on your response to Bowie...

I think I've read that wealthier parents tend to raise, for lack of a better word, more obnoxious children, while lower income parents tend to raise children more respectful of authority (seen and not heard). Some people think this puts the wealthy kids at an advantage because parents who constantly negotiate with children instead of setting firm boundaries are talking to their kids more and thus improving verbal skills. Also, the spoiled kids feel very entitled, so they have no problem asking the teacher to repeat an explanation or demanding that they get extra help. Do you think differing attitudes towards authority across races could affect achievement in a similar way?

Angel Harris: Middle class parents tend to practice concerted cultivation, parenting style in which parents elicit children's feelings, opinions, and thoughts. Rather than telling their children what to do using directives like their lower-class counterparts, middle-class parents use persuasion and reasoning with their children, which also facilitates greater language, cognitive, and social development. In contrast, working-class and poor parents do not consider the concerted development of children. This all comes from the work of Annette Lareau. It provides insight into how the sense of entitlement that comes from being raised in a middle-class home can serve one well in academic settings.

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Bowie, Md.: Isn't it true that today's kids in general simply were raised by society to assume things would be give to them without the need for work? They see no-talent rap stars and singers etc., not to mention young athletes, living in $10 million mansions and wearing $20,000 diamonds in each ear, and they wonder why they need school? How does today's culture affect all of this?

Angel Harris: Suppose kid (A) was a 3.8 student throughout elementary and middle school. Next, Kid (B) was a 1.9 student during the same time period. Who do you think will find the "ice" and "bling" more appealing? For obvious reasons, kid (B) will think s/he need to find another path to financial stability. S/he will be easier to pull away from academics. Again, poor achievement early on in the schooling process can influence many things children face later.

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Long Beach, Calif.: Respectfully, I perceive that your comments are part of the problem.

You wrote:

"Ultimately, IQ tests favor one type of intelligence over another. It just so happens that Whites are advantaged on the domain IQ tests measure."

I'll remind you that "the domain" is THE UNITED STATES ECONOMY. There is ZERO value to "street cred" in the equation of a successful citizen. There is ZERO value to "street wise" is the equation of reading=success. There is ZERO VALUE in "ghetto".

The reason whites and Asians are successful is we are focused on reaching our best, not on cool. When we do, our self esteem rises even further as in all human beings, and we reach even further for our families' benefit. Putting food on the table trumps "cool" in our society. But not in the ghetto-minded institutionalized under achievement that yearns to protect a child's self esteem by lowering the bar to ghetto...a.k.a. "ebonics".

When you stop making excuses and hold a child to high expectations their self esteem - and their success flourishes.

Pick one - "cool/slang" or "square/successful."

You can't have both in school. Name one black leader in business or government who uses ebonics. It doesn't exist for a reason.

Angel Harris: To answer the last question first, there is Sean Combs, Jay-Z, Russel Simmons, Nelly, Usher, and Eminem, just to name a few. Some of these individuals are partial owners of NBA franchises. Now to the other parts of your comment. Yes, math is math and 2 + 2 always equals 4. IQ tests measure the skills one has attained by that given moment. However, knowledge/education is very textured. Different people have different ways of making sense of the world. While I agree that schools teach to certain standards (e.g., US economy), schools do not necessarily teach in a manner that everyone will grasp. As a professor who teaches a broad range of students, I have noticed that I may have to provide 5 examples for one thing. Some people get it after the first example, others on the third. This has nothing to do with intelligence. In many ways, the order in which I provide the examples plays a role. It has more to do with how people see the world given their life experiences and the worlds they navigate. The fact that many Black and Latino/a children are not learning means that the examples provided do not resonate with most people who navigate the spaces they typically navigate (see poor Whites, for example).

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New York, N.Y.: How much of the gap is cultural? My father taught at Groveton (now West Potomac) 30 years ago, and I remember him saying that African-American kids who got good grades ran a serious risk of getting in fights with their peers for "acting white." There was actual discussion of offering fake report cards with worse grades to good African-American students. And this seems, at least by what I hear second or third hand, to have gotten worse.

Angel Harris: Studies typically find that Black students receive no greater social cost for good school performance than whites. These studies typically find that students navigate and negotiate multiple friendship groups within the African American peer group. There are some cases of students modifying or downplaying their academic success and instances in which students share their academic success with peers who are supportive of their academic endeavors. Thus, while in the Black community the cost of high achievement is being labeled as "acting White," in the White community it is being labeled "geek," "nerd," "dweeb." Blacks do not typically use these words. However, the cost for high achievement is not any greater for Blacks than it is for Whites. Therefore, this cannot be one of the reasons for the difference in achievement between these groups.

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Austin, Tex.: I recently completed a student teaching assignment at Lanier HS in Austin, a predominately Latino school.

Every year, they give out "Viking Gold" awards for the best performers in each subject. After this year's ceremony, their was an editorial in the school's paper discussing the merits of such awards. The writer disputes many students' claims that it is a waste of time, because she claims that "it serves as a confirmation...that being a nerd, or a gifted artist, or a bilingual supernova, is good." She goes on to say how society tends to glamorize being a thug, a rapper, a supermodel, or a rock star, just as it condemns "doing well in school as 'being white,' or reading books on Friday as 'being lame.'" I was a bit taken aback by the phrase "being white." It underscored for me that race was definitely an issue when it comes to performing well in school, and how such achievement may be perceived. As an Anglo male myself, I cannot put myself in these students' shoes and know what it is like to undervalue a good education because of concerns of what others of my culture may think of me. What can be done by educators to reverse this line of thinking, that doing well in school is the mark of an assimilationist "white wannabe"?

Angel Harris: I do not think kids aspire to be "losers." In a study of two all-Black elementary schools, Karolyn Tyson finds schooling experiences -- particularly early achievement outcomes -- play a central role in developing schooling behaviors. She notes "children's negative statements about school reflected a desire to avoid further experiences of failure." These findings raise the important question of whether negative schooling behaviors among some adolescents reflect the masking of other feelings such as fear, hurt, or embarrassment resulting from poor school achievement. Narratives of children within Tyson's study provide evidence of the onset of this process. Thus, I think the issues that you are pointing out are a response to not attaining important skills very early in the schooling process. It is hard to like calculus when one does not have the skills to grasp pre-algebra. It is hard to do will in the eighth grade when one has a fifth grade reading level. As such, other things will be more appealing (e.g., rap, sports), particularly if one experiences success in other domains. Therefore, the problem lies in making sure that kids leave the first, second, and third grades with skill sets appropriate for those grades. Remember, learning is a cumulative process that takes place over time; one cannot jump to high school and examine achievement gaps and their immediate correlates and have the answers to inequality because achievement is a cumulative process. It seems that this is often forgotten.

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New Carrollton, Md.: Thanks for being here to discuss this important topic! Through your research, what have you found to be determining factors behind the relative success of Asian Americans? Do you feel that the "model minority" stereotypes give Asian Americans a leg up when applying for jobs and colleges?

Angel Harris: The stereotype is a double-edged sword. It has mental health costs for many Asian Americans. Also, Asian Americans typically major in the "hard/physical" sciences. Thus, they often do not feel free to pursue their creative sides in the humanities and social sciences. This goes back to my earlier response about IQ tests. Some Black students with lower GRE scores and undergraduate GPAs will often propose and "see" nuances within a research project that might not occur to an Asian American who is a statistical whiz. In the end, they might both produce work of similar quality despite test score differences.

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Angel Harris: I would like to thank everyone for their questions/comments. I really enjoyed this discussion. I hope that I was able to provide some insight into the issues you raised. Ciao.

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