Are They Not All the Same?: Racial Heterogeneity Among Black Male Undergraduates

Abstract

An erroneous assumption is often made that Black men, one of the most stereotyped groups on college and university campuses, all share common experiences and backgrounds. Using Celious and Oyserman's (2001) Heterogeneous Race Model as a conceptual framework, we explored within-group differences among Black male undergraduates at three private institutions. Data collected from 39 participants reveal insights into the origins and characterizations of diversity among Black men, as well as the stereotypes, competition, and social distance associated with racial heterogeneity. Implications for Black male solidarity on campuses where few are enrolled and expanding conceptualizations of interacting "across difference" are offered at the end of this article.

Parsing the Gulf between Africans and African Americans

“…Regardless of their Black phenotype and their own racial self-identification, African Americans may be deemed "white" by both their peers and white people due to their educational and career accomplishments, dialect, financial status, neighborhood, etc., demonstrating the variety of factors relevant to racial identity (Carbado and Gulati 2013;Thelamour and Johnson 2016). Similarly, common social interests (such as sports or Greek fraternity participation) appear to be more salient than race in the case of predicting collegiate African American male solidarity (Harper and Nichols 2008). …”

Community College Choice and the Role of Undermatching in the Lives of African Americans

“…Along with the need to study community college choice, several scholars have called for the examination of within-group differences among African American collegians (Harper & Nichols, 2008;Strayhorn & Terrell, 2010;Wood, 2013). Research is necessary to fully understand why academically qualified African American students choose to attend community colleges given the consequences of undermatching.…”

“…However, there are few empirical studies regarding college choice factors related to academically qualified students attending community colleges (Filter, 2010;Schoenherr, 2009). In addition, scholars have considered how college enrollment decision-making factors differ based upon racial/ethnic 3 affiliation (Kurlaendar, 2006;Perna, 2000) but have yet to consider race and academic achievement collectively.Along with the need to study community college choice, several scholars have called for the examination of within-group differences among African American collegians (Harper & Nichols, 2008;Strayhorn & Terrell, 2010;Wood, 2013). With such a small volume of literature available on the college choice decisions of African American students, understanding the factors that influence their college choice decision making process will enable parents, teachers, counselors and higher education professionals to better serve this population in making the right college decision.…”

Examining the factors that contributed to the retention and graduation of African American males at the University of Louisville.

“…Shaun R. Harper has written extensively on the subject of Black male college retention and achievement , 2006c, 2006d, 2009a, 2009b, 2009cHarper & Nichols, 2008;Harper & Harris, 2006;. Harper (2009c) employed Critical Race Theory (CRT) as "a conceptual lens used to examine racism, racial (dis)advantages, and inequitable distribution of power and privilege within institutions and society" (p. 31).…”

“…Researchers working on the subject of Black male persistence note that there can be no one size fits all approach for assessing and addressing the needs of Black male college students (Harper & Nichols, 2008). Recent studies indicate that young Black males in college offer a variety of perspectives, many grounded in their different experiences in both pre-collegiate and collegiate life (Duncan & Johnson, 2007).…”