Responding to racism at school: Ethnic‐racial socialization and the academic engagement of Black and Latinx youth

Abstract

Guided by the Theory of Racial Socialization in Action (TRSA; Smith‐Bynum in press), this study examined observed caregiver‐provided ethnic‐racial socialization in response to a school‐based discriminatory dilemma. Forty‐five Black and 36 Latinx caregivers (88% mothers) with low‐income and their children (Mage = 11.09, SD = 0.29; 46.3% female) participated in Dallas, Texas from 2018 to 2019. Dyads responded to a hypothetical scenario in which a school counselor makes a discriminatory comment to the child. Results of a factor mixture analysis suggested that caregivers engaged in the dialogue using one of four approaches: Low‐engaged, Legacy, Racial Literacy, or High‐engaged. Profiles were found to differ significantly by the race/ethnicity and language of caregivers and were associated with youth’s concurrent behavioral engagement (R2 = .04).

Daily ethnic‐racial support from family and peers: Changes from before to during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…This finding is consistent with previous meta‐analytic work highlighting cultural socialization as being most consistently linked to positive ethnic‐racial identity outcomes (Huguley et al, 2019). There is also a small body of research demonstrating the promotive effects of discrimination‐specific support from both family (Osborne et al, 2023; Scott et al, 2020) and peers (Benner & Wang, 2017; Golden et al, 2022) for ethnically racially diverse youth. The current study adds to this line of work by documenting its salience within a sociopolitical context in which ethnic‐racial issues are heightened.…”

“…In comparison with preparation for bias that is often conceptualized as a proactive, preparatory socialization practice, racial coping captures family support after adolescents' discriminatory encounters to facilitate coping and adaptation. Accordingly, empirical work has documented the promotive effects of family support and socialization in response to discrimination for ethnically‐racially diverse adolescents' outcomes (Juang et al, 2018; Osborne et al, 2023; Scott et al, 2020). Informed by this work, the current study assessed three types of ethnic‐racial support, cultural socialization, preparation for bias (capturing messages that prepare youth for discriminatory encounters), and support against discrimination (capturing supportive responses after youth have experienced discrimination).…”

Preparing Black and Latinx children for police encounters: Caregiver response profiles and child self‐regulation

“…Caregiver‐child dyads discuss on camera for 5 min how they would respond to each vignette scenario. The three vignettes of the adapted RSOT relate to situations at school, with a police officer, and at a store (see Osborne et al, 2022 for an analysis of data from the school vignette). Only discussions in response to the police vignette were used in the current study.…”

“…However, statements identifying for youth that all races are not treated equally under the White supremacist system of the U.S. were rated as critical consciousness raising-and these statements were far more common than egalitarian statements in response to the police scenario. In contrast, egalitarianism was more commonly used in response to the Store and Counselor vignettes when discounting stereotypes of illegality, criminality, wealth, intelligence, and work ethic (Osborne et al, 2022). Cultural pride messaging and checking in with the child's emotional well-being may have similarly felt less pertinent to caregivers when preparing their children to remain safe.…”

Hasta la Raiz: Cultivating racial‐ethnic socialization in Latine families

“…In studies on this topic, researchers have focused on describing covert cultural socialization practices (e.g., food, decorations, and events) and overt cultural socialization practices (e.g., directed conversations; Ayón et al., 2018 L ; Umaña‐Taylor & Yazedjian, 2006 M,P ). Few studies have investigated the processes through which Latine families have RES conversations, especially those related to discrimination (Christophe et al., 2022 MR ; Osborne et al., 2023 MR ).…”