The Utopian Worldview of Afrocentricity: Critical Comments on a Reactionary Philosophy

Black Males’ Perceptions of the Work–College Balance

“…As noted earlier, literature on Black males has noted that they are challenged by limited employment options (Harvey, 2008; Levin et al, 2007; Wood, 2010). From a historical perspective, Blacks have fueled the nation’s economic engine as “slaves, sharecroppers, tenant-farmers, maids, Pullman porters, factory workers and others at the base of bourgeois society” (Ferguson, 2011, p. 69). Contemporarily, these limited employment options resulted in Black male collegians working night shifts and hard labor jobs; positions which they perceived as challenging their ability to succeed in college.…”

Black Male Collegians: Increasing Access, Retention, and Persistence in Higher Education

“…As such, race and racism have been central to shaping the experiences of Blacks in America, serving as an inhibitor to their upward mobility (DeCuir & Dixson, ). Blacks in general (and particularly Black men) have historically served to fuel the underclass in American society as “slaves, sharecroppers, tenant‐farmers, maids, Pullman porters, factory workers and others at the base of bourgeois society” (Ferguson, , p. 69). Indeed, they occupy a unique social position that is typified by a lack of power and privilege (Wood & Essien‐Wood, ), often attributable to the confluence of racism and classism.…”