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An autoethnographic examination of Black boys attending predominantly white K-12 private schools

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An autoethnographic examination of Black boys attending predominantly white K-12 private schools

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An Autoethnographic Examination of Black Boys Attending Predominantly
White K–12 Private Schools
by
Paul Roman Johnson

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education

May 2022

© Copyright by Paul Roman Johnson 2022
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Paul Roman Johnson certifies the approval of this Dissertation

Briana Hinga
Esther Kim
Patricia Tobey, Committee Chair

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2022

iv
Abstract
This inquiry examined Black males’ racial identity and whether diversity, equity, and inclusion
(DEI) efforts at some predominantly White independent schools (PWIS) function more to
increase equity and inclusion for underrepresented Black boys or to assimilate and socialize them
by reinforcing narrowing defined stereotypes and labels. This dissertation focused on Black boys
navigating narrowly defined stereotypes and labels often associated with them at PWIS. As an
autoethnography, this dissertation is a first-person account examined largely from my lived
experiences. Letters from my former K–12 teachers, old report cards, and notes from coaches
and classmates, as well as photos and my own writings served as research artifacts. In addition to
the researcher’s lived experiences, 10 Black men who previously attended PWIS were
interviewed to determine if common experiences and/or themes emerged. My hope was to better
understand how Black boys’ experience of attending a PWIS affects Black male identity
development.

v
Dedication
To my parents, my grandparents, and my ancestors who never had the opportunity to attend
college, I am an evolution and extension of you. I would not be here and could not have achieved
anything during this lifetime without your love and your legacy of strength and persistence.

To my friends and family, I am who I am because of my interactions with you. I hope my
achievements provide inspiration for what any one of us can achieve, even when we start late or
get off to a slow start.

To my wife, you taught me that it is never too late to start again or to chase my dreams. Your
love and unwavering support have given me the confidence to accomplish many things in my
life.

To my son, Roman, you are my biggest inspiration and my motivation to challenge myself. You
mean everything to me, and I want you to know that you can do anything you put your mind to.

vi
Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication ........................................................................................................................................v
List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... viii
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ ix
Chapter One: Overview and Introduction ........................................................................................1
Statement of the Problem .....................................................................................................8
Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................................9
Significance of the Study ...................................................................................................10
Definition of Terms............................................................................................................12
Organization of the Study ..................................................................................................14
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature .........................................................................................15
Topic 1: African American Families and Private/Independent Schools ............................15
Topic 2: African American Boys and Private Education...................................................16
Topic 3: Identity & Assimilation .......................................................................................19
Topic 4: Autoethnography .................................................................................................26
Topic 5: African American Male Theoretical Frame ........................................................28
Conclusion .........................................................................................................................30
Chapter Three: Methodology .........................................................................................................31
Sample and Population ......................................................................................................35
Limitation and Delimitations .............................................................................................37
Instrumentation ..................................................................................................................38
Data Collection Procedures................................................................................................38
Research Setting.................................................................................................................39
The Researcher...................................................................................................................39

vii
Credibility and Trustworthiness .........................................................................................40
Ethics..................................................................................................................................40
Summary ............................................................................................................................41
Chapter Four: Findings ..................................................................................................................42
My Co-participants ............................................................................................................42
Research Question 1: How Do Stereotypes and Labels Affect Black Boys’
Identity Development While Enrolled at PWIS? ...............................................................56
Research Question 2: What Systemic Structures or Environmental Factors Within
These Schools Promote Assimilation and Constrain Inclusion for Black Boys? ..............67
Research Question 3: What Strategies and Resources Do Black Boys Use to
Overcome These Stereotypes and Labels to Gain a Sense of Self and Group
Identity? .............................................................................................................................80
Summary ............................................................................................................................85
Chapter Five: Discussion ...............................................................................................................89
Implications for Practice ....................................................................................................95
Conclusion .......................................................................................................................105
References ....................................................................................................................................107
Appendix A: Interview Protocol ..................................................................................................116
Setting the Stage ..............................................................................................................118
Heart of the Interview ......................................................................................................118
Post K–12 and Years Following Attendance at a Predominantly White K–12
School ..............................................................................................................................120
Closing Question ..............................................................................................................120
Appendix B: Consent Form .........................................................................................................121
Appendix C: Theoretical Framework Matrix ..............................................................................124

viii
List of Tables
Table 1: Co-participants: Alpha 43

ix
List of Figures
Figure 1: Black Boy at PWIS Ecological Framework Based on the AAMT Framework 32
Figure 2: Five Stages of Racial Identity Development 33
Figure 3: Black Boy at PWIS Ecological Framework Based on The AMMT framework 88
Figure 4: Design for Equity in Education 103

1

Chapter One: Overview and Introduction
In his 2003 book, The Trouble With Black Boys, Dr. Pedro Noguera provides interesting
insights about Black boys’ academic experiences in the U.S. educational system. He discusses
various cultural and social forces that often impact academic achievement for Black boys. There
are multiple concerns for African American males that are indirectly and directly linked to our
educational system. According to Noguera (2003), Black men are often at the bottom of most
categories for quality-of-life indicators. He goes on to share the fact that Black men lead the
nation in homicides, both as victims and as perpetrators. Over the past several decades, Black
men have been contracting HIV and AIDS at a faster rate than any other segment of the
population. When it comes to the criminal justice system, Black men have the highest rates of
arrest, conviction, and incarceration across the country. Black men also have one of the fastest-
growing rates of suicides.
While every other population in the United States is living longer, Black men are the only
segment of the population that is experiencing a declining life expectancy. Even in infancy,
Black male babies have a higher probability of dying than any other group during their first year
of life. In the labor market, Black men are often the least likely to be hired, and in many cities
across that nation, Black men have the highest unemployment rates. Most, if not all, of the items
listed above can be linked directly or indirectly to our educational system and the quality of
education received by Black males. Within many schools across the country, Black boys receive
greater discipline from faculty and staff, are suspended and expelled at higher rates than other
students, are more likely to be classified as mentally retarded or suffering from a learning
disability, and are subsequently placed in special education or remedial classes. Black males are
the least likely to be placed in advanced placement and honors courses (Noguera, 2003).
2

Noguera’s (2003) research focuses primarily on the public school system and addressing
the needs of BIPOC children. It makes sense to focus on public school environments, where the
majority of BIPOC students can be found. It would be fair to assume that Black boys who gain
admission to predominantly White Independent school (PWIS) are somehow exceptional and
would not fall into the categories described by Dr. Noguera. However, existing research, as well
as my own lived experiences, indicate that Black boys attending PWIS have some of the same
challenges found in public schools. I am a proud product of both public and private school
education, and I will always be I a major advocate of our public school system and making it a
better place for all children to learn. The reason for my focus on private schools in this inquiry is
directly linked to what Dr. Noguera described in public schools. This inquiry builds on the
research of DeCuir-Gunby et al. (2011), who studied the impact of racial identity development in
Black children attending predominantly White private schools. Their research concluded that
attending a predominantly White private school can have an adverse impact on healthy Black
Identity development but that it can be mitigated with close parental and family engagement that
reinforces positive messaging about Black people and African American culture. Their research
also focused on teenage Black boys and girls who were attending predominantly White private
schools at the time of the study, whereas this inquiry focuses on older Black men, who are
several years removed from their experience as students attending PWISs. For many families
who struggle with the public school system and accessing resources needed to support their
Black boys, they may believe that exiting the public school system and entering a private school
is the solution.
Being admitted to a PWIS that seemingly has limitless funding, as well as an abundance
of resources, may seem like the answer to the dreams of many parents. In some cases,
3

transitioning from public school to private school might be the best solution for an individual
student, but I believe it is important to consider as many factors as possible. I approach the
inquiry as someone with personal experience as a Black student who attended a PWIS, as well as
an administrator at a PWIS, and lastly as a father of a Black son who attended a PWIS. I believe
there are pros and cons to independent schools, and there are various factors to consider. My
hope for this inquiry is to expand the conversation about the experience of Black boys at
predominantly White K–12 schools and bring greater attention to a topic that is not often
discussed.
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting several Black men over the years who have attended a
PWIS. Nearly each man has illuminating stories to share about their experience. In our culture,
attending private school is perceived as a privilege for a fortunate few, so examining this topic
might seem like a “first-world” concern, such as examining why cellphones do not have better
cameras or the ticket price fluctuation for professional sporting events. In my opinion, education
and access to education is a privilege that every person on the planet should have. However, I
would argue that private school education is not a privilege owed to everyone. The fact that a
school calls itself “private” removes the privilege and ability for everyone to access it. While I
believe diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is the right thing to do in public and private, I do
not believe private institutions have an obligation to open their doors to everyone, nor should
they be required to embrace DEI. Private independent schools are called private for a reason, and
just like exclusive country clubs, secret societies, and other non-public entities, these
organizations reserve the right to remain exclusive.
I wanted to examine the topic because when I began this inquiry, I was working to help
independent schools across the country with their DEI initiatives. The schools I supported
4

expressed a desire to become more inclusive, so I began my research from the lens of a school
administrator. By the end of the inquiry, I began looking at inclusion from the lens of BIPOC
students within these environments. I sought to examine the experience specifically from the lens
of Black boys who attended PWIS. In my research, I learned that many of these schools possess
long-standing pedagogies, socially ingrained organizational cultures, internal hierarchies, as well
as histories that make DEI efforts extremely challenging. There is no guarantee that when a
BIPOC student enrolls in a PWIS, they will be met with equitable and inclusive treatment. I
would argue that many of these schools require highly engaged change management processes to
begin shifting existing cultures to become more inclusive. The question is whether schools that
were built on the premise of exclusion can find a way to become truly inclusive? I have
witnessed PWIS environments that have made positive inroads with their DEI efforts, so I do
believe it is possible to achieve greater inclusion within these organizations.
The word exclusion is rarely used by faculty, staff, and others within these school
communities to describe themselves; however, the term “exclusive” goes hand in hand with the
admissions process at many PWIS. Admission to many of these schools is considered exclusive,
and the process that many of these schools use when deciding who is admitted and who is not is
designed to attract certain community members, select families, and their children. The fact that
these schools have admission processes that favor the affluent and upwardly mobile families
establishes a screening mechanism where most PWIS, by default, maintain their exclusivity. The
words for exclusive and exclusion are both derived from the Latin root, exclūdere. Despite DEI
efforts at many of these schools for multiple decades now, PWIS continue to be accused by
current and former students, staff, and faculty, of overt and covert racism. Some cases of
discrimination have been highly publicized and point to problems involving White Supremacy.
5

Some institutions are more comfortable using the term DEI to avoid naming or calling out
whiteness or White Supremacy within the institution (Patel, 2015). Patel adds that when terms
like DEI are used, we need to ask on what terms and on whose terms? Multiple articles and
books could be written about racism and the lack of substantive DEI efforts within organizations.
Existing research on this topic confirms that discrimination does exist within PWISs and
predominantly White spaces. The focus of this research is not intended to analyze nor debate
whether PWIS are serious and sincere about their DEI efforts. Additional research to examine
the motivation behind DEI initiatives within these institutions and other organizations that claim
to embrace DEI would be useful. This research aims to support PWIS that want to do a better job
of supporting BIPOC students and their families, specifically Black boys.
This inquiry examined the intersection of PWIS and Black male racial identity and
whether DEI efforts at some PWIS function to embrace equity and inclusion for
underrepresented Black boys or whether existing efforts function more as a vehicle to assimilate
and socialize Black boys and reinforcing narrowing defined stereotypes and labels. This is an
important topic to examine because several PWIS have expressed a desire to embrace DEI but do
not appear to provide support and resources that make all students feel welcomed. Research
indicates that feeling welcome has not been the experience for many BIPOC students,
particularly Black boys. I would like to make it clear that this inquiry is not intended to discount
or minimize the experience of Black female students or other BIPOC students who have attended
PWIS. Research indicates that Black girls also experience disproportionate trauma, and there is
evidence of shared trauma among Black girls, which has led to excessive hyper-cautionary
interactions with school professionals and other figures of authority. Black girls in school
environments have been subjected regularly to treatment and discipline that is harsh and
6

typically reserved for adults or much older students, which has forced many of them to lose out
on the innocence of childhood and simultaneously placed them in the center of shame (Gambles,
2020). I suspect that there is important research needed about the experience of all BIPOC
students at PWIS. I decided to focus my research on the experience of Black boys at PWIS,
primarily because this inquiry is an autoethnography where I will be examining the intersection
of PWIS with Black male identity development using my own experience as a Black man who
once attended a PWIS. My lens is also that of a father of a Black boy who attended a PWIS and
finally as a Black administrator working at a PWIS.
This inquiry also comes at a time in the United States when there seems to be an
interesting dichotomy concerning America’s relationship with the Black male body. There is
seemingly a love affair with Black men, in the form of professional athletes, entertainers, and
politicians, such as Lebron James, Jay-Z, Barack Obama, etc., Black men who are adored from a
distance, by cheering crowds, often in large venues and stadiums. At the same time, when these
celebrated Black men, or others that look like them, slip into a hooded sweatshirt and take a walk
into the “wrong” neighborhood, they become public enemy number one and a menace to society.
American Promise (Brewster & Stephenson, 2013), is a documentary that centers around the
experience of two Black boys attending an elite private school in New York City. In the
documentary, one of the boys (Seun) must leave the school and transfer to a nearby
predominantly Black school due to some of the challenges he is facing at the predominantly
White institution. During a short clip in the documentary, a White female school administrator
can be heard explaining that “we don’t have the same problem usually with African American
girls.” She goes on to explain that the Black female students “do okay” at this school. She adds
that “there is a cultural disconnect between independent schools and African American boys, and
7

we see a high rate of Black boys not being successful.” She expressed concerns about the
problem that exists, but the fact that she acknowledged the problem did not change the fact that
Seun needed to leave the school. My experiences as a former student, administrator, and father
confirms that these concerns are not isolated or uncommon at most PWIS. In the documentary,
the school’s director shared, “I wish we could be all things to all people, but that’s just not
possible.” This clip from the documentary struck a nerve with me for several reasons. This
particular clip from the documentary struck a nerve with me for several reasons. The first is that I
was recently recruited and hired to work as an administrator at a PWIS and witnessed similar
experiences. It also struck a nerve with me as a former student who attended a similar institution
when I was a teenager. During my time as a student, I can recall observing situations like the one
in the documentary. Research indicates that attending independent schools, which are often
predominantly White, can increase feelings of marginalization for many African American
students (DeCuir-Gunby 2007).
As mentioned earlier, African American males experience a unique existence in our
society; they are admired and hailed as exceptional yet simultaneously feared and collectively
loathed. I cannot count the number of times I sat alongside throngs and witnessed thousands of
people from all ethnic backgrounds cheering, supporting, and praising the accomplishments of a
Black man as he scores a touchdown, performs a musical masterpiece, or is sworn in to become
president of the United States. However, many of the same Black men who receive cheers inside
of sold-out venues share that they experience a different existence when they are anonymous
motorists, driving through a mostly White neighborhood, or occupants aboard an elevator with
individuals who either do not realize who they are or do not care.
8

Statement of the Problem
Currently, when signing onto the websites for some independent schools, it is not
uncommon to see an organizational statement sharing the school’s commitment to valuing
diversity, that they practice inclusion, and are welcoming to all people. Many organizations state
that they embrace diversity and inclusion, but do they truly want inclusion or are they more
interested in driving conformity and assimilation? Essentially, inclusion is the antithesis of
assimilation, so these two items cannot coexist simultaneously. Diversity is essentially the
practice of bringing different bodies together within an institution like a school, where the school
is still operated by dominant culture or White power structures and where the invitation of
diversity still benefits those primarily in power by exploiting the experiences, vantage points,
and differences of individuals with diverse backgrounds, rather than respecting and embracing
those differences (Patel, 2015).
A question I often ask myself is whether PWIS seek to embrace Black boys and other
BIPOC students, including the cultural identities they possess when they arrive or are these
schools welcoming BIPOC students under conditional terms that cause them to assimilate and
blend in? For many Black bodies situated in predominantly White spaces, assimilation becomes
a strategy for survival (Stanley, 2015). Several predominantly White independent K–12 schools
have implemented DEI initiatives, yet predominantly White spaces tend to silence the voices of
people of color and often encourage assimilation rather than inclusion (Burstion-Young, 2009).
Existing studies regarding Black students who have attended PWIS have indicated that these
students may receive an elevated quality of education, including greater access to additional
academic resources; however, the experience also may have resulted in increased feelings of
loneliness and isolation from peers (Datnow & Cooper, 1998; DeCuir-Gunby, 2007). Racial
9

socialization refers to the kinds of explicit and implicit messages young people receive about
race, particularly at home from their family members (Hughes et al. 2006).
The desired outcome of this research is to empower more Black boys within PWIS and
help all individuals within these school communities to see Black boys beyond stereotypes and
labels. The goal is to enable Black bodies to participate more fully within their school
communities. Another goal is to expand the conversation about stereotypes, prejudice, and labels
that potentially limits a student’s ability to bring their full and authentic selves to school. I
believe that true inclusion will occur when independent and private schools can better meet the
needs of their students of color.
Purpose of the Study
This inquiry was intended to inform and assist former, current, and future students, as
well as their families, when considering school choice. This research also aimed to assist school
leaders and administrators at PWIS to better recognize potential blind spots and help mitigate the
harm caused by narrowly defined labels placed on Black boys. Research outcomes may also
have relevant applications within some public-school settings, college campuses, or other
predominantly White institutions. However, additional research would be needed to expand
findings and outcomes. Three research questions guided this study:
1. How do stereotypes and labels affect Black boys’ identity development while
enrolled at PWIS?
2. What systemic structures or environmental factors within these schools promote
assimilation and constrain inclusion for Black boys?
3. What strategies and resources do Black boys use to overcome these stereotypes and
labels to gain a sense of self and group identity?
10

These questions were addressed using African American male theory (AAMT), which is a
modified version of the ecological systems model (Bronfenbrenner, 1996) that “enables
individuals to tell their own stories” (Bush & Bush, 2018). In addition, racial-ethnic identity
theory (Cross et al., 2017) was used as a conceptual frame to examine the stages Black males
often experience. Stereotype threat and social identity contingency theory (Steele, 2010) were
used to examine the ways in which Black boys navigate identity and sense of self when
confronting stereotypes and labels in PWIS.
Significance of the Study
The importance of this research is about culturally responsive leadership at PWIS. This is
an important inquiry as several institutions across the United States, including many independent
schools, are emphasizing their commitment to DEI, and DEI management has become a feature
of modern and postmodern organizations (Bendl et al., 2016). Many institutions have formed
DEI committees and established recruitment initiatives designed to increase the number of Black
students on campus. On the surface, DEI efforts may seem straightforward, but DEI is much
more than adding people from different ethnic backgrounds to a team or organization. Much of
my professional life has been spent working within large American corporations, focused on DEI
efforts, but I was recently recruited by a PWIS to serve as their first director of DEI. The job was
established to assist the school, its faculty, students, and their families in adopting a better
understanding and appreciation for DEI. Serving in this role gave me greater insight into some of
the challenges PWIS encounter with their DEI initiatives, as well as the challenges many
students of color, as well as their families, encounter. My hope is that this inquiry can aid some
schools and their leaders in avoiding costly mistakes and help mitigate DEI challenges that
11

surface within their school communities. This research focuses mostly on concerns surrounding
Black boys at PWIS, but the issues discussed could be applied to other marginalized students.
Several DEI programs and initiatives have been designed to attract and retain larger
numbers of students of color but have failed to demonstrate great progress with regard to
representation and true inclusion (DeCuir & Dixson, 2004). Despite DEI efforts at independent
schools, many remain largely segregated (Fairlie & Resch, 2002), students of color do not often
feel a sense of belonging (Sulé et al., 2018), and racism is still a major problem on many of these
campuses (DeCuir & Dixson, 2004). This research could be applied to some public school
settings as well, but, as an autoethnography, my focus on private education is driven primarily by
my experiences and those of the interviewees. This research also focuses on private schools
because a growing number of parents from all ethnic backgrounds are seeking alternatives to
public school. PWIS have served as a pipeline into many of the nation’s best colleges, and,
according to Saporito (2009), these schools are more segregated than public schools, and
achievement gaps and disparities are far more polarizing within private schools.
Existing research suggests that Black boys who have attended predominantly White
schools have likely experienced increased experiences with racial discrimination and may have
challenges negotiating concerns related to their own racial identity (Hamm & Coleman, 2001).
More research is needed to better understand what mechanisms, resources, and tools schools
could implement to promote positive academic and social identities (Rivers and Rivers, 2002).
According to DeCuir-Gunby et al. (2012), not much is yet known about how PWIS may function
as a racial socializing agent. However, studies have suggested that the school environments have
served as an important factor in how African American students see themselves globally and
academically (Rowley et al., 2005). Many of these messages include narrowly defined labels and
12

stereotypes. Existing research and findings suggest that Black boys at PWIS tend to perform
better academically when they have received strong messaging about racial identity from
parents, compared to Black boys who instill passive or colorblind messages about race
(Mandara, 2006). When it comes to socializing students about race and racial identity, a PWIS
may overtly and covertly communicate race-related messages to Black boys that serve as
indoctrination (DeCuir-Gunby et al., 2012).
Definition of Terms
• African American: refers to people who were born in the United States and have
African ancestry. Many people use the terms Black and African American
interchangeably (Chavez, 2020)
• Assimilation (cultural assimilation): When a member of an ethnic minority group
acquires the behavior patterns, lifestyles, values, and language of the mainstream
culture, he or she has become culturally assimilated. Cultural assimilation is the
process by which an individual or group acquires the cultural characteristics of a
different ethnic or cultural group. Because the dominant racial, cultural, ethnic, or
religious group controls most of the social, economic, and political institutions within
a society, members of ethnic minority groups must acquire its cultural characteristics
in order to experience social class mobility and structural inclusion in society (Banks,
2012).
• Authentic self: Being who you truly are as a person, regardless of the influence of
others, an honest representation of oneself, not caring what others think about oneself.
13

• Black: refers to dark-skinned people of African descent, no matter their nationality.
Many people use the terms Black and African American interchangeably (Chavez,
2020).
• Code-switch: Switch between different cultural spaces and social situations to blend
in (Cross, 1991).
• Culture: The language, traditions, history, and ancestry a group of people have in
common. People that share a culture are “ethnic” groups (Hollins & Govan, 2015).
• Culturally responsive teaching: Understanding the background and culture of your
students (Ashbrook, 2021).
• Discrimination: Unequal or disparate treatment based on their membership of a group
(Hollins & Govan, 2015).
• Diversity: covers a broad spectrum of differences, including race and ethnicity,
gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, language,
culture, national origin, religious commitments, age, disability status, and political
perspective. For this inquiry, references to diversity will be specifically about Black
boys (Schachner et al., 2016).
• Equity: focuses on addressing the unique needs of individuals. It assumes that
different people require different needs, and equity is concerned with addressing and
providing those needs to establish fairness (MacKenzie, 2020).
• Implicit bias: Are stereotypes and attitudes that occur unconsciously and may or may
not reflect our actual attitudes (Gullo, 2018).
• Inclusion: the extent to which individuals feel accepted by existing members of a
group. An environment where all individuals feel welcomed (Jansen et al., 2015).
14

• Stereotypes: the belief that Black people are unintelligent, lazy, violent, and criminals
has affected educational outcomes, employment opportunities, socioeconomic status,
and the dismantling of African American families and communities. Educators,
businessmen, and law enforcement often believe these stereotypes, which influences
their treatment of Black people (Taylor et al., 2019).
Organization of the Study
The use of autoethnography enables me to establish an ongoing dialogue between my
present self with my past self, as well as a dialogue between others’ experiences and my own
(Chang & Bilgen, 2020). In Chapter One, I provide context about the problem of practice,
explaining the who, what, where, and why this subject matter is important to understand. Chapter
Two is an exploration of literature, including theories connected to this problem of practice.
Chapter Three provides an in-depth examination of the methodology and theoretical frame. In
Chapter Four, I share my own story and lived experiences as a Black man who once attended a
PWIS. Also, in Chapter Four, I share the experiences of my co-participants and uncover any
themes or trends. In Chapter Five, implications for practice are shared, and recommendations are
made.
15

Chapter Two: Review of the Literature
The literature for this inquiry falls into five major sections. The first discusses the private
school system and its relationship with the African American community. The next body of
literature discusses the plight of African American boys in society and within the United States
educational systems. The third section discusses Black male identity, sense of self, and literature
about assimilation. The fourth body of literature provides greater insight into autoethnography as
a research method. Lastly, the fifth area of literature examines the African American male
theoretical frame.
Topic 1: African American Families and Private/Independent Schools
For parents of all ethnic backgrounds who send their children to K–12 private schools,
the expectation is that their child will escape potentially underserved and poorly resourced public
schools in their local communities. There is a widely held belief that attending private school
leads to a better academic experience with access to smaller classrooms, more individual
attention, higher reading and math scores and college acceptance rates, and opportunities to
improve one’s socioeconomic standing and ultimately greater upward mobility (Council for
American Private Education, 2013). For many Black families, being able to their children child
to an independent/private school represents social, intellectual, and economic progress (Keeles,
2013). According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2009), 9.8% of students at
independent schools in the United States are Black, yet the experience of having a Black child
attending a private school for many Black families can be far different from the experiences of
their non-Black counterparts (DeCuir-Gunby, 2007) Many Black boys who attend PWIS are
often still subjected to narrowly defined stereotypes and labels.
16

As a group, Black families in America still hover near the bottom of the socioeconomic
ladder (Hardaway & Mcloyd, 2009), and for this reason, some Black families are not able to
send their children to private schools. Racism and exclusion by school administrators have also
been cited as a reason some Black families do not send their children to PWIS (DeCuir-Gunby &
Dixson, 2004). Yet, for other Black families, private school has become a viable option due in
part to scholarships and financial aid, as well as a growing Black middle-class and more
upwardly mobile Black families in America (Hardaway & Mcloyd, 2009). Some Black parents
have grown frustrated with the public school system and look to enroll their boys in independent
or private schools, even if they must take out loans or use an installment payment plan. Their
hope is to avoid some of the pitfalls and concerns documented in our nation’s public school
system. In a 2019 Washington Post article, Black parents described difficulty in deciding
whether to enroll their sons in a public school that lacked some of the resources needed to
academically prepare students or opt for a PWIS with academic resources but a lack of diversity
and where their sons could be vulnerable to losing confidence, agency and sense of self (Allers,
2019). According to DeCuir-Gunby et al. (2012). few studies explore their race-related
experiences within an independent, private school context. Studies have suggested that, while
PWIS may elevate the quality of African American students’ education, “many of these students
experience social isolation from their peers” (DeCuir-Gumby, 2007).
Topic 2: African American Boys and Private Education
Much of the literature on Black boys and their journey through K–12 education tends to
focus on the public school system, yet many of the theories and much of the examination
regarding this topic can be applied to private school settings. Delpit (2006) argued that many
educators approach teaching Black students as if they are intellectually inferior to White
17

students. Delpit stated that Black boys are not born with any less capability than White students,
but systemic factors within our schools still influence stereotypes and the approach to education
often utilized when teaching Black boys. While progress has been made in shifting perceptions
in academic settings, the problem persists. Delpit approached the subject matter from experience,
working with several schools, and from the research of other scholars to examine how racism in
K–12 schools continues to negatively impact Black children disproportionately. Delpit’s research
found that Black students have a better opportunity to learn and succeed in school when teachers
make lessons and achievement culturally relevant (Delpit, 2006). Delpit also suggested that
content relevancy for many Black students becomes another reason they lose interest and
subsequently face challenges in school. Implicit bias drives the disproportionate amount of
school discipline levied upon Black boys (Gullo et al., 2018).
Learning Differences
Noguera (2003) noted systemic and structural concerns influence how Black boys are
taught and that Black males play an instrumental role in their own educational attainment.
Noguera discussed social and cultural factors, how environment and identity may contribute to
Black boys’ academic challenges, and how these factors contribute to problems with discipline
and navigating the K–12 school systems. He argued that Black boys sometimes succumb to peer
pressure or act out in their classrooms to gain acceptance from friends or to align with expected
norms (Noguera, 2003). This position assumes greater agency from Black boys and does not
consider them to be passive victims in their attainment of educational excellence (Noguera,
2003). If valid, this would also mean that solutions cannot simply come from external fixes.
Noguera contended that improving the fate of Black boys in K–12 education requires a holistic
look at community, environment, and family structures. He also argued that Black boys own
18

some accountability and that solutions rest at least partially with these young men themselves
(Noguera, 2003).
Racism and Stereotypes at School
Howard (2013) argued that Black boys could benefit from approaches to education that
deliberately center their voices. He contended that Black boys are treated differently by
educators and are often othered or viewed as specimens that are studied. Howard prescribed
models for teaching Black boys that help humanize and place greater value on what they bring to
the table. He also examined the impact of trauma and the weight many of these boys carry while
juggling expectations their non-Black counterparts may not have to contend with (Howard,
2013). An important area of focus that Howard discussed is the importance of culture within the
school and how the student’s culture aligns with that in the school. Additionally, he emphasized
resilience theory, factors such as home life, peers, community, and the importance of caring
relationships within learning spaces. Essentially, students need to know that people care about
them at school (Howard, 2013). Lastly, Howard argued that when we lift the academic
achievement of any group at the bottom of the learning curve, we help others to achieve.
Ladson-Billings (2013) examined teaching strategies that empower Black males. She
described a love-hate relationship that America and its schools have with Black males and that
Black athletes and celebrities are often revered, but there is also a desire by White America to
control and dominate Black male bodies. Ladson-Billings also noted Black boys are not often
allowed to experience childhood the same way other children are, and they are not afforded the
same opportunity of being children in spaces where they should have that opportunity. Wilson
(1992) argued that Black boys possess innate creativity and survival skills, that these traits
should be celebrated, and that educators should affirm these traits as gifted. Yet, these
19

characteristics are often overlooked, stifled, or dismissed within many predominantly White and
traditional K–12 teaching environments (Wilson, 1992). Wilson posited that when Black boys do
not conform to the normative learning models established within most Eurocentric instructional
models, their natural gifts are dismantled (Wilson, 1992).
Topic 3: Identity & Assimilation
Kirkland (2013) discussed double consciousness, a term coined by scholar W.E.B. Du
Bois, to describe an identity attribute that most African Americans must learn to negotiate when
they are Black bodies operating in White dominant spaces. The term refers to a certain type of
two-ness, where African Americans must always possess two selves. The first is an image of self
and how one sees one’s self while simultaneously maintaining an image of one’s self through the
lens of Whites or the identity others observe (Du Bois, 1903). This phenomenon almost
resembles a split personality. A slightly different take, but also an appropriate primer for this
inquiry, is what Fanon and Markmann (1967) called Black face, White mask. Fanon and
Markmann (1967) posited that White colonists imposed a rule that deemed White colonial
culture and its values as superior to the culture and values of those being colonized and stated
that cultural assimilation was at the heart of colonization. Fanon and Markmann (1967) asserted
that the objective of colonization was to erase the identity of Blacks and other colonized people.
He argued that living this sort of existence brought on a form of psychosis for colonized people,
whereby the colonized were forced to assimilate to a culture and identity wherein they would
never be permitted to fully achieve acceptance. Paul Laurence Dunbar’s (2006) poem, “We Wear
the Mask,” captures this idea:
We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,
20

This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties. (p. 71)
The preceding excerpt is the opening stanza from a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar, an
African American poet who was the son of formerly enslaved parents. In the poem originally
published in 1895, Dunbar refers to people hiding their true feelings and emotions from others as
a survival tactic. Another interpretation would be that people wear a mask and are not able to
bring their full and authentic selves with them into various settings.
While there are distinctions between formal colonization and a Black boy attending a
PWIS, this inquiry seeks to better understand whether DEI efforts result in efforts to assimilate
Black boys into a dominant White culture and away from their familial identity as Black boys.
This is an important distinction to interrogate, as several public and private institutions
frequently claim that they proudly embrace DEI. Inclusion is
[the] process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all learners
through increasing participation in learning, cultures, and communities, and reducing
exclusion within and from education. It involves changes and modifications in content,
approaches, structures, and strategies, with a common vision which covers all children of
the appropriate age range and a conviction that it is the responsibility of the regular
system to educate all children. (UNESCO, 2005, p.13)
Childhood Identity Development
Cooper (2019) discussed the fact that Black men often make up most of the football and
men’s basketball teams at elite colleges while being a small fraction of the school’s overall
student enrollment. I have read a number of similar stories over the years, and most of these
21

stories focus on the problem at the university level, where profit-generating sports maintain a
disproportionately high number of Black players on their teams compared to their representation
in other areas of the campus (Cooper, 2019). Concerns about racial disparities on college
campuses are also a worthy topic of inquiry, but I believe the phenomenon begins long before
Black boys enter college. I contend that the stereotypes and seeds are planted much earlier
regarding one’s development and the identity that a Black boy carries into adulthood. Similarly,
Cooper stated that even at the “kindergarten through 12th-grade level, Black males are more
likely to be celebrated for their athletic prowess and less likely to be selected for gifted and
honors classes, let alone be recognized for their performance in these classes.” Something about
this statement resonated greatly with me, and it has become the central focus of this inquiry.
An award-winning documentary, Hoop Dreams (James, 1994), chronicles the story of
two African American boys, Arthur Agee and William Gates. The documentary follows their
lives in urban Chicago, starting at age 10 and into their early adulthood. Both boys received
scholarships to attend a predominantly White private school in suburban Chicago. The school
made no secret that they wanted the boys at the school to improve their basketball team, so it was
no surprise that one of the boys was asked to leave the school when his athletic ability did not
meet the coach’s expectations. The other young man remained at the school but suffered injuries
and nearly lost his scholarship. The school did not consider other contributions these young men
could possibly make, nor did school administrators value their presence on campus beyond their
athletic ability.
As a Black boy attending a PWIS years ago, I had the additional burden of overcoming
labels, stereotypes, and racism. I did not always feel comfortable or safe challenging labels or
stereotypes, so I often employed tactics that made me feel safe in these instances. Sometimes,
22

this meant skipping class or avoiding subject matter being discussed in class. Steele (2010)
described this behavior as a social identity contingency (Steele, 2010). At the time, my identity
as an athlete was salient to whom I thought I was. As an athlete, I was frequently recognized,
celebrated, and even received preferential treatment. Being an athlete was a major dimension of
my identity, and I received a great deal of positive reinforcement. In hindsight, I can see that this
narrowly defined dimension likely derailed many of my academic efforts, as well as other
potential contributions I might have made if these labels and stereotypes were not omnipresent.
I certainly bear some of the responsibility for the lack of attention I gave to my academic
achievement, but I also feel that I lacked the agency to push back against stereotypes and labels
that followed me within this environment. Throughout this dissertation, I examined how my lack
of responsibility and other factors contributed to my successes and failures. However, this
inquiry aims to interrogate the responsibility of PWIS teachers and administrators to embrace the
intersectional attributes that Black boys bring to their schools. I believe more Black boys might
see themselves as scientists, photographers, writers, or mathematicians if they received more
positive reinforcement in these areas. I received a scholarship and was recruited to the PWIS to
play sports, so I naively embraced the labels and stereotypes that were placed on me as a 14-
year-old. Being a Black child from a lower socioeconomic status family and believing I had the
opportunity to attend a great school alongside some of the smartest students in the city made me
feel like I should be grateful to be in their presence.
At the time, I did not feel as if I had a great deal of agency to challenge the status quo,
and in some ways, I did not believe my background and origins measured up to the culture in this
PWIS environment. Yosso (2005) discussed how schooling in many dominant culture
environments aims to impose knowledge and values supposedly on passive students, substituting
23

previous forms of cultural knowledge with the dominant culture’s forms of cultural knowledge.
Yosso explained some cultures are perceived as superior to others, and the dominant culture
possesses social and cultural capital. For a Black child who comes from an underserved
community, receiving a scholarship to attend an elite private school might seem like a great
opportunity, and this inquiry seeks to examine scenarios like this one much closer. Throughout
this dissertation, I unpacked the notion that attending a PWIS is the best thing for a Black boy
when labels, racism, and stereotypes persist.
Stereotypes and labels exist in our broader society. Events that occur at a PWIS are often
microcosms of events that occur in the broader society, so I am not sure if Black boys are safe
from stereotypes and labels anywhere on the planet, no matter who they are. Former President
Barack Obama (2004) chronicled his experiences as one of few Black students attending a K–12
private school on the island of Oahu with a predominantly White and Asian student body. Much
of what he shared reminded me of my own experiences. He discussed race and the racism he
dealt with. He discussed the fact that he was a popular kid and made friends easily but still felt
like an outsider and lacked a sense of belonging (Obama, 2004). He was a basketball player, and
it was easy to convey that being a ballplayer was a central part of his identity, yet he was not
always treated fairly by the coaches and teammates (Obama, 2004). Later, Scharnberg and
Barker (2007) interviewed several of his high school classmates who had entirely different
memories of the days they attended school with him. Many of them expressed that if Obama was
not comfortable or had issues regarding race, he did not let anyone know (Scharnberg & Barker,
2007). They were under the impression that he was perfectly fine, yet he stated otherwise in his
memoir (Obama, 2004).
24

I can relate to this revelation, and it resembles what Steele (2010) called operating under
a social identity contingency. Per Steele et al. (2002), social identity contingencies are potential
judgments, labels, stereotypes, and restrictions that are tied to one’s social identity that emerge
when someone from a marginalized group encounters a potentially threatening situation. In the
mind of teachers, classmates, and friends, Barack Obama was a happy-go-lucky “Barry
O’Bomber,” a nickname given to him by classmates for his ability to shoot a basketball. Elovitz
(2008), one of Obama’s former classmates, said that Obama always seemed happiest when he
was playing basketball during the off-season. While this may be true, it certainly aligns with the
stereotype often connected to Black men and boys. Obama discussed his mother’s attempts to
push him towards Black consciousness and an appreciation for his Black identity. Nonetheless, it
was difficult for him to embrace a strong sense of self while attending a PWIS. This is consistent
with the pre-encounter stage of the racial development identity model (Cross, 1991). During pre-
encounter, it is common to give preferential treatment to the culture of people surrounding an
individual.
Again, I could relate to this experience because I suppose if someone were to ask my
predominantly White classmates if I seemed miserable, they would likely say I seemed
extremely happy during those years. They would also likely add the stereotype and state I was
happiest while playing sports. What my classmates probably did not realize is that I was also
wearing the proverbial mask that Dunbar wrote about. It took me several years to gain or regain a
strong sense of self. It also took several years for me to see myself outside of the narrowly
defined labels and stereotypes that followed me for years. It was only after leaving high school
that my journey enabled me to escape what felt like an effort to colonize or assimilate me. I
25

needed to find new environments outside of my PWIS where I could engage with other African
Americans who possessed a strong sense of pride in who they were.
A Sense of Belonging
Strayhorn (2015) argued that historically marginalized students are vulnerable or at risk
in environments where they are isolated or may not feel loved or cared about. Students are more
suited to succeed at school when they feel a strong sense of belonging (Strayhorn, 2015). Booker
(2007) drew a correlation between a student’s sense of belonging in a K–12 school environment
and their ability to excel academically. For many Black students in predominantly White spaces,
there is a missing sense of belonging. Booker argued that a decreased feeling of belonging can
have a negative impact on achievement and that Black students’ achievement and overall K–12
school experience improve when they have a greater sense of belonging. Being able to identify
with the school and its identity becomes a factor in a student’s desire to be there. Having
siblings, parents, or other family members who are alums also factors into a student’s sense of
belonging (Booker, 2007).
Stereotype Threat and Social Identity Contingency
Steele (2010) examined the concept of stereotypes and how they can affect the way
individuals from marginalized groups behave in given circumstances. For example, if Black boys
have a reputation of being exceptional athletes and poor students, and this stereotype is allowed
to exist, Steele contended that Black boys might behave in a manner that validates it. According
to Steele, allowing others to label one’s potential to perform or aptitude based on a stereotype
can cause stereotype threat. Stereotype threat can adversely affect one’s performance while
taking a test, during a competition, or while attending school (Steele, 2010). Steele also offered
solutions for how individuals can push back and mitigate stereotype threat. Looking at the
26

experience of Black boys who attended PWISs through this lens of stereotype threat may help to
understand why certain outcomes persist.
Other scholars present similar theories that align with Steele’s (2010), and much of the
literature presented here presents a common theme that labels Black boys in a manner that
impacts their educational experience at K–12 PWIS. Wright and Counsell (2018) examined
labels and stereotypes that are disproportionately placed on Black boys in K–12 education.
Labels such as violent, unteachable, disinterested, lazy, hyperactive, and athletic often
characterize Black boys and are often linked to broader racist ideologies about Black boys in
America. The authors contended that these labels and descriptors serve to dehumanize and
devalue Black boys’ cultural and personal identities, both academically and socially (Wright &
Counsell, 2019). They also linked these stereotypes and prejudging to academic achievement
gaps and the disproportionate reprimanding of Black boys in school settings (Wright & Counsell,
2018).
Topic 4: Autoethnography
Chang (2008) described autoethnography as a meaning-making experience where there is
an ongoing dialogue between the researcher’s present self and their past self, as well as dialogue
between the researcher and the experience of others (Chang & Bilgen, 2020). Ellis et al. (2011)
explained that when researchers conduct autoethnographies, they examine a concern
retrospectively, then selectively write about epiphanies revealed by their membership in a group
or by possessing a particular cultural or group identity. Additionally, supported by existing
theories, autoethnographies describe and analyze experiences (Ellis et al., 2011). Merriam and
Tisdell (2016) stated that a qualitative approach presumes a certain view of the world that
defines how a researcher selects a sample and collects and analyzes data. Reporting on one’s
27

own lived experiences requires one to be reflective of self and gives one the ability to step back
from an experience and examine it objectively (Le Roux, 2017).
Wall (2006) explained that using autoethnography is a way of acknowledging the self,
which is always present in any research. Autoethnography is just more transparent about calling
out the fact that the researcher is central to the research. It opens the door and makes room for
other ways of knowing. Autoethnography also enables space for the sharing of unique and
nuanced experiences. However, she cautions that researchers should maintain a critical approach
to autoethnography and follow prescribed guidelines; otherwise, anything could be classified as
autoethnography. Per Wall (2006),
The intent of autoethnography is to acknowledge the inextricable link between the
personal and the cultural and to make room for nontraditional forms of inquiry and
expression. In this autoethnography, the author explores the state of understanding
regarding autoethnography as a research method and describes the experience of an
emerging qualitative researcher in learning about this new and ideologically challenging
genre of inquiry. (p. 146)
Reflexive Journaling
Malacrida (2007) posited that qualitative research draws on the values and emotions
possessed by the researcher. Using a methodology like autoethnography can stir up old memories
and emotions that may be upsetting. Malacrida contended that reflexive journaling is useful for
recording feelings and emotions and can aid with emotional safety for the researcher.
As an autoethnography, this dissertation is a first-person account, examined largely from
my own lived experiences. Letters from my former K–12 teachers, old report cards, and notes
28

from coaches and classmates, as well as photos and my own writings, served as research
artifacts.
MeSearch and WeSearch
Douglas (2016) described Wesearch as a hybrid approach to examining a phenomenon
that the researcher is intimately and experientially familiar with, combined with existing research
on the subject matter:
Wesearch is where the intersection and disjunctures between mesearch (what you know
experientially and epistemologically) and research (what scholars have found, espoused,
and written) meet and are activated for pedagogical, social, systematic, and systemic
impact. Wesearch occurs when we allow our positionalities to push us to ask new
questions about people, possibilities, and problems that are most pressing for
understanding and disrupting impediments to the health of marginalized communities.
Wesearch is about the people. It’s about hearing their voices and learning from their
truths. (Douglas, 2016, p. 7).
Douglas goes on to describe that nothing about Wesearch is meant to be self-absorbed,
conceited, or narcissistic. The work is about identifying a concern and using the researcher’s
journey, self-reflection, and personal experiences, as well as data collected from others, with the
purpose of community uplift.
Topic 5: African American Male Theoretical Frame
AAMT (Bush & Bush, 2018) is a theoretical frame that borrows from Bronfenbrenner’s
(1996) five-layer ecological model; however, the model incorporates ancient and current African
worldviews. The AAMT employs a microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and
chronosystem, but it also adds a subsystem to account for supernatural events and spiritual
29

connectedness (Bush & Bush, 2018). Additionally, “AAMT expands the mesosystem to include
the links between the environments of the inner microsystem and outer microsystem as well as
an additional system, known in AAMT as the subsystem” (p.3). There are six tenets associated
with the AAMT frame (Bush & Bush, 2018).
1. The individual and collective experiences, behaviors, outcomes, events, phenomena,
and trajectory of African American boys’ and men’s lives are best analyzed using an
ecological systems approach.
2. There is something unique about being male and of African descent.
3. There is continuity and continuation of African culture, consciousness, and biology
that influence the experiences of African American boys and men.
4. African American boys and men are resilient and resistant - African American boys
and men are born with an innate desire for self-determination and with an unlimited
capacity for morality and intelligence.
5. Race and racism, coupled with classism and sexism, have a profound impact on every
aspect of the lives of African American boys and men.
6. The focus and purpose of study and programs that concern African American boys
and men should be the pursuit of social justice.
Per Bush and Bush (2018),
All six tenets of AAMT provide the necessary space and tools to fully examine and
perhaps explain the outcomes, behavior, and experiences of African American boys and
men. Different from other theoretical and conceptual frameworks, AAMT accounts for
spiritual matters and provides a directive for what is considered success. Both of these
30

aspects of AAMT are paramount to the following discussion of the fourth tenet of AAMT
and the nondeficit models for which scholars are calling. (p. 6).
Conclusion
Several key concepts emerged from the literature. School culture and environment within
K–12 PWIS are important factors that influence the educational experience for Black boys.
Black boys tend to be labeled disproportionately and tracked at a higher rate as having
behavioral problems, learning disabilities, attention deficit, and requiring special educational
assistance. Teachers’ and school administrators’ cultural competence can make a difference for
Black boys attempting to navigate their way through these schools. Black boys do better in
school when they trust teachers and feel a sense of belonging or perceive that adults care about
them and their academic achievement. Socioeconomic factors, family structures, neighborhood
dynamics, extended community, and peer pressure are important factors that influence the school
experience. Labeling and stereotyping continue to negatively impact Black boys at K–12 PWIS.
The K–12 education experience could thwart Black boys’ academic success if educators and
school leaders are not equipped to identify these concerns and intervene. Much of the literature
offered strategies for identifying trouble areas and recommendations to mitigate problems. It will
be important for educators to have training in culturally responsive teaching if Black boys’
journey through K–12 education is to improve. Also, research methods and analysis tools, such
as autoethnography and AAMT, enable researchers involved in self-analysis to investigate
unique experiences and engage in self-reflection from a position of empowerment. The criteria or
bar often used by the dominant culture to measure what knowledge, competence, intelligence,
and potential looks like does not always align with the criteria used in communities of color.

31

Chapter Three: Methodology
African American male theory (AAMT) is a modified version of Bronfenbrenner’s
ecology model and provides a useful methodology and framework to examine Black male
identity development within a PWIS. This inquiry required a framework that aligns with this
autoethnographic approach: AAMT. As seen in Figure 1, the theory utilizes [all] five of
Bronfenbrenner’s (1996) interconnected environmental systems. The theory divides the
microsystem into two categories: the inner microsystem, which captures a person’s biology,
personality, perceptions, and beliefs, and the outer microsystem, which involves the familial,
peer group, neighborhood, and school environments and their impact on the individual.
In addition, AAMT expands the mesosystem to include the links between the
environments of the inner microsystem and outer microsystem, as well as an additional system
known in AAMT as the subsystem (Bush & Bush, 2018). Because assimilation is a focus of this
inquiry, and we are examining how school environments impact identity, the mesosystem was
explored in greater detail, inquiry. To address the research questions, racial-ethnic identity theory
(Cross et al., 2017) was used as a conceptual frame for examining approaches used by Black
males in PWIS. Through this framework, this study sought to answer three research questions:
1. How do stereotypes and labels affect Black boys’ identity development while
enrolled at PWIS?
2. What systemic structures or environmental factors within these schools promote
assimilation and constrain inclusion for Black boys?
3. What strategies and resources do Black boys use to overcome these stereotypes and
labels to gain a sense of self and group identity?

32

Figure 1
Black Boy at PWIS Ecological Framework Based on the AAMT Framework

Cross (1991) posited that African Americans go through a five-stage racial development
model to achieve a full sense of self. Figure 2 presents Cross’s model, which has been
empirically validated. Stereotype threat and social identity contingency theory (Steele, 2010) are
also used to examine how other respondents and I navigated the PWIS experience.
33

Figure 2
Five Stages of Racial Identity Development

Note. Image based on “The Psychology of Nigrescence: Revising the Cross Model” by William
E. Cross Jr., 1995, in J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.),
Handbook of multicultural counseling (pp. 93–122). Sage Publications, Inc..

The reason for utilizing a qualitative approach is that it enables specific stories and rich
details to emerge, Details that are difficult to ascertain using a quantitative approach (Creswell &
Creswell, 2014). This inquiry also uses autoethnography, as I come to this research with the lens
1. Pre-Encounter – Dominant culture surrounds Black-boy and
he absorbs messages about himself, including stereotypes
and labels
2. Encounter – Black-boy has an experience that causes him to
become aware of racism or the impact of racist in his life
3. Immersion – Black-boy tries to surround himself with
people and experiences related to the racial identity that
has been brought to the surface. Sometimes these are cultural
stereotypes and labels that the Black boy has received
through messaging.
4. Internalization – Black-boy begins to incorporate a more
fully developed understanding of his group identity, absent of
stereotypes and labels.
5. Internalization-Commitment – Black-boy/man fully
integrates his ethnic heritage into a single identity and can
respectfully share his sense of self and uniqueness, without
crushing the Identity and uniqueness of another
34

of an African American man who attended a PWIS, as a school administrator who led DEI
efforts inside a PWIS, and, lastly, as the father of a Black boy who attended a PWIS. Per Wall
(2006), “autoethnography is an emerging qualitative research method that allows the author to
write in a highly personalized style, drawing on his or her experience to extend understanding
about a societal phenomenon” (p.146). As an autoethnography, this dissertation is a first-person
account, examined largely from my own lived experiences. Letters from my former K–12
teachers, old report cards, and notes from coaches and classmates, as well as photos and my own
writings served as research artifacts.
Two documentary films are also woven into this inquiry, as they both follow and
document the experience of Black boys over multiple years while attending a PWIS. American
Promise (2013) is a documentary film that follows two Black boys from Brooklyn, New York,
after they are admitted into a prestigious PWIS in Manhattan, New York. Hoop Dreams (1998)
documents the experience of two Black boys from Chicago following their admission to a PWIS
Catholic school. Nobody from these films was interviewed for this inquiry, but the experiences
documented in both films provide additional insight relevant to this problem of practice. Finally,
10 Black men who previously attended PWIS were interviewed for this inquiry to determine if
common experiences and/or themes emerged. A modified version of the ecological systems
model (Bronfenbrenner, 1996), AAMT gives greater agency to the subject of inquiry and enables
their participation in sharing their story rather than being a specimen under observation by others
(Bush & Bush, 2018). The racial development model (Cross, 1991), stereotype threat, and
identity contingency theory (Steele, 2010) provide conceptual framing to examine Black boys’
responding behaviors throughout their PWIS journey.
35

Sample and Population
The sample and population for this inquiry consisted of 10 individuals between the ages
of 23 and 60 who self-identify as Black or African American men who attended a K–12 PWIS
for at least a year. Through purposeful sampling, 18 to 20 Black alums of independent schools
were invited to participate with the goal of securing 10 interviewees. Participants were Black
men who previously attended PWISs; however, they covered different generational age groups
and were alumni from various independent schools on the West Coast. Therefore, this inquiry
went beyond a particular case study of one institution. The intent was to uncover themes and
experiences that either align or contradict the experiences of the researcher. Participants were
recruited through purposeful sampling (Coyne, 1997). Data from interview subjects were utilized
to validate and triangulate data provided by the researcher in this autoethnography.
This dissertation is a qualitative autoethnography that enables the researcher to
participate in the inquiry as the principal researcher, but additionally as one of the research
subjects situated within the phenomenon being investigated. This method involves the use of
first-person accounts, examined largely from my own lived experiences. Instead of approaching
the inquiry as an outsider and peering through a window to gain an understanding of a
phenomenon, autoethnography enables me to approach the inquiry as a member of the group
being investigated. Autoethnography allows me to share from the positionality of an insider.
Some qualitative researchers might refer to their research subjects as informants, and in the case
of autoethnography, I became one of the informants providing data to be analyzed, critiqued, and
understood.
Chang (2008) described autoethnography as a meaning-making experience where there is
an ongoing dialogue between the researcher’s present self and their past self, as well as dialogue
36

between the researcher and the experience of others (Chang & Bilgen, 2020). Ellis et al. (2011)
explained that when researchers conduct autoethnographies, they examine a concern
retrospectively, then selectively write about epiphanies revealed by their membership in a group
or by possessing a particular cultural or group identity. Additionally, supported by existing
theories, autoethnographies describe and analyze experiences (Ellis et al., 2011). Reporting on
one’s own lived experiences requires one to be reflective of oneself and gives the researcher the
ability to step back from an experience and examine the phenomenon objectively (Le Roux,
2017). Using autoethnography involves the sharing of personal experience, then providing a
critique of a cultural experience through examination and analysis of those cultural experiences
(Chang, 2008).
According to Holman et al. (2013), autoethnography intentionally centers the relationship
of the author’s experiences with the subject matter of the inquiry. I documented and shared
epiphanies as they occurred throughout the research process. I reflected on my experiences as a
Black boy who attended a PWIS, then sharing nuances that could only be derived from my
membership of the group being investigated. The goal was to illustrate aspects of my experiences
that may illuminate greater understanding and meaning about those experiences to a broader
audience. While some readers may never experience the actual events and experiences shared in
the inquiry, some may ascertain greater insight and/or empathy about the phenomenon being
investigated (Holman et al., 2013).
Wall (2006) explained that using autoethnography is a way of acknowledging the self,
which is always present in any research. Autoethnography is just more transparent about calling
out the fact that the researcher is central to the research. It opens the door and makes room for
other ways of knowing. Autoethnography also enables space for the sharing of unique and
37

nuanced experiences. However, Wall cautioned that researchers should maintain a critical
approach to autoethnography and follow prescribed guidelines; otherwise, anything could be
classified as autoethnography. According to Wall (2006),
The intent of autoethnography is to acknowledge the inextricable link between the
personal and the cultural and to make room for nontraditional forms of inquiry and
expression. In this autoethnography, the author explores the state of understanding
regarding autoethnography as a research method and describes the experience of an
emerging qualitative researcher in learning about this new and ideologically challenging
genre of inquiry. (p. 146).
Reflexivity also enables me to draw upon experiences throughout my lifetime impacted
by the subject matter of the inquiry and how it has affected and changed me over time. The use
of autoethnography allows readers to better understand themselves or life experiences through
the inquiry being shared. Scott (2018) described autoethnography as a reflexive performance of
oneself that helps to establish a mapping of sorts surrounding one’s identity and concerns that
one may have struggled with throughout their lifetime (Scott, 2018, p. 3).
Malacrida (2007) posited that qualitative research draws on the values and emotions
possessed by the researcher. Personal journals, letters from former K–12 teachers, old report
cards, and notes from coaches and classmates, as well as photos and my own writings, will serve
as artifacts that I will draw on for feelings and emotions and can aid with emotional safety.
Limitation and Delimitations
The scope of the research is limited, as it involved a small group of African American
men who previously attended PWIS on the west coast of the United States and who are now
adults. The dissertation is also a qualitative autoethnography focused heavily on my lived
38

experiences. Therefore, the findings may not reflect the experiences of every Black man who
attended a PWIS. This inquiry examined the problem of practice with a reflexive lens, looking at
past experiences.
Instrumentation
Creswell and Creswell (2014) posited that qualitative inquiry is the best approach when
seeking to identify individuals’ perceptions. I used semi-structured interviews, as they enable
interviewees to respond to open-ended questions. They also allowed for follow-up probing
questions. Probes can be used to deepen the response to a question and may allow the
interviewee an opportunity to provide deeper answers with greater detail and richness (Patton,
2002). I also used journaling throughout the research to capture thoughts that arise. According to
Phelan and Nunan (2018), reflexive journaling is sometimes used in qualitative research and
involves keeping a diary of experiences, emotions, and thoughts arising over a period of time,
giving due recognition to the mutual interplay between the researcher’s subjectivity and the
various choices I made during the study.
Data Collection Procedures
As an alum of an independent school, I belong to a network of Black alumni, which I
tapped into. The alumni group has close to 100 members, and about half of them call into a
Zoom meeting hosted approximately four times each year. I also extended invites to nine African
American male alumni from other PWIS throughout the west coast states (Washington, Oregon,
California, and Arizona). Interviews were conducted using video conferencing or telephone.
Each interview took 60 minutes. All interviews were conducted between January 5 and March 1,
2022. All interviews were recorded with permission from the interview subjects. Interview notes
were taken by hand. Journal entries were supplemented with interview data. Data were
39

maintained on a private server. I kept the data on a password-protected computer, and all data
will be destroyed after 3 years. I also used letters from former K–12 teachers, old report cards,
notes from coaches and classmates, photos, and my own writings to recall significant events
from throughout my life. I engaged some public figures and highly publicized media events,
using articles and memoirs with relevance to this inquiry. Two documentary films provided
additional background information for this inquiry.
Research Setting
I facilitated 10 separate interviews. I explained the research project in an email to each
participant and invited each to sit for an interview. I let each potential participant know that the
interview would take 60 minutes and will consist of 15 questions. As this is a qualitative
autoethnographic inquiry, the interview questions sought to uncover experiences and patterns
that resonate with my experiences at a PWIS. The questions were also designed to validate the
research provided in the literature review.
The Researcher
Researcher positionality is rooted in the researcher’s interpretivist worldview, where the
researcher seeks the understandings and interpretations of their participants rather than
attempting to ascertain one singular truth. Positionality is usually limited to what the researcher
knows and believes about the world around them. Positionality is shaped by the researcher’s
experiences in social as well as political contexts. A researcher’s positionality shapes their
interpretations, understandings, and beliefs about their research as well as others’ research.
Holmes (2014). As the researcher, I possess a degree of positionality, as I belong to and am a
member of the demographic group at the heart of my research. I realize that I may possess
certain biases derived from my lived experiences, and I will attempt to minimize biases in the
40

research findings. I cannot change the fact that I am a Black man conducting research with and
about the experiences of Black men, which is one reason I elected to use autoethnography. My
intent was to maintain a high degree of integrity and minimize the manner in which my
positionality informed any findings. According to Merriam and Tisdell (2016), a degree of
reflexivity would be warranted in examining the answers provided to interview questions. Most
of the interviewees were individuals I have known for many years, and some of them are former
classmates who attended a PWIS with me, but I do not consider them close friends who would
feel obligated to participate based on our friendship. I also do not believe they would alter their
responses due to their relationships with me. None of them are co-workers or subordinate to me,
and I do not hold any positional power over them, so I did not anticipate any concerns regarding
power dynamics. I also do not see a problem arising with me being perceived as an outsider, as
discussed by Merriam and Tisdell (2016). As a member of this affinity group, I anticipated great
transparency and open sharing.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
Research designs are based on various assumptions, so it is important to understand the
motivation or primary rationale for the research (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). It is important to
acknowledge that, as a qualitative autoethnography examined from my own lived experiences,
replication or consistent responses are not the intent. I named this in the research findings.
Validity can be aided by qualifying the findings through the lens being used to collect data
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Ethics
The semi-structured interviews could potentially expose confidential information that is
not available through other means. The University of Southern California (2004) is committed to
41

respecting the rights and dignity of all persons. I complied with the university’s code of ethics,
specifically within the common rule as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services’ policy for the protection of human subjects (Title 45, Part 46, Subparts A and C). I
used the following best practices, as discussed by Creswell and Creswell (2014) and Glesne
(2011). Regarding issues related to consent, I provided participants an informed consent
statement in advance, provided them a copy during their interview, and reminded them they
could stop at any time. They also had an opportunity to ask questions.
In terms of confidentiality, I used pseudonyms chosen by participants. I removed names
and other identifying information from the transcripts and kept the recordings on a password-
protected laptop. There was no compensation or incentives as participants are prohibited from
being compensated for their participation. All participation was voluntary. To reduce the
potential for interference from power dynamics or coercion, I explained my positionality and
assure interviewees that the purpose of the study was to support student success. I followed all
guidelines provided by the university’s institutional review board and adhered to the guidance
provided by my dissertation committee.
Summary
The use of autoethnography suits this inquiry, as it enables me to establish an ongoing
dialogue between my present and past selves as well as a dialogue regarding my experiences and
those of others (Chang & Bilgen, 2020). This research is also concerned with centering the
voices of Black men, so it is critical to apply methods and a theoretical framework to amplify the
voices being investigated. While AAMT borrows from the ecological systems model
(Bronfenbrenner, 1996), it goes a step further in enabling those at the center of the research to
have voice and greater agency.
42

Chapter Four: Findings
I kept a journal throughout this inquiry, which enabled me to reflect on many events from
the past and my experiences attending a PWIS. The experience of journaling brought back funny
and joyous memories, but it also opened old wounds. I certainly recalled multiple events that
seemed racially motivated, but I cannot say for sure if these were isolated events or whether they
were systemically racist episodes manufactured by the school and school culture. I certainly
believe the experience of attending a PWIS had a profound impact on my life as a youth and my
identity development as a Black man. The impact of my experiences at a PWIS stayed with me
into adulthood, and I believe the impacts affect the way I navigate the world today. My
autoethnographic journaling process, looking through old report cards, reading feedback from
high school teachers, and combing through school yearbooks, letters, and photographs brought
back memories that I had previously forgotten. This journey also allowed me to transport myself
to a previous place in my life and engage in an ongoing conversation with my teenage self.
Another important part of data collection for this inquiry was interviewing Black men who also
attended various PWIS. Sitting down to talk with these men provided a vehicle to discuss similar
and dissimilar experiences and analyze these experiences through the lens of identity
development. In some instances, the interviews I conducted helped to validate some questions I
have had for many years. The interviews also opened my eyes to new thoughts and possible
discoveries.
My Co-participants
I centered my voice throughout this autoethnography. However, to expand the lens of this
inquiry and examine Black male identity at PWIS beyond my lived experiences, I engaged 10
other Black men who attended PWIS. I wanted to investigate their experiences to determine if
43

they had experiences similar to mine or whether their experiences were uniquely different. Table
1 includes some general information about the men in this study. I assigned pseudonyms to each
participant. I also altered information about their personal lives to protect their privacy (Creswell
& Creswell, 2014).

Table 1
Co-participants: Alpha
Pseudonyms Age group Profession
Amadu 20s MBA student
Cole 40s Executive
Darian 40s Entrepreneur/graduate student
Harold 20s Graduate student
Jamal 40s Attorney/CEO/entrepreneur
Julian 20s Engineer
Kenyon 40s Manager/city government
Nolan 40s Construction worker
Terrance 50s Artist/author/entrepreneur/coach
Steve 50s Film maker/artist

44

Co-participant Mini-Biographies
Amadu is currently an MBA student who attended a PWIS school from sixth grade
through 12th grade. He also has an older sister who attended his PWIS 2 years before he did. His
parents also attended different PWIS. He grew up in an upwardly mobile family with two
successful and college-educated parents. He knew at a very young age that he was expected to do
well in school and that he would be expected to attend college. He did not attend that school with
financial support from his school or on scholarship. Financial resources were not a challenge or
barrier to entry at the PWIS he attended. He described his PWIS as filled with the city’s “one
percenters.”
Cole is currently an executive in his early 50s. He grew up on the West Coast but
currently lives in the Southeast. He is married and has three children. Both he and his wife
attended Ivy League universities and, by most measures, would be considered successful. He
received a scholarship and financial assistance to attend his PWIS for 8 years. He came from a
large family who described his experience of attending a PWIS as an opportunity other family
members did not receive, so he was encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity.
Darian is an entrepreneur who is currently working on a master’s degree. Over the years,
he has started several business ventures. When he attended his PWIS, he was a standout youth
football player and track and field athlete. His parents did not have an opportunity to attend
college, but they wanted this opportunity for his siblings and him. He described himself as
having good grades, but he believed that he was recruited to his PWIS primarily to be an athlete.
He has three children.
Harvey is in his 20s and is currently a graduate student on the East Coast. He attended a
PWIS from Kindergarten through the 12th grade. His parents were both Black professionals, and
45

he described his childhood as comfortable. He has a strong interest in business and technology.
Because he never attended public school, he explained that he only has his PWIS as his frame of
reference. He also explained that his parents went out of their way to ensure he spent much time
around other Black children after school and on the weekends. There were also a core group of
four other Black kids in his class at his PWIS.
Jamal is a successful attorney and entrepreneur. He attended law school on the East Coast
and returned to the West Coast following graduate school. He currently lives on the West Coast
and has been the CEO of a couple of companies. He has bought and sold businesses and has
done well financially in his career. He is currently divorced and the father of a son. His son also
attends a PWIS.
Julian currently lives in the Southwest but attended a PWIS on the West Coast. He
attended a PWIS for his last 2 years of high school. He was motivated to attend the school
because he had siblings who attended the school before he did and because the public school he
attended prior to 11th

grade was known for having fights, gangs, drugs, and lower performing
academics than his PWIS.
Kenyon is a manager in city government. He has a master’s degree and played Division I
college football. He was the first of his siblings to attend a PWIS. He began attending PWIS as
an eighth-grader, but he attended a public school in his community with great ethnic diversity up
until his eighth-grade year. He had an opportunity to attend another PWIS known for better
athletics, but he and his family selected a PWIS where they felt he would receive a better
academic education.
Nolan is a construction worker in his late 40s. He is married and has two children. He
received a scholarship in ninth

grade to attend his PWIS. He attended the school through his
46

11th-grade year but decided to return to the public school in his neighborhood for his final year
of high school.
Terrance is a basketball coach, artist, author, and entrepreneur. When he attended a
PWIS, his father was a professional basketball player, and he described his childhood as
comfortable but with strict parents who expected his siblings and him to do well in academics
and sports. He is the father of two biracial boys.
Steve is an artist and filmmaker. He grew up in one of the most ethnically diverse
neighborhoods in the country. His family moved a great deal before his 11th

birthday, but both of
his parents attended graduated school and were highly educated. His father was a public school
principal, and his mother was also a professional. He described his mother as being very
protective and made it clear that he would get a good education and attend college after high
school. He received a scholarship and tuition assistance to attend his PWIS.
Identity Discoveries
The layers of the AAMT ecological model provided a framework for reflecting on my
and the co-participants’ lived experiences. Examining Black male identity through the lens of the
AAMT model revealed insights into the microsystem layer of the model through factors such as
biology, personality, beliefs, perceptions, family interactions, childhood neighborhoods, peer
groups, and early school environments. As an autoethnography, I shared my upbringing, my
childhood, the neighborhood where I grew up, my family dynamics, and my school journey prior
to becoming a student at a PWIS. These elements played a key part in informing the
microsystem of my AAMT ecological model.
Popular culture also played a key role in my identity development. I did not fully realize
many of these traits about myself before I began this inquiry, but through the lens of the AAMT,
47

I began to see how sports, movies, music, and popular culture also played a role in my identity
development. Popular culture continues to help with meaning-making for myself and for some of
my co-participants. I mention this because, throughout my interviews, my co-participants and I
referred to iconic movies, television shows, and popular culture as frames of reference for
helping one another understand the messages conveyed. For example, I talked to one co-
participant about a movie with which we were both familiar. The movie was Trading Places, a
Paramount Pictures film released in 1983, starring actor/comedian Eddie Murphy. In the movie,
Murphy played a quick-talking, homeless Black man named Billy Ray Valentine. In this fictional
account, Valentine’s life is dramatically altered when two millionaire siblings post bail to have
him released from jail. The two millionaires then place a wager of a dollar on Valentine’s fate.
The wager is whether Eddie Murphy’s character will make the best of the opportunity if they
provide him with a nice home, a secure job on Wall Street, and a new circle of upwardly mobile
friends or if he will return to a life of crime and homelessness.
While the movie portrays a fictional and comical account designed to elicit laughs from
an audience, there were times when my time at a PWIS in the suburbs felt a bit like the premise
of this movie. During one interview, a co-participant uttered that attending his PWIS “was like
the movie Trading Places,” and I instantly knew what he meant. The experience of attending a
PWIS made me feel like individuals from the dominant culture had placed a bet on whether I
would survive the experience at an academically demanding school, surrounded by mostly White
faculty, staff, and students who had vastly different life experiences than mine. Attending a
PWIS was also a far different experience from that of my family members and most of the kids
in my neighborhood. Cross’s (1991) five stages of racial identity development were also useful
48

for understanding how some African American boys navigate the experience of being a Black
body in a predominantly White space.
My Story
I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, a city with a mostly poor and underserved African
American population. New Orleans is also a city with a high crime rate and a history of unfair
and unequal educational opportunities for African Americans. These factors inevitably lead to
high incarceration rates, particularly for African American males. According to the U.S.
Department of Justice, crime in New Orleans far exceeds crime in other similar-sized cities. This
was particularly true during the time my family lived in New Orleans. I was the fifth boy born to
my parents. I have no sisters. My birth was my parents’ final attempt to have a daughter, but
when they gave birth to another boy, it served as the motivation they needed to pack up their
belongings and move. They believed that New Orleans would continue to be a high-risk city to
raise a family of boys, so they made a conscious and strategic decision to leave.
As a child, I can recall not understanding the fear my parents lived with, simply because
they had all boys and no daughters. I did not understand it at the time, but I recently saw an
operetta that reminded me of what my parents must have been going through when they had a
house full of boys. Blue is a modern-day opera written by Tazewell Thompson (2019). In the
operetta, an African American mother tells a group of friends that she is pregnant and will soon
give birth to a baby boy. The response from her friends is disbelief, grief, and fear over the fact
that she will give birth to a Black boy. The mother is warned that having a Black son in America
is a very dangerous proposition, and her friends plead with her not to have a son in this country.
The operetta becomes a portrayal of art imitating life, but seeing this opera conveyed the
message of a true dilemma that many African American parents face.
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My parents moved our family 2,500 miles away to a city on the West Coast, hoping to
give their sons a better opportunity to receive a quality education and a chance to escape
potential run-ins with the criminal justice system. When I reflect on their decision, I consider it
an extremely courageous and selfless transition made for their boys, considering the fact that it
meant leaving family, friends, and a strong support system behind. My mother was a wise
woman, but she did not have much formal education. She never matriculated beyond 10th grade.
My father received his high school diploma, but only after dropping out of school at age 16 to
join the Army and then returning to graduate from high school at age 20.
The move to the West Coast took our family from a city that was predominantly Black,
surrounded by family and friends, to a foreign city that was predominantly White, with a Black
population of less than 10%. Perhaps the West Coast provided an escape from potential
encounters with law enforcement. Still, each one of my brothers and I struggled in the public
school system on the West Coast. In fact, only one of my older brothers completed high school
in our newly adopted hometown. For my family, moving away from the South was like
immigrating to a new country in some ways. When we arrived in our new city, other Black
families were living there, but it also meant sacrificing a way of life that we were used to in New
Orleans. It meant leaving family members and loved ones behind.
In the book The Warmth of Other Suns (Wilkerson, 2010), the author writes about the
phenomenon of Black families leaving the Jim Crow South during the 1950s and 60s, largely to
create better opportunities for their children. In United States history, the movement of Black
families from Southern states to the North and other parts of the country is widely known as the
Great Migration. However, Wilkerson described the migration as an American immigrant story.
She likens it to Irish, Polish, and Italian families who moved across the ocean, seeking greater
50

opportunities for their children. It is understood that immigrant families who made the journey to
America were sacrificing opportunities to stay close to uncles, aunts, cousins, and other loved
ones so that they and their children would have greater opportunities to become doctors, lawyers,
scientists, and other professionals. A similar story could be shared about families from Vietnam,
Cambodia, and parts of Asia. Families who immigrated to the United States during the 1970s and
1980s were seeking greater academic and economic opportunities, and the same could be said for
many immigrant families from African nations, such as Ethiopia, Somalia, Nigeria, and Kenya.
Greater academic opportunity for their children seems to be understood as a priority for
families immigrating to America for the first time. I agree with Wilkerson’s (2010) premise that
many Black families from southern states, like my own, were seeking an opportunity similar to
families who immigrated to America from other countries. However, this inquiry enabled me to
observe some interesting factors in the microsystems and mesosystems of the men I interviewed
and mine. Many of the men I spoke with grew up in neighborhoods similar to mine. They had
families who migrated from southern states. My microsystem, blended with my mesosystems,
was filled with teachers, coaches, friends, and acquaintances who contributed to a labeling
mechanism that seemed to be different from the stereotypes and labels received by many of the
families who immigrated to America. I am not asserting that Black boys were the only students
to receive labels and stereotypes, but in my experience, Black boys have been disproportionately
labeled as lacking in intellect, being troublemakers, and being gifted athletes, among other
things.
The primary messaging that I received as a child reinforced the notion that I should be
good at sports. This was also true for almost all of my co-participants. Despite the fact that
51

Cole’s parents stressed the importance of academics and that he was always an excellent student,
he was also expected to excel at sports. Cole shared,
Sports were always at the center of my growing up because of my siblings. I had a
brother who was an All-American track runner, another one who was All-Conference
football in college. Growing up, we would go down to the playground and play baseball.
We’d play kickball. We’d play football. We’d play everything and anything that we
could. And because I was the youngest in the family, I was always the one that was
getting picked last and having to prove myself. I used that as motivation to carry me
when I reached middle school. Soon, I became one of the first persons selected on the
playground when it was anything related to athletics.
Kenyon added, “My orientation to the world was through sports. I can’t imagine how I
could have gone anywhere and not played sports.” It was apparent that athletics played a major
part in the co-participants’ lives and mine. I can’t say if this was a unique experience to Black
communities or Black boys. Many of my childhood friends from various ethnic backgrounds
placed great importance on athletics; however, the difference for many of the Black boys was
that we received positive reinforcement about sports outside of the home. I do not think this
applies in all cases, but for me and some of my co-participants, I believe we lacked balance
between prioritizing academic and athletic excellence. Many of the men I interviewed shared
about the expectation their parents placed on academics, as well as sports, but once we left our
family’s homes, we became athletic specimens for our coaches and others in the community. My
parents wanted me to prioritize academics, but neither my mother nor father had gone to college
or had received an extensive formal education themselves, so their ability to help me navigate
certain aspects of my academic journey was limited. While my mother and father made it clear
52

that they wanted the best education possible for my brothers and me, they may have relied too
heavily on our school systems to help us to attain that quality education. Perhaps this was naïve
of my parents, and I can see this better today now that I am an adult with my own child attending
school. My brothers and I also own a large degree of accountability for not fulfilling the
academic dreams that our parents had for us. I am working on my fifth academic degree this
year, so it might appear that my school system did a great job with me, but when I reflect on my
K–12 academic journey, as well as that of my siblings, the story is much more complex. I
understand this concept much better today, that academic achievement for children often requires
teamwork between the child’s school and their parents, as well as self-efficacy from the student.
It took me several years, and I did not learn what it meant to be a good student until long after
my K–12 journey ended. In my interview with Darian, he shared a similar account about putting
sports first.
I really wasn’t focused on school when I played football, I looked at football like it was
my job, so that’s where I placed my energy. I was under the impression that my high
school coaches would help me get college scholarship offers to play football, but that
assistance never came. Many people knew that I was one of the best players in my state,
but while many of my public-school friends were received scholarship offers from top
football programs in the country, my coaches told me to settle for small schools that
didn’t even offer scholarships. I wasn’t going to earn an academic scholarship and my
family didn’t have the money to pay for college, so football was my ticket.
Darian’s lack of support from his coaches kept him from receiving a scholarship to play
football at a Division I football school, and his lack of focus on academics kept him from
attending a 4-year university as a non-scholarship student. While many of Darian’s White
53

classmates went off to 4-year colleges and received undergraduate and graduate degrees
following high school, Darian ended up going back to school in his 40s, and he is currently
working on a master’s degree in business. “I feel like I am finally doing my thing in the
classroom, but it took forever.” Some aspects of Darian’s story reminded me of my own, but I
believe I struggled academically more than Darian. By the time I reached the eighth grade, I was
failing miserably, and it was clear that I was not taking school seriously. My average grade was
D, but it did not seem to matter to me because I still received recognition from school
administrators and teachers for being a great athlete. My poor academic performance seemed to
be overlooked by everyone except my parents. My mother and father disliked that my grades
were suffering, and I was bit embarrassed, but as long as I excelled at sports, I kept a large group
of friends, and my teachers told me I was doing fine. In hindsight, I find it amazing that I was
never expelled or kicked out of school. In my 13-year-old brain, I thought being an athlete was
the reason I was allowed to matriculate to the next grade, so that is where I placed much of my
focus. I always focused where I was rewarded. I was unable to see this at the time, but as I reflect
on my adolescent years, I believe that being an exceptional athlete gave my teachers and school
administrators a reason not to fail me or put me out of school. Throughout this dissertation, I
revisited this theme of the Black male athlete because I believe athletics and the inordinate
amount of focus given to sports excellence is a central theme that surfaced frequently in my
interviews.
The interviews I conducted, as well as my own experience attending a PWIS, also
reminded me of a popular documentary called Hoop Dreams (1988). The film chronicles the
story of two African American boys, Arthur Agee, and William Gates. Starting age 10, the
documentary follows the two boys from urban Chicago. We watch them throughout their teenage
54

years and into early adulthood. Both boys received scholarships to attend a predominantly White
private school in suburban Chicago. The coach at the private school made it no secret that he
wanted the boys at the school to improve their basketball team, so it was not a surprise that one
of the boys was asked to leave the school when his athletic ability did not meet the coach’s
expectations. The other young man remained at the school but suffered injuries and nearly lost
his scholarship as a result. It was unfortunate because the PWIS did not fully consider other
contributions these young men could make, and the school did not see their worth beyond their
athletic ability. Steve shared with me that there were times during his tenure at his PWIS when
he elected to focus on his school work and skipped participation in a sport’s season: “When I
told my classmates and teachers that I wasn’t playing a sport, you would watch this confusion
pass over their faces. It was like they’d want to ask, “What are you doing here?” The implication
was that Steve should not be attending this elite prep school if he was not going to get his 6’5
frame out on the field.
Leaving the Hood to Attend an Elite Prep School
I was 14 years old when I was recruited to attend a PWIS. At the time I left my free
public school and went to attend my new private institution, my new school’s tuition was equal
to roughly half of my parent’s annual salary. Being asked to attend the school came as a surprise
for my family and me because we did not have the financial resources to afford the tuition, and
my grades were not very good at the time. I dug up an old eighth
-
grade report card and
confirmed that I had a 1.38 grade point average, a D average. My PWIS did require me to take an
entrance exam, but I never suspected that I was being recruited because of my outstanding
performance in the classroom. I was a standout athlete as a 14-year-old, and I suspect my athletic
ability played a major part in the reason the school offered my family a scholarship.
55

The PWIS I attended was a sprawling 30-acre campus filled with buildings that
resembled a New England boarding school or a small liberal arts college on the East Coast. The
school had a reputation for educating the children of some of the wealthiest families in the
country, including tech billionaires, well-known authors, Hollywood actors, and successful
entrepreneurs. It was not uncommon to have classmates with last names that also appeared on the
New York Stock Exchange. When the school was founded more than 100 years ago, it began as
an all-boys, 100% White boarding school reserved for the city’s elite families and their sons.
Fifty years after its founding, the school admitted its first students of color, and a few after that,
it admitted its first female students. When the school admitted its first Black students, it was
during the Civil Rights movement, which was a time when there was an outcry for greater racial
equity and justice across America. I mention this fact because, ironically, 70 years later, and on
the heels of the Black Lives Matter movement, there is a similar outcry for greater equity and
racial reckoning across the country.
As a result of this call for racial reconning, we are currently witnessing a wave of
historically White institutions, including several independent K–12 schools, claiming that they
will work to embrace DEI and have a desire to see inclusion thrive on their campuses. Many of
these PWIS are now hiring consultants and professional diversity practitioners who can help
them recruit and retain more BIPOC students, faculty, and staff. Many of these PWIS have great
resources, and as a result, their students tend to score higher on standardized tests, graduate at a
higher rate, and are more likely to attend 4-year colleges. Therefore, when one considers the
numerous challenges that Black boys face and how many of these concerns are tied to the public
school system, having your Black son escape a flawed public school system with an opportunity
to attend a well-funded private school may seem like an answer to a parent’s dreams. When
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school administrators contacted my parents and expressed their desire to have me attend their
PWIS, my parents and I were elated that I would have an opportunity to receive the finest
education money could buy, but we also wanted to know if the school would provide me the
same academic instruction as my non-Black classmates or would I be attending as window
dressing for photo opportunities in marketing materials, demonstrating the school’s commitment
to diversity? Would I be allowed to retain my identity as a Black boy and remain proud of my
culture, or would I be expected to assimilate and hide my true identity? Was I part of a social
experiment or token representation brought into the school to teach White students how to
socialize with Black students before they shipped off for college? All these questions flooded my
mind as I journaled and reflected on my experiences attending this well-resourced institution that
is known for educating the best and the brightest and for sending hundreds of students to Ivy
League colleges. My research questions helped to surface various themes about my PWIS
experience and that of my co-participants.
Research Question 1: How Do Stereotypes and Labels Affect Black Boys’ Identity
Development While Enrolled at PWIS?
As I reflect on my youth, the influences that shaped my childhood, and the person I
evolved into, it becomes easier to frame aspects of my identity through various environmental
factors. Each of the layers within the AAMT is important to examine while attempting to better
understand one’s identity and the identity development of a Black boy entering a PWIS as a teen
or pre-teen. I can also observe through AAMT how my local neighborhood, community, and
school environment began placing labels on me at a very young age, even before I arrived at a
PWI. Most of the children in my neighborhood played sports, and my mostly White public-
school teachers would regularly encourage my friends and me to participate in basketball,
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baseball, or football on organized teams. I did not realize it at the time, but before I was 10 years
old, we were already labeled and stereotyped as athletes by our mostly White teachers. These
labels came from many different influences in our microsystems, mesosystems, and exosystems.
The labels came from individuals in our neighborhoods, our schoolteachers, and sometimes our
own family members. These influences helped to form our identities within the AAMT
development model. Using AAMT was insightful and useful when examining my experiences
and the experiences of the men I interviewed. Terrance, who is now an artist, author, and
entrepreneur, shared with me that his father was a professional athlete, so expectations were
placed on him early in life about his athletic prowess, but he also admitted that he gladly
embraced those expectations and labels placed on him.
His exosystem, including his father’s job as a professional athlete, influenced his identity
heavily. He wanted to be like his father, so when the time arrived for him to enter school at a
PWIS, the influences of his microsystem made him comfortable with athletic labels placed on
him at an early age. However, an important distinction that Terrance, and the other co-
participants, made clear to me was that they felt uncomfortable with a one-dimensional label
placed on them. Terrance shared with me that some of his classmates at his PWIS did not believe
he could possibly be a good student academically. The fact that he was Black and a great
basketball player did not align with the stereotype the students created in their minds. He said, “I
remember during the first semester, I made 20 bucks from this dude because he bet me that I
didn’t have good grades. I didn’t care what he thought about me, and I got used to having them
underestimate me.”
Each of the men I interviewed participated in sports, but none saw themselves as strictly
athletes. Some were good at math, while others were artists or musicians. Yet, many of these
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additional attributes were largely ignored and were contrary to what many of their White
classmates and teachers saw in them. I spoke with Jamal, whose mother and father were
physicians. His parents made a point of placing academics above athletics for his siblings and
him, and his best sport was skiing. He was a junior champion in skiing, but when he arrived at
his PWIS, he was expected to play basketball, a sport he disliked and was not very good at. All
of the men I interviewed felt that members of the PWIS community often overlooked other
abilities and attributes outside of athletics. There was a common notion from each person I
interviewed that we were only allowed to attend the PWIS because we could help the school
excel in sports. This became a reoccurring theme in the interviews with my co-participants. I will
discuss this phenomenon in greater detail later in this chapter.
The label “athlete” and the stereotype of being an athlete were interesting conundrums
for my family and me. I soon learned that similar conundrums existed for most of the
interviewees. Many of my classmates and teachers were under the impression that my parents
wanted me to play sports, but most individuals in the PWIS communities did not realize that my
parents did not care if I played sports or not. My mother and father simply saw my participation
as part of the arrangement for my receiving a scholarship to attend the school. This goes back to
my earlier discussion about Black families migrating from southern states to create greater
opportunities for their children. Sports simply became a tool to open other doors. It ultimately
became the tool that opened the door for me at a PWIS. To better understand what I mean, it is
helpful to understand a little more about my mother and my father.
I grew up with an overly protective mother who would not allow me to play organized
sports for fear that I would get injured. She also did not permit my older brothers to play sports,
so while many children in our neighborhood were introduced to baseball, football, and basketball
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at an early age, the boys in my family avoided most athletics. I can remember each of my older
brothers coming home from school and asking my parents if they could play basketball, football,
or baseball. I did not know it at the time, but as I reflect and spend time talking with my brothers,
I learned that much of my desire to play sports came from the mesosystem layer of the AAMT
and their desire to build social and cultural capital. This also appears to be the case with many of
the men I interviewed. Being an athlete equated to being the “cool kid.” During my interview
with Steve, he shared that he really did not enjoy sports all that much, but he was bigger and
faster than many of the other kids his age, so he received attention from mostly White adults,
who wanted him to pursue sports.
I could certainly relate to Steve’s story. Unlike Steve, I really did enjoy participating in
sports, but like Steve, I worked hard to excel at sports because it brought me a great deal of
attention and positive reinforcement from authority figures outside of my family. Each of the
men I interviewed shared accounts about their experiences playing sports and how they received
greater applause and accolades on the court compared to the attention they received inside the
classroom. These accolades most often did not come from family members but from other adults
in our lives. Once we entered school, the peer pressure was exacerbated by friends, coaches, and
schoolteachers, who encouraged us to play. In this phase of identity development, I can see
where elements and factors tied to the mesosystem of the AAMT ecological system influenced
the desire to play sports and the pressure to excel in this area. It provides additional clarity for
understanding how social and cultural capital formed in the microsystem collided with school
environments and the neighborhood and community norms often present in our mesosystems.
The mesosystem of the AAMT explains how links between environments in the inner
microsystem, the outer microsystem, and the subsystem influence identity. Being in an
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environment, or mesosystem, where an expectation was placed on us to be athletes made it
difficult to showcase our other interests and abilities. There were also rewards, recognition, and
positive reinforcement that pushed this phase of identity development. It did not take long for me
to realize that getting all of the answers correct on the spelling quiz might have brought me a pat
on the head from my grade schoolteachers, but making a game-winning shot or being the fastest
kid on the playground brought me a pat on the head plus a high-five, a larger number of friends,
and other special privileges in my school environments. I can remember in sixth

grade when all
the other students had to stay in class until 3 p.m. at the end of the school day, but the boys on
the track team or basketball team were allowed to leave school early. This was so that we could
prepare for athletic competitions after school.
It may seem counterintuitive that 12- and 13-year-old boys would be allowed to miss
academic instruction due to a sporting event, but it occurred frequently. I heard a reoccurring
theme centered around athlete privilege from nearly all the men I interviewed. The following are
some additional excerpts from the interviews. Jamal, an attorney, stated,
I can’t dance at all, and I can’t play basketball either. I was actually a great ski racer, but
my classmates used to joke a lot about me and my inability to play basketball, which is
clearly racist. My grandfather actually won awards for his intellect, but people at my
school didn’t really care about that. They cared more about what sports my family
members played. I had family members who were renowned scholars.
Steve, and artist/filmmaker, stated,
There was this presumption that I not only should play sports, but that was my only
reason for being at the school. The idea that being an athlete was not part of the
arrangement seemed foreign to many people, especially to my classmates and their
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parents. There was a general perception that I wouldn’t be there if not for my
participation in sports. But that was also reinforced on the Black side. My Black
classmates and friends expected me to play also.
Amadu said,
I’d also have people touching my Afro all the time, putting pencils in my hair, saying
subtle things like, “Oh, you must play all sports,” or things like that. There was always
pressure to play sports. Or the one that got to me a lot was I’d get called the names of the
other Black kids at our school. There were only a few of us but weren’t the same size,
and we looked nothing alike. So, it’s not even a close comparison. And half the time, kids
would be joking. The other half of the time they’d actually be serious. The worst thing
was when teachers in class would be like, at the start of a trimester, “Oh, just let me know
if you have early dismissal for sports.” And I’m like, “It’s fall term, and I’m not playing a
sport this term.”
Terrance said,
I think maybe there was a social benefit in being an athlete because you immediately gain
acceptance from your peers as an athlete. I think for me it wasn’t an advantage at that
school, although I don’t know if it was an advantage to play sports. I don’t even know,
man. I think that it was never an advantage of me being on the team. I think it was a
social advantage. But when I started demonstrating prowess on the court, it became part
of my identity and what people knew me for. The school really just mirrored America.
The school actually stole the valedictorian award away from me. Can you believe that
shit? I was just a kid, man, but I can actually remember it. I look back on it now. I
thought that it didn’t bother me, but it did. When that happened, academics stopped being
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serious for me. I went from being first in my class, and I dropped down to fifth because
they gave me a C.
Cole stated,
Sports was always at the center of my growing up because of my siblings. I had a brother
who was an All-American track runner, another one who was All-Conference in college
in football. And we would go down and play baseball. We’d play kickball. We’d play
football. We’d play everything and anything that we could. And because I was the
youngest, I was always the one that was getting picked last, having to prove myself. And
I used that to carry me. In middle school, I became one of the first ones picked on the
playground when it was an athletic thing. By my junior year and definitely senior year, I
really set myself apart from many of my peers, not just at the school but in the city, and
had great success. I always had a passion for it, but I was always chasing my siblings, not
the other players on my team or in the league. We had some great players on our football
team at school, but my chase was always my big brother. To be faster than him, to break
this record in football, make this many points in basketball, etc.
Nolan said,
I remember visiting one of my teammates’ house, and I’m not going to say his name, but
he was another star there, a White guy. And we drive up to his house, which had a super
long driveway, and the house was giant. After we get there and sit down, we’re eating
dinner, and we start talking. He is like, so how do you like the school? This and that. I
explain that I like it okay. And he’s like, you know that you’re here mainly for sports,
right? And I was like, yeah. He’s like, so just make sure you remember that. This school
is a little different than where you came from, but this is how we do things. And I was
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like, so what are you getting at? He began to beat around the bush, but I knew what he
was talking about. He was trying to tell me, “You’re only here for your ability to play
football.”
Julian said,
I remember a time when items were being stolen at school, and school leaders came to
the Black students and accused us of stealing. They ended up catching a White student
that was actually stealing, and he was on another team, like soccer or something. And that
was just one experience that caught me off guard when I was brand new to the school.
That was more like the first couple of months of being at the school. That’s when I
realized, like, “Okay, I got to kind of tread softly here because, of course, they have their
eyes on me.” So like I said, I’m just going to focus on school and just be as cautious as I
can be around here. That was just one experience, and at the time, I didn’t think of it as
weird because, after a theft, I figured they would work to get down to the bottom of it.
But it is just crazy now that I think back because I remember seeing a couple of my Black
friends leaving class and being called to the office. When they returned, they asked me,
“Did you hear about people stealing on campus?” I was like, “Yeah. They talked to me
about that earlier.”
Based on the interviews I conducted and reflecting on my own experiences, I believe it is
fair to state that labels and stereotypes play a big part in Black males’ experience at PWIS,
specifically the stereotype of playing sports. It seems to be an issue that continues to follow
Black men on PWIS campuses. In my reflective journaling, I wrote about a situation that
happened to me at the PWIS where I worked, and this was only a few months ago. When I
accepted my job as an administrator at the school, I was visibly overweight and had not played
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any organized sports in more than 20 years, but when my White colleague, another senior leader
at the school, learned that I attended a prestigious PWIS decades earlier, the first question she
decided to ask me was “Did you go there to play basketball?” Never mind that she saw my
resume only a few days earlier and knew that I had four college degrees and was currently in a
doctoral program.
I don’t think she is a bad person or that she meant to cause harm, but she somehow
managed to place me in a box. She quickly labeled me with a stereotype that she was
comfortable with. For my co-participants and me, these sorts of episodes are not uncommon. I
have been on vacation and traveling on the other side of the country, standing in a buffet line
waiting for an omelet, when a complete stranger will see me in a polo shirt embossed with the
name of a university I attended. The stranger will rarely ask me what I studied in school. Instead,
they typically ask me what position I played on the football team. It is funny because I never
touched a football in college. I have learned over the years that most of the time, people asking
questions like this are simply trying to make small talk and have no ill intentions, but it is still a
form of labeling and stereotyping. Sometimes, I will just go along with the routine just because I
do not have the energy to challenge their stereotypes. Experiences like these tend to push me into
a social identity contingency, like those discussed by Steele (2010). A social identity
contingency is essentially a strategy or tactic used to deal with stereotypes.
While attending a PWIS, being an athlete was not always a bad thing for me, nor was it
for most of the men I spoke to. In fact, being an athlete helped many of us to break down
barriers, and it enabled us to connect with classmates and other members of the school
community. In many cases, it made our presence on PWIS campuses less hostile. Receiving the
stereotype of athlete felt like an upgrade from the stereotype of thug or criminal. The most
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unfortunate thing about the labels and stereotypes we discussed was that each one of these men
had skills, talents, and attributes that were never showcased or allowed to blossom. The schools
missed out on the artistic skills Terrance possessed, the writing skills of Jamal, and the
negotiating abilities of Amadu simply because they saw these young men as one-dimensional
individuals. Our intersectionality was largely ignored. It was only several years later for many of
us that we discovered untapped potential and showcased attributes that were shut down or stifled
during our years attending PWIS. The good news is that school administrators, teachers, and
others in the school community can fix this. In Chapter Five, I will provide some solutions.
Nolan shared a story about sitting in his history class during ninth

grade when his
physical education teacher showed up unannounced and asked his history teacher to excuse him
from class 30 minutes early. He was pulled out of his history class because there was a high
school coach visiting his junior high, and the coach wanted to meet with him. Nolan was led to
the gym, where he would change into shorts and a T-shirt. When he met with the high school
coach, the coach pulled out a stopwatch and had him run down a vacant hallway as fast as he
could. Nolan ran down the hallway six or seven times so that the coach could record his fastest
times. The coach must have liked what he witnessed because he contacted Nolan’s parents and
asked if he could visit the high school the following week and spend an entire day. When Nolan
arrived at the high school, the coach had him shadow and attend classes with an older student,
another African American boy.
Nolan shared that looking back on this experience now makes him feel a bit
uncomfortable, like he was a piece of cattle or a racehorse, but it is hard to blame a 13-year-old
boy for not understanding what was going on. At the time, Nolan thought this was the coolest
thing in the world. He was allowed to leave school, while his classmates had to stay back and
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take quizzes. Nolan also shared that when his grades began to fall, and he was in jeopardy of not
being eligible to play in a game, his football coaches told him “not to worry about that. We’ll
take care of it.” The implication was that we will take care of academics as long as you score
touchdowns. Nolan was also asked to take painkilling injections during football games when he
got hurt and could not perform. Fortunately, Nolan’s father was close by and refused to let his
son inject painkilling medicine.
As a Black boy attending a PWIS years ago, I had the additional burden of overcoming
labels, stereotypes, and racism. I did not always feel comfortable or safe challenging labels or
stereotypes, so I often employed tactics that made me feel safe in these instances. Sometimes,
this meant skipping class or avoiding subject matter being discussed in class. Steele (2010)
would describe my behavior as a social identity contingency. At the time, my identity as an
athlete was salient to whom I thought I was. As an athlete, I was frequently recognized,
celebrated, and even received preferential treatment. Being an athlete was a major dimension of
my identity, and I received a great deal of positive reinforcement. However, in hindsight, I can
see that this narrowly defined dimension likely derailed many of my academic efforts and other
contributions I might have made if these labels and stereotypes were not omnipresent. I certainly
bear some of the responsibility for the lack of attention I gave to my academic achievement, but I
also feel that I lacked the agency to push back against stereotypes and labels. Throughout this
dissertation, I examined my lack of responsibility and other factors that contributed to my
successes and failures.
However, this inquiry aims to interrogate the responsibility of teachers and administrators
at PWIS to embrace the intersectional attributes that Black boys bring with them to their schools.
Students have a greater capacity to see themselves as scientist, photographers, writers, musicians,
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or athletes if they can. Because I received a scholarship and was recruited to the school to play
sports, I initially accepted the labels and did not have a problem with the stereotype placed on
me. Being a Black kid from a lower socioeconomic status family, and having the opportunity to
attend a great school alongside some of the smartest kids in the city, made me feel like I had very
little agency to challenge the status quo. On its surface, this arrangement might seem like a
golden opportunity, but my goal in this study was to examine these scenarios closely.
Throughout this dissertation, I unpack the notion that attending a PWIS is the best thing for a
Black boy when labels, racism, and stereotypes persist.
Research Question 2: What Systemic Structures or Environmental Factors Within These
Schools Promote Assimilation and Constrain Inclusion for Black Boys?
The Admissions Game
In my experience as an administrator, I found that PWIS will explain that they would like
to attract more Black students to their schools but add that they have highly competitive
admission processes and believe many of the Black students would struggle academically or
would not be able to meet the academic standards of the school. It’s a similar premise used in
many corporations to explain why they don’t have more Black employees. Many organizations
hide behind screening mechanisms that don’t necessarily determine results, success, or
outcomes. Both when I worked at a PWIS and attended as a student, I was surprised to learn how
many White students struggled academically. I certainly struggled, but so did many of my non-
Black classmates. I was convinced that some of my White classmates were only admitted to my
PWIS because of their last name, their home zip code, or the Country Club their family belonged
to. My co-participants shared experiences that confirm how these double standards serve to
stereotype, label, and exclude. Two of the men I interviewed shared how they were surprised at
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the amount of cheating that took place in the school. Nolan talked about the culture of cheating at
his school.
One thing that I do remember that was totally different than any other school I’d ever
attended, was how many people cheated. It was literally half the class was cheating. I was
like, what the hell is going on? I’d get kicked out of school if I did shit like that. I
remember one time when a kid got caught, and the school was like, we’re going to
contact your parents, but he was back in school the next day and to the best of my
knowledge he continued to cheat his way through school.
Jamal shared an experience about a weekly quiz that his high school teacher would give
to students, but he had a White friend at his school who rarely prepared for the quiz and who
would simply copy Jamal’s answers on a regular basis.
I had a good friend, a White student from an affluent family, and this friend copied my
quiz answers regularly. We had the same answers on our assignments, but when our
teacher graded our quizzes, my White friend always received a higher score than me.
This was perplexing because the answers on both quizzes were identical.
I find it interesting that many of the same schools that use IQ and standardized testing as a
screening mechanism to admit children can find alternative admission processes or exceptions to
the rules when the wealth of a family is involved or perhaps when a Black boy possesses
exceptional athletic abilities. This thinking aligns with interest convergence, a tenet of critical
race theory, which posits that the dominant White culture is only interested in supporting the
Black people when that support benefits or converges with the interest of the White dominant
culture (Bell, 1992). So, in essence, a PWIS would only be interested in admitting or uplifting a
Black boy to their school when it serves their desired interest.
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I Know a Pretty Black Girl You Should Meet
While some PWIS have certainly made efforts to become more ethnically and racially
diverse, most of them remain predominately White. The demographic make-up in some of these
schools shifted in recent years to include more people of color, but these institutions still have
long-held traditions, deeply ingrained pedagogy, and school histories where the dominant culture
permeates the institution’s culture. Despite the appearance of a greater number of students of
color on PWIS campuses, these schools remain institutions where most BIPOC individuals do
not feel a sense of belonging. Amadu shared that he was expected to date the one African
American female who was close to his age at the school: “They told me that they thought I
should date the other Black girl … in the grade. And I was just like, ‘I don’t even understand
this.’” Dating and social life within a PWIS was a delicate topic to discuss with my co-
participants, and while my experiences and that of my co-participants may not be reflective of
the experiences of all Black men who attended PWIS, a few themes emerged that reinforced the
notion that many of these schools possess norms and systemic structures within the school
environments that promote assimilation and constrain opportunities for inclusion. Darian shared
an interesting story about his years of attending the same PWIS. “There were always people of
different races who liked each other and hooked up, but they kept it a secret.” Darian’s account
was certainly true in my PWIS experience as well. When I attended a PWIS, it was understood
that the Black boys should be nice, cordial, and friendly with non-Black girls at the school, but
that we should not date them nor ask them to school-sponsored dances or events. Julian said,
I wouldn’t get invited to certain events, even with girls. I wasn’t able to date them
because they weren’t allowed to. There were girls who liked me, but I couldn’t call them
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on the phone, I couldn’t talk them at all. I literally had no social relationships with any of
the kids from my school.
Dating a White girl at a PWIS was considered risky behavior or counter to school norms for
most of the Black men I spoke to. There was an expectation by school leaders, as well as
classmates, that they date one of the handful of Black females at their schools. Nolan told me
about an experience he had when he attempted to date a White student at his school.
I was sort of naïve to the racism, but then I started seeing it. I dated this girl, right? And
we were cool at first, just friends, this and that. And then she was like, Hey, I want you to
meet my parents. And I was like, oh, okay. So, I go with to meet them, and they were
like, okay, well, do you really think you should be dating her? You know because of your
color? You guys are going to be seen as outcast. I told them I didn’t see anything wrong
with it. And it was right after I had a football game and I had like hurt my hand, I believe
I fractured it, and her dad knew this, but when I went to shake his hand, he pretty much
squeezes my hand to make it hurt even more. I remember being in pain, sweating, and
everything. And he is like, are you nervous? I was like, no, my hand is broke, and he
squeezed it more. Later that year, he ended up catching me sneaking out of her house late
at night, and he is like, why would you get her in trouble like this? And I was like, well,
we were just hanging out. And he told me, I don’t know if you should be dating her with
you being the color you are. Aren’t there girls in your neighborhood you can date? I was
like, what? Oh, wow. I didn’t realize so much at the time, but there was a lot of racism at
the school.
Elijah Anderson described a similar phenomenon in his book, Black in White Space (2022),
when White School administrators in the predominantly White town of Swarthmore,
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Pennsylvania, made it clear that, if the Black boys attending the school wanted to date, they
should visit the neighboring town where Black girls lived. The men I interviewed shared similar
stories about their experiences attending PWIS. There were no written rules, but the men simply
understood that the school communities frowned upon interracial dating. For the few Black boys
who dated outside of their race, there was pressure for them to assimilate or denounce everything
possible about being a Black boy. Carlton is a fictional character from a popular television show
called The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. In the sitcom, Carlton is a Black teenager from an upwardly
mobile African American family who lives in the affluent community of Bel-Air, California, and
he attends a fictional PWIS. This character’s name came up frequently in my interviews when
describing the sort of Black boy who was sometimes able to date outside of his race or get
invited to parties with his majority White classmates.
These individuals had the ability to blend in and achieve a degree of inclusion at a PWIS,
primarily because they had perfected the art of assimilation. All the men I spoke to described
individuals at their PWIS that reminded them of Carlton, and in some instances, they confessed
that others perceived them to be like Carlton. My co-participants believed there was a certain
way one needed to carry themselves in order to become more acceptable to PWIS faculty, staff,
and classmates. For many, this involved the art of code-switching, acting one way around their
Black friends and family, and switching to another persona when around their PWIS community.
When I reflect on my experience attending a PWIS, I also never dated anyone out in the open. I
simply avoided the prospect of dating during the time I was there. I was close friends with a
Black girl who attended another PWIS across town, and she became my go-to date anytime there
was a function to attend. She would also invite me to any homecoming, prom, or social events at
her school. We were only good friends, but we both understood that it was more acceptable for
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us to appear with each other within these institutions that had strong cultural norms. An
interesting thing occurred one year after I graduated from my PWIS when I began a relationship
with a former PWIS classmate, a White student who graduated the same year as me. We were a
year removed from the school, and it felt safer to engage in something more than a friendship.
The funny thing is that she was still unable to share with her family members and friends that she
was dating a Black person. Our romantic relationship did not last for long, but we have remained
friends for several years now. Ironically, she began dating another Black man that she met while
away at college, but she told everyone back in our hometown that he was only a friend and that
he was not heterosexual or interested in women. It was the only way her circle of friends and her
family would accept the close relationship she developed with him. She and I can look back and
laugh about those past episodes today, but in hindsight, it was sad that we could not be authentic
during our years at our PWIS.
Cole shared a similar story about going on a single date with one of his former PWIS
classmates. They never dated during their 8-years as classmates at their elite prep school, but
when they both found themselves at the same Ivy League college, they thought it would be
humorous to show up as a couple at a debutante gala that was being held in their hometown.
She asked me, do you want to go to this formal with me? I think it would be a hoot to
have us walk into to the building arm and arm. And we were just good friends at this
point, but just the look on people’s faces. And sure enough, walking in there, everyone
knew who I was, but they never expected to see me in that environment, so a lot of my
classmates who are in their tuxedos and in their dresses and having taken their buttermilk
baths, and they didn’t know what to think when they saw me because they’re like, I know
him, and we were in school together for all those years, but why is he here?
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What was even funnier was looking at some of the adults who didn’t know me and
wondering why I didn’t have a tray in my hand. I kid you not. My friend knew what we
were getting into by doing this. And I think that was her way of making a statement to the
families she grew up with.
In fairness to independent schools everywhere, I believe dating and interacting with
classmates beyond friendship seems altogether different than what I’ve witnessed in many
public-school settings. Perhaps this is another research opportunity for another time. This inquiry
is not about dating advocacy, and I do not believe PWIS should serve as a dating service. I
included these incidents simply to illustrate the deep cultural norms that exist within many PWIS
communities. When I left my public school, I had zero concerns about whom I could date, and
because of the greater diversity and inclusion at my public school, I always felt comfortable
engaging with everyone and talking to anyone. When it was time to leave my public school, I
was not happy about leaving, but my parents had other plans for me. I did not receive a vote in
the matter and would have been outvoted by my mother and father anyway. The representative
from the PWIS I attended made the school sound like the best place in the world, but he left out
the part about assimilating me into the school’s culture. What my parents did not realize at the
time is that their proud and confident Black boy, who left their home each morning loving his
Blackness, might not feel as comfortable loving himself and his Blackness when he would come
home each day. Not every co-participant shared the same story about attempts to assimilate into
their PWIS culture, but there were similar themes in all of my conversations with them.
Leave That Ghetto Stuff at Home
As I spoke to these men and reflected on some of the experiences recorded in my journal,
a phrase came to my mind. It was a phrase used by Captain Richard H. Pratt, who founded the
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Carlisle Indian School in 1879 regarding the education of Native Americans at the turn of the
20th

century. Pratt proselytized a popular theory that the White man needed to kill the Indian and
save the man (Bess, 2000). It was a violent metaphor, but Pratt was not implying that Indians
should be put to death literally; he strongly believed that native culture needed to be extinguished
or eradicated. His goal was to civilize the indigenous tribes whom he sought to colonize. Four of
the men I interviewed spoke about how their White teachers and classmates gave them a hard
time about the way they pronounced certain words. These were colloquial words frequently used
in the boys’ neighborhoods and that their mothers and fathers also used, either because of their
Southern roots or because of their Southern accents. Being teased about the use of these words
made some of the boys feel self-conscious. Julian shared, “It was a common thing around school
to joke about some of the words that I pronounced differently than other kids.” Cole told me that
when he first arrived at his PWIS, a few students said, “Can’t you speak English?” Some of the
men I spoke to confessed that this teasing caused them to speak less in public forums and answer
questions less often in class. For some of the others, this made them work harder to speak like
the other children at the school.
The pressure to assimilate affected more than word usage. Trying to fit in at a PWIS
affected how we dressed, the music we listened to, and the television shows we watched. All of
these factors were often motivated by whatever the dominant culture group was doing at the
PWIS. The faster and more seamlessly a Black student could mimic his White classmates, the
faster he might feel some degree of acceptance. In the meantime, the same adjusting and
assimilating that helped us blend in better at school made us pariahs back in our neighborhoods.
Almost everyone I interviewed said they were called a sellout at some point or told that they
were “acting White.” These terms were essentially a death sentence to one’s credibility in the
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Black community. Most of the pressure to assimilate came from other students, but where the
school seemed to be complicit was when it came to discipline and correcting behavior.
Each of the men I spoke to shared examples of how they received greater punishment and
discipline than their White classmates for seemingly benign behavior. One of my co-participants
said he was sent to the office for talking loudly, and another said he got in trouble for completing
his homework too fast. Another was told that he was too outspoken and the equivalent of a “cult
leader.” Harold said that his teacher wrote his father’s phone number in bold font on the
chalkboard, where he and all of his classmates could see the contact information. The teacher
regularly threatened Harold with calling his father to the school if he spoke too much in class.
While some of these disciplinary practices might have served as effective tools for driving
compliance and controlling Black boys, the tactics also further ostracized and made these young
men feel othered.
Some of the discipline was much more serious. Julian shared an account about a Black
classmate at his school who was in a consensual dating relationship with a White student.
However, when her parents learned about the relationship, Julian’s friend was accused of sexual
assault and dismissed from the school. I wrote in my journal about a basketball coach at my
school who would frequently criticize one of the most talented players in the state. This was
another Black student who attended a public school against which our school played. Our coach
would say, “Yes, he might be a good player, but he plays that ghetto ball, and we are not playing
that sort of basketball in my program.” This was his codified language for telling me and the
other Black player on the basketball team that we better “leave that ghetto stuff at home.” There
was simply a notion that we needed to change who we were when we arrived at school if we
were going to survive our time there. My co-participants explained that to survive, it was
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important that they learn how to code-switch, a skill that involves adjusting one’s personality and
way of acting while in different cultural spaces and social situations to blend in (Cross, 1991).
Are You Trying to Help Me, or Do You Just Think I’m Dumb?
The men I interviewed recalled events when some of their teachers made academic
exceptions for them or provided them with extra time to take a test. This was contrary to the
messaging we received at home from our parents. Our parents were adamant that if we did not do
well academically, we should not be able to play sports. For some of the men I spoke to, school
leaders would not allow them to miss playing in an important game. Darian shared an incident
when he had an injury to his leg, so his coaches drove him to a farm where he could receive
some of the medicine used to help racehorses recover faster from injuries. Darian was 16 at the
time, so he went along with the treatment, but in hindsight, he does not believe his White
coaches placed the same value on his well-being as on that of his White classmates, not when he
was made to believe his greatest value to the school was his athletic ability.
Being an athlete for some of my co-participants became a form of currency, something
they could leverage to receive additional rewards or benefits. Darian shared a story about
bringing a check to school from his mother to pay for his lunches, but the lunchroom worker
essentially told him that he never had to pay for lunch at this school again. It is difficult to know
if this gesture was meant to reward Darian for being a great football player or because the
administration knew that his family needed extra financial support, but one thing the gesture
reinforced was that Darian was not like his more affluent White classmates. It was another way
he saw himself as different and not belonging.
There were also a few episodes where my co-participants were told that they did not need
to worry about an upcoming test or a low grade they received. As a teenager, it might have
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seemed beneficial to receive a pass on an upcoming quiz, but as adults, we can all look back and
see that there were adult educators working in these environments who limited or restricted the
degree of learning that some received, either because they thought we lacked the aptitude to be
challenged the same way our White classmates were or because they did not believe we should
worry about the achieving the same academic success of our White classmates. Some of the
attitudes and behaviors exhibited by faculty and staff felt like institutional norms. I will explain
what I mean with an example shared by Cole.
Cole shared a story about his high school college advisor, who was also his high school
basketball coach. The PWIS he attended is well known for being an elite academy with many
graduates who attend Ivy League universities. Like many of his classmates, Cole was also
interested in attending a prestigious Ivy League school following graduation. Cole was a well-
rounded student who received good grades, and he endured 8 years of being treated like an
outsider on campus. When he told his high school advisor that he wanted to attend an Ivy League
university, the college advisor told him, “That’s not the place for you.” The advisor never said it
was because Cole was Black, but this advisor encouraged his White advisees to attend the same
Ivy League university. Fortunately, Cole did not allow his college advisor to deter his college
dreams, and two months after graduating from high school, Cole enrolled at an Ivy League
university and currently works as a successful executive. Many of the men with whom I spoke
shared similar stories about teachers and adult educators who tried to dissuade them from taking
challenging courses and wanted them to aim lower than their intellectual capabilities.
Caught Between Two Worlds
Darian, who shared the story about receiving free lunches and using horse medicine to
heal his leg, told me that he is still dealing emotionally with the effects of some of the events in
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school. He likened it to post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) and felt like his school robbed
him of his identity in some ways. When Darian left his local public school in eighth grade, he
considered himself very well situated in his local community. He was an integral member of his
predominantly Black neighborhood, but he believes leaving his public school and neighborhood
behind took away much of his connection and reduced much of his credibility within his
neighborhood. He was called a sellout and a traitor. This is something that other co-participants
shared with me as well, but what made Darian’s comments different was that he felt that
attending a PWIS and placing his energy in a new, mostly White space reduced his voice and
ability to speak up and speak out when he returned to a predominantly Black space. It was an
interesting conversation because we discussed whether we thought well-known individuals, like
Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, or someone like the late Senator John Lewis could have
remained effective agents of change in predominantly Black communities after attending a
PWIS.
We know that individuals like Dr. King have attended predominantly White universities
and maintained credibility and respect in Black spaces, but attending a K–12 PWIS alongside the
privileged children of millionaires is entirely different. Darian believed that he was never fully
trusted again by people within his community once he attended a PWIS, and he still lives with a
feeling of being in between two worlds. There was a sense that he lost something in the process,
and following his attendance, he was viewed as an outsider or an informant for the White
establishment. The interview with Darian gave me a great deal to think about because he was the
only man who said he would not do it again if given a chance to go back in time. The other men
shared about the trauma they experienced, but all said they would do it again with a few
adjustments to their experience.
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Not one of the men I spoke to said that they enjoyed wearing a mask, code-switching, or
pretending to be someone they were not, but for many of us, learning to assimilate became the
path of least resistance. The fourth tenet of the AAMT ecological model speaks to a supernatural
continuity and continuation of African culture, consciousness, and biology that influence the
experiences of African American boys and men” (Bush & Bush, 2018). One thing that I found
interesting about my co-participants and my experiences is that despite attempts to assimilate us
into a PWIS culture, we all managed to hold on to a sense of self and group identity, which is
consistent with the AAMT ecological model. In Roots, a popular television miniseries that aired
in 1977, adapted from Alex Haley’s book by the same name, there is a memorable episode when
the star character, Kunta Kinte, portrayed by actor Levar Burton is forced to adopt a new non-
African name of Toby, given to him by his capturers. There are repeated attempts to force Kunta
Kinte to change his name against his will, and after several severe beatings and harsh
punishments, Burton’s character succumbs and surrenders his will. Throughout the miniseries, he
uses the name his capturers forced him to use, but it is clear that he never fully relinquishes his
connection to his real name and his origin country of Africa. His body was captive, but his mind
remained free.
Memories from my childhood and watching the miniseries Roots came to my mind as I
spoke to my co-participants and as I recorded memories in my journal. In my assessment, I
believe we were all forced to assimilate to some extent during our years attending PWIS. It
served as a survival tactic, but the connection to family and identity factors developed within our
microsystems of the AAMT resurfaced through events in the macrosystem. The macrosystem
represents larger events and cultural dynamics that we dealt with as students in our schools.
These were essentially events that reminded us that no matter how hard we tried to assimilate,
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we were still Black boys and still different. There were different rules for us, and ironically, this
drove us closer to our cultural cores over time. The chronosystem represents the time dimension
of the AAMT. There were events I experienced during my time as a student that exposed a
degree of racial reckoning. However, the timing of the events for me may not have mirrored the
timing of the events for my co-participants. Some of the men I spoke with admitted that they
were comfortable assimilating to align with the dominant culture until racist encounters
reminded them of whom they were. One participant shared that he thought his White friends at
his PWIS were his closest allies until he learned that he was not included or invited to social
gatherings and events.
Research Question 3: What Strategies and Resources Do Black Boys Use to Overcome
These Stereotypes and Labels to Gain a Sense of Self and Group Identity?
Ancestors Watching Over Me
Within the subsystem of the AAMT ecological model, there is a consideration for the
influence of supernatural and spiritual collective will. These are events and realities that are
beyond comprehension. According to Bush and Bush (2018), there is incomplete research on the
impact of African culture and consciousness on African American boys and men who grow up in
the United States, and most of the existing research on African American boys and men does not
attempt to empirically examine or theorize about the impact of cultural, biological, and spiritual
links. Bush and Bush (2018) posited that unconscious and metaphysical factors need to be
considered when examining identity development. This part of the AAMT model surfaced in my
self-reflection and in the interviews I conducted. There were times I could not logically explain
how and why I was placed in certain circumstances or how I came out on the other side
unscathed. It was almost like a higher power intervened and helped me land on my feet.
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Attending a PWIS for a Black boy is hardly comparable to the traumatic experience of ancestors
who survived the middle passage while traveling in the belly of slave ships to reach North
America or the 27 years Nelson Mandela spent in a South African jail cell, only to rise up and
become the nation’s first Black president, but there is something supernatural and metaphysical
about those sort of events that make them amazing. There is something supernatural about being
able to survive in the face of torture and oppression and thrive, despite having a boot on one’s
neck. It is within the subsystem of the AAMT ecological model that Black boys have been able
to overcome extraordinary obstacles to accomplish feats that are not easily explained.
I remember taking a standardized test during my senior year in high school. The test
would determine whether I would be accepted into college and would ultimately determine if I
would graduate from high school on time. I did not bother studying for the test because it was
during football season, and I had prioritized preparing for the game over everything. What made
the situation worse was that the night before the test, our football team played an important game
in a small town 300 miles away from home. The rest of the team went home after the game, but
my school arranged for another player and me to stay in a hotel overnight. The two of us would
take the test the following morning in this small town far from home. I cannot speak for my
teammate, but for me, the test was 3 hours of guessing all of the answers. I do not know how I
managed to pass the test, but I did. As a result, I was able to graduate on time and was accepted
into my college of choice. I remember thinking that my ancestors were guiding my hands and
helping me to move the pencil during the test. There were other episodes like this where I cannot
explain how I made it through, but I remember feeling a spiritual connection that guided me
along.
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I also remember attending a party at a classmate’s house in a predominantly White
neighborhood and once again far from home. There were a couple of hundred people at the party,
but I recall being one of the only African Americans anywhere in sight. The White classmate
who drove me to the party met a girl and decided to leave the party with her. I was stuck at the
party without a ride home and without a connection to anyone else who could drive me home.
This was years before Uber or Lyft, and it was not the sort of neighborhood where a 17-year-old
Black boy could call a taxi to pick him up. In fact, it was not the sort of neighborhood where they
saw 17-year-old Black boys regularly. Fortunately, I was not 300 miles away from home, but it
was about 10 miles from home. As midnight approached and my White classmates began to
vacate the premises, I decided that I better start walking home.
The entire time I was very nervous and afraid, especially being in an unfamiliar
neighborhood where there were not many people who looked like me. It was a very dark
residential area, and I really did not know where I was going, but again the entire time, I felt like
an angel or spiritual being guided my steps to safety. Once I reached a neighborhood where there
were some streetlights and other people of color, I felt comfortable enough to stand at a bus stop
and take a bus the last few miles to my home.
Following these experiences, I would develop greater discernment and become more
selective about where I went and whom I went with. Experiences like this drew me closer to
friends who looked more like me and further away from my classmates, who I began to realize
did not always have my best interest in mind. Ironically, events that seemed to bring my
classmates together actually pushed me further away. As a result of episodes like this, I became
closer to other friends of color in my community, who helped me to maintain a strong sense of
self and group identity.
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I was also fortunate that while I was attending my PWIS, there were a few other BIPOC
students going through similar experiences at other local PWIS. We formed a support group of
BIPOC students from different schools, and regularly connecting with this group helped with my
sense of self. The strategies and approaches I used to maintain a sense of self and group identity
were something that I wrote about in my own journaling, and this topic also came up during my
interviews with a couple of my co-participants. Cole talked about his connection to family and
his ancestors who came before him. He knew that he was a great athlete and realized that most of
his teachers and classmates stereotyped him as such. To overcome this one decisional stereotype
of dumb jock, Cole explained he performed at a higher level than many of his White classmates
academically. He did this to retain his confidence as a scholarly student and to reinforce the fact
that he was more than an athlete. Again, Cole attended an Ivy League college and had an
exceptional academic career there. He also shared about spiritual and metaphysical occurrences
that helped get him through his time attending a PWIS.
Don’t Forget Who You Are
Several of the men spoke about strategies they used to survive the experience. Most of
them shared with their family members helped keep them grounded by ensuring they participated
in community events with other BIPOC children outside of their PWIS. Harold shared,
One thing that I will say is that my parents were very conscious about making sure my
time with my White peers was not my only social interactions. My extracurriculars were
consciously with Black kids. I didn’t play little league sports with the White kids from
my school. During the weekends, I stayed in the hood and played with the Black kids. I
didn’t get to play tennis and go on the ski trips with my White friends. I was always
doing other stuff. I went to church in a Black neighborhood in Oakland, California. So,
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being in a Black church for the majority of the day on Sundays played a major role in
who I am and my identity as a Black man. So, I did my mornings and much of my school
days around White people. And during those times, I was just learning and taking in their
mannerisms and their actions, but at the end of the day I would transfer and transition to
hanging around with Black people and trying to take on those mannerisms.
This was the routine for Harold and many of the men I spoke to. They learned how to go
back and forward between two different and often disconnected communities. For many of us,
this skill has served us well in life because many spaces in America resemble the schools we
attended. The ability to navigate both worlds without being fully consumed by either is
something that all of my co-participants seemed to master over time, but learning to navigate and
build a strong sense of self did not occur overnight. Each of the men I spoke to discussed aspects
of attending PWIS as if it were a job that they went off to for several hours each day, but many
of them stayed grounded by returning home to families and communities that constantly
reminded them that they were Black, they were smart, and that they could accomplish whatever
they set their minds to, beyond the stereotypes and labels.
Cross (1991) theorized that African Americans go through five stages of racial
development on their way to gaining a full sense of self. In the first stage, pre-encounter, the
dominant culture surrounds the Black boy, and due to constant messaging from the dominant
culture, the Black boy absorbs and often believes messages about himself from the dominant
culture, including stereotypes and labels. Cross’ theory is consistent with the information I
collected during my inquiry. Cross called the second stage encounter, where the Black boy has
an experience that causes him to become aware of racism around him. Based on my experiences
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and the experiences of the men I interviewed, attending a PWIS often causes this identity stage
within the Cross model to commence.
In the third stage of immersion, a Black boy will often try to surround himself with
people and experiences that align with the messaging that he has been taught about himself. This
sometimes means adopting those stereotypes or immersing oneself around individuals who live
up to those labels. The men I interviewed all went through a phase where they embraced various
stereotypes about what it meant to be a Black man. In some cases, this meant being a great
athlete, while in some instances, it was a ladies’ man, a Hip Hop artist, a dancer, or great in bed.
In the fourth stage, the Black boy goes through internalization and begins to adopt and
incorporate a fully developed understanding of his group identity and what it really means to be
Black beyond the stereotypes. Finally, in the fifth stage of internalization-commitment, a Black
boy integrates his ethnic heritage into a single identity. He feels good about who he is and can
respectfully share his sense of self with others without feeling superior or inferior to others. This
fifth stage is something that the men in my study either achieved after they left their PWIS or
that they are still working on, but this fifth stage was difficult for any of us to achieve while
attending a PWIS.
Summary
Attending Private School Can Be a Good Thing
Through my reflection and the data from the interviews with my co-participants, I learned
that the experience of being a Black boy at a PWIS could vary from one individual to the next.
Each one of my co-participants shared experiences that were traumatizing, and none of them felt
comfortable being their full and authentic selves while attending a PWIS, but all but one said
they were thankful for the experience and would do it all over again if given the chance. Each
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one of my co-participants believed they received a much better education than they would have
received in public school, but all agreed that the education came with a heavy price socially.
Stereotypes and Labels Limit Potential. While Black identity development occurred for myself
and all the men I interviewed, the experience of attending a PWIS placed them in a constant
existence of back and forth. There were consistent stereotypes and burdens they encountered in
their school environments. They all felt that stereotypes restricted their ability to bring their full
and authentic selves to school and limited the contributions they were able to make.
Using the AAMT ecological model, the micro and mesosystem encountered mostly at
home and school drove salient images regarding self-image and identity development for myself
and the men I interviewed. Everyone I interviewed felt that their PWIS environment, to some
degree, impacted their ability to fully express themselves and to showcase various dimensions of
their identities beyond stereotypes and labels they received. This was also apparent in the notes
from my own journaling and reflections. I can see where there were talents and aspects of my
identity that I minimized in order to blend in. The AAMT ecological model demonstrates that the
impact of our microsystems away from school, in some cases, served to counter the deficit-laden
messaging we received at school. The spiritual nature of the subsystem of the AAMT model also
enable myself and the men I spoke to when overcoming stereotypes and labels. The microsystem
centers around the engagement experienced with the most important people in our lives and
where we spend a great deal of time. The microsystem layer can nurture or it can hinder racial
identity development. For myself and my co-participants the intersection of attending PWIS and
home life was often like a tug of war within the microsystem. The microsystem focused on
interactions with critical individuals we encountered who could be nurturing or hindering racial
identity development. The mesosystem pointed to the interaction between the explicit and
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implicit racial socialization messages conveyed by African American parents and other setting(s)
that potentially help adolescents navigate their identity search (DeCuir-Gunby et al. 2012).
Positive Images and Messaging About Black Identity Is Critical
Each of the men I spoke to talked about influences in their mesosystem that helped to
sustain them during the time they were attending a PWIS. Being able to engage outside of school
with Black friends at other schools, affinity members at church or clubs. My findings were
consistent with those concluded by DeCuir-Gunby et al. (2012), especially as it relates to the
microsystem and mesosystem of the ecological framework. Because I examined my own PWIS
journey and interviewed men several years removed from their PWIS experience, I was able to
investigate Black identity development beyond the PWIS timeframe and over time, so the
chronosystem layer also came into play. The men I spoke to were able to develop a more
multidimensional sense of self and what it means to be a Black man beyond the stereotypes and
labels. This is true of myself as well. Over time, as I distanced myself from my PWIS and the
identity that was formed while attending a PWIS, I was able to leverage other dimensions of my
identity.
I was also constantly reminded throughout this inquiry in my own journaling, self-
reflection, and in the experiences shared by my co-participants that there are supernatural
occurrences that cannot be easily explained. There were events and episodes that could only be
described as divine intervention. This highlights the importance of the microsystem,
mesosystem, and the subsystem within the AAMT. Figure 3 illustrates the influence of the
microsystem, mesosystem, and subsystem. The mesosystem particularly points to the interaction
between the explicit and implicit racial socialization messages conveyed by African American
parents and other settings that potentially help adolescents navigate their identity search (DeCuir-
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Gunby et al., 2012). This underscores the importance of the microsystem and mesosystem from
the bioecological perspective.

Figure 3
Black Boy at PWIS Ecological Framework Based on the AMMT Framework

MESOSYSTEM
EXOSYSTEM
MACROSYSTEM
CHRONOSYSTEM
MICROSYSTEM
SUBSYSTEM (Unknown,
Spiritual, Ancestral,
Metaphysical)
SUBSYSTEM
SUBSYSTEM
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Chapter Five: Discussion
After interviewing Black men who attended PWIS, reflecting on my own experiences,
and tying it to the literature, various themes emerged. Existing research indicates that many
Black families elect to send their children to independent schools due to perceptions that
independent schools are superior to public schools. Keeles (2013) posited that Black families,
being able to their children child to an independent/private school represents social, intellectual,
and economic progress. While most of the men in my study spoke in depth about athletics as a
key factor and being pulled into these schools due to their athletic prowess, the men also
discussed how their families saw their attendance as an elevation of social, intellectual, and
economic progress. This was also true with my family, so I agree with Keeles, but I believe there
are two distinct segments of Black families, and perhaps more who should be examined for
future inquiry. Two distinct groups include Black families who are upwardly mobile and opt to
attend PWIS for many of the same reasons that several non-Black families elect to attend private
schools.
By contrast, there are some Black families from lower socioeconomic circumstances who
might be recruited to attend PWIS and who are attending on scholarship with financial assistance
from the PWIS. Hardaway and Mcloyd (2009) argued that Black families are not able to send
their children to private schools due to the fact that many of these families still hover near the
bottom of the socioeconomic ladder, while DeCuir-Gumby and Dixon (2004) cited racism and
exclusion by school administrators have as a reason some Black families do not send their
children to PWIS. This inquiry did not differentiate or look at the experience based on economic
factors, but there were some indications that the experience in PWIS may differ for Black
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students who come from upwardly mobile families with professional parents who attended
college versus those who do not.
For Black boys who ultimately find themselves inside the walls of a PWIS, I wanted to
understand whether they felt a sense of belonging and if they felt welcomed. Strayhorn (2015)
argued that historically marginalized students are vulnerable or at risk in environments where
they are isolated or may not feel loved or cared about. The men I spoke to shared experiences
that aligned greatly with Strayhorn’s arguments. Delpit (2006) argued that many educators
approach teaching Black students as if they are intellectually inferior to White students, and this
was evident in my own experience, as well as the experiences shared by the men I interviewed.
During this inquiry, I learned that stereotypes and labels played a major role in how Black boys
were taught within the PWIS my co-participants attended, which was consistent with Delpit’s
claim that Black boys are not born with any less capability than White students, but systemic
factors within our schools still influence stereotypes and the approach to education often utilized
when teaching Black boys (Delpit, 2006).
Many of the men I spoke to indicated that they were perceived as being intellectually
inferior and shared that they sometimes bought into those perceptions or played along with the
stereotypes to gain greater acceptance or feel included. Wright and Counsell (2018) examined
labels and stereotypes that are disproportionately placed on Black boys in K–12 education.
Labels such as violent, unteachable, disinterested, lazy, hyperactive, and athletic often
characterize Black boys and are often linked to broader racist ideologies about Black boys in
America. The authors contended that these labels and descriptors serve to dehumanize and
devalue Black boys’ cultural and personal identities, both academically and socially. This inquiry
confirmed that many of the stereotypes that exist in public schools and across America in general
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also exist inside of PWIS. What made these finding more surprising was that children in these
schools are usually considered to be exceptional and much testing is often required before being
admitted to the school, so it begs the question that if Black boys were admitted due to
exceptional aptitude and passed the admission’s testing, why would these stereotypes persist? In
some instances, the men I spoke to shared circumstances where they felt obliged to dumb down
their intellectual capability or embraced the stereotypes associated with them. This initially
seemed counterintuitive to me, but Steele (2010) examined the concept of stereotypes and how
labels can affect the way individuals from marginalized groups sometimes behave in a given
situation. For example, if Black boys have a reputation of being exceptional athletes and being
poor academic students, and this stereotype is allowed to permeate within a given environment,
Steele contended that Black boys might behave in a manner that validates the stereotype. This
was certainly evident in many of the discussions with my co-participants. It was also true of my
own experiences. I often saw giving effort to academics in the classroom as a path of least
resistance. I did not realize it at the time, but in hindsight, I saw where I may have embraced a
stereotype so that I would be accepted and well-liked by my White peers.
Noguera (2003) offered a similar assessment that was validated in my research. He noted
how systemic and structural concerns can influence how Black boys are taught but added that
Black males also play an instrumental role in our own educational attainment/destruction. He
explained how social and cultural factors, as well as environment and identity, may contribute to
the challenges that Black boys encounter in school. He also argued that Black boys sometimes
succumb to peer pressure or act out in their classrooms to gain acceptance from friends or to
align with expected norms (Noguera, 2003). This was true for myself, as well as some of the men
I interviewed. We sometimes played along with the facade of pretending not to be so smart,
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because appearing smart was often associated with “acting White.” Noguera (2003) also
discusses this phenomenon in his book. Of course, it has always been a false equivalency to infer
that being smart means acting White. All of my co-participants understood this intellectually, but
hiding one’s level of intelligence also aligns with the microsystem and mesosystem that many
Black boys grew up negotiating. In many underserved and marginalized communities, the nature
of a Black boy’s microsystem and mesosystem within the ecological model pushes stereotypical
themes and troupes that align with White supremacist ideology. It is not altogether the same, but
it made me think about documented stories of enslaved Africans who secretly knew how to read
or who could solve complex equations and complicated problems but who strategically hid their
abilities and intelligence so that they would be left alone or because their outward intelligence
posed a threat to the dominant culture and White supremacy. It was essentially a survival tactic
to blend in and go unnoticed. None of my co-participants shared anything as extreme or
comparable to what our enslaved ancestors experienced; however, listening to some of their
accounts made me think about the idea of two-ness or double consciousness. Kirkland (2013)
discussed double consciousness, a term coined by scholar W.E.B. Du Bois, to describe an
identity attribute that most African Americans must learn to negotiate when they are Black
bodies operating in White dominant spaces. The term refers to a certain type of two-ness, where
African Americans must always possess two selves. The first is an image of self and how one
sees oneself while simultaneously maintaining an image of themselves through the lens of
Whites or the identity others observe (Du Bois, 1903).
There were a few common denominators that emerged about the Black men in this
inquiry who successfully navigated their PWIS experience. Being resilient was a common theme
that surfaced in reflecting about my own experiences, and a similar resilience appeared in the
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accounts shared by the men I spoke to. Another factor that came up frequently in my interviews
was the importance of family and a connection to Black culture outside of school. Some aspects
of the AAMT framework were discussed in the previous chapters, and when this ecological
model is applied to Black male development within the context of primary and secondary
schooling, there appears to be a qualitative connection between attending a PWIS and the impact
on Black male identity and sense of self. With the microsystem layer, as well as the mesosystem
layer playing a critical role in early Black male identity development, it was important for Black
men in my inquiry to have a mechanism to counter the narratives and perceptions received
within the PWIS environment. It was necessary to have mechanisms that applied equally strong
counter-narratives, and this often came from family, church, and community. The counter-
narratives received outside of school were helpful to the individuals in this inquiry, but for many
of the men I spoke with, developing a strong sense of Black identity and sense of self came
several years after leaving PWIS.
Bush and Bush (2018) highlighted how the collective experiences and events that take
place within the microsystem and mesosystem can impact the trajectory of Black boys, but they
also highlight how the resilient nature of Black boys helps them to navigate challenges and
counter the various obstacles that often materialize. In the fourth tenant of the AAMT model,
Bush and Bush (2018) discuss how Black boys are born with an innate desire for self-
determination and possess an unlimited capacity for morality and intelligence. This was also
consistent with the findings for this inquiry. Assimilating Black boys into the dominant culture at
PWIS may not be an intentional goal of these schools, but the environmental factors within many
of these schools often result in assimilation, where blending in becomes standard operating
procedure. Yosso (2005) discussed how schooling in many dominant culture environments often
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serves to impose knowledge and values supposedly on passive students, substituting previous
forms of cultural knowledge with the dominant culture’s forms of cultural knowledge. This
becomes an internal tug-o-war for many Black boys who attend PWIS. Within the microsystem
and mesosystem of the AAMT, there was a constant pull between one’s Black male identity and
the dominant White culture imposed by school norms and environmental factors.
Cross (1991) described the phenomenon in terms of stages that many Black males go
through on their way to racial identity development. Cross described the pre-encounter stage as
the period when Black boys are surrounded by the dominant culture and have no choice but to
absorb messages and images about oneself. These messages often include stereotypes and labels.
Following the pre-encounter stage, Black boys go through what Cross described as the Encounter
stage, where he experiences racist events or is made to feel othered or less than. The immersion
stage is next, and during this stage, Black boys often immerse themselves fully or partially into
stereotypical labels given to them by others. Therefore, when Black boys were labeled as good at
sports or intellectually inferior, lazy, and uninterested in academics, they often gave energy to
those stereotypes.
The first three stages of Cross’ racial identity development model perfectly described
what each of my co-participants expressed as present within their experiences attending a PWIS.
The fourth and fifth stages, internalization and internalization-commitment, were stages that my
co-participants and I were able to incorporate into our lives once we departed our PWIS. The
fourth and fifth stages involve developing a better and well-rounded perception of what it meant
to be African American man, absent the stereotypes and labels. It is during the fifth stage that
greater appreciation for a sense of self can be adopted. All five stages aligned with the results of
this inquiry. All the men I spoke to appeared to have a strong sense of self many years after
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attending PWIS and great pride in being Black, but not all of them felt this way during the time
while they attended their PWIS. Family connections, church affiliation, and sometimes friends at
home in their local neighborhoods played a major role in keeping them from being fully
enveloped by labels and stereotypes.
Implications for Practice
My experience as a student attending a PWIS was not a great one, and this was the
primary reason I accepted a job as a director of diversity and inclusion at a PWIS. I wanted to
help improve the experiences of Black boys and other BIPOC students who might find
themselves attending one of these schools. My original intention was to interview Black men
who attended PWIS to better understand their experiences through the lens of AAMT and
examine Black male identity development. My aim was to examine the feedback collected in my
inquiry and look for strategic solutions I could take back to school leaders with solutions for
creating more inclusive and welcoming environments. The good news is that there are efforts
PWIS can begin implementing right away to improve the experience of Black boys and other
BIPOC students. Many of these schools have already begun hiring dedicated staff members to
focus on DEI efforts, but without a strong change management strategy, I fear that many of these
schools will not execute meaningful and sustainable change.
This inquiry has focused on the experience of Black boys within PWIS, but many of the
recommendations and solutions can also be adjusted and applied to support other BIPOC and
historically marginalized students. The first recommendation is to eliminate or mitigate
stereotypes and labels that limit the abilities of Black boys and empower them to leverage their
full capabilities and make additional contributions within their school communities. When
independent schools recruit Asian families or White families, there is no need to lead with how
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many state basketball championships the school won or whether their child will have a chance to
make the varsity team during their first year. These should not be talking points when recruiting
Black students. Several of the men I spoke to shared experiences about how sports were tied to
their admission, whether overtly expected or covertly implied. The AAMT ecology model
confirmed that athletics can be an important dimension in Black male identity, but there are
many other facets of Black male identity as well as untapped potential in areas outside of sports.
Additionally, it should not be assumed that all Black students come from unstable homes, single-
parent families who require financial assistance, or gang-infested communities. Black families
come from all spectrums of life. While some Black families may require financial assistance,
others have resources to afford school trips, various uniforms, and tutoring support when
required. Some Black students have college-educated parents who did not attend school because
of athletic scholarships and who are not interested in athletics.
At the end of the day, there are many Black families who want the same thing for their
children that non-Black families desire. For PWIS leadership, the goal should be to listen and
understand these desires. Educators must also be mindful of the messaging and the power of
stereotypes. Steele (2010) argued that shifting the narrative about stereotypes can shift
perceptions as well as outcomes, so if the paradigm of the narrative becomes Black boys are
good at math and science, that stereotype will eventually gain traction and materialize. Ladson-
Billings (2013) examined teaching strategies that empower Black males. She noted that Black
boys are not often allowed to experience childhood the same way other children are, and they are
not afforded the same opportunity of being children in spaces where they should have that
opportunity. They need an opportunity to attempt academic achievement without fear of lasting
labels.
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Another recommendation is to center the voices of Black boys and engage their families
in a meaningful manner by providing them with a seat at the table to contribute their voices when
and where important decisions are made. The following recommendations are not intended to
blame the victims but to uplift Black boys, support Black male identity development and address
some of the concerns that Black boys experience at PWIS. Family members and Black boys
themselves must engage and act with greater self-efficacy. Bandura (2002) posited that students
who believe their actions will make a difference will act in their own best interest. This theory
applies to the parents of students as well. Black boys and their families need to know that their
PWIS is listening to them, and they need support from the school by receiving a seat at the table.
In the end, these families need to be active participants in their own fates. This relationship may
look different from one school to the next, but the families of Black boys need to know that they
have agency in the fate of their sons. I would argue that the greatest agency these families have is
the power to walk away. It may sound like an oversimplified solution, but Black students and
their families must exercise their free will and not be afraid to leave a school if they or their child
is not being treated properly.
Howard (2013) argued that Black boys could benefit from approaches to education that
deliberately center their voices. He contended that Black boys are treated differently by
educators and are often othered or viewed as specimens that are studied. Howard prescribed
models for teaching Black boys that help humanize and place greater value on what they bring to
the table. He also examined the impact of trauma and the weight many of these boys carry while
juggling expectations their non-Black counterparts may not have to contend with (Howard,
2013). An important area of focus that Howard discussed is the importance of culture within the
school and how the student’s culture aligns with that in the school. Additionally, he emphasized
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resilience theory, factors such as home life, peers, community, and the importance of caring
relationships within learning spaces.
PWIS could also benefit from the implementation of DEI training and inclusive practices
that leverage differences and use them as a competitive advantage and not perceive them as a
challenge to school pedagogy. Private independent schools are called private for a reason, and
just like exclusive country clubs, secret societies, and other non-public entities, they reserve the
right to remain exclusive. I want to emphasize that these recommendations are for institutions
seeking change and not those who want window dressing or token efforts. Through my research,
I learned that many PWIS have long-standing pedagogies, socially ingrained organizational
cultures, hierarchies, and histories that make DEI efforts challenging.
The word exclusion is rarely used by faculty, staff, and others in these school
communities to describe themselves. However, the term “exclusive” goes hand in hand with the
admissions process at many PWIS. Admission to many of these schools is considered exclusive,
and their admission process is designed to attract certain community members, select families,
and their children. The fact that these schools have admission processes favoring affluent and
upwardly mobile families establishes a screening mechanism where PWIS, by default, maintain
their exclusivity. The words for exclusive and exclusion are both derived from the Latin root
exclūdere. The question is whether schools built around exclusion can find a way to be truly
inclusive. I have witnessed PWIS environments that have made positive inroads with their DEI
efforts, so I do not believe it to be impossible to achieve greater inclusion within these
organizations, but during this inquiry, it was interesting to learn that many schools that were
originally founded on a premise of exclusion were suddenly making efforts and claims of
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embracing DEI. For some of these institutions, change will not be easy and will ultimately
displace school philosophy and pedagogy.
Despite DEI efforts at many of these schools for multiple decades, some continue to be
accused by current and former students, staff, and faculty of overt and covert racism. Some cases
of discrimination have been highly publicized. This research does not aim to uncover or identify
whether PWIS are institutionally racist or whether they use discriminatory practices in their
admissions processes. Existing research on this topic confirms that discrimination does exist. The
aim of this research was not to analyze nor debate whether PWIS are serious and sincere about
their DEI efforts; however, throughout this inquiry, it became evident that some PWIS were
willing to spend resources on DEI efforts but are not fully committed to DEI change. I believe
additional research is needed to examine the motivation or cause behind failing DEI initiatives at
these institutions and other organizations claiming to embrace DEI.
Pedagogy can be a very important ideology within some independent schools, but what I
learned is that pedagogy can also become codified language for “this is the way we do things
around here.” I agree and understand the importance of establishing teaching principles,
philosophies, and strategies for how curriculum and education are taught. However, being
inclusive means considering that the way we do things may not be the only way or best way to
achieve a desired result. True inclusion means considering that the way we do something might
improve when we combine it with influences and inputs from others. The result could be a better
outcome, certainly a more inclusive one. Inclusion also means faculty and staff members who
look like Black boys and other BIPOC students at the school, not only the workers in the
cafeteria, maintenance crew, or groundskeepers. Inclusion is hiring faculty and staff who reflect
the broader community and the students the institution wishes to attract. It also does not mean
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hiring people of color to serve as figureheads or window dressing. Students need to see leaders
who look like them, and BIPOC leaders in the school need to be empowered as decision-makers,
so new ideas can emerge and evolved pedagogy can blossom. Seeing leaders who look like them
can provide a greater sense of belonging. Students are more suited to succeed at school when
they feel a strong sense of belonging (Strayhorn, 2015). Inclusion also means integrating DEI
into all facets of school and campus life. Lessons and messages regarding race, gender, ethnicity,
and other differences can no longer be a footnote, part of an elective class, or optional
information consumed only by those who consume it. DEI messaging must come from
leadership and must be integrated into all aspects of campus life. School leaders and other
stakeholders within school communities need to learn that diversity and inclusion can serve as an
asset and should not be viewed as a threat to a school’s philosophy of pedagogy.
The way success appears, how it is delivered, and by whom can be packaged in various
ways. In other words, the paradigm of what success looks like or who can be successful needs to
change. Wilson (1992) argued that Black boys possess innate creativity and survival skills, that
these traits should be celebrated, and that educators should affirm these traits as gifted. These
characteristics are often overlooked, stifled, or dismissed within many predominantly White and
traditional K–12 teaching environments (Wilson, 1992). I interviewed one gentleman who shared
an example from a third grade when he was scolded and sternly reprimanded by a teacher
because he answered a question without first raising his hand. He was told that his behavior was
rude and violated classroom norms, but when his White classmate did the same thing a week
later, his teacher explained it away by asking the student to wait their turn with a smile and
simultaneously gave the student accolades for being overly excited about knowing all the
answers. While both students received the message that they had violated classroom rules, one
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could walk away feeling confident and smart about their intellectual capacity, while the other
was made to feel small and inferior. The men I interviewed shared similar stories and Wilson
(1992) posited that when Black boys do not conform to the normative learning models
established within most Eurocentric instructional models, their natural gifts are dismantled
(Wilson, 1992). PWIS need to leverage the strength of diversity that comes when diverse
thoughts, ideas, and attributes are offered instead of fighting to push these attributes down. The
implementation of comprehensive DEI initiatives at PWIS can certainly help all parties involved,
but I do not recommend using a one size fits all DEI strategy. I believe each organization or
school is uniquely different. There are different stakeholders, different politics, internal and
external influences, as well as school history and culture. It would be important for a school to
implement a change model after bringing in a change leader who can diagnose and better
understand what approach would best meet the needs of that particular school.
At the same time, there are best practices that can help most any organization working to
become more inclusive. Some organizations have benefitted from using a systems approach or
design thinking when looking to engage and empower marginalized members of their
organizations. The following model can be adapted to align with any PWIS that is looking to
create greater equity and begin empowering individuals who have historically been left out.
Using liberatory mindset thinking can help an organization re-image their campus culture and
engage historically marginalized communities in decisions that impact them. Applying the seven
stages of the model takes into consideration the concerns of stakeholders who are sometimes left
out. Anaissie et al. (2020) designed the model to address inequities that are often caused in
organizations where those in power make decisions without considering the input of individuals
lacking power within the institution. The model emphasizes power-sharing to advance equity.
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This could be challenging to broach in some PWIS where the head of school and board members
have traditionally made important decisions that affect the school, but strategies that encourage
new ways of thinking are required in order for change to occur. The first phase in liberatory
design thinking is to Organize, by bringing together a task force or team of stakeholders. It is
critical to involve those who will be impacted. So, in the case of making PWIS more welcoming
for Black boys, it is important to have Black boys and their families involved as key
stakeholders.
The next phase is the Empathize stage, where the team must come to understand the
motivations, experiences, and emotions of those most impacted. Next, in the Define phase, the
team is prioritizing and centering the voices of the underrepresented, or in this case, Black boys.
The Ideate phase is next, and brainstorming takes place during this phase to explore every
possible solution. During the next phase of Choose, the team is simply selecting a prototype or
model to practice or implement. Prototype is next, and this is an actual mockup of the strategy to
be used. Following the prototype phase, it is important to gain buy-in from the end-users, so at a
school, this would mean everyone. The final phase is to test the strategy and gather feedback.
Once all phases are implemented, the goal is to evaluate, refine, and repeat. It is a reiterative
method that is all about continuous improvement, so it requires repetition and refinement. The
school would continue to repeat the phases, refine, then repeat again. Figure 4 provides a visual
representation of the model.

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Figure 4
Design for Equity in Education

Note. From Design for Equity in Higher Education by KC Culver, Jordan Harper, and Adrianna
Kezar, 2021, University of Southern California, Pullias Center for Higher Education. Copyright
2021 by University of Southern California.

Change models are great, and DEI efforts to disrupt the structural and systemic racism
that exist in many PWIS are a sign of optimism, but there is also reason to believe that the
culture in some of these institutions is beyond training and DEI efforts. If it is determined that
PWIS are not able to fully embrace Black boys and enable them to bring their full and authentic
104

selves to school with them, one possible implication is that alternative options be established that
can better support the needs of Black boys and other BIPOC students. At the college level we
have already witnessed the value of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and
their ability to provide a nurturing sanctuary for Black students and simultaneously provide a
quality education. A place where Black students do not feel an obligation to assimilate, where
they feel a sense of belonging, and can develop a strong sense of self. In recent years there have
been some K–12 independent schools that focus on educating BIPOC students, schools like the
Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. Schools like this one are proving that a quality
education can be achieved without the norms, ideologies, and pedagogy that exist in PWIS. The
verdict is still pending, so we will eventually learn if the numerous DEI initiatives being
established at PWIS will be effective in establishing long lasting and sustained cultural change.
If PWIS are unwilling or unable to succeed in mitigating structural and systemic racism,
members of BIPOC community need to establish their own schools.
Recommendations for Future Research
Throughout this dissertation, I wanted to better understand how Black male identity is
shaped, affected, and impacted as a result of environmental factors that exist in many PWISs. I
believe that I only scratched the surface because this examination was also uniquely tied to my
own lived experiences. I also engaged other Black men who attended predominantly, and while
there were some themes that emerged, I would like to see further examination of this topic that
looks at variables, including how Black children from different socioeconomic families
experience PWIS. There are certainly more upwardly mobile Black families today who are
second and third-generation students at PWIS. It would be good to better understand if parents
who experienced PWIS are in a better position to prepare their children for the environment at
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PWIS. This inquiry was also an autoethnography centering my voice, along with the help of
other Black men who attended PWIS. The accounts were largely reflective in nature and drawing
from participants’ memories. Private schools have evolved over time, and many have
implemented strategic DEI initiatives designed to mitigate discriminatory behavior. It would be
useful to conduct longitudinal research regarding the impact of existing DEI initiatives, perhaps
by following a group of students over an extended period of time. Such a study would enable
researchers to better understand if DEI efforts are making a difference in student satisfaction and
how identity development is affected. Research is also needed to examine interest convergence
in PWIS. This would help to better understand how some PWIS have academic testing
requirements to gain admission, but somehow when their sports team are in need of star athletes,
the school finds a way to believe athletic Black boys can succeed in their environments. Another
way of stating this is that some PWIS appear to believe all students are capable of succeeding
when there is a return on the investment or something that will benefit the school by admitting
the student, such as an improved athletic team. If a PWIS can take a chance on an
underperforming BIPOC student like the teenager I was upon gaining admission to an elite prep
school, why can they not take a chance on underperforming BIPOC students who do not play
sports?
Conclusion
The purpose of this inquiry was to examine Black male identity development in the
context of predominately White K–12 independent schools through reflexive journaling and
through dialogue with other Black men who navigated similar experiences. When I began this
inquiry, I worked as the director of diversity and led DEI efforts at a predominantly White K–12
independent school in the suburbs of a major U.S. city on the West Coast. The school insisted
106

that they were looking to attract and retain a greater number of BIPOC students and drive greater
DEI awareness within the institution’s school community. My interest in this research topic was
due largely to my professional work responsibilities, but I was also drawn to this topic because
of my personal experiences as an African American man who once attended a PWIS. I’ve always
had a strong curiosity about the various factors that contributed to my journey as a Black student
who struggled academically while attending a PWIS but who found a way to become an above-
average graduate student at some of the most challenging universities across the United States. I
wanted to know if I experienced academic success later in life as a byproduct of attending a
PWIS, or did my success come despite my PWIS experience?
I also wanted to examine this topic because I am currently the father of a pre-teen Black
boy who has encountered some of the same challenges I received as a child. I realize that there is
no guarantee that when a Black boy or BIPOC student enrolls at a PWIS they will be treated
equitably and inclusively. My experience as a former student, as an administrator, and as a father
informs my mindset that if PWIS want to continue advancing DEI efforts and improving the
experiences of Black boys and other BIPOC students, greater resources will need to be invested
and more research like this will be needed. In fact, I would argue that many of PWIS require
highly engaged change management processes to begin seeing a meaningful shift in their school
cultures or to become more inclusive if inclusion and change are truly the goal. The
recommendations made in this inquiry can begin to help PWIS with necessary change efforts,
but the stated recommendations are only a starting point. I look forward to seeing additional
research on this topic and contributing further to this topic.

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Appendix A: Interview Protocol
Thank you for agreeing to participate in my study, I appreciate the time that you have set
aside to answer my questions, as I mentioned in my emailed the interview should take 60
minutes. Does that still work for you?
Before we get started, I want to remind you about this study and the fact that your
participation is strictly voluntary. You have the right to stop the interview at any time. I have a
total of 18 questions to ask, and before we start, I would like to provide a brief summary of the
information I shared in my email about the study and answer any questions you might have about
participating.
I am currently a graduate student at the University of Southern California, and like
yourself, I was once a Black student, who attended a predominantly White K–12 Independent
school. I am conducting a study about school diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives,
and the experience of Black boys who attended PWISs. Several Independent schools have
launched DEI initiatives and have expressed their desire to become more inclusive. I am
particularly interested in better understanding what K–12 Independent schools can do, to better
serve their students of color, and particularly African American boys. I’ve had an opportunity to
work as an administrator in a predominantly White K–12 Independent school, and there is also
existing data, indicating that these schools could use help establishing more inclusive
environments for Black boys. Not a lot of research has been published that discusses what
resources, tools and strategies Black boys use to navigate their way through schools like this and
what schools can do to help facilitate success.
I am meeting with several Black men, who previously attended predominantly White K–
12 Independent schools.
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My hope is to gather information that can assist future Black boys and their families, as
they make decisions about attending schools like the one you and I attended. I also hope to help
school administrators develop meaningful DEI programs that support the needs of Black boys.
I want to assure you that I am strictly wearing the hat of researcher today. What this
means is that the nature of my questions is not to evaluate your responses. I will not be making
any judgments or determinations about whether I believe you are right or wrong, or if I agree.
My goal is to understand your perspective.
As stated in the Study Information Sheet I provided to you previously, this interview is
confidential. What that means is that your real name will not be shared with anyone. The data for
this study will be compiled into a report and while I do plan on using some of what you say as
direct quotes, none of this data will be directly attributed to you. I will use a pseudonym to
protect your confidentiality and will try my best to de-identify any of the data I gather from you.
I am happy to provide you with a copy of my final paper if you are interested.
As stated in the Study Information Sheet, I will keep all data in a password-protected
computer and all data will be destroyed after 3 years.
Do you have any questions about the study before we get started?
Lastly, we are meeting today with the help of the Zoom meeting platform and there is a
“record” function within Zoom. I’d like to use to record our interview if you do not mind. I will
not be sharing the recording with anyone and will use it only to refine my notes. I will delete the
video recording to protect your identity and the confidentiality of this conversation. Do I have
your permission to record the interview? Also, if I begin looking down during our meeting, it
doesn’t mean that I am ignoring you, I am simply taking notes, do you mind if I take handwritten
notes?
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Great, do you any questions before we begin?
Setting the Stage
1. First, can you tell me a little more about yourself by answering a few preliminary
questions?
a. What years did you attend ABC Academy?
b. How many years total did you attend the school?
c. Was your time at ABC academy your first experience attending a PWIS?
d. How do you self-identify? (e.g., Black, Bi-racial, multi-racial, other)
e. Would you say that the neighborhood where you grew up was mostly Black,
mostly White, or other? How would you describe it?
f. Would you describe the neighborhood where you lived, while attending ABC
Academy as working class, affluent, underserved?
g. Did you have siblings, or other family members, who attended ABC Academy
or another PWIS?
h. Did either of your parents graduate from college?
Heart of the Interview
I’d like to start by asking a few questions about experiences from your time as a K–12
student. I realize that this was many years ago and you may not remember all the details. If you
are unable to remember, that is perfectly fine. Simply state that you don’t recall.
2. What was your first impressions of ABC academy when you first arrived? (Probe:
How did your impressions change over time?)
3. Did you notice right away that things might be different for you, or that you were
one of the only Black boys at the school?
119

(Probe: How did this make you feel?)
4. Do you recall any instances, where classmates or teachers treated you differently
than others, and where you might attribute the differential treatment to your race?
5. Do you recall any incidents or altercations with students or teachers, where you
believe race or racism was a factor?
(Probe: Can you teel me more?)
6. Do you recall any nicknames or adjectives that were used by classmates or
teachers to describe you? (e.g. – speedy, slick, homie, etc.).
7. Please tell me about any sports, or athletic teams you participated on during your
time at the school?
8. In what ways do you believe playing sports either helped or hindered your
experience as a student, attending ABC Academy?
9. Did you notice, or were there ways in which your neighborhood friends became
closer to you, more distant, or treated you differently after you began attending
ABC Academy?
10. Were there strategies you employed, or what ways did you manage to maintain a
connection or distance yourself from friends and family, who did not attend ABC
Academy with you?
11. In what ways do you feel the school changed your thinking or your outlooks on
life? (Particularly, when you compare yourself to your neighborhood friends that
did not attend ABC Academy with you)
12. How would describe your confidence in yourself as a student before you attended
ABC Academy?
120

13. How would describe your confidence in yourself as a leader before you attended
ABC Academy?
14. How would describe your confidence in yourself as a student after you attended
ABC Academy?
15. How would describe your confidence in yourself as a leader after you attended
ABC Academy?
Post K–12 and Years Following Attendance at a Predominantly White K–12 School
16. Did you or would you ever consider enrolling your own children, or a loved one
in ABC academy, or a similar school?
17. Following your years as a student at ABC Academy, do you believe it caused you
to draw closer to the Black community or further from the Black community?
(Probe: In what ways)
Closing Question
18. Is there anything additional about your experience as a Black boy and attending
ABC Academy that you would like to share?
I want to thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with me. The
information you shared will assist in my research and help others. If I find myself with a follow-
up question, can I contact you, and if so, if email is ok? And if there is anything additional that
you feel comfortable sharing with me in my learning of this content, could you please email
them to me?
My hope is that this research will advance DEI initiatives inside of K–12 Independent
schools and help them support Black boys and other students of color more effectively.
Again, Thank you
121

Appendix B: Consent Form
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
Wade Phillips Hall
3470 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, CA 90089

STUDY TITLE: African American Male Experience “An Autoethnography approach”
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Paul R. Johnson
FACULTY ADVISOR: Dr. Patricia Tobey
______________________________________________________________________________
• I, ________________________ voluntarily agree to participate in this research study.
• I understand that even if I agree to participate now, I can withdraw at any time or
refuse to answer any question without any consequences of any kind.
• I have had the purpose and nature of the study explained to me in writing and I have
had the opportunity to ask questions about the study.
• I understand that participation involves, if I decide to take part, you will be asked to
commit participate in one semi-structured interview that also includes a debriefing
meeting. The date, time, and location may be selected by you and within hours that
best fits your schedule.
• I understand that I will not benefit directly from participating in this research.
• I agree to my interview being audio-recorded. The purpose of the recorder is to
ensure that your perspectives are accurately captured. The recording is solely for the
accuracy of data collection and will not be shared with anyone outside of the research
team, except for the transcribers. However, your confidentiality will be maintained
since there will be no identifying information in the recordings that can link you to
122

the study. You have the right to review and/or edit the recordings. The recordings,
like all other data collected, will be kept for no longer than six months and then will
be erased.
• I understand that in any report on the results of this research my identity will remain
anonymous. This will be done by changing my name and disguising any details of my
interview which may reveal my identity or the identity of people I speak about.
• I understand that if I inform the researcher that myself or someone else is at risk of
harm they may have to report this to the relevant authorities - they will discuss this
with me first but may be required to report with or without my permission.
• All information gathered in this study will be kept confidential. The data for this
study will be compiled into a report, and while what you say may be reported as
direct quotes, none of this data will be directly attributed to you. Pseudonyms will be
used to protect your confidentiality and you will be de-identified from all data that is
gathered. All data collected will be kept in a password-protected computer. All hand-
written notes will also be carefully secured. Both computer-stored and hand-written
data will be destroyed upon completion of the study and report of findings, which will
extend no further than six months from when you begin participation.
• I understand that I am free to contact any of the people involved in the research to
seek further clarification and information.
If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or think the research has hurt you,
contact the study investigator, Paul Johnson at prjohnso@usc.edu. You may also contact the
faculty advisor for this study, Dr. Patricia Tobey, at tobey@usc.edu.

123

I have read (or someone has read to me) the information provided above. I have been
given a chance to ask questions. All my questions have been answered. By signing this form, I
am agreeing to take part in this study.

Signature of participant:

___________________________ _______________________
Signature of participant: Date

Signature of researcher

__________________________ ________________________
Signature of researcher: Date:

I believe the participant is giving informed consent to participate in this study

___________________________ ________________________
Signature of researcher: Date:

124

Appendix C: Theoretical Framework Matrix
Research questions Theoretical framework Data instrument questions
How do stereotypes and labels affect
Black boy’s identity development
while enrolled at PWIS?
AAMT
Subsystem
Microsystem
Mesosystem

Interview Questions
2–15 and 18
What systemic structures or
environmental factors within these
schools promote assimilation and
constrain inclusion for Black
boys?
AAMT
Mesosystem
Exosystem
Macrosystem
Interview Questions
2–8 and 18
What strategies and resources do
Black boys use to overcome these
stereotypes and labels to gain a
sense of self and group identity?
AAMT
Chronosystem

Subsystem
Cross: Racial identity
development

Steele: Stereotype threat &
cultural identity
contingencies
Interview Questions
10,11, and 16–18
Demographic question

Interview Question 1, and
Questions A–H.

Abstract (if available)

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Asset Metadata

Creator Johnson, Paul Roman (author)

Core Title An autoethnographic examination of Black boys attending predominantly white K-12 private schools

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Degree Conferral Date 2022-05

Publication Date 05/09/2022

Defense Date 05/09/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag autoethnography,BIPOC,Black boys,black students,independent school,K-12 private schools,OAI-PMH Harvest,private school,racial identity

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Tobey, Patricia (committee chair), Hinga, Briana (committee member), Kim, Esther (committee member)

Creator Email coffeejohnson@comcast.net,prjohnso@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC111307117

Unique identifier UC111307117

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Johnson, Paul Roman

Type texts

Source 20220510-usctheses-batch-941 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

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