Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T16:25:59.920Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THE INVESTMENT IN BLACKNESS HYPOTHESIS

Toward Greater Understanding of Who Teaches What during Racial Socialization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2008

Jason E. Shelton
Jason E. Shelton*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and of Anthropology, University of Texas at Arlington
*
Professor Jason E. Shelton, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Texas at Arlington, 601 Nedderman Drive, Arlington, Texas 76019. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article examines the determinants and the substantive content of racial socialization strategies among African Americans. Existing studies have established that most Black parents socialize their children to race. However, studies have yet to determine whether assimilation trajectories and commitments to Black social heritage influence racial socialization outcomes. This article addresses this void within the context of a new, assimilation-based theory of adult Black identity—the investment in Blackness hypothesis. Findings from a national probability sample of African Americans suggest that there is a relationship between degree of assimilation into the mainstream and racial socialization strategies among parents. The implications of these findings are discussed, as well as suggestions for future research.

Keywords

Racial SocializationAssimilationAfrican AmericansRace Relations
Type
STATE OF THE ART
Information
Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , Fall 2008 , pp. 235 - 257
Copyright
Copyright © W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Allen, Walter R. and Farley, Reynolds (1986). The Shifting Social and Economic Tides of Black America, 1950–1980. Annual Review of Sociology, 12: 277–306.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arnett, Jeffrey Jensen (1995). Broad and Narrow Socialization: The Family in the Context of a Cultural Theory. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57(3): 617–628.Google Scholar
Bobo, Lawrence D. (1988). Attitudes toward the Black Political Movement: Trends, Meaning, and Effects on Racial Policy Preferences. Social Psychology Quarterly, 51(4): 287–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowman, Phillip J. and Howard, Cleopatra (1985). Race-Related Socialization, Motivation, and Academic Achievement: A Study of Black Youths in Three-Generation Families. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24(2): 134–141.Google Scholar
Boykin, A. Wade and Toms, Forrest D. (1985). Black Child Socialization: A Conceptual Framework. In McAdoo, Harriette Pipes and McAdoo, John Lewis (Eds.), Black Children: Social, Educational, and Parental Environments, pp. 33–51. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Broman, Clifford, Neighbors, Harold, and Jackson, James S. (1988). Racial Identification among Black Adults. Social Forces, 67(1): 146–158.Google Scholar
Brown, R. Khari and Brown, Ronald E. (2003). Faith and Works: Church-Based Social Capital Resources and African American Political Activism. Social Forces, 82(2): 617–641.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, Tony and Lesane-Brown, Chase (2006). Racial Socialization Messages across Historical Time. Social Psychology Quarterly, 69(2): 201–213.Google Scholar
Child, Irvin Long and Zigler, Edward (Eds.) (1973). Socialization and Personality Development. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Chong, Dennis and Kim, Dukhong (2006). The Experiences and Effects of Economic Status among Racial and Ethnic Minorities. American Political Science Review, 100(3): 335–351.Google Scholar
Coard, Stephanie, Wallace, Scyatta, Stevenson, Howard, and Brotman, Lori (2004). Towards Culturally Relevant Preventive Interventions: The Consideration of Racial Socialization in Parent Training with African-American Families. Journal of Child and Family, 13: 249–265.Google Scholar
Conley, Dalton (1999). Being Black, Living in the Red: Race, Wealth, Social Policy. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Constantine, Madonna G. and Blackmon, Sha'Kema (2002). Black Adolescents' Racial Socialization Experiences: Their Relations to Home, School, and Peer Self-Esteem. Journal of Black Studies, 32(3): 322–335.Google Scholar
Dawson, Michael C. (1994). Behind the Mule: Race and Class in African-American Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Dawson, Michael C. (2001). Black Visions: The Roots of Contemporary African American Political Ideologies. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Demo, David H. and Hughes, Michael (1990). Socialization and Racial Identity among Black Americans. Social Psychology Quarterly, 53(4): 364–374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellison, Christopher, Boardman, Jason, Williams, David R., and Jackson, James S. (2001). Religious Involvement, Stress, and Mental Health: Findings from the 1995 Detroit Area Study. Social Forces, 80(1): 215–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feagin, Joe R. and Sikes, Melvin P. (1994). Living with Racism: The Black Middle-Class Experience. Boston, MA: Beacon.Google Scholar
Frazier, E. Franklin (1939). The Negro Family in the United States. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Gans, Herbert (1979). Symbolic Ethnicity: The Future of Ethnic Groups and Cultures in America. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2(1): 1–24.Google Scholar
Gecas, Viktor (1979). The Influence of Social Class on Socialization. In Burr, Wesley R., Hill, Reuben, Nye, F. Ivan, and Reiss, Ira L. (Eds.), Contemporary Theories about the Family, pp. 365–404. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Gordon, Milton M. (1964). Assimilation in American Life: The Role of Race, Religion, and National Origin. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Graham, Lawrence (1999). Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class. New York: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
Gurin, Patricia, Hatchett, Shirley, and Jackson, James S. (1989). Hope and Independence: Blacks' Response to Electoral and Party Politics. New York: Russell Sage.Google Scholar
Gurin, Patricia, Miller, Arthur H., and Gurin, Gerald (1980). Stratum Identification and Consciousness. Social Psychology Quarterly, 43(1): 30–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hacker, Andrew (2003). Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal. New York: Scribner.Google Scholar
Harris, David (1995). Exploring the Determinants of Adult Black Identity: Context and Process. Social Forces, 74(1): 227–241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, Algea (1985). The Black Family's Socializing Environment: Self-Esteem and Ethnic Attitude among Black Children. In McAdoo, Harriette Pipes and McAdoo, John Lewis (Eds.), Black Children: Social, Educational, and Parental Environments, pp. 174–193. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Hattery, Angela J. and Smith, Earl (2007). African American Families: Issues of Health, Wealth, and Violence. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, Nancy (1997). Does Parenting Differ Based on Social Class? African American Women's Perceived Socialization for Achievement. American Journal of Community Psychology, 25(5): 675–697.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hill, Robert (1972). The Strength of Black Families. New York: Emerson Hall.Google Scholar
Hochschild, Jennifer L. (1995). Facing Up to the American Dream: Race, Class, and the Soul of the Nation. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Hughes, Diane (2003). Correlates of African American and Latino Parents' Messages to Children about Ethnicity and Race: A Comparative Study of Racial Socialization. American Journal of Community Psychology, 31(1/2): 15–33.Google Scholar
Hughes, Diane and Chen, Lisa (1997). When and What Parents Tell Children about Race: An Examination of Race-Related Socialization among African American Families. Applied Developmental Science, 1(4): 200–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, Diane and Johnson, Deborah (2001). Correlates of Children's Experiences of Parents' Racial Socialization Behaviors. Journal of Marriage and Family, 63(4): 981–995.Google Scholar
Hunt, Matthew O. (2002). Religion, Race/Ethnicity, and Beliefs about Poverty. Social Science Quarterly, 83(3): 810–831.Google Scholar
Hunt, Matthew O. (2004). Race/Ethnicity and Beliefs about Wealth and Poverty. Social Science Quarterly, 85(3): 827–853.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hwang, Sean-Shong, Fitzpatrick, Kevin M., and Helms, David (1998). Class Differences in Racial Attitudes: A Divided Black America? Sociological Perspectives, 41(2): 367–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, James S. and Gurin, Gerald (1997). National Survey of Black Americans, Waves 1–4, 1979–1980, 1987–1988, 1988–1989, 1992 [Computer file]. Conducted by University of Michigan, Survey Research Center. ICPSR version. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [producer and distributor].Google Scholar
Jackson, James S., McCullough, Wayne R., Gurin, Gerald, and Broman, Clifford L. (1991). Race Identity. In Jackson, James S. (Ed.), Life in Black America, pp. 238–253. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Karenga, Maulana (1992). Introduction to Black Studies. Los Angeles, CA: University of Sankore.Google Scholar
Lacy, Karyn R. (2004). Black Spaces, Black Places: Strategic Assimilation and Identity Construction in Middle-Class Suburbia. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 27(6): 908–930.Google Scholar
Lacy, Karyn R. (2007). Blue-Chip Black: Race, Class, and Status in the New Black Middle Class. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Lacy, Karyn R. and Harris, Angel (2008). Breaking the Class Monolith: Understanding Class Differences in Black Adolescents' Attachment to Racial Identity. In Lareau, Annette and Conley, Dalton (Eds.), Social Class: How Does It Work? pp. 152–178. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Lareau, Annette (2002). Invisible Inequality: Social Class and Childrearing in Black Families and White Families. American Sociological Review, 67(5): 747–776.Google Scholar
Lincoln, C. Eric (1974). The Black Experience in Religion. Garden City, NY: Anchor.Google Scholar
Massey, Douglas S. (2007). Categorically Unequal: The American Stratification System. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Murry, Velma McBride, Brody, Gene H., McNair, Lily D., Luo, Zupei, Gibbons, Frederick X., Gerrard, Meg, and Wills, Thomas Ashby (2005). Parental Involvement Promotes Rural African American Youths' Self-Pride and Sexual Self-Concepts. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(3): 627–642.Google Scholar
Nazroo, James, Jackson, James, Karlsen, Saffron, and Torres, Myriam (2007). The Black Diaspora and Health Inequalities in the US and England: Does Where You Go and How You Get There Make a Difference? Sociology of Health and Illness, 29(6): 811–830.Google Scholar
O'Connor, Alice, Tilly, Chris, and Bobo, Lawrence D. (Eds.) (2001). Urban Inequality: Evidence from Four Cities. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Pattillo, Mary (2003). Negotiating Blackness, for Richer or for Poorer. Ethnography, 4(1): 61–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peters, Marie Ferguson (1985). Racial Socialization of Young Black Children. In McAdoo, Harriette Pipes and McAdoo, John Lewis (Eds.), Black Children: Social, Educational, and Parental Environments, pp. 159–173. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Shelton, Jason E. and Wilson, George (2006). Socioeconomic Status and Racial Group Interests among Black Americans. Sociological Spectrum, 26(2): 183–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sniderman, Paul M. and Piazza, Thomas (2002). Black Pride and Black Prejudice. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spencer, Margaret Beale (1985). Cultural Cognition and Social Cognition as Identity Correlates of Black Children's Personal-Social Development. In Spencer, Margaret B., Brookins, Geraldine K., and Allen, Walter R. (Eds.), Beginnings: The Social and Affective Development of Black Children, pp. 215–234. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Steinberg, Stephen (1981). The Ethnic Myth: Race, Ethnicity, and Class in America. Boston, MA: Beacon.Google Scholar
Stevenson, Howard C. Jr. (1994). Validation of the Scale of Racial Socialization for African American Adolescents: Steps toward Multidimensionality. Journal of Black Psychology, 20(4): 445–468.Google Scholar
Suizzo, Marie-Anne, Robinson, Courtney, and Pahlke, Erin (2008). African American Mothers' Socialization Beliefs and Goals with Young Children. Journal of Family Issues, 29(3): 287–316.Google Scholar
Tate, Katherine (1993). From Protest to Politics: The New Black Voters in American Elections. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Tatum, Beverly Daniel (2004). Family Life and School Experience: Factors in the Racial Identity Development of Black Youth in White Communities. Journal of Social Issues, 60(1): 117–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, Robert Joseph, Chatters, Linda M., and Levin, Jeff (2004). Religion in the Lives of African Americans: Social, Psychological, and Health Perspectives. New York: Sage.Google Scholar
Thompson, Vetta L. Sanders (1994). Socialization to Race and Its Relationship to Racial Identification among African Americans. Journal of Black Psychology, 20(2): 175–188.Google Scholar
Thornton, Michael C. (1997). Strategies of Racial Socialization among Black Parents: Mainstream, Minority, and Cultural Messages. In Taylor, Robert Joseph, Jackson, James S., and Chatters, Linda M. (Eds.), Family Life in Black America, pp. 201–215. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Thornton, Michael C., Chatters, Linda M., Taylor, Robert Joseph, and Allen, Walter R. (1990). Sociodemographic and Environmental Correlates of Racial Socialization by Black Parents. Child Development, 61(2): 401–409.Google Scholar
Waters, Mary C. (1990). Ethnic Options: Choosing Identities in America. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, William Julius (1987). The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar