Acting White : The Ironic Legacy of Desegregation

by Stuart Buck

• ISBN13: 9780300171204
• ISBN10: 030017120X
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2011-09-27
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

Commentators from Bill Cosby to Barack Obama have observed the phenomenon of black schoolchildren accusing studious classmates of "acting white." How did this contentious phrase, with roots in Jim Crow-era racial discord, become a part of the schoolyard lexicon, and what does it say about the state of racial identity in the American system of education? Drawing on research in education, history, and sociology as well as articles, interviews, and personal testimony, Buck reveals the unexpected result of desegregation and suggests practical solutions for making racial identification a positive force in the classroom. Book jacket.

Author Biography

An honors graduate of Harvard Law School, Stuart Buck is a Ph.D. student in education policy at the University of Arkansas. His work has appeared in the Harvard Law Review, the Administrative Law Review, and several other scholarly journals.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Introduction	p. 1
Does "Acting White" Occur?	p. 9
Why Should We Care? How Peers Affect the Achievement Gap	p. 27
The History of Black Education in America	p. 41
What Were Black Schools Like?	p. 54
The Closing of Black Schools	p. 73
The Loss of Black Teachers and Principals	p. 99
The Rise of Tracking	p. 116
When Did "Acting White" Arise?	p. 125
Where Do We Go from Here?	p. 147
Notes	p. 163
Bibliography	p. 215
Index	p. 259
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