Keepin' It Real School Success Beyond Black and White

by Carter, Prudence L.

• ISBN13: 9780195168624
• ISBN10: 0195168623
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-09-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Why are so many African American and Latino students performing less well than their Asian and White peers in classes and on exams? Researchers have argued that African American and Latino students who rebel against "acting white" doom themselves to lower levels of scholastic, economic, and social achievement. In Keepin' It Real: School Success beyond Black and White , Prudence Carter turns the conventional wisdom on its head arguing that what is needed is a broader recognition of the unique cultural styles and practices that non-white students bring to the classroom. Based on extensive interviews and surveys of students in New York, she demonstrates that the most successful negotiators of our school systems are the multicultural navigators, culturally savvy teens who draw from multiple traditions, whether it be knowledge of hip hop or of classical music, to achieve their high ambitions. Keepin' it Real refutes the common wisdom about teenage behavior and racial difference, and shows how intercultural communication, rather than assimilation, can help close the black-white gap.

Author Biography

Prudence L. Carter is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Harvard University.

Table of Contents

Introduction Minding the Gap: Race, Ethnicity, Achievement, and Cultural Meaning	3	(16)
1 Beyond Belief: Mainstreamers, Straddlers, and Noncompliant Believers	19	(28)
2 "Black" Cultural Capital and the Conflicts of Schooling	47	(30)
3 Between a "Soft" and a "Hard" Place: Gender, Ethnicity, and Culture in the School and at Home	77	(30)
4 Next-Door Neighbors: The Intersection of Gender and Pan-Minority Identity	107	(30)
5 New "Heads" and Multicultural Navigators: Race, Ethnicity, Poverty, and Social Capital	137	(20)
6 School Success Has No Color	157	(18)
Appendix	175	(8)
Notes	183	(12)
Bibliography	195	(18)
Index	213