Minority Status, Oppositional Culture, and Schooling » (New Edition)

This book is the definitive and final presentation of John Ogbu’s cultural ecological model and the many debates that his work has sparked during the past decade. The theory and empirical foundation of Ogbu’s scholarship, which some have mistakenly reduced to the "acting white hypothesis," is fully presented and re-visited in this posthumous collection of his new writings plus the works of over 20 scholars. Ogbu’s own chapters present how his ideas about minority education and culture developed. Readers will find in these chapters the theoretical roots of his cultural ecological model. The book is organized as a dialogue between John Ogbu and the scholarly community, including his most ardent critics; Ogbu’s own work can be read at the same time as his critics have their say.

Minority Status, Oppositional Culture, and Schooling examines content, methodological, and policy issues framing the debate on academic achievement, school engagement, and oppositional culture. It brings together in one volume, for the first time, some of the most critical works on these issues as well as examples of programs aimed at re-engagement. In addition to African Americans, it also looks at school engagement among Native American and Latino students. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the study of the academic achievement gap.

Tables and Figures xi

Foreword Roselyn Arilin Mickelson xv

Preface John U. Ogbu xxiii

A Note from Marcellina Ada Ogbu xxvii

Acknowledgments Marcellina Ada Ogbu xxxi

Part I History and Framework

1 The History and Status of a Theoretical Debate John U. Ogbu 3

2 Collective Identity and the Burden of "Acting White" in Black History, Community, and Education John U. Ogbu 29

3 Ways of Knowing: The Ethnographic Approach to the Study of Collective Identity and Schooling John U. Ogbu 64

4 Multiple Sources of Peer Pressures among African American Students John U. Ogbu 89

5 Language and Collective Identity among Adults and Students in a Black Community John U. Ogbu 112

6 "Signithia, You Can Do Better Than That": John Ogbu (and Me) and the Nine Lives Peoples Signithia Fordham 130

Part II Collective Identity, Black Americans, and Schooling

7 High School Students of Color Talk about Accusations of "Acting White" David A. Bergin Helen C. Cooks 145

8 Black Students' Identity and Acting White and Black Linwood Cousins 167

9 Reexamining Resistance as Oppositional Behavior: The Nation of Islam and the Creation of a Black Achievement Ideology (The Remix) A.A.Akom 190

10 What does "Acting White" Actually Mean? Racial Identity, Adolescent Development, and Academic Achievement among African American Youth Margaret Beale Spencer Vinay Harpalani 222

11 "Excellence" and Student Class, Race, and Gender Cultures Lois Wets 240

12 Racial Identity Attitudes, School Achievement, and Academic Self-Efficacy among African American High School Students Karen McCurtis Witherspoon Suzette L. Speight Anita Jones Thomas 257

Part III Reassessment and Methodological Issues

13The Burden of "Acting White": Do Black Adolescents Disparage Academic Achievement? Phillip J. Cook Jens Ludwig 275

14 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Confirming Oppositional Culture Theory Douglas B. Downey 298

15 Quantitative Studies of Oppositional Culture: Arguments and Evidence George Farkas 312

16 The Structure of Opportunity and Adolescents' Academic Achievement Attitudes and Behaviors Roslyn Arlin Mickelson 348

17 Oppositional Identity and Academic Achievement among African American Males Miles Anthony Irving Cynthia Hubley 374

Part IV Cross-Cultural Studies of Identity

18 Situational Ethnicity and Patterns of School Performance among Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Mexican-Descent Students Maria Eugenia Matute-Bianchi 397

19 Navajo Youth and Anglo Racism: Cultural Integrity and Resistance Donna Deyhle 433

20 A Quantitative Examination of Oppositional Identity among African American and Latino Middle-School Students April Taylor 481

21 Ogbu's Voluntary and Involuntary Minority Hypothesis and the Politics of Caring Angela Valenzuela 496

Part V Model Programs and Applications

22 Forming Academic Identities: Accommodation without Assimilation among Involuntary Minorities Hugh Mehan Lea Hubbard Irene Villanueva 533

23 The Minority Achievement Committee: Students Leading Students to Greater Success in School Mary Lynne McGovern Astrid Davis John U. Ogbu 560

Part VI Conclusion

24 Forward-Looking Criticism: Critiques and Enhancements for the Next Generation of the Cultural-Ecological Model Kevin Michael Foster 577

Appendix Black Students' School Success: Coping with the "Burden of 'Acting White' " Signithia Fordham John U. Ogbu 593

Contributors 628

Index 636