The Urban Review, Vol. 37, No. 2, June 2005 (! 2005)
DOI: 10.1007/s11256-005-0004-4
Published Online: June 11, 2005
Ongoing Issues of Racial and Ethnic
Stigma in Education 50 Years after
Brown v. Board
Sabrina Zirkel
Brown v. Board of Education was focused on eliminating racial stigma and creating
greater racial equity in education. Unfortunately, racial and ethnic stigma is still a powerful
force in educational institutions of all kind. In this manuscript, I review the ways that
stigma impedes academic performance, shapes the classroom climate and student–
teacher relationships, and is a powerful influence on students! developing identities and
identifications. Current eorts to create greater educational equity need to focus at least
some of their attention on the issue of stigma and its role in educational performance and
outcomes. Finally, strategies for reducing racial and ethnic stigma in the classroom are
discussed.
KEY WORDS: racism; racial stigma; identity; Brown v. Board.
Year 2004 represented the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954), the Supreme Court decision outlawing racial
segregation in schools (see also Wells & Miller, 2005; Zirkel, Lopez, & Brown,
2004). Brown v. Board (19541) has been called the defining legal decision of the
20th century (Benjamin & Crouse, 2002; Kluger, 1977), framing as it did the
United States! struggle with issues of race and racial equality (Zirkel & Cantor,
2004). In that decision, the justices clearly state that they were striking down
segregation in public schools both to increase educational equity and to
eliminate the racial stigma associated with segregation.
Sabrina Zirkel is an Associate Professor and Director in Social Transformation Program,
Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center, San Francisco, California. She received her
Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. Her research interests include identity development and
change, and especially how identity is shaped by racial or gender stereotypes and social
structure. Of particular interest is how we can reshape our schools, colleges, and educational
processes to better serve girls and students of color. Address correspondence to Sabrina Zirkel,
Social Transformation Program, Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center, 747 Front
St., 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA; e-mail: [email protected]
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0042-0972/05/0600-0107/0 ! 2005 Springer ScienceþBusiness Media, Inc.
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Arguing that separate could never be equal, Chief Justice Warren writes
on behalf of the Court in Brown: ‘‘To separate them from others of similar
age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of
inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts
and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone.’’ (reprinted in Martin, 1998,
p. 173). In so arguing, Chief Justice Warren drew upon the psychological
literature presented in the Social Science brief (Effects of Segregation, 1953,
reprinted in Martin, 1998), which emphasized the stigma associated with
racial segregation and the internalized ‘‘self hatred’’, ‘‘defeatist attitudes’’,
and ‘‘lowering of professional ambitions’’ that resulted from it (pp. 143–144,
but cf. Scott, 1997).
At the heart of Brown v. Board was the conception that if de jure segregation stigmatized African-Americans by conveying a message of inferiority
or unworthiness, desegregation would reduce or even eliminate this stigma.
Proponents of desegregation were, in effect, talking about the way that race
was a ‘‘learned’’ category, something that emerged socially in a given cultural context (Lewis, 2003). The hope was that by eliminating de jure segregation, the very concept of ‘‘race’’ as a meaningful category for making
assumptions about young people!s abilities or worth would also eventually
vanish. Unfortunately, our schools remain as segregated today, if not more
so, than they were 50 years ago (Orfield & Eaton, 1996). De jure segregation
has been replaced by de facto segregation, and racial and ethnic stigma has
not been eliminated. The role that racial and ethnic stigma continue to play
in education is the subject of this article.
Despite a wide range of efforts over the past 50 years, issues of racial and
ethnic stigma and its relationship to identity and motivation remain central
issues for those interested in creating racially equitable educational settings
today. I argue that efforts to improve educational equity can only advance
when a corresponding effort is made to reduce racial and ethnic stigma. All
that Brown was able to address was the end of legally sanctioned racial
segregation in public schools. To be certain, the elimination of the stigma of
segregation ‘‘with the sanction of law’’ was an essential first step in
achieving racial and ethnic equity in education (Jackson, 2000). However, it
was naı̈ve of us to believe that Brown—or any legal decision for that
matter—could on its own do all the heavy lifting of transforming a racially
divided nation into a racially harmonious one (see also Gerard, 1988;
Jackson, 2000; Zirkel & Cantor, 2004). Brown could not directly address
longstanding patterns of housing segregation, or ethnically based economic
disparities that served to enforce de facto school segregation. Brown could
not guarantee the public will needed to make dramatic changes in our
educational traditions (e.g., reducing or eliminating local control of schools;
RACIAL AND ETHNIC STIGMA IN EDUCATION 50 YEARS AFTER BROWN
109
loss of neighborhood schools, etc.) needed for integrated schools to flourish.
Finally, Brown could not, on its own, create effective multicultural learning
environments, in large part because Brown could not, on its own, end racial
stigma, nor curtail the effects of stigma on educational outcomes.
In the 50 years since the first Brown decision, we have learned a great
deal about both the value of diverse learning environments for student
development (Bowen & Bok, 1998; Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, & Gurin, 2002)
and how to create effective diverse learning environments (Pettigrew,
1998; Pettigrew & Tropp, 2000; Zirkel, 2005a; Zirkel et al., 2004). Ironically, this knowledge is coming at a time of reduced support from the
public for the goals of creating diverse educational institutions through
desegregation and affirmative action (Guinier & Torres, 2002; Gurin,
Lehman, & Lewis, 2004; Neimann & Maruyama, in press; Orfield &
Eaton, 1996). Nevertheless, as we come to understand that the racial and
ethnic stigma discussed in Brown continues to play a central role in
modern educational outcomes and inequities, we can direct our reform
efforts in productive ways.
STIGMA AND ITS EFFECTS IN EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS
Racial and ethnic stigma are still widely present in educational settings,
and they continue to have a strong influence on students of color!s perceptions of self, their developing identities and identifications, and on their
performance (Crocker, Major, & Steele, 1998; Ogbu, 1994; Rowley, Sellers,
Chavous, & Smith, 1998; Sellers, Chavous, & Cooke, 1998; Steele, 1997;
Steele & Aronson, 1995; Steele, Spencer, & Aronson, 2002; Zirkel, 2002,
2004b). Stigmatized individuals are certainly aware of the negative stereotypes held about them (Clark, 1988; Jones, 1997; Sellers, Caldwell,
Schmeelk-Cone, & Zimmerman, 2003; Sellers & Shelton, 2003; Swim &
Stangor, 1998) and employ active processes to cope with them (see, e.g.,
Major, Quinton, McCoy, & Schmader, 2000; Miller & Major, 2000; Swim &
Stangor, 1998). For some, the awareness of these negative stereotypes becomes a defining feature of how they perceive the world, and they become
highly sensitive to race-based rejection (Mendoza-Denton, Downey, Purdie,
David, & Pietrzak, 2002) or develop a strong stigma consciousness
(Operario & Fiske, 2001; Pinel, 1999; see also Feldman Barrett & Swim,
1998). The awareness of stigma and the everyday experiences of it remain a
stressful and exhausting aspect of life for the stigmatized (Allison, 1998;
Contrada et al., 2000, 2001; Feagin & Sikes, 1994; Sellers et al., 2003; Sellers
& Shelton, 2003). In the next sections, I review recent research highlighting
the role that racial stigma continues to play in academic performance,
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classroom climate, identity development and students of color!s willingness
to invest in academic identities.
Stigma, Stereotype Threat, and Academic Performance
Steele!s (1997) model of stereotype threat highlights the way that stigma
continues to stifle the performance of students of color today. The fear of
possibly confirming a negative stereotype, sometimes combined with a fear
that the stereotype might be true, causes some students of color to shy away
from investing themselves in academic and achievement pursuits. Situations
that evoke negative stereotypes are stressful and anxiety producing (see, e.g.,
Blascovich, Spencer, Quinn, & Steele, 2001; Contrada et al., 2000, 2001),
and this stress has implications for students! performance and their willingness to identify with stereotype-relevant domains.
Many studies have now documented the ways that stereotype threat can
impair performance. Gougis (1986) found that African-American participants! performance faltered on a cognitive task when negative stereotypes
about African-Americans were primed. Similarly, Steele and others have
undertaken a series of studies that demonstrate decreased levels of performance when participants are asked to perform a task that measures some
aspect of a negative stereotype about themselves, as when African-Americans are asked to perform a task that will measure ‘‘intellectual abilities’’
(Steele, 1997; Steele & Aronson, 1995), when women or girls are asked to
complete tasks that will measure their mathematical abilities (Ambady,
Shih, Kim, & Pittinsky, 2001; Brown & Josephs, 1999; Inzlicht & Ben-Zeev,
2000; Josephs, Newman, Brown, & Beer, 2003; Quinn & Spencer, 2001;
Shih, Pittinsky, & Ambady, 1999; Spencer, Steele, & Quinn, 1999), and even
when White male college students are asked to complete a task that will
measure their mathematical abilities relative to Asian men (Aronson et al.,
1999). In every case, performance does not falter when those same tasks are
labeled in a way that does not evoke negative stereotypes, and performance
improves when positive stereotypes about participants! social identity (e.g.,
the mathematical abilities of Asian students) is invoked (Ambady et al.,
2001; Shih et al., 1999). These effects are significantly reduced when a teacher encourages students to see intelligence as a malleable capacity increased
by effort and learning rather than a fixed capacity measured by performance
(Aronson, Fried, & Good, 2002). Over time, the threatening nature of
negative stereotype-relevant activities serves to undermine one!s identification with the relevant domain (Schmader, Major, & Gramzow, 2001; Steele,
1997; Zirkel, 2002, 2004b).
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Stigma and Identity
There is little evidence that African-American students today can be
characterized by the generalized feelings of ‘‘inferiority’’ or low self-esteem
described by the Social Science Brief (Effects of Segregation, 1953) and
discussed by the Court in Brown (see e.g., Crocker & Major, 1989; GrayLittle & Hafdahl, 2000; Twenge & Crocker, 2000). However, whether this
represents changes in the level of self-esteem over the past decades or instead
simply reflects better means of assessing self-esteem is not clear. Despite
relatively high levels of overall self-esteem, students of color generally, and
African-American students in particular, do often grapple with issues
regarding how much to identify themselves with achievement domains in
which they are stigmatized (see, e.g., Aronson, 2002; Ogbu, 2003; Steele,
1997; Steele et al., 2002; Tatum, 1997/2003, 2004) and how much to tie
feelings of self-worth to performance in the academic domain (Crocker
et al., 1998; Crocker & Wolfe, 2001). Stigma continues to influence many of
the identity choices students of color make in life, including how much effort
to invest in their schoolwork (Ogbu, 2003; Schmader et al., 2001; Steele,
1997; Zirkel, 2002, 2004b), whether (Zirkel, 2002, 2004b) and where (Feagin
& Sikes, 1994; Tatum, 2004) to attend college, where to live (Tatum, 1992a),
and which careers (Ogbu, 2003; Zirkel, 2004b) and social situations (Zirkel,
2004b, 2005) to pursue or avoid.
Young people observe patterns of racial discrimination in academic and
employment settings (Bigler, Averhart, & Liben, 2003). These observations
influence their assessments of the connection between effort in school and
economic and advancement opportunities later in life (Ogbu, 2003). These
observations can then undermine their motivation to identify themselves
with and exert high levels of effort in academic pursuits (Cross, 2003;
Ogbu, 2003; Zirkel, 2002, 2004b), but the reverse is also true. When students of color perceive opportunities for the future and when they feel
connected to others at school, their motivation and performance in school
improves. Students of color who reported having a race- and gendermatched role model employed in a career that the student was interested in
pursuing were more likely to be strongly invested in their academic work
and to perform at higher levels in school as a result (Zirkel, 2002). Similarly, students of color were more likely to pursue academic goals and
find them interesting, important, and enjoyable to the extent that they
made strong social connections to peers (Zirkel, 2004b) or report feeling
welcomed (Zirkel, 2005) at school. Other studies of students! feelings of
connection to school reveal that feeling of connection can influence a
wide-range of adolescent behavior. Interventions designed to increase
students! feelings of belonging on school campuses decreases self-destruc-
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tive behavior such as high-risk sex and drug and alcohol abuse among all
students, but particularly among students of color (Lonczak, Abbott,
Hawkins, Kosterman, & Catalano, 2002; Lonczak et al., 2001; McNeely,
Nonnemaker, & Blum, 2002).
Many young people of color struggle with how to define themselves and
their ethnic or racial identity within predominantly White institutions (e.g.,
Chavous, 2000; Cross, 1991, 2003; Cross & Strauss, 1998; Tatum, 1992a,
1997/2003, 2004). Several models of ethnic and racial identity development
focus on the processes by which young people come to define themselves
within such a context. Most models build on Erikson!s (1950/1963, 1968/
1994) model of identity development, specifically including a period of
complacency or latency, followed by active exploration, followed by resolution of conflict and the achievement of a self-defined identity (see, e.g.,
Cross, 1991; Helms, 1990; Phinney, 1990; Tatum, 1997/2003, 2004).
A strong ethnic identity can help ameliorate some of the negative impact
of racial stigma on students! motivation and goals. A strong ethnic identity
has consistently been shown to be associated with higher levels of selfesteem (Carlson, Uppal, & Prosser, 2000; Helms, 1990; Phinney, Cantu, &
Kurz, 1997; Phinney & Chavira, 1992; Phinney, Chavira, & Williamson,
1992; Rowley et al., 1998; Sellers, Rowley, Chavous, Shelton, & Smith,
1997; Tatum, 1992b, 1997/2003, 2004, but cf. Rotheram-Borus, 1990),
greater well-being (Arroyo & Zigler, 1995; Esses, Dovidio, & Jackson, 2001;
Helms, 1990; Kim-Jo, Benet-Martinez, & Sevilla, 2005; Phinney, 1990;
Phinney, Horenczyk, Lielkind, & Vedder, 2001; Sellers, 1993; but cf. James,
Kim, & Armijo, 2000) and greater overall psychological development
(Collins, 2000; Nghe & Mahalik, 2001; Operario & Fiske, 2001; Phinney,
1995, 1996; Tatum, 1992a, 1992b, 1997; but cf. Penn, Gaines, & Phillips,
1993).
More importantly for the current article, ethnic identity can serve as a
strategy by which young people from stigmatized ethnic groups can persist
and succeed in educational settings. A strong ethnic identity has been shown
to be associated with higher levels of academic achievement, academic
motivation, and comfort in academic settings (Chavous, 2000; Chavous
et al., 2003; Ethier & Deaux, 1990, 1994; Jaret & Reitzes, 1999; Sellers et al.,
1998; M. B. Spencer, Noll, Stoltzfus, & Harpalani, 2001). Racial and ethnic
identity can provide a buffer against the effects of stigma and concerns
about racial discrimination (Chavous et al., 2003; Cross & Strauss, 1998), in
part by protecting them against feelings of threat (Ethier & Deaux, 1994)
and providing a community through which issues of stigma and discrimination can be discussed and addressed (Cross & Strauss, 1998; Ethier &
Deaux, 1990, 1994).
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Stigma and Student/Faculty Relationships
One consequence of Brown (1954) was that African-American students
from segregated school districts left classrooms staffed by teachers of color
to attend newly desegregated ‘‘White’’ schools where the teachers were also
White and often prejudiced. This did not help African-American children!s
self-esteem in the ways anticipated by Brown (Clark & Clark, 1947), and in
fact some have argued this may have hurt African-American self-esteem
(Gerard, 1988). Zora Neale Hurston, among others, worried about this at
the time of the Brown decision. Putting it succinctly, she wrote: ‘‘How much
satisfaction can I get from a court order for somebody to associate with me
who does not wish me near them?’’ (Hurston, 1955, reprinted in Martin,
1998, p. 210]. One might well wonder how much self-esteem that was likely
to generate as well. Hooks (1994), writing 40 years later, movingly describes
the experience of transferring from a racially segregated school where racism
was something that happened outside of the classroom and school to an
integrated one in which racism was ever present:
School changed utterly with racial integration. Gone was the messianic zeal to
transform our minds and beings that had characterized teachers and their pedagogical practices in our all-black schools . Knowledge was suddenly about
information only. It had no relation to how one lived, behaved. It was no longer connected to antiracist struggle. Bussed to white schools, we soon learned
that obedience, and not zealous will to learn, was what was expected of us . . .
When we entered racist, desegregated white schools, we left a world where
teachers believed that to educate black children rightly would require a political
commitment. Now, we were mainly taught by white teachers whose lessons
reinforced racist stereotypes. For black children, education was no longer
about the practice of freedom. Realizing this, I lost my love of school. (p. 3).
This is not, of course, to advocate for increased racial segregation in schools,
but rather to highlight that an end to de jure segregation is not nearly
sufficient to effect change.
Despite the 50 years that have passed, the faculty in U.S. schools and
colleges remains largely White (Brown & Dobbins, 2004; Gaines, 2004;
Jones, 1997; Keller & Manzo, 2003), and the issues identified by hooks in
the above quote remain relevant today. Students of color!s interactions with
White faculty take place in the context of a society with a history of racial
prejudice and discrimination towards students of color in educational
settings.
Numerous studies have demonstrated the positive power of teacher–
student relationships for improving educational outcomes (Adams & Singh,
1998; Furrer & Skinner, 2003; Murray & Greenberg, 2000; Sanders &
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Jordan, 2000), decreasing students! thoughts about dropping out of school
(Gloria & Robinson-Kurpius, 2001) and decreasing a variety of other
maladaptive behaviors outside of school (Adams & Singh, 1998; Lonczak,
et al., 2001, 2002; McNeely et al., 2002; Sanders & Jordan, 2000). Unfortunately, students of color are less likely to experience these positive faculty–
student relationships. Students of color are more likely to distrust White
teachers, in part because of generalized beliefs about White racism (Sigelman & Tuch, 1997), in part because of prior experiences with White teachers
in which they felt treated unfairly (e.g., Ancis, Sedlacek, & Mohr, 2000;
Casteel, 2000; Cohen & Steele, 2002; Wayman, 2002; Zirkel, 2004a), or
simply because experience often indicates that even many well-meaning
White teachers cannot direct them to needed culturally-relevant information
or resources (see also Delpit, 1996; Ladson-Billings, 1994; Tatum, 2004).
These concerns are not without some basis. Teachers have reported more
positive interactions with students of the same ethnicity than those of a
different ethnic background (Saft & Pianta, 2001), and White teachers have
been shown to have more positive classroom interactions with White than
African-American students (Casteel, 1998). In Casteel!s (1998) study, the
White teachers in this sample were found to be more likely to call on White
students by name, more likely to ask White students questions requiring
critical thinking, were more likely to praise White students, and were more
likely to give White students clues to help them work out an answer they
initially answered incorrectly or only partially correctly. Another study revealed student teachers reporting lower estimates of the IQ scores and
GPA!s of African-American students than of White students (Richman,
Bovelsky, Koovand, Vacca, & West, 1997).
In a longitudinal study of elementary and middle school students, I found
that the teachers in the sample—all of whom were White—were very good at
predicting the future academic success of their White students but consistently misassessed the future success of their students of color (Zirkel,
2004a). One particularly revealing aspect of this study what that although
the (White) teachers correctly perceived the levels of motivation and interest
in school reported by their White students, there was a dramatic ‘‘mismatch’’
between how they perceived the students of color and what the students of
color reported about themselves. Those students of color who reported being
highly motivated (and who subsequently performed better academically in
later years) were described by their teachers as ‘‘not interested, motivated or
likely to succeed’’ in school, whereas those students of color who reported
not being very interested in school (and who subsequently did less well
academically in later years) were described by their teachers as ‘‘very
interested, motivated, and likely to succeed’’ in school (see also Rosenthal,
2002 for a similar results in his ‘Pygmalian in the classroom! studies).
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There are many possible explanations for this discrepancy between teachers!
perceptions and students! own self-reports and their later performance, but
what is most disturbing here is the extent to which the (White) teachers! were
dramatically underestimating the motivations, aspirations, and potential of
their most motivated students of color. Together, these studies suggest that
the classroom climate, as described by hooks above, remains problematic,
and may be especially so in integrated classrooms with White faculty where
issues of racial stigma can remain salient.
These same concerns are expressed by college and graduate students of
color. Research indicates that relationships between students of color and
White faculty in colleges are often marked by fear, trepidation, and mistrust.
Even at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU!s), AfricanAmerican students reported feeling that although all faculty on campus were
equally competent, African-American faculty were better able to mentor
them (Chism & Satcher, 1998). At Predominantly White Institutions
(PWI!s), interactions with White faculty sometimes, in and of themselves,
evokes fear and trepidation among students of color (e.g., Brown & Dobbins, 2004; Cohen, Steele, & Ross, 1999; Walters, Shepperd, & Brown,
submitted), and this relationship occurs in an atmosphere of distrust (Cohen
& Steele, 2002). Brown (1998) reports that students of color reported more
concern regarding a hypothetical interaction with a White faculty member,
especially if that interaction was going to be in an evaluative context that
had consequences for the student (Brown & Dobbins, 2004).
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Much attention has been given in recent years to how best to create
effective multicultural/multiracial learning environments. I review this research more thoroughly elsewhere (see Zirkel, 2005a, for a review), but can
outline some basic strategies here. Placing stigma at the center of an analysis
of the problem directs our attention to a range of interventions that can
improve student outcomes through the amelioration of stigma.
‘‘Wise’’ schooling or culturally relevant pedagogy
At a start, one important component is the development of what Steele
(1997) refers to as ‘‘wise’’ educational institutions. Such institutions and the
personnel within them would acknowledge the existence of racism and racial
and ethnic stigma and would articulate openly that such attitudes have no
place in this district, school, and classroom (for an example, see Blumer &
Tatum, 1999; Lawrence & Tatum, 1997a, 1997b). Brown and Dobbins
(2004) reveal that when White college faculty openly state their commitment
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to racial and ethnic equity, students of color report feeling less fear and
anxiety about having them as an instructor. ‘‘Wise’’ educational institutions
at all levels would be thoughtful about the hiring, promotion, and training
of faculty to best serve a diverse student body.
Culturally relevant pedagogy (see, e.g., Delpit, 1996; Gay, 2000; Howard,
2001, 2003; Ladson-Billings, 1994; Shade, Kelly, & Oberg, 1997) would play
a central role in the classrooms of such schools. Teaching that explicitly
works to address issues of racism in school and to ensure equitable education for students from all cultural backgrounds has been called antiracist
education (Lawrence & Tatum, 1997a, 1997b) or culturally relevant pedagogy (Gay, 2000; Gonzalez & Darling-Hammond, 1997; Howard, 2001,
2003; Ladson-Billings, 1994; Shade et al., 1997). Such pedagogical models
demand that teachers critically reflect the ways that racism and racial stigma
are institutionalized in such educational practices as abilities ‘‘assessments’’,
student assignments to ‘‘honors’’, ‘‘remedial’’ classes or special education,
and the social climate of the school for children and families of color.
Moreover, such pedagogies demand that teachers actively work to undo
these processes. Howard (2003) articulates three components of the critical
self-reflection that teachers must do as part of creating a culturally relevant
pedagogy in their classrooms, and they are worth repeating here:
First, teachers much acknowledge how deficit-based notions of diverse students
continue to permeate traditional school thinking, practices, and placement, and
critique their own thoughts and practices to ensure they do not reinforce prejudiced behavior. Second, culturally relevant pedagogy recognizes the explicit
connection between culture and learning, and sees students! cultural capital as
an asset and not a detriment to their school success. Third, culturally relevant
teaching is mindful of how traditional teaching practices reflect middle-class,
European-American cultural values, and thus seeks to incorporate a wider
range of dynamic and fluid teaching practices. (Howard, 2003, pp. 197–198).
Culturally relevant teaching also means that teachers will examine the
content of the material they cover in their classes and the instructional
approaches they use to ensure that they are addressing the needs of their
students of color as well as White students (Delpit, 1996; Ladson-Billings,
1994; Lawrence & Tatum, 1997a). This will mean teachers will examine their
materials to ensure that the perspectives and voices of people of color are
present in the materials they include throughout their curriculum. It may
also mean changing the curriculum in some areas—for example, the inclusion of books authored by people of color may change the literature curriculum. Cooperative learning models, especially jigsaw classroom
techniques, may change the way material is studied by students, thereby
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117
allowing students with different learning styles to participate actively across
the curriculum (Delpit, 1996; E. Aronson, 2002; Aronson & Patnoe, 1997).
This kind of critical reflection can be supported in both teacher training
and professional development classes. Lawrence and Tatum (1997a) provide
an analysis of the kinds of changes White teachers report when they are
asked to engage in ongoing conversations and reflection on the role that
racism plays in such everyday educational practices as teacher expectations,
school climate, and classroom management. While completing the semesterlong professional development seminar, more than half of the teachers
journaled about how they were incorporating this new way of ‘‘seeing’’ into
their work—by changing the way they engaged with students of color and
their families, transforming the curriculum they brought to students, and by
challenging institutional practices they now saw as problematic (e.g., academic tracking; the over-referral of students of color to special education).
Another area for critical attention and practice is how White teachers
provide negative feedback to students of color (Cohen & Steele, 2002; Cohen et al., 1999). Giving negative feedback to students of color can be such a
charged event that some White teachers find it nearly impossible to
do—instead, they sometimes avoid this by ‘‘passing’’ poorer quality work
than they would accept from White students. And when negative feedback is
given, students of color are typically faced with trying to decipher what is
valid criticism from what might be over-criticism stemming from racist
attitudes. In their study, Cohen et al. (1999) found that all students tend to
discount negative feedback. The most effective negative feedback between
White faculty and a student of color paired a statement that he or she was
holding to the student to high standards with a statement of confidence (‘‘I
know you can do this!’’).
Peer relationships
Students learn a great deal about how race and ethnicity are understood
and the meaning they have in our society from their peers (Lewis, 2003;
Zirkel, 2004b, 2005). Schools can do much to reduce stigma and foster
positive relationships between diverse peers. More friendships develop
across ethnic lines within a classroom when teachers emphasize studentlearning processes over performance and grades (Hallinan & Smith, 1984,
1999; Hallinan & Teixeira, 1987). It appears that an emphasis on grades and
performance heightens stereotype threat and causes students to retreat to
the safest social groupings—those segregated by race and ethnicity. Similarly, when teachers emphasize a model of intelligence that is based on
learning and effort rather than on talent or endowment (thus reducing the
stigma of poor performance), the performance of students of color is
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improved (Aronson et al., 2002; Good, Aronson, & Inzlicht, 2003).
Opportunities for diverse students to interact informally outside of the
classroom and to engage in discussions of race and ethnicity in controlled
ways within the classroom have proven helpful in improving inter-ethnic
relationships on college campuses (Gurin et al., 2002; Gurin, Nagda, &
Lopez, 2004; Lopez, 2004; Tatum, 1992b). The extent to which such strategies will also work in K-12 classrooms deserves further exploration.
Understanding and even encouraging processes of ethnic identity development can also help reduce the effects of stigma on students! outcomes.
Teachers and administrators need to understand that behavior that might
seem to undermine diversity goals on campus (e.g., students socializing
exclusively with members of his or her own ethnic group) may well be
normative and adaptive efforts to create a positive ethnic identity and may
be a necessary step on the road to more positive inter-group relations (see
Cross & Straus, 1998; Tatum, 1997/2003, 2004).
Race- and gender-matched role models with whom students are personally acquainted can increase student motivation and lead to better
grades for students of color (Zirkel, 2002). In my study, this held true
regardless of the educational achievements of the role models themselves. I
argue that this effect holds in large part because the race- and gendermatched role models are important more because they reduce feelings of
stigma than because they offer young people a specific map to a specific
career. Teachers and schools can help by providing students with personal
examples of race- and gender-matched role models and resisting the urge
to discourage them from admiring non-academic models such as athletes
and musicians.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Eliminating racial stigma was a central goal of Brown v. Board of Education. As we reflect on race and education 50 years later, we find that
stigma still plays a pivotal role in the educational aspirations and outcomes
of students of color. Negative stereotypes about the intellectual and academic abilities of students of color still imbue educational situations with a
particular anxiety for students of color not experienced by White students.
This anxiety has been demonstrated to impair students! performance and to
impede their willingness to invest in academic tasks and identities. Similarly,
teacher–student relationships are affected by racial and ethnic stigma. Students of color report fearing White faculty, and, in turn, White faculty
members demonstrate that they are often better attuned to their White
students. Nevertheless, efforts by teachers, schools, and districts can
be effective in reducing stigma and thereby improving the educational
RACIAL AND ETHNIC STIGMA IN EDUCATION 50 YEARS AFTER BROWN
119
outcomes of their students of color. Strategies for reducing stigma include
culturally relevant or antiracist pedagogical practices and techniques to
encourage positive inter-ethnic relationships between students. Fostering
better educational outcomes for students of color is not only important, but
it is very achievable.
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