Abstract
Black female college students at predominantly white institutions commonly experience substantial alienation that impedes their social integration and sense of wellbeing. To probe the source of their isolation, we examine whether race and gender predict reactions to one of the most contentious contemporary social issues: police shootings of unarmed Black individuals. A random sample of 238 Black and white students surveyed at a small private liberal arts Mid-Atlantic college revealed that significantly more Black women felt very angry, depressed, vulnerable and distrustful of police compared to white males and females as well as Black males. We explore factors that could help explain why Black males react differently and how this divide among African Americans could exacerbate the isolation that Black female college students experience as they take on disproportionate responsibility for speaking out on social inequality. Awareness of these phenomena is an important step for instructors seeking more comfortable and productive discussions about racial inequality.
Recommended Citation
Robertson, Shandria and Dundes, Lauren
(2017)
"Anger Matters: Black Female Student Alienation at Predominantly White Institutions,"
Race and Pedagogy Journal: Teaching and Learning for Justice: Vol. 2:
No.
2, Article 3.
Available at:
https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/rpj/vol2/iss2/3
Included in
Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons, Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons