Written by Serie McDougal and Sureshi Jayawardene Malcolm X once stated in an interview- "If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, that's not progress. If you pull it all the way out, that's not progress. The progress comes from healing the wound that the blow made. They haven't even begun to pull the knife out. They won't even admit the knife is there." The National Urban League (NUL) releases a report on the State of Black America (SOBA) every year. The NUL have, arguably, the best metric for measuring the collective conditions, needs, progress, and regress for Black America. This metric is called the Equality Index. It was designed to assess the relative status of Black and White people and, more recently, Latino/Latina Americans. The Equality Index assesses the progress toward achieving equal social, political, and economic opportunity between Blacks and Whites in the United States. Year-long analyses result in a score representing relative progress made toward equality. The Equality Index score is a calculation based on five areas of Black life: economics, health, education, social justice, and civic engagement. The score is in the form of a percentage between 0 and 100%, with 100% representing complete equality with Whites. The 2016 Equality Index for Black America for 2016 is 72.2% (Figure 1). To summarize, the most recent equality index scores show that there have been improvements in the areas of education (76.1% to 77.4%), economics (55.5% to 56.2%) and social justice (60.6% to 60.8%). The most significant percentage point increase is in educational parity. SOBA analysis shows that the improvements in education are a results of the fact that Black college attainment and enrollment rates have increased in the past year. This means that more African Americans are attending college and attaining higher levels of education (i.e. more African Americans attaining a college degree or higher). The improvements in economics are a result of progress in closing the digital divide and more Black people getting approved for mortgage and home improvement loans. The improvements in social justice are a result of lower incarceration rates for African Americans and higher rates of imprisonment for Whites following arrests.
Although these changes are statistically marginal, they are important. Educational attainment is important because it is related to employment and income which both increase people’s access to health and housing (Belgrave, 2010). Improvements in the percentage of Blacks with at least a bachelor’s degree and greater college enrollment explains the educational parity for SOBA this year. 2016 marks the 40th anniversary of SOBA and researchers analyzed data between 1976 and 2016 to determine exactly what changes have taken place in this time frame. Unlike in 1976, today, approximately a third of 18 to 24-year-old Blacks are enrolled in college. In addition, the percentage of African Americans with a bachelor’s degree or higher has more than tripled since 1976 (6.6%). However, college graduation rates and access to high quality elementary and secondary education remain major concerns. Another area of Black life that deeply influences the equality is in terms of incarceration. Moreover, discrimination in arrests is a violation of the 14th amendment’s guarantee of equal protection (Walker, Spohn & DeLone, 2004). Unequal enforcement of the law is at the heart of the matter, and the enhanced advocacy amount police conduct may have influenced recent shifts in arrest rates for Whites. Two areas experienced decline in the past year: civil engagement (from 104.0% in 2015 to 100.6% in 2016) and health (from 79.6% in 2015 to 79.4% in 2016). The sharp decline in civil engagement is reflective of typical drops in voter registration and participation during midterm election years. Revisiting the Notion of Progress In the beginning of each report, there is typically an important note contextualizing the meaning of progress. The recently released 2016 report is no different. The NUL explains that although there have been changes in the collective conditions of African Americans, stark inequities remain a problem. Moreover, there must be policies that that are targeted enough to improve the collective conditions of African Americans. NUL’s report indicates that progress must be defined and articulated on our own terms, rooted in our own objectives for our collective welfare and futures. “The Main Street Marshall Plan: Moving from Poverty to Prosperity “ The 2016 SOBA Report offers a comprehensive and sophisticated plan of action to address the areas of concern highlighted in this year’s Equality Index. NUL is calling for a $1 trillion investment in Black America to substantially improve equality in education, civic engagement, social justice, jobs and economic opportunities, and healthcare. This has been pitched as a multi-annual, multi-pronged commitment over the next five years. This plan would address: universal early childhood education, a federal living wage of $15/hour, comprehensive urban infrastructure, small and micro business financing plan target for women and minority owned business, expanded summer youth programs, expanded home ownership strategies, expanded Earned Income Tax Credit, expanded re-entry workforce training programs, doubling Pell Grant program, expanded financial literacy and home-buyer counseling, expanded Section 8 program, Green Empowerment Zones in high unemployment areas, increased federal funding to local schools, and affordable high-speed broadband. The Main Street Marshall Plan focuses on rebuilding and innovating infrastructure in urban communities where high concentrations of Black youth and families continue to suffer due to malfeasance and indifference. It may be useful for reparations advocates such as NBUF, NCOBRA, and others to consider The Main Street Marshall Plan as a vehicle for how African American communities might use reparations funds to better our life chances. Works Cited Belgrave, F. & Allison, K. (2010). African American psychology: From Africa to America. Los Angeles: Sage. Walker, S., Spohn, C. , & DeLone, M. (2004). The color of justice: Race, ethnicity, and crime in America. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
0 Comments
Written by Sureshi Jayawardene and Serie McDougal
The US criminal justice system holds more than 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 942 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,283 local jails, and 79 Indian Country jails and military prisons, immigration detention centers, civil commitment centers, and prisons in the US territories. In The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander showed us how incarceration disproportionately affects Black communities, but also that the targeted imprisonment of Blacks in the US is the new and evolved de facto segregation. In her view, mass incarceration is a “massive system of racial and social control.” This system operates to control people, often beginning in the early stages of one’s life. It goes on to control all aspects of a person’s life after they are branded as a suspect in a crime. Data from Prison Policy Initiative supports this: although each year, 636,000 people leave prisons, people go to jail over 11 million times a year. This high level of “jail churn” is due to the fact that most people in jails have not been convicted – while some make bail, those who are poor remain locked up until their trial. Moreover, being locked up is only one part of this long process of “correctional control.” The stain of incarceration is a familiar and normalized part of life for many Black men, especially those living in impoverished urban spaces (Freeman, 1996). Its long-term impact on families and communities includes its limiting effects on earning potential and access to healthcare, education, and housing. The multivalent picture of incarceration gains even more clarity with the findings of a recent study by researchers at Duke University and The New School. William Darity Jr., Darrick Hamilton, and Khaing Zaw examined the relationship between wealth and incarceration. As might be expected, they found that wealthier people of all races were less likely to be incarcerated than members of their racial group with less wealth. However, their study offers evidence that at all levels of wealth, African Americans are more likely than Whites to spend time in jail. Using the 1979 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), this study examined the links between wealth, race, and incarceration. The researchers looked at the data on race and wealth before and after incarceration. When the NLSY79 wealth data was first collected in 1985, 426 respondents (3.67%) had been previously incarcerated (Zaw et al, 2016). Researchers organized incarceration experience into three categories: 1) incarceration in the next 5 years (future incarcerees); 2) incarceration only in the next 6-27 years (far future incarcerees); and 3) never incarcerated. Collective wealth was assessed for each subgroup at 25th percentile, 50th percentile, 75th percentile, and 90th percentile. White future incarcerees started out with more wealth in 1985 than their Black and Hispanic counterparts. The researchers noted that at all levels of wealth, White levels of wealth were “several multiples” of Blacks and Hispanics. Years after 1985, White far future incarcerees had more wealth at the median than Blacks who had never been incarcerated. Among future incarcerees, even though Blacks consistently had less wealth than Whites at the median level, Hispanics had more wealth than Whites at the median in several years, particularly after 1990 (Zaw et al, 2016). So, while wealth was unevenly distributed across incarceration status, wealth was unevenly distributed across race (Zaw et al, 2016). The data show that the impact of race effects incarceration even when controlling for wealth. Considering the institutionalization of the role that race plays in incarceration, it is important to critically evaluate political approaches to addressing mass incarceration, especially during an election season. Targeting the poor with class based approaches to addressing mass incarceration through access to education and job growth initiatives are necessary but not sufficient given how pivotal race is to the problem. Political initiatives typically steer clear from openly addressing race or entertaining race specific\race targeted initiatives and thus begin the problem solving process by taking a central element off of the table. One of the things this study introduces is the reoccurring debate over taking class based on approaches to resolving social problems that are largely race based. Freman, R.B. (1996). Why do so many young American men commit crimes and what might we do about it? The Journal of Economic Perspectives 10(1): 25-42. Zaw, K., Hamilton, D., and Darity Jr., W. (2016). Race, wealth and incarceration: Results from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Race and Social Problems 8(1): 103-115. Written by Serie McDgoual and Sureshi Jayawardene
Dr. Alfred Tatum is the leading scholar on approaches to enhancing Black male literacy. His field-tested strategies have proven effective at increasing what he refers to as, meaningful literacy engagement (Tatum, 2005). He defines a meaningful literacy exchange as “reading or encountering print texts that initiate or shape decisions significant to one’s wellbeing” (Tatum, 2014, p.36). African American males generally score below their peers of other races and ethnicities in all levels of literacy testing. In light of this state of affairs, Tatum’s new ways of viewing literacy offer a window into viable solutions. Tatum criticizes the lack of research on the role that different kinds of fiction and non-fiction texts play in enhancing the lives of Black males. Further, he explains that school teachers often have to comply with administrations that privilege commercial reading materials that may not be the most effective ones for Black males. Tatum has recently published a new study exploring how to increase African American males’ meaningful literacy exchanges with texts. Based on his survey of 73 African American males from an urban school, Tatum makes several interesting findings. He finds a distinction between hard and soft knowledge texts that increase Black male engagement. Soft knowledge texts are those that enhance students’ socio-emotional orientations, such as books that inspire or encourage them to aspire to, and set and achieve goals. On the contrary, hard knowledge texts are those that improve their academic knowledge, such as those that promote a deeper knowledge of academic subjects or give them technical instruction on how to complete tasks such as writing and editing. According to Tatum (2014), English teachers may fall back on the default strategy of selecting too many texts that engage Black males with soft knowledge and not enough that engage them through hard knowledge. This means, for example, well-intentioned teachers may too often select books meant to inspire Black males by showing them that they can be high achievers against all odds, without providing them texts that appeal to their practical and intellectual curiosity. In this study, Tatum (2014) draws attention to texts identified by Black adolescent males and their remarks about the meanings these texts hold for them. Analysis of these youths’ responses revealed an underlying pattern: due to the default strategy that “continues to underserve” them, Black male students identified few texts in their classrooms as meaningful (Tatum, 2014, p. 43). While this analysis reveals the oversaturation in the characteristically soft knowledge oriented texts these young men were exposed to, Tatum (2014) does not undermine its value, but urges educators to balance this with texts that enhance hard knowledge as well. More perplexing is that this administrative strategy inhibits any school-based opportunities for meaningful literacy exchanges with texts with greater interdisciplinary depth. Furthermore, this approach to Black male literacy remains “misaligned” with the historical evidence of Black males reading a wide range of fiction and nonfiction texts for meaningful engagement (Tatum, 2014, p. 45). Overall, Tatum (2014) urges teachers and administrators approach literacy and print texts in particular as “tools of protection” and resilience that would equip Black males with the necessary acumen to contest the constraints of urban environments. In other words, “there is a need to shape textual pathways that restore their belief in texts as tools of human progress and development” (Tatum, 2014, p. 45). Recommendations to educators in opening and supporting pathways to literacy as well as the larger pursuit of favorable socio-economic conditions in the future include:
Works Cited Tatum, A. W. (2014). Orienting African American male adolescents toward meaningful literacy exchanges with texts. Journal of Education, 194(1): 35-47. Tatum, A. W. (2005). Teaching reading to black adolescent males: Closing the achievement gap. Stenhouse Publishers. Written by Sureshi Jayawardene In 2010, several media outlets like Essence and Time as well as mainstream news sources like the Associated Press reported that C-section (cesarean section) births in the United States were on the rise.Between 1996 and 2007, the cesarean rate in the US increased by 53% and the pace of this increase accelerated from 2000 to 2007. In 2013, the C-section rate for the US was 32.7%, well above the “medically necessary” target stipulated by the WHO. In 1985, the World Health Organization (WHO) set the ideal rate for cesarean section births between 10-15%. Accordingly, healthy outcomes for infants and mothers are best accounted for within this “ideal” range. Anything beyond 15% is considered dangerous as healthcare facilities and postnatal treatment may not be of the requisite quality to meet the needs of the greater volume. The Obesity Thesis This 53% increase in the US was reflected across all states, age groups, and ethnic and racial designations. The same news sources also highlighted that Black mothers were most likely to deliver their babies this way, even in the case of low-risk pregnancies. In 2008, the cesarean rate for Black women was 34.5%, higher than for any other group of women. In 2013, it had risen to 36% (Ani, 2015). The burning question remains, what causes Black women to have more C-sections than any other racial group? Researchers at the CDC and the National Center for Health Statistics appear unable to definitively answer this question. However, they, as well as other researchers have relied on an obesity thesis to explain the discrepancy since Black women are more likely to be obese than White or Hispanic women. They argue that women giving birth are older and heavier and as such are faced with greater health risks to themselves and their infants. While this may be true for some women, there is little evidence to support this thesis in regards to the disproportionate number of Black women having C-sections. Even if obstetricians find Black women’s weight a concern, Sutherland’s (2013) research on obesity in Africana communities demonstrates a more fundamental problem in the matrices and mechanisms used to rate and compare Black women’s physicalities. She notes that these formulas are culturally incongruent and preferentially normed along White women’s physical attributes, which are often different (not necessarily better) than those of ethnically diverse women. C-Section as Existential Violence In a recent publication, Dr. Amanishakete Ani unveils the insidious and deep contours of social regulation associated with this practice of “cutting” inherent to the longstanding practice of regulating Black women’s reproductive capacities. Given the glaringly uneven rates of C-sections among Black women, Ani (2015) explains the importance of knowing all the risks associated with this method of birthing, gaining knowledge of traditional and ancient African birthing practices, and recognizing the intrinsic racism in the elemental levels of our lives. In her assessment, cesarean section is akin to other forms of “existential violence” such as police brutality, fraternal murder, and mass incarceration directed at Africana people. She characterizes these phenomena as “tentacles” of a larger political entity (i.e. the state) whereby they function to consistently contain Africana life and impede the endurance of Africana communities. Ani (2015) argues that the dramatic increase and ongoing overuse of cesarean section as a method of delivery among Black women is “driven by a continuing history of commoditized oppression and exploitation on physical terms.” These contentions are not misplaced. In fact, private hospitals are poised for making money (approximately $22,000 for a C-section vs. $11,500 for vaginal delivery) with C-sections than with vaginal deliveries. Additionally, C-sections are also cheaper for the hospital than vaginal birth after C-section, or VBAC, which requires additional medical staff and pre and postnatal care. A History of Commoditized Oppression Unsurprisingly and yet, disturbingly, today’s reproductive struggles resemble Black women’s circumstances during slavery. Ani (2015) contends that C-sections today are a disciplining activity necessary to sustaining the ‘system,’ similar to procreation under slavery. At the heart of colonial slavery was White masters’ ability to exert control over Black women’s reproductive labor. In 1662, when Virginia enacted a law differentiating enslavement from indentured servitude, the status of mulatto offspring was determined based upon the condition of the mother, marking a dramatic departure from English common law wherein the condition of the father determined the legal status of children (Plant, 2010). This law transformed Black women’s reproductive capacity into the means through which slave property was sustained and produced (Morgan, 2004). Later, following the ban on slave importation in 1808, the enslaved labor force was more concretely replenished through Black women’s childbearing capacities, which effectively became “subject to social regulation rather than their own will” (Roberts, 1997, pp. 22-23). The use of legal means to legitimize and standardize racist practices comes as no surprise even in the case of Black women’s reproductive labor. Under slavery, not only did the Black family offer a sound and dependable source of new laborers, Black women reproduced the cheap labor while they labored in the fields and nurtured and fed their own kin (Jones, 2010). To secure Black women’s reproductive labor, slave owners adopted varying degrees of coercive strategies. Some offered incentives like a lighter workload or extra rations to pregnant slaves (Flavin, 2007). And some pregnant slaves were spared harsh disciplinary action (Flavin, 2007). During a pregnancy, while some women were allowed easier working conditions, many accounts indicate they were expected to continue performing strenuous fieldwork (Flavin, 2007). In more rare instances, masters would grant permanent freedom from fieldwork to women who had already birthed a required number of children (Flavin, 2007). All of the slave masters’ strategies remain consistent with what Ani (2015) terms “commoditized oppression” and persisting existential violence in the contemporary birthing contexts of Africana women. In Global Perspective The disproportionate representation of Black women in C-section deliveries is not unique to the United States. Notorious for its high cesarean rates, Brazil currently tops the list at 52% of C-section deliveries. Eighty-two percent of babies born in Brazil’s private hospitals are C-section births. An article in The Atlantic last year exposed the reasons why high numbers of Brazilian women were delivering their babies through C-section. Prominent among these are the abuses suffered by pregnant women at the hands of their physicians who routinely coerce them to deliver by cesarean section. The woman whose experience foregrounds The Atlantic’s coverage of this issue reveals she sought psychiatric treatment after delivery due to postpartum depression. This is not uncommon with C-section births. According to a position paper issued by Lamaze International, cesarean section poses a number of both short-term and long-term health risks to mothers and newborns. For mothers these include infection, admission to intensive care, pelvic floor dysfunction, endometriosis, difficulties forming attachment with their babies, lower likelihood of skin-to-skin contact immediately following delivery, lower likelihood of breastfeeding, negative psychological consequences in the case of unplanned cesarean section, and even death. Moreover, scarring of the uterus can cause potential harm for future pregnancies as well as deliveries. Ani (2015) indicates that fathers, too, receive little to no psychological care, preparation, and support particularly in the case of emergency C-sections. The potential harm to infants includes complications from prematurity, respiratory complications, accidental surgical cuts, childhood development of asthma, and sensitivity to allergens, Type 1 diabetes, and death in the first 28 days following birth. However, even if a pregnancy progresses without high risks, an emergency C-section maybe warranted due to factors like early labor, the baby’s breech presentation, among other unforeseen issues. In such instances, C-section delivery maybe a necessary course of action when a dire or devastating outcome needs to be avoided. Gaining Awareness of Africana Philosophies of Birthing While it is necessary to recognize the potential harm and the underlying racist ideologies associated with the C-section birthing method, gaining knowledge of traditional and culturally relevant birthing practices is equally important. Contrasting European and Eurocentric ideologies of childbirth are African philosophies toward nature, women, children, and birthing. For instance, the ancient Egyptians viewed the womb with the same regard as the eyes (Smith, 2011). According to the Lehun papyrus, a Kemetic medical text, the womb was considered responsible for more than just procreation. Any ailment suffered by a woman was seen as linked to agitation sensed in the womb (Ani, 2015). While many portions of this ancient text are devoted to pregnancy and womb-related conditions, nowhere does it mention surgical intervention in child-birthing (Ani, 2015). The only interventions advocated are oil rubs, ingesting herbs, and smoke fumigation (Ani, 2015). Birthing practices congruent with Africana cultural lineages include the guidance and support of doulas and midwives. Midwifery has a long history in the Black community. The first midwives came aboard slave ships from West Africa in the 17th century and for several hundred years thereafter assisted both enslaved Black women as well as their White mistresses in the birthing process. Although these practices declined in the early 1920s as a result of legislation, the movement of Black midwifery has resurfaced since the 1960s and 1970s. According to a more recent movement of Black midwives, the threat to Black life begins at the level of gestation. Not only do Black women have the highest rates of C-sections, but they are also at the greatest risk for pregnancy-related death. Likewise, Black infants are four times as likely to die of complications at birth and twice as likely to die before their first birthday, not to mention the lifelong threat of death and assault at the hands of the state thereafter. According to a study from 2008, racial disparities have been identified as a significant predictor of low birth weight for African American infants. Moreover, perceived racism and the general stress associated with discrimination are also said to have an effect on pregnancy. Given the high risks of racist and discriminatory treatment when it comes to pregnancy, Ani (2015) cautions Africana women to tread the terrain of Western and Western-derived healthcare facilities, treatments, and methods with great care. As an alternative method of birthing and care, the Black midwives at the Community Birth Center in Los Angeles believe that provision of holistic and culturally sensitive pre and postnatal care to Black women is a viable means of ending, or at the very least, ameliorating these racial disparities at birth. In addition, research indicates that babies delivered by midwives through natural procedures experience better birth outcomes. Resources on Birth Centers and Africana Birthing Practices The National Association of Birth Centers of Color Black Women Birthing Justice International Center for Traditional Childbirth Mamas of Color Rising Black Women Birthing Resistance Birthing Project USA The Birth Place, Florida Atlanta Birthing Project Community Birth Center, Los Angeles Ani, A. (2015). C-section and racism: “Cutting” to the heart of the issue for Black women and families. Journal of African American Studies. Flavin, J. (2007). Slavery’s legacy in contemporary attempts to regulate Black women’s reproduction. In M. Bosworth and J. Flavin (Eds.), Race, gender, and punishment: From colonialism to the war on terror (pp. 95-116). Rutgers University Press. Jones, J. (2010). Labor of love, labor of sorrow: Black women, work, and the family from slavery to the present. New York, NY: Basic books. Morgan, J.L. (2004). Laboring women: Reproduction and gender in New World slavery. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. Plant, R.J. (2010). History of motherhood: American. In Encyclopedia of Motherhood. (Vol. 2, pp. 507-516). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. Roberts, D. (1997). Killing the black body: Race, reproduction, and the meaning of liberty. New York, NY: Vintage Books. Smith, L. (2011). The Kahun gynecological papyrus: Ancient Egyptian medicine. Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care 37: 54055. Sutherland, M.E. (2013). Overweight and obesity among African American women: An examination of predictive and risk factors and weight-reduction recommendations. Journal of Black Studies 44(8): 846-869. Written by Sureshi Jayawardene
In 2010, several media outlets like Essence and Time as well as mainstream news sources like the Associated Press reported that C-section (cesarean section) births in the United States were on the rise. Between 1996 and 2007, the cesarean rate in the US increased by 53% and the pace of this increase accelerated from 2000 to 2007. . In 2013, the C-section rate for the US was 32.7%, well above the “medically necessary” target stipulated by the WHO. In 1985, the World Health Organization (WHO) set the ideal rate for cesarean section births between 10-15%. Accordingly, healthy outcomes for infants and mothers are best accounted for within this “ideal” range. Anything beyond 15% is considered dangerous as healthcare facilities and postnatal treatment may not be of the requisite quality to meet the needs of the greater volume. The Obesity Thesis This 53% increase in the US was reflected across all states, age groups, and ethnic and racial designations. The same news sources also highlighted that Black mothers were most likely to deliver their babies this way, even in the case of low-risk pregnancies. In 2008, the cesarean rate for Black women was 34.5%, higher than for any other group of women. In 2013, it had risen to 36% (Ani, 2015). The burning question remains, what causes Black women to have more C-sections than any other racial group? Researchers at the CDC and the National Center for Health Statistics appear unable to definitively answer this question. However, they, as well as other researchers have relied on an obesity thesis to explain the discrepancy since Black women are more likely to be obese than White or Hispanic women. They argue that women giving birth are older and heavier and as such are faced with greater health risks to themselves and their infants. While this may be true for some women, there is little evidence to support this thesis in regards to the disproportionate number of Black women having C-sections. Even if obstetricians find Black women’s weight a concern, Sutherland’s (2013) research on obesity in Africana communities demonstrates a more fundamental problem in the matrices and mechanisms used to rate and compare Black women’s physicalities. She notes that these formulas are culturally incongruent and preferentially normed along White women’s physical attributes, which are often different (not necessarily better) than those of ethnically diverse women. C-section as Existential Violence In a recent publication, Dr. Amanishakete Ani unveils the insidious and deep contours of social regulation associated with this practice of “cutting” inherent to the longstanding practice of regulating Black women’s reproductive capacities. Given the glaringly uneven rates of C-sections among Black women, Ani (2015) explains the importance of knowing all the risks associated with this method of birthing, gaining knowledge of traditional and ancient African birthing practices, and recognizing the intrinsic racism in the elemental levels of our lives. In her assessment, cesarean section is akin to other forms of “existential violence” such as police brutality, fraternal murder, and mass incarceration directed at Africana people. She characterizes these phenomena as “tentacles” of a larger political entity (i.e. the state) whereby they function to consistently contain Africana life and impede the endurance of Africana communities. Ani (2015) argues that the dramatic increase and ongoing overuse of cesarean section as a method of delivery among Black women is “driven by a continuing history of commoditized oppression and exploitation on physical terms.” These contentions are not misplaced.In fact, private hospitals are poised for making money (approximately $22,000 for a C-section vs. $11,500 for vaginal delivery) with C-sections than with vaginal deliveries. Additionally, C-sections are also cheaper for the hospital than vaginal birth after C-section, or VBAC, which requires additional medical staff and pre and postnatal care. A History of Commoditized Oppression Unsurprisingly and yet, disturbingly, today’s reproductive struggles resemble Black women’s circumstances during slavery. Ani (2015) contends that C-sections today are a disciplining activity necessary to sustaining the ‘system,’ similar to procreation under slavery. At the heart of colonial slavery was White masters’ ability to exert control over Black women’s reproductive labor. In 1662, when Virginia enacted a law differentiating enslavement from indentured servitude, the status of mulatto offspring was determined based upon the condition of the mother, marking a dramatic departure from English common law wherein the condition of the father determined the legal status of children (Plant, 2010). This law transformed Black women’s reproductive capacity into the means through which slave property was sustained and produced (Morgan, 2004). Later, following the ban on slave importation in 1808, the enslaved labor force was more concretely replenished through Black women’s childbearing capacities, which effectively became “subject to social regulation rather than their own will” (Roberts, 1997, pp. 22-23). The use of legal means to legitimize and standardize racist practices comes as no surprise even in the case of Black women’s reproductive labor. Under slavery, not only did the Black family offer a sound and dependable source of new laborers, Black women reproduced the cheap labor while they labored in the fields and nurtured and fed their own kin (Jones, 2010). To secure Black women’s reproductive labor, slave owners adopted varying degrees of coercive strategies. Some offered incentives like a lighter workload or extra rations to pregnant slaves (Flavin, 2007). And some pregnant slaves were spared harsh disciplinary action (Flavin, 2007). During a pregnancy, while some women were allowed easier working conditions, many accounts indicate they were expected to continue performing strenuous fieldwork (Flavin, 2007). In more rare instances, masters would grant permanent freedom from fieldwork to women who had already birthed a required number of children (Flavin, 2007). All of the slave masters’ strategies remain consistent with what Ani (2015) terms “commoditized oppression” and persisting existential violence in the contemporary birthing contexts of Africana women. In Global Perspective The disproportionate representation of Black women in C-section deliveries is not unique to the United States. Notorious for its high cesarean rates, Brazil currently tops the list at 52% of C-section deliveries. Eighty-two percent of babies born in Brazil’s private hospitals are C-section births. An article in The Atlantic last year exposed the reasons why high numbers of Brazilian women were delivering their babies through C-section. Prominent among these are the abuses suffered by pregnant women at the hands of their physicians who routinely coerce them to deliver by cesarean section. The woman whose experience foregrounds The Atlantic’s coverage of this issue reveals she sought psychiatric treatment after delivery due to postpartum depression. This is not uncommon with C-section births. According to a position paper issued by Lamaze International, cesarean section poses a number of both short-term and long-term health risks to mothers and newborns. For mothers these include infection, admission to intensive care, pelvic floor dysfunction, endometriosis, difficulties forming attachment with their babies, lower likelihood of skin-to-skin contact immediately following delivery, lower likelihood of breastfeeding, negative psychological consequences in the case of unplanned cesarean section, and even death. Moreover, scarring of the uterus can cause potential harm for future pregnancies as well as deliveries. Ani (2015) indicates that fathers, too, receive little to no psychological care, preparation, and support particularly in the case of emergency C-sections. The potential harm to infants includes complications from prematurity, respiratory complications, accidental surgical cuts, childhood development of asthma, and sensitivity to allergens, Type 1 diabetes, and death in the first 28 days following birth. However, even if a pregnancy progresses without high risks, an emergency C-section maybe warranted due to factors like early labor, the baby’s breech presentation, among other unforeseen issues. In such instances, C-section delivery maybe a necessary course of action when a dire or devastating outcome needs to be avoided. Gaining Awareness of Africana Philosophies of Birthing While it is necessary to recognize the potential harm and the underlying racist ideologies associated with the C-section birthing method, gaining knowledge of traditional and culturally relevant birthing practices is equally important. Contrasting European and Eurocentric ideologies of childbirth are African philosophies toward nature, women, children, and birthing. For instance, the ancient Egyptians viewed the womb with the same regard as the eyes (Smith, 2011). According to the Lehun papyrus, a Kemetic medical text, the womb was considered responsible for more than just procreation. Any ailment suffered by a woman was seen as linked to agitation sensed in the womb (Ani, 2015). While many portions of this ancient text are devoted to pregnancy and womb-related conditions, nowhere does it mention surgical intervention in child-birthing (Ani, 2015). The only interventions advocated are oil rubs, ingesting herbs, and smoke fumigation (Ani, 2015). Birthing practices congruent with Africana cultural lineages include the guidance and support of doulas and midwives. Midwifery has a long history in the Black community. The first midwives came aboard slave ships from West Africa in the 17th century and for several hundred years thereafter assisted both enslaved Black women as well as their White mistresses in the birthing process. Although these practices declined in the early 1920s as a result of legislation, the movement of Black midwifery has resurfaced since the 1960s and 1970s. According to a more recent movement of Black midwives, the threat to Black life begins at the level of gestation. Not only do Black women have the highest rates of C-sections, but they are also at the greatest risk for pregnancy-related death. Likewise, Black infants are four times as likely to die of complications at birth and twice as likely to die before their first birthday, not to mention the lifelong threat of death and assault at the hands of the state thereafter. According to a study from 2008, racial disparities have been identified as a significant predictor of low birth weight for African American infants. Moreover, perceived racism and the general stress associated with discrimination are also said to have an effect on pregnancy. Given the high risks of racist and discriminatory treatment when it comes to pregnancy, Ani (2015) cautions Africana women to tread the terrain of Western and Western-derived healthcare facilities, treatments, and methods with great care. As an alternative method of birthing and care, the Black midwives at the Community Birth Center in Los Angeles believe that provision of holistic and culturally sensitive pre and postnatal care to Black women is a viable means of ending, or at the very least, ameliorating these racial disparities at birth. In addition, research indicates that babies delivered by midwives through natural procedures experience better birth outcomes. Resources on Birth Centers and Africana Birthing Practices The National Association of Birth Centers of Color Black Women Birthing Justice International Center for Traditional Childbirth Mamas of Color Rising Black Women Birthing Resistance Birthing Project USA The Birth Place, Florida Atlanta Birthing Project Community Birth Center, Los Angeles Works Cited Ani, A. (2015). C-section and racism: “Cutting” to the heart of the issue for Black women and families.Journal of African American Studies. Flavin, J. (2007). Slavery’s legacy in contemporary attempts to regulate Black women’s reproduction. In M. Bosworth and J. Flavin (Eds.), Race, gender, and punishment: From colonialism to the war on terror (pp. 95-116). Rutgers University Press. Jones, J. (2010). Labor of love, labor of sorrow: Black women, work, and the family from slavery to the present.New York, NY: Basic books. Morgan, J.L. (2004). Laboring women: Reproduction and gender in New World slavery. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. Plant, R.J. (2010). History of motherhood: American. InEncyclopedia of Motherhood. (Vol. 2, pp. 507-516). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. Roberts, D. (1997). Killing the black body: Race, reproduction, and the meaning of liberty. New York, NY: Vintage Books. Smith, L. (2011). The Kahun gynecological papyrus: Ancient Egyptian medicine. Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care 37: 54055. Sutherland, M.E. (2013). Overweight and obesity among African American women: An examination of predictive and risk factors and weight-reduction recommendations. Journal of Black Studies 44(8): 846-869. The Strength of Storytelling Skills among Black Children and Positive Outcomes for Emergent Literacy8/9/2015 Written by Sureshi Jayawardene Historical Significance of Storytelling and “Good Speech”
Oral traditions are a strong feature in the Black community. This has been the case for many, many years. Rarely do we acknowledge the strength of these cultural forms even today. Over the years, various scholars have studied the continuities between these traditions and their roots on the African continent. The significance of the spoken word can be traced all the way to African antiquity. In ancient Egypt, the category, mdw nfr (medu nefer), refers to “good speech,” meaning speech that is not just effective and eloquent, but also anchored in an ethical value system (Karenga, 2014). “Good speech” applies equally in the private and public realms (Karenga, 2014). Tracing this tradition from antiquity, the principle of “good speech” is very much present in the storytelling practices found in other parts of the continent. In West Africa, storytelling functioned as both a social and cultural practice during the daily rituals of any given day. Storytelling was thought to be an art form and thus, nurtured in order to help preserve history, and to teach and comfort community members (Champion, 2003). Here too the principle of “good speech” is clearly in operation. Under conditions of slavery, we see a continued, and perhaps even necessary, reliance on oral narratives. Despite the horrific conditions of their new homes in the New World, Africans continued to tell stories as a way of comforting and teaching each other, as well as recording their history (Champion, 2003). In fact, “Africans took the language forced on them and interwove patterns of their native languages” such that storytelling continued well into the Jim Crow era, the Civil Rights movement, and is prominent even today (Champion, 2003). In other words, as Molefi Asante has written, “the African brought to America a fertile oral tradition, and the generating and sustaining powers of the spoken word permeated every area of life” (Smith and Robb, 1971, p. 1). Forcing Africans to face alien environments and cultural forms did not result in the complete annihilation of the storytelling tradition. These cultural forms are very much a part of contemporary Black communities. More specifically, however, oral narratives within the Black community tend to involve sophisticated literary techniques such as sound play, parallelism, and prosody (i.e., rhythm of sound like in poetry) (Gee, 1985). What’s more, these techniques reflect African forms of discourse further reinforcing the continuities of storytelling between Africa and the Americas (Smitherman, 1977). This article summarizes the findings of a recent study that builds on these rich traditions. In this study, investigators examine the associations between race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and pathways to literacy acquisition among young children. Linking Early Language , Oral Narrative Skill, and Emergent Literacy In this study, researchers explored the linkages between early language, oral narrative skill, and emergent literacy development. Although there is some evidence linking language and emergent literacy in general, differences by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status remain understudied. Past research also focuses on associations and patterns among school-age children. Addressing these gaps, in their study, Gardner-Neblett and Iruka (2015) investigated the role of preschool oral narrative skills in the language-emergent literacy pathway. They used data compiled from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, a nationally representative dataset, to examine the role that oral narrative skill splay in the pathway between early language and emergent literacy. They explored how language in toddlerhood (age 2) is associated with oral narrative skills in preschool (age 4) and the subsequent associations with emergent literacy skills in kindergarten (age 5) (Gardner-Neblett and Iruka, 2015). The sample included approximately 6,150 African American, Latino, Asian American, and European American children of varying socioeconomic designations born in 2001. African Americans comprised 18% of the sample. Racial and Socioeconomic in Disparities in Literacy Disparities based on race and socioeconomic status in literacy acquisition have been documented (Snyder and Dillow, 2013). For instance, 56% of African American and Latino (54%) children demonstrated proficiency in expressive (words used by one in their own speech and writing) vocabulary compared to European American (71%) and Asian American (62%) peers. This is measured by the ability to communicate using gestures, words, and sentences (Snyder and Dillow, 2013). With socioeconomic status, children from higher socioeconomic backgrounds demonstrated greater expressive vocabulary than those from lower socioeconomic families (Snyder and Dillow, 2013). In terms of kindergarten reading, African American (33%) and Latino (30%) children scored lower compared with European American (37%) and Asian American (40%) children (Snyder and Dillow, 2013). Here too, children from higher socioeconomic families scored had higher reading scores than those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds (Snyder and Dillow, 2013). Gardner-Neblett and Iruka (2015) note that a greater percentage of African American children live in poverty (39%) than European American (13%) and Asian American children (13%). These data indicate that African American (and Latino) children are at greater risk of poor reading achievement. Although the expressive and receptive (words one understands when used by others) vocabulary skills of African American preschoolers tend to be below expectations when they enter kindergarten, some research suggests those who regularly use both Ebonics and Standard American English possess the linguistic skills that can benefit their literacy development (Connor and Craig, 2006). In terms of the linkage between early language skills and the oral narrative skills developed at a later age, another recent study found that among Black preschoolers of primarily low-income households, their complex syntax and higher vocabulary scores were associated with oral narratives of greater quality (Terry et al, 2013). Gardner-Neblett and Iruka (2015) contend that for African American children oral narrative skills may reflect a strength that can prove useful in later reading development. In addition, research shows that African American children tell vivid, elaborative, and well-developed narratives that are also rich in detail and imagery (Reese et al, 2010). These narratives comprise complex organizational structures (Mainess et al, 2002). The quality of storytelling among Black children, research suggests, parallels and sometimes even exceeds that of narratives by their European American counterparts (Curenton, 2004). African American Children's Storytelling Skills The results of Gardner-Neblett and Iruka’s (2015) study are as follows: Nonpoor European American and nonpoor Asian American children had toddler language skills that were above the overall sample mean. In terms of preschool narrative skills, in general, all nonpoor children scored above the overall sample mean, and poor children scored below the sample mean. In the emergent literacy category, nonpoor Asian American children had the highest score, and poor African American and poor Latino children had the lowest scores. The researchers conducted a path analysis to determine the paths from toddler language and narrative skills through emergent literacy based on race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. For poor African American children, toddler language predicted preschool narrative skills and emergent literacy. Narrative skills also predicted emergent literacy. Oral narrative skills partially mediated the language-emergent literacy link for poor African American children. For nonpoor African American children, toddler language was predictive of narrative skills, but not emergent literacy. Narrative skills were also predictive of emergent literacy. These analyses showed that narrative skill was a significant mediator of the association between toddler language and emergent literacy for both poor and nonpoor African American children. That oral narrative skills fully mediated the link between early language and emergent literacy among nonpoor African Americans likely reflects the influence of additional resources. However, overall, these findings highlight that oral narrative skills have important implications for African Americans’ literacy development. Early language skills include syntax, vocabulary, communicative ability, and morphology which is thought to be both directly and indirectly related to the development of emergent literacy skills (Gardner-Neblett and Iruka, 2015). This means that the stronger children’s early language skills are, the greater their reading achievement in later years (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2005). In Gardner-Neblett and Iruka’s (2015) study, African Americans were the only racial category for whom narrative skills were a significant mediating factor in emergent literacy. This finding reflects the long historical and cultural influences of storytelling and rich oral traditions in the Black community. Over the years, these influences have likely fortified oral communicative practices such that storytelling has emerged as a strength among African American children today. If we approach the oral narrative skills, or storytelling abilities, of Black children through the African cultural framework of nommo, the word, we are also able to appreciate the communal character of the practice. We see that it is a “rhetoric of community,” one through which communal action, discourse, and debate are activated toward the overall good of the community (Karenga, 2014). Through this approach, we can see the importance of continuing to nurture our children’s early language skills. Moreover, the findings of Gardner-Neblett and Iruka’s (2015) study show that solutions to our community’s problems are within reach, not ones that need to be sought from external sources. As Black families and parents continue to stimulate storytelling skills not just for the high scores on reading tests, but toward developing literacy skills and harnessing multiple communicative modes we ultimately put into motion “good speech” for the benefit of Black communal advancement and longevity. Works Cited Champion, T.B. (2003). Understanding storytelling among African American children: A journey from Africa to America. New York, NY: Routledge. Connor, C.M. and Craig, H.K. (2006). African American preschoolers’ language, emergent literacy, and use of African American English: A complex relation. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 49: 771-792. Curenton, S.M. (2004). Oral storytelling: A cultural art that promotes school readiness. Young Children 61: 78-89. Gardner-Neblett, N. and Iruka, I.U. (2015). Oral narrative skills: Explaining the language-emergent literacy link by race/ethnicity and SES. Developmental Psychology 51 (7): 889-904. Gee, J.P. (1985). The narrativization of experience in the oral style. Journal of Education 167: 9-35. Karenga, M. (2014). Nommo, Kawaida, and Communicative Practice: Bringing good into the world. In M. Asante, Y. Miike, and J. Yin (Eds.), The Global Intercultural Communication Reader (pp. 211-225). Mainess, K.J., Champion, T.B. and McCabe, A. (2002). Telling the unknown story: Complex and explicit narration by African American preadolescents – preliminary examination of gender and socioeconomic issues. Linguistics and Education 13: 151-173. NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2005). Pathways to reading: The role of oral language in the transition to reading. Developmental Psychology 41: 428-442. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.41.2.428 Reese, E., Levya, D., Sparks, A., and Grolnick, W. (2010). Maternal elaborative reminiscing increases low-income children’s narrative skills relative to dialogic reading. Early Education and Development 21:318-342. Smith, A.L. and Robb, S. (Eds.). (1971). The voice of Black rhetoric. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Smitherman, G. (1977). Talkin and testifyin: The language of Black America. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Snyder, T. and Dillow, S.A. (2013). Digest of educational statistics 2012. (No. NCES 2014-015). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. Terry, N.P., Mills, M.T., Bingham, G.E., Mansour, S., and Marencin, N. (2013). Oral narrative performance of African American prekindergarteners who speak nonmainstream American English. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools 44: 291-305. Written by Serie McDougal African American students’ levels of preference for learning activities that involve hands on activity and physical involvement in the learning environment are well documented (Dunn and Honigsfeld, 2003). Concepts such as tactile learning and kinesthetic learning are often used to explain these learning preferences. However, for African American boys, this preference is rarely contextualized within an African historical and cultural context. Wade Boykin is one of the few scholars who have conceptualized a far reaching contextualization of African American youth, their culture, and learning styles. He has also helped to develop a model of culturally relevant education for youth in general (the Talent Quest Model). However, this article particularly focuses on one feature of Boykin’s research, Movement Expressiveness and its current relevance to teaching and learning particularly in the education of African American youth.
African American Cultural Theory According to Allen and Boykin (1992), there are nine interrelated dimensions of African American culture: (a) spirituality, a vitalistic rather than mechanistic approach to life, (b) harmony, the belief that humans and nature are harmoniously conjoined, (c) movement expressiveness, an emphasis on the interweaving of movement, rythm, percusiveness, music, and dance, (d) verve, the special receptiveness to relatively high levels of sensate stimulation, (e) affect, an emphasis on emotion and feelings, (f) communalism, a commitment to social connectedness where social bonds transcend individual privileges, (g) expressive individualism, the cultivation of a distinctive personality and proclivity or spontaneity in behavior, (h) orality, a preference for oral/aural modalities of communication, and (i) social time perspective, an orientation in which time is treated as passing through a social space rather than a material one (Allen et al, 1992). According to Boykin, when these cultural dimensions and African American experiences with mainstream institutions are at odds, cultural discontinuity occurs. Movement Expressiveness These different cultural dimensions play themselves out in all different areas of life. One of the dimensions of African American culture that Allen and Boykin (1992) identify is Movement expressiveness. Movement expressiveness takes on new meaning in the educational settings. In school, movement expressiveness refers to an emphasis on the interweaving of movement, rhythm, percussiveness, music and dance with the learning process. Students and teachers who have high preference for tactile (hands on) learning or teaching are compatible with this dimension of African American culture. Students with high preference for tactile learning learn better when they can move, manipulate and physically touch the material that they are learning, and have a need for hands on activity. Teachers with a preference for this area make use of teaching techniques that allow students to move, manipulate, and physically touch the material that they are learning. A student or teacher with low preference in this area is considered incompatible with this African American cultural dimension. Students and teachers with high preference for mobility, considered congruent with this dimension of African American culture (Jackson-Allen & Christenberry, 1994). Students with a high preference for mobility learn better by moving around after studying for more than 15 minutes and tend to find it difficult to sit in one place for long periods of time. Teachers with preference in the area of mobility make use of teaching techniques that allow students to move around while learning. A student or teacher with low preference in this area is considered dissimilar with this Afro-cultural dimension. Students and teachers with high preference forkinesthetic learning and teaching are consistent with this dimension of Afro-culture. Kinesthetic learners are action oriented learners and they learn and remember better when they can physically act things out and move around while learning. Teachers with preference in the area of kinesthetics make use of teaching methods and techniques that allow students to be physically involved with what they are learning. A student or teacher with low preference in this area is considered incongruent with this Afro-cultural dimension. Empirical Research on Movement Expressiveness One study testing the effects of movement expressiveness on learning among Black youth was conducted by Boykin and Cunningham (2002). The researchers selected a group of 64 African American children, between the ages of 7 and 8, from a large mid – Atlantic urban elementary school (Allen & Boykin, 2002). The sample consisted of 32 males and 32 females. Participants were given the Child Activity Questionnaire (CAQ) and the Home Stimulation Affordance Questionnaire (HSA). The CAQ measures the child’s perceived motoric activity level. The teachers’ perception of the children’s classroom behavior was measured using the Teacher Rating of Classroom Motivation (TCM), which measures a teachers’ perception of the child’s level of motivation in traditional classroom activities such as completing and engaging in tasks. A second measure called the Achievement Rating Scale (ACH) allowed teachers to rate a child’s overall level of academic performance. Two audio recorded stories served as stimuli. One story reflected Low Movement Theme (LMT) behaviors and activities, in which the content of the story did not involve a high degree of movement and active behavior. The second story reflected a High Movement Content Theme (HMT) involving movement expressive themes such as running, dancing, and jumping. Each student participated in two different learning contexts differing in movement opportunity and music. In the Low Movement Expressiveness (LME) context the investigator read aloud the story in front of participants. The second learning context was the High Movement Expressiveness (HME) context in which an investigator read aloud the story to children with the accompaniment of music and students were allowed to clap their hands, move, jump and dance. The dependent variable of this study was the students’ level of cognitive processing. The memory and understanding of the content of the stories was measured by asking the students a series of questions regarding names, events, actions and relationships in the story. The results show that African American children exposed to HMT stories performed significantly better (achieved higher scores) than those exposed to the LMT stories (Allen & Boykin, 2002). Those exposed to the HME context performed significantly better than students under the LME context (had greater knowledge of the content). Results also revealed that the more active children are, the greater the amount of stimulation in their home. The higher a child was rated by the teacher in motivation for traditional classroom activities, the higher that student was rated in overall achievement. The learning context effect demonstrated that African American children’s overall performance was significantly higher under the HME context than under the LME learning context. The authors of this study infer, “given that child and home activity levels are positively correlated with performance under the HME context, one could infer that high movement expressiveness could be used as an asset to be capitalized upon in the appropriate learning contexts” (Allen & Boykin, 2002, p. 81). This study confirmed the literature which suggests that African American children’s intellectual tasks should include information consistent with their life experiences, and culturally salient themes prevalent in their home environment and everyday routines outside of school. The findings also support the literature that suggests that incorporating polyrhythmic, syncopated music and opportunities for movement expression into learning contexts facilitates low income African American children’s performance on tasks (Hagans, 2005). However, the study was done on 7 and 8 year old children. The replication of this study in African American high school age populations might reveal different results. Moreover, gender differences were not examined to a significant extent. There is also a need for more current research on the phenomena given the promising results of studies conducted between 2000 and 2010. Current Application to Educational Development Findings, like these may present opportunities for teachers of students who respond positively to movement expressiveness. In this case, learning activities that allow students to use their hands, and their bodies to understand and express their understanding of information should be increased. This can often be the difference between asking students to complete a mathematics word problem versus asking students to engage in a task such as measuring the square footage of the classroom and estimating how much carpet would be necessary to cover the classroom floor. They both require math skills, but the latter allows students to be physically and tactically involved in the learning process. Boykin is currently the director of the Capstone Institute at Howard University, which presently provides multidimensional services including: curriculum development, faculty development, leadership training, k-12 support and other services. Boykin’s research informs the Talent Quest Model which is the philosophical foundation of the Capstone Institute. The Talent Development Model has four major pillars: four major pillars: overdetermined success, integrity-based ethos, multiple expected outcomes, and co-construction. Works Cited Allen, B. A. & Boykin, A. W. (1992). African American children and the educational process: Alleviating cultural discontinuity through prescriptive pedagogy. School of Psychology Review. 02796015, 21(4). Boykin, A. W. (2000). The talent development model of schooling: Placing students at promise for academic success.Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 5 (1 & 2), pp. 3-25. Boykin, A. W., Cunningham, R. T. (2002). The effects of movement expressiveness in story content and learning context on the analogical reasoning performance of African American children. The Journal of Negro Education. 70( ½), Winter/ Spring. Dunn, R., & Honigsfeld, A. (2003). High school male and female learning style similarities and differences in diverse nations. Journal of Educational Research. Mar\Apr, 96, Issue 4, pp. 195 -207. Hagans, W. W. (2005). Musicians' learning styles, learning strategies, and perceptions of creativity. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A, 66, 55. Jackson-Allen, J., & Christenberry, N. J. (1994). Learning Style Preferences of Low- and High- Achieving Young African-American Males. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association (Nashville, TN, November 9-11). Written by Sureshi Jayawardene The Surge in Black Homeschooling
Homeschooling is a form of education steered by parents and is based within the home. Owing to this, homeschooling does not rely on either institutional private schooling or state-run public schooling (Ray, 2013). According to data from the US Department of Education, homeschooling continues to increase among Black families (Hess, 2010; Lomotey, 2012). Research on what has caused this surge in African American homeschooling is rather thin. However, contemporary attitudes among Black parents toward educational accomplishment draws on the long tradition of prioritization of literacy and numeracy. Contrary to the dominant “achievement gap” paradigm that locates the issues of achievement among Black students as rooted in culture and biology, quality education and advances in literacy have been priorities for African Americans for many years, even under the conditions of slavery (cf. Anderson, 1988). For instance, in 1999, only 1.0% of Black children were homeschooled, but this rate had risen to 1.9% by 2010 indicating a 90% increase in the rate of Black home based education in a period of just 11 years (Noel et al, 2013; Ray, 2015). Motivations for Homeschooling An article in The Atlantic earlier this year estimated 220,000 Black children currently being homeschooled with Black families accounting for the fastest growing racial demographic in home based education. Fields-Smith and Wells Kisura (2013) assert that investigating the specific ways in which Black homeschool families nurture their children in learning can provide critical new insights into the needs of Black education in traditional public and private schools. Mazama and Lundy (2015) contend that documenting the motivations for homeschooling among Black families is equally important. Approximately ten years ago, Taylor (2005) argued that improved academic achievement and increased expectations were the key reasons for Black home education. However, in a later study, race was identified as a key determinant in parents’ decision to homeschool (Fields-Smith and Williams, 2009). In this study, many Black parents expressed that the institutional norms and structures of traditional schools fostered destructive rather than supportive learning environments for Black students (Fields-Smith and Williams, 2009). Among the frequently cited reasons for homeschooling, reported by the National Home Education Research Institute, parents generally identify a desire for a safer learning environment free of the racism associated with institutional schools. Reflective of this general perspective among homeschool families, Mazama and Lundy (2013) concluded that a number of Black homeschoolers believe that a Eurocentric curriculum seriously hinders their children’s sense of purpose and self-esteem. Due to these and other ills of racism, Black parents’ decision to homeschool comes as no surprise given that racism permeates all areas of Black life, the educational setting being only one of them (cf. Mazama and Lundy, 2012). The salience of racism in the particular context of conventional American schools is multidimensional: individual and institutional racism in the Eurocentric orientation to curriculum, White teachers’ attitudes toward Black students, the disproportionate placement of Black children in special education, as well as the disparate number of Black students subject to disciplinary action in schools (Mazama and Lundy, 2012). Karyn Lacy’s (2007) book, Blue-Chip Black, provides further support for these tendencies. Lacy (2007) details how Black families often find themselves fighting with teachers and school administrators in urban settings as well as in the suburbs just so their children can take AP classes and enroll in gifted and talented courses so as to be successful in college as well as life. In addition, Black parents are concerned with the general culture of low expectations for and treatment of their children in conventional schooling settings. RiShawn Biddle of Dropout Nation maintains Black families rely on home based education as a response to the inadequacies of public and private educational institutions and the desire to provide their children with a quality education. Racial Protectionism and Cultural Relevance Not only does the steady rise in Black homeschooling point to the unsatisfactory quality of education in conventional schools, it provides a necessary alternative in securing the longevity of Black community life. Key to this concern as Mazama and Lundy (2015) explain, is the broader racially exclusive and discriminatory social context within which American schools operate. Research suggests that Black families increasingly choose to homeschool their children as a means of protecting them from the deleterious effects of school-based racism (Mazama and Lundy, 2012). The strong inclination among Black parents to protect their children from the pernicious effects of racial mistreatment in this context is characterized as racial protectionism (Mazama and Lundy, 2012; 2015). Black home education, therefore, represents a vehicle for resisting institutionalized and structural forces of racism and White supremacist hegemony and meeting the very specific needs of Black students (cf. Fields-Smith and Wells Kisura, 2013). However, this is only one dimension of the choice to homeschool. For Black families, homeschooling is also a transformative act of self-determination and agency in shaping their children’s destiny (cf. Fields-Smith and Wells Kisura, 2013). For example, in the case of Black male students, their families opted to homeschool in order to provide a safe space for the construction of healthy notions of Black masculinity, to protect their children from entanglements in the criminal justice system, and as a means of shielding their sons from the biased expectations of teachers and the larger society (Mazama and Lundy, 2014). Similar to other ethnic homeschoolers, Black homescho reasons for homeschooling are similar to those of other ethnic homeschoolers, some intentionally rely on home based education to engage their children in understanding Black history and culture (Ray, 2015). RiShawn Biddle adds, “Black families want their children to build pride in themselves and in their cultures. This includes learning about successful role models who look like them. This desire for self-pride…is also why some black families homeschool.” Favorable Academic and Social Outcomes of Homeschooling Turning to the effects of home based education among Black families, there is a general paucity in research into the outcomes of homeschooling among Black students. While claims to positive and favorable effects of home based education are often made, Lubienski et al (2013) note that empirical evidence to this effect are lacking. In a recent study, Ray (2015) investigated the motivations of Black parents for choosing homeschooling and the academic achievement of Black homeschool students. This study explored the academic achievement of Black homeschool students in Grades 4 to 8 (ages 9 to 14) as it related to various demographic characteristics of the students and their families. Participants were accessed through the largest support system for Black homeschoolers, National Black Homeschoolers (NBH). Eighty-one Black homeschool students and their families were recruited for the study. A 39-item survey was also administered to Black homeschool parents to determine aspects such as parent and family demographics, student’s demographics and schooling history, approaches to homeschooling, and parents’ motivations for homeschooling their children (Ray, 2015). In addition, data from 1299 Black public school students was also used in this study for the purposes of comparison. This data was gathered from the standardized test, ITBS, which included test scores, grade level of test, sex, race/ethnicity, and the family’s qualification for free or reduced meals (Ray, 2015). The ITBS was also administered to the Black homeschool students. Ray’s (2015) study found that Black homeschool students scored at or above the 50th percentile in reading, math, language, and core (i.e. a combination of reading, language, and math) subtests. Students’ gender and their family’s household income had little effect on achievement scores (Ray, 2015). Black public school students scored at or below the 30th percentile in the same areas. Although research shows that Black students in public schools generally score far below the national average, the Black homeschool students performed as well or better than the national average of public school students across all races and ethnicities (Ladson-Billings, 2006; Ray, 2015). In Ray’s (2015) study, not only were the scores of Black homeschool students far above the national average, but home education was shown to be a significant and consistent predictor of higher levels of achievement . While Ray’s (2015) study certainly breaks ground in empirically documenting the outcomes of Black home based education, as an explanatory non-experimental study it was not designed to establish causation. Nevertheless, it provides a launching pad for further research into the causal outcomes of homeschooling as well as considerations of appropriate policies related to home based education for African Americans. Works Cited Anderson, J. D. (1988). The education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935. Durham, NC: University of North Carolina Press. Fields-Smith, C. and Wells Kisura, M. (2013). Resisting the status quo: The narratives of Black homeschoolers in Metro-Atlanta and Metro-DC. Peabody Journal of Education: Issues of Leadership, Policy, and Organization 88(3). Fields-Smith, C. and Williams, M.R. (2009). Sacrifices, challenges and empowerment: Black parents’ decisions to home school. Urban Review 41: 369-389. Hess, F.M. (2010). Does school choice “work”? National Affairs 5: 35-53. Lacy, K.R. (2007). Blue-chip Black: Race, class, and status in the new Black middle class. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). From the achievement gap to the education debt: Understanding achievement in U.S. schools. Educational Researcher 35(7): 3-12. Lomotey, K. (2012). Black educational choice: Race (still) matters. Educational Researcher 41 (6): 233-235. Lubienski, C., Puckett, T., and Brewer T.J. (2013). Does homeschooling “work”? A critique of the empirical claims and agenda of advocacy organizations. Peabody Journal of Education 88: 378-392. Mazama, A. and Lundy, G. (2015). African American homeschooling the quest for a quality education. Education and Urban Society 47(2): 160-181. Mazama, A. and Lundy, G. (2014). “I’m Keeping My Son Home”: African American males and the motivation to homeschool. Journal of African American Male Education 5(1): 53-74. Mazama, A. and Lundy, G. (2013). African American homeschooling and the question of curricular cultural relevance. The Journal of Negro Education 82(2): 123-138. Mazama, A. and Lundy, G. (2012). African American homeschooling as racial protectionism. Journal of Black Studies 43(7): 723-748. Noel, A, Stark, P. and Redford, J. (2013). Parent and family involvement in education, from the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2012 (NCES 2013-028). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Services, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2013/2013028.pdf Ray, B.D. (2015). African American homeschool parents’ motivations for homeschooling and their Black children’s academic achievement. Journal of School Choice 9: 71-96. Ray, B.D. (2013). Homeschooling associated with beneficial learner and societal outcomes but educators do not promote it. Peabody Journal of Education 88: 324-341. Taylor, V. (2005). Behind the trend: Increases in homeschooling among African American families. In B.S. Coper (Ed), Home schooling in full view: A reader (pp. 121-133). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing. Written by Serie McDougal What is to be expected from new Black-owned television networks given their relationship to mainstream media? In a political sense, the media is sometimes referred to as the fourth estate, or the fourth branch, of the government because of its extraordinary influence and ability to shape peoples’ thinking about issues and ideas. However, in a more social and psychological sense, the media has long had a powerful influence on public psychology regarding race and culture. For instance, media has been able to shape how the public thinks about African Americans and even how African Americans think about themselves. Media influence is especially critical for African Americans given that they consume nearly twice as much television per day (5 hours) than White Americans (Roberts, Foehr, Rideout, & Brodie, 1999). We know that exposure to mainstream television shows is associated with identification with White characters and results in lower self-esteem among Black children (Allen, 1993). However, greater exposure to Black oriented programing is associated with greater identification with Black characters and higher self-esteem among Black children. Given the research on the positive impact of Black oriented programing it is reasonable that Black consumers might have positive expectations and high hopes for the entrée of new Black owned and Black oriented television networks. But, is it possible that such networks will challenge oppressive and stereotypical images of African Americans?
A recent study investigated how the logic of the television media industry influences the missions of Black owned television networks. Chaves and Stroo (2015) conducted a case study on ASPiRE, an upstart Black owned television network developed to provide positive programming for African American families. The researchers examined the mission and programing of ASPiRE. They concluded that ASPiRE is oriented toward an upwardly mobile, middle class, spiritually centered audience. They also argued that ASPiRE’s programing promotes what Gaines (1996) calls an ideology of uplift. African Americans have been able to create counter-hegemonic images through the work of Redd Foxx, Keenan Ivory Wayans and others who used sketch comedy to critique inequality in Black life. However, Chaves and Stroo (2015) argue that the conditions and values of the media industry (conservative, capitalist, and assimilationist) limit Black networks’ ability to produce transformative perspectives and images of Black life. Based on the researchers’ analysis, ASPiRE in particular, does challenge one dimensional images of Blackness, but at the same time, they promote the hegemonic ideal that social segregation can be overcome through hard work… the idea that Black culture is best measured by the standards of elite White culture. In its celebration of exemplary Blacks who have successfully occupied White professional spaces, the network is not only integrationist in tome, but projects a neoconservative sensibility which places emphasis on individual exceptionalism over structural barriers to equality. (Chaves and Stroo, 2015) The crux of the authors’ argument is that ASPiRe’s brand of family programing appears to be transformative in the sense that it challenges images of African Americans as stereotypically hypersexual, shiftless, lazy and violent; however, its brand of Cosby-esque family programming depicts images of Blackness as spiritually centered, affluent, well-spoken, and highly education. Yet, these images are also apolitical, fail to critique racism and social inequality like previous shows, and do not represent the experiences of non-affluent Black families. Chaves and Stroo’s (2015) analysis adds a perspective that forces Black viewers to see oppression in seemingly progressive television programing. However, some may ask if their analysis is too bleak given that there have been and still are Black media that do indeed challenge hegemonic images? Chaves and Stroo (2015) may see such programing as mere exceptions to the rule in a media culture that is clearly bent on domination and maintaining the status quo. Works Cited Allen, R.L. (1993). Conceptual model of an African American belief system. In G. Berry & J.K. Asamen (Eds.), Children and television: Images in a changing sociocultural world (pp.155-176). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Chaves, C.A. & Stroo, S. (2015). ASPiRational: Black cable television and the ideology of uplift. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 32 (2), 65-80. Gaines, K. (1996). Assimilationist minstrelsy as racial uplift ideology: James D. Corrothers’s literary quest for Black leadership. American Quarterly,45, 341-369. Roberts, D., Foehr, U., Rideout, V., & Brodie, M. (1999). Kids and media at the new millennium. Palo Alto, CA: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Ward, L.M. (2004). Wading through stereotypes: Positive and negative association between media use and Black adolescents’ conceptions of self. Developmental Psychology, 40, 284-294. Written by Sureshi Jayawardene In a recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers investigated variation within the ethnic/racial group “Non-Hispanic Blacks” to account for difference in allostatic load based on nativity. The category, “Non-Hispanic Blacks” is a growing demographic owing to increased migration from a number of countries and ethnic backgrounds. According to the Tabulations of 2010 American Community Survey, the foreign-born segment of the Black population has nearly tripled in the past 30 years representing approximately 8% of the overall US Black population. Despite this increase, little is known about health-related concerns and issues within the foreign-born Black population. Nevertheless, previous research reveals differences in physical and mental health indicators between US-born Blacks and those from the African continent and the Caribbean (Williams, 1997; Pallotto et al, 2000; Singh and Siahpush, 2002; Read et al, 2005; Williams et al, 2007).
Immigrant Health Advantage Read and Emerson (2005) and David and Collins (1997) suggest that compared with US-born Blacks, foreign-born Blacks tend to have better health outcomes due to the healthy immigrant effect. The healthy immigrant effect refers to the phenomenon whereupon arrival to the United States, immigrants are generally healthier than their native counterparts (Antecol and Bedard, 2006). It suggests that immigrants follow positive lifestyles in their home countries, are the most open to enduring the stressors of immigration, and are the healthiest population in their home countries (Doamekpor and Dinwiddie, 2015). However, research also indicates that over time this advantage declines due to the adoption of American lifestyle habits and adaptation to the American sociocultural landscape (Kennedy et al, 2006; Doamekpor and Dinwiddie, 2015). These include increased engagement in unhealthy behaviors such as unhealthy diets and tobacco and alcohol use. In addition, the exposure to racism as well as the psychological stress of immigration and adjustment to new environments are also said to contribute to the decline in the healthy immigrant advantage over time (Williams et al, 2007). The Meaning of Allostasis and Allostatic Load In their study, Doamekpor and Dinwiddie (2015) investigated the applicability of the immigrant health advantage to non-Hispanic Black immigrants and examined whether nativity-based differences in allostatic load was present among this population. The use of allostatic load in investigations about health-related racial disparities is a burgeoning area of research. The particular advantage of this consideration in terms of racial disparities in health outcomes is that it requires researchers look beyond the individual toward broader social-ecological and economic determinants in explaining these outcomes. Peek et al (2010) assert that since Blacks and Hispanics experience institutionalized racism, discrimination, and the anxieties of lower socioeconomic situations more often than do their White counterparts, these adversities can increase their allostatic load and result in more serious mid-to late-life health outcomes. Allostasis means to literally maintain stability (or a sense of homeostasis) through changes in social and ecological conditions (Sterling and Eyer, 1988). Put differently, the capacity for individuals’ physiological systems to adapt to stressors and challenges is a fundamental aspect of healthy human functioning. These systems possess a capacity to adapt to changing ecological conditions. Thus, the term allostasis aims to describe how these systems adjust to resting and active states of the body. Allostatic load refers to the “wear and tear” experienced by the body in response to cumulative and chronic stress. Peek et al (2010) explain that repeated and frequent adaptation to stressors throughout the life course produces cumulative consequences often resulting in the “dysregulation of these same physiological systems” (940). As identified by Seeman et al (1997), allostatic load has been assessed as comprising ten biological markers which function in the following areas: sympathetic nervous system, immune system, cardiovascular system, metabolic system, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Therefore, measurements of high allostatic load correlates with increased mortality, disability, cognitive decline, and other ailments (cf. Peek et al, 2010). Differences in Allostatic Load Predictors between US-born and Foreign-born Blacks Doamekpor and Dinwiddie (2015) used pooled data from the 2001-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and compared allostatic load scores for US-born and foreign-born Black adults. The sample included 2745 US-born and 152 foreign-born Blacks, advantaging women in both categories. The mean age for US-born Blacks was 41 and 40 for foreign-born Blacks. The data revealed that time spent in the United States, age, and education were significant predictors of allostatic load scores among foreign-born Blacks. Within this group, 25% had lived in the US for less than 5 years and 37% had lived in the US between 5 and 19 years. Those who had lived in the US for less than 5 years had a 73% lower odds of a high allostatic load score, compared with individuals who had been in the US for 20 years or longer. This effect persisted even as age, gender, and marital status were controlled for in the model. Age and marital status were significant predictors of allostatic load for US-born Blacks. In their analysis, Doamekpor and Dinwiddie (2015) found that those divorced, widowed, or separated had higher allostatic load scores than those who were married. Older US-born Blacks were also more likely to have higher allostatic load scores. However, both groups experienced higher allostatic load as age increased. This finding is consistent with previous research that found associations between increased allostatic load and increased age resulting from the cumulative effects of adversity over the life span and subsequent multisystem dysregulation of the body (Antecol and Bedard, 2006). Doamekpor and Dinwiddie (2015) contend that both groups experience similar allostatic load scores at early ages, but this begins to widen at middle age. Furthermore, with US-born Blacks this increase is said to be steeper. Other socioeconomic factors between the two groups were fairly divergent as well. For instance, a larger proportion of foreign-born Blacks were below the 299% poverty line than US-born Blacks. For foreign-born Blacks, the effect of time spent in the United States on the odds of high allostatic load score disappeared when poverty-income ratio and education were considered. More than twice as many foreign-born Blacks had a college degree compared to US-born Blacks. Ironically, the researchers found that lower educational attainment protected against the odds of a high allostatic load score among foreign-born Blacks. What this means is that for those with a high school diploma, the odds of high allostatic load score was 83% lower and 54% lower for those with less than high school education in comparison to immigrants with a college degree or more. Although educational achievement is shown to produce positive results and protective effects among US populations, this finding contradicts the general belief that lower education is associated with greater risk for disease and poor health outcomes. This finding also contradicts research suggesting that African immigrants’ superior health is related to the fact that they are more highly educated than are US-born Blacks and Whites (Doodoo, 1997). Doamekpor and Dinwiddie (2015) argue that despite their high educational achievements, for foreign-born Blacks this discrepancy is explained as a health paradox, or healthy immigrant advantage, similar to the Hispanic health paradox. Although such an advantage exists for Black immigrants, its effect diminishes as they adapt to the cultural and social context of the United States. This health deterioration is likely explained by overexposure to race-related stress and racism which are more significant predictors of poor health outcomes and declines than are diet and unhealthy behaviors (Williams, 2000; Yip et al, 2008). Moving Forward: Finding Solutions Undoubtedly, Doamekpor and Dinwiddie’s (2015) study offers valuable evidence about the variation in allostatic load within Black populations in the United States based on nativity. As suggested by these researchers further examination of the degree to which other factors such as country of origin and internalization of stress is necessary in order to discern nuances in health advantages and disadvantages. While the identification of allostatic load based on ethnic background within the Black population is important, research must also engender solutions. Thus, the question remains, how do the coping strategies employed by different groups of Blacks impact health outcomes and the odds of high allostatic load scores? Some studies have already identified culturally specific coping strategies. Lewis-Coles and Constantine (2006) explain that culturally specific coping refers to the ways in which members of a particular cultural heritage draw on a wealth of cultural knowledge to not only assign meaning to a specific stressor but also to identify resources in dealing with that stressful event. One such example, as conceptualized by Utsey et al (2000), is Africultural coping. The four primary components of Africultural coping include: 1) cognitive/emotional debriefing (composed of adaptive reactions by Blacks to manage their perceived environmental stressors); 2) spiritual-centered coping (coping behaviors based on Black peoples’ sense of connection to spiritual forces such as God, ancestors, the universe, etc.); 3) collective coping (behaviors contingent upon group-related activities); and 4) ritual-centered coping (involving the practice of rituals such as lighting candles, burning incense, etc. to address the stressful event) (Lewis-Coles and Constantine, 2006). Another direction in advancing Doamekpor and Dinwiddie’s (2015) research is in the development of therapeutic and healing models that address racism-related stress and high allostatic load. To this end, a model that could be potentially beneficial is NTU psychotherapy. Phillips (1990) developed this as a spiritually-based and African-centered model of psychotherapy. In essence, NTU aims to help people of African descent in finding balance and authenticity within a shared energy that is in alignment with the natural order. Grounded in the Nguzo Saba as foundational to harmonious and balanced living, this form of psychotherapy comprises five progressive phases: harmony, awareness, alignment, actualization, and synthesis. Moreover, NTU therapy has previously been used with success in addressing the concerns of substance abuse among Black youth (Cherry et al, 1998). Works Cited Antecol, H., & Bedard, K. (2006). Unhealthy assimilation: why do immigrants converge to American health status levels? Demography, 43(2), 337-360. Cherry, V.R., Belgrave, F.Z., Jones, W., Kennon, D.K., Gray, F.S., and Phillips, F. (1998). NTU: An Africentric approach to substance abuse prevention among African American youth. Journal of Primary Prevention 18 (3), 319-339. David, R.J. and Collins, J. (1997). Differing birth weight among infants born of US-born Blacks, African-born Blacks, and US-born Whites. New England Journal of Medicine 337(17): 1209-1214. Doamekpor, L. A., & Dinwiddie, G. Y. (2015). Allostatic Load in Foreign-Born and US-Born Blacks: Evidence from the 2001–2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. American Journal of Public Health, (0), e1-e7. Doodoo, F.N. (1997). Assimilation differences among Africans in America. Social Forces 76(2): 527-546. Kennedy, S., McDonald, J. T., & Biddle, N. (2006). The healthy immigrant effect and immigrant selection: evidence from four countries. Lewis-Coles, M. A. E. L., & Constantine, M. G. (2006). Racism-related stress, Africultural coping, and religious problem-solving among African Americans.Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 12(3), 433. Pallottto, E.K., Collins, J.W., and Williams, D.R. (2000). Enigma of maternal race and infant birth weight: A population based study of US-born Black and Caribbean-born Black women. American Journal of Epidemiology 151(11): 1080-1085. Peek, M. K., Cutchin, M. P., Salinas, J. J., Sheffield, K. M., Eschbach, K., Stowe, R. P., & Goodwin, J. S. (2010). Allostatic load among non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, and people of Mexican origin: effects of ethnicity, nativity, and acculturation. American Journal of Public Health, 100(5), 940-946. Phillips, F. B. (1990). NTU psychotherapy: An Afrocentric approach. Journal of Black Psychology, 17(1), 55-74. Read, J. N. G., Emerson, M. O., & Tarlov, A. (2005). Implications of black immigrant health for US racial disparities in health. Journal of immigrant health,7(3), 205-212. Read, J.G., and Emerson, M.O. (2005). Racial context, Black immigration and the US Black/White health disparity. Social Forces 84(1): 181-199. Seeman, T. E., Singer, B. H., Rowe, J. W., Horwitz, R. I., & McEwen, B. S. (1997). Price of adaptation—allostatic load and its health consequences: MacArthur studies of successful aging. Archives of internal medicine, 157(19), 2259-2268. Singh, G.K. and Siahpush, M. (2002). Ethnic immigrant differentials in health behaviors, morbidity, and cause-specific mortality in the United States: An analysis of two national databases. Human Biology 74(1): 83-109. Sterling, P. and Eyer, J. (1988). Allostasis: A new paradigm to explain arousal pathology. In S. Fisher and J. Reason (Eds.), Handbook of Life Stress, Cognition, and Health, 629-649. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Williams, D.R. (1997). Race and health: Basic questions, emerging directions. Annual Epidemiology 7 (5), 322-333. Williams, D.R., Haile, R., Gonzalez, H.M., Neighbors, H., Baser, R., Jackson, J.S. (2007). The mental health of Black Caribbean immigrants: Results from the National Survey of American Life. American Journal of Public Health 97(1): 52-59. Yip, T., Gee, G. C., & Takeuchi, D. T. (2008). Racial discrimination and psychological distress: the impact of ethnic identity and age among immigrant and United States-born Asian adults. Developmental psychology, 44(3), 787. |
Archives
January 2019
Categories
All
|