U.S. adolescents’ critical race digital literacy skills: Demographic variables and learning opportunities as contributing factors

This manuscript examines whether demographic factors and learning opportunities predict critical race digital literacy (CRDL) task performance among U.S. adolescents. Data come from the National Survey of Critical Digital Literacy, where 11–19-year-old adolescents’ CRDL skills were assessed through their responses to real-life, contemporary examples of race-related digital media (N = 1138). We found white participants performed significantly lower than Black participants on CRDL tasks. Multiple regression analyses revealed that identifying as Black, parents’ level of education, and digital consumption and engagement learning opportunities positively predicted performance. On the other hand, age negatively predicted performance, such that an increase in age was associated with a decrease in performance on the tasks. Findings reveal that general digital consumption and engagement learning opportunities assist adolescents in assessing race-related online content, but they are insufficient. Future research is necessary to determine the relationship between race and learning opportunities in and outside of school and their impact.