Black Male College Achievers and Resistant Responses to Racist Stereotypes at Predominantly White Colleges and Universities

In this article, Shaun R. Harper investigates how Black undergraduate men respond to and resist the internalization of racist stereotypes at predominantly White colleges and universities. Prior studies consistently show that racial stereotypes are commonplace on many campuses, that their effects are usually psychologically and academically hazardous, and that Black undergraduate men are often among the most stereotyped populations in higher education and society. The threat of confirming stereotypes has been shown to undermine academic performance and persistence for Blacks and other minoritized students. To learn more about those who succeed in postsecondary contexts where they are routinely stereotyped, Harper conducted interviews with Black male achievers at thirty predominantly White colleges and universities. His findings show that these undergraduate men were frequently confronted with stereotypes but succeeded in resisting them through their campus leadership roles, their engagement in student organizations, and their use of a three-step strategic redirection process. Communication and confrontation skills acquired through out-of-class engagement enabled participants to effectively resist the harmful threat of racial stereotypes encountered in classrooms.