I was trying to figure out why I was getting so many referrals for “acting white.” This article (reg. req.) is why. In Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, Paul Tough writes (briefly) about a study that was the subject of this post:
Through a link on BlackElectorate.com, I found a recent study conducted by Duke University called “Breeding Animosity: The ‘Burden Of Acting White’ and Other Problems of Status Group Hierarchies in Schools….”The study is based on an earlier one conducted by Signithia Fordham and John Ogbu in the 1980s, which hypothesized that black students viewed high academic achievement as “acting white”, which is perceived to be a negative quality…
They found limited evidence of “racialized peer pressure against academic achievement in the high school level.” They claim the peer pressure is most likely to occur where blacks are “grossly underrepresented in the most demanding courses,” such as Advanced Placement classes.
Karolyn Tyson, William Darity, Jr., and Domini Catellino concluded: “The burden of ‘acting white’ does constitute a problem for some black adolescents…However, the problem is not one of culture as the original theory [Ogbu's] implied, but one of status group inequality in schools.”
Let me state my bias up front, as if people don’t already know. I believe the problem is cultural, and the sooner we admit that, the sooner we can find solutions to the problem. Therefore, I disagree with the study’s conclusion. But I will read it, all 76 pages, and blog about it. In fact, I’ll probably write a column. Newspaper editors like op-eds that summarize controversial studies.
I’d planned to write an op-ed about the study but got sidetracked with something else. I’m posting this entry to inform new readers about the study and to bring in more visitors doing searches for “acting white.” 
Totally Unrelated Update (5:00 p.m.): Well, slap some feathers on me and call me a chicken. Scott Peterson gets DEATH.
