Black Mens Studies. Serie McDougal III
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Kohn-Wood, Schmeelk-Cone, Chavous, and Zimmerman (2004) investigated racial identity as a protective factor against violence among African American adults. They found that, for men, the safeguarding effects of racial identity were more salient than for women. The more central race was to their identity, the less violent behaviors Black men engaged in. Males with lower race centrality engaged in more violent behaviors. Barnes, Burton, Best, and Bynum (2008) conducted an investigation to test how effective racial identity is in reducing the effects of the internalization of racist experiences on African American males. They found that racist experiences did indeed predict feelings of anxiety. However, African American males with higher private regard (feeling positive about being African American) reported fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety (Barnes et al., 2008). This means that African American males who felt positively about being Black are protected by their private regard and are less likely to experience psychological distress. When these males encounter racism, they are able to access positive attitudes about being Black, which serves as a psychological buffer against anxiety. Conversely, African Americans with low private regard experienced more depressive symptoms. Clinicians are in positions to facilitate activities that enhance and boost Black males’ private regard.
Evidence demonstrates that racial identity can serve as a buffer against the harmful psychological effects of racism (Belgrave & Brevard, 2015; Franklin, 2004; White & Cones, 1999). Positive racial identity prevents Black youth from internalizing the negative messages that experiences with racism produce (White & Cones, 1999). They explain that a strong sense of racial identity prevents the need to “rely on supermacho behavior, womanizing, drug use, or other forms of maladaptive coping to deal with the frustrations of institutional racism” (p. 125). When Black males do attach pride to their ethnic identity, they are likely to have more self-confidence because they are defining themselves beyond ←48 | 49→Eurocentric definitions about them. On college campuses, Black male identity development improves when Black males have more opportunities for positive interactions with one another (Palmer & Strayhorn, 2008). On campuses with small numbers of Black males, college staff and student leaders should create programs that allow Black males to come together through organizations and activities—opportunities for learning about one another and forming relationships (Johnson & Cuyjet, 2009).
Black religious/spiritual institutions tend to support positive racial identity. For example, Black people who attend church are more likely to think positively of themselves as African Americans and African Americans as a group (Mattis & Watson, 2009). This is in large part due to how Black religious leaders read and interpret scriptures, focusing on themes of liberation and overcoming oppression. Moreover, Black religious leaders often identify the presence of Black people in scripture and relate the historic and present struggles of African Americans (S. Floyd-Thomas et al., 2007). Placing Black people at the center of religious interpretation may be supportive of healthy racial identity (S. Floyd-Thomas et al., 2007).
Racial Socialization
It is important for Black communities to engage in early racial socialization with Black males (Leary, 2005). Most research shows that African American adolescents score higher on measures of self-esteem than other racial/ethnic groups (Birndorf, Ryan, Auinger, & Aten, 2005; Belgrave & Brevard, 2015; Sullivan & Evans, 2006) and have high self-esteem generally (Freeman, 1994). But how do African American parents ensure high self-esteem among their children in racially hostile environments? They must also find ways to give their children knowledge and skills that will allow them to be successful in a hostile environment.
Dottolo and Stewart’s (2008) research on race and racial identity noted that many Black people think frequently about their ethnic identity because of frequent experiences with racism. Racial socialization allows parents to provide their children with racial/ethnic pride and prepare them for racism, providing a positive sense of self and a foundation for success in a social context where being an African American and male is viewed negatively in distinct ways. Without racial socialization, a racist mainstream society will direct the evolution of Black children’s identities. Most African American parents engage in racial socialization (Coles, 2009), but there are differences in the strategies undertaken. McHale et al. (2006) found that older African American fathers were more likely to convey racial socialization messages about potential racial barriers than younger fathers. Fathers with relatively higher levels of education were more likely to send racial socialization messages of cultural pride, and coping with racial discrimination, and encouragement of intergroup interaction (Brown, Tanner-Smith, Lesane-Brown, & Ezell, 2007). Compared to their non-married counterparts, married fathers engage in more frequent racial socialization (Thornton, Chatters, Taylor, & Allen, 1990). Parents are more likely to transmit racial socialization messages to older children because older children are more apt to understand racism in abstract ways, and report experiencing it (McHale et al., 2006). However, the content of racial socialization messages is just as important to the degree to which parents racially socialize.
Murray and Mandara (2002) explain four different approaches to racial socialization: the proactive approach refers to parents who initiate the act of discussing race, but also, teaching children to deal with racial issues; the active approach happens when parents openly discuss issues of race and discrimination; the reactive approach, occurs when parents take a defensive position on racial issues or discuss racial issues after cases of racial discrimination arise; and the passive approach describes when parents never talk about racial issues. Murray and Mandara (2002) investigated the racial socialization messages received by one hundred sixteen 14- to 16-year-old African American youth and found that they had experienced varying degrees of four basic racial socialization messages. Race empowerment messages stressed ←49 | 50→having a positive racial identity and being able to overcome obstacles in life despite racism. Racial awareness messages actively taught children to be proud of being Black. Race-defensiveness includes messages to children that they should dislike another racial group. It also involves teaching children the usefulness of imitating White behavior. Race naiveite minimizes race, saying that racism is a thing of the past or a minimal issue in the modern era (Murray & Mandara, 2002). Those who were exposed to the race empowerment approach were high in racial identity and self-esteem. The reverse was found for those who were exposed to race-defensiveness messages. According to Murray and Mandara (2002), high self-esteem for Black youth is acquired through recognizing Black achievements, having effective strategies to deal with racism, and having a feeling of belonging to and responsibility toward communities of people of African descent. Race naiveite and racial awareness were not found to significantly predict high self-esteem and only moderately predicted racial identity (Murray & Mandara, 2002).
Cooper, Smalls-Glover, Neblett, Banks, and Levant (2015) investigated racial socialization patterns among African American fathers and used the results of their investigation to develop profiles of Black fathers’ approaches to racial socialization. To assess fathers’ racial socialization practices they used the Racial Socialization Questionnaire–Parent Version, which measures racial socialization across six dimensions: racial pride (telling children they should be proud to be Black); racial barrier socialization (making children aware that they will face racial discrimination and teaching them to effectively cope with it); egalitarian views (telling children that they should treat everyone equally); behavioral socialization (exposing children to Black culture); negative values (sending children negative messages about what it means to be Black); and self-development (sending children messages that they must be self-disciplined to be successful. They discovered five profiles: (1) infrequent racial socializers; (2) negative racial socializers; (3) positive racial socializers; (4) low race salience socializers, and; (5) race salient socializers (Cooper et al., 2015).
Infrequent racial socializers are those Black fathers who have low levels of racial socialization. Negative racial socializers include fathers who are low in the self-development messages they send, but high in the negative messages they send. Positive racial socializers are fathers who are high on all dimensions of racial socialization, except negative values. Low race salience socializers are those who are high on all messages except self-development. These fathers didn’t overtly address racial barriers or encourage racial pride, but they did send moderate messages about personal development and racial equality, seeming to focus on individual assets of the child. Race salience socializers are those fathers who