Combating Racial Inequity Through Local Historical Analysis: A Community-Informed Social Studies Unit

One way for teachers to use engaging and relevant social studies curriculum is by delving into local history to help students understand the influence that community activists have had on national policies and events. In this article, we provide teachers an approach to incorporate topics of racial inequity in their classrooms by showcasing a dynamic social studies unit that reveals the role of local history and community activists during the national Civil Rights Movement. As an example within the unit, we present a local, historical narrative that describes the activism of three local Black teachers in Palm Beach County, Florida, whose efforts in the 1940s significantly impacted the foundations of what was to become the Civil Rights Movement. We then present a multicultural social studies unit developed from this local history and guidelines for teachers to enact their own locally informed social studies unit. This content will help teachers expose students to the rich history of their community’s past by sharing ways that teachers can incorporate culturally relevant instruction of racially charged topics into the classroom.     

Observing Black youth sociopolitical group participation and high school democratic climate through the lens of critical race theory

The purpose of this paper was to determine if high school democratic climates influence Black youth participation in sociopolitical groups using critical race theory as a lens. It was hypothesized that Black youth would be less likely to participate in sociopolitical groups due to perceived lack of support. It was also hypothesized that Black and White youth participation in sociopolitical groups is more comparable when the climate at their school is perceived to be more democratic. The hypotheses were only partially supported in that Black youth were more likely than White youth to participate in sociopolitical groups when the high school democratic climate was low. However, Black and White youth participation was found to be comparable when the high school democratic climate was high. This study adds to the literature by showing that high school democratic climates interact with race in a way that motivates sociopolitical group involvement among youth.     

Challenging the Black Church Narrative: Race,Class, and Homosexual Attitudes

In recent years, scholars have pointed to the Black church as the driving force behind Blacks’ more conservative lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) attitudes. Although evidence suggests a robust association between religiosity and LGBT attitudes, contemporary scholarship has not examined the role of class or the extent to which religiosity actually explains these trends. Using the 2004–2014 waves of the General Social Survey, we find that class moderates in the effect of race on negative LGBT attitudes, resulting in a noticeably larger gap between middle-class Blacks and Whites than in the top or the bottom of the class distribution. Although religiosity and moralization explain a portion of racial differences in homosexual attitudes across class groups, we find that neither fully accounts for the more conservative attitudes of the Black middle class. We conclude by discussing the shortcomings of these narratives for understanding Blacks’ more conservative LGBT attitudes.     

High Rates of Access to Health Care,Disclosure of Sexuality and Gender Identity to Providers Among House and Ball Community Members in New York City

The House and Ball community is an important cultural manifestation of resiliency for Black and Latino gay and bisexual men and transgender women. Participants at the August 2013 House of Latex Ball in New York City were surveyed about insurance coverage, health care access, experiences in health care, and housing instability. The sample (n = 367) was 58% Black/African American and 20% Hispanic/Latino, with a mean age of 31. Fifty-five percent were gay and bisexual men. Although only 6% identified as transgender, nearly one half were gender nonconforming. Strong majorities had health insurance, were in regular medical care, and were “out” to their providers. Some were unstably housed and had recently exchanged sex for shelter or money. High rates of health care access and disclosure indicate resiliency and agency. Unstable housing and income insecurity may be structural drivers of vulnerability for this population to HIV infection and other health risks.     

From the West Indies to Africa: A universal generational decline in health among blacks in the United States

Research shows that foreign-born blacks have better health profiles than their U.S.-born counterparts. Less is known, however, regarding whether black immigrants’ favorable health outcomes persist across generations or whether these patterns differ across the diverse sending regions for black immigrants. In this study, we use data from the 1996–2014 waves of the March Current Population Survey (CPS) to investigate generational differences in self-rated health among blacks with West Indian, Haitian, Latin American, and African ancestry. We show that first-generation black immigrants have a lower probability of reporting fair/poor health than third/higher generation blacks. The health advantage of the first generation over the third/higher generation is slightly more prounced among the foreign-born who migrated to the United States after age 13. Second-generation immigrants with two foreign-born parents are generally less likely to report their health as fair/poor than the third/higher generation. However, we find no evidence that self-reported fair/poor health varies between second-generation immigrants with mixed nativity parents (only one foreign-born parent) and the third/higher generation. These general patterns hold across each of the ancestral subgroups in the study sample. In summary, our findings highlight a remarkable convergence in health across immigrant generations among blacks in the United States.     

What are they saying? Black faculty at predominantly white institutions of higher education

In the Twenty-first century Black faculty at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) of higher education that are research-oriented or extensive doctoral granting institutions have identified concerns that produce stress, dissatisfaction and a climate of distrust. Using a Delphi panel of twenty-four Black faculty from forty-three PWIs, 13 concerns after three rounds with a Delphi panel were identified and discussed. These concerns established reasons for a lack of presence (underrepresentation) of Black faculty and a lack of success for Black faculty at PWIs.     

College teaching on sacred ground: Judeo-Christian influences on Black women faculty pedagogy

This study examines the perceptions and ideals of Black women faculty in the US who self-identify as possessing strong faith commitments within a Judeo-Christian denomination. The study considers the influence religio-spirituality has on their perceptions of pedagogy and student engagement. There are four major findings that emerged in this study, organized within two veins: (1) Religio-spiritual educator ideal as a guide for ways of being and teaching in the academy; and (2) Religio-spirituality’s relationship to equity and emancipation. This study is significant in that it identifies a largely under-theorized religio-spiritual frame employed by many Black women faculty in the US, and contributes to the literature in its exploration of the ways Judeo-Christian Black women faculty can serve as important resources and change agents in US higher education.     

Creating transregional collective nostalgia: the organising role of Catholic parishes among Louisiana migrants in Great Migration-era Los Angeles

Scholarship on the African American Great Migration insufficiently examines the interactional, emotional, religious, ethno-regional, and generational diversity of migrant experiences. This study applies insights from the transnational migration literature to illuminate complexities of Black internal migration and incorporation during this era. Using data from 47 in-depth interviews with first- and second-generation Louisianans who arrived in Los Angeles between 1931 and 1973, the article elucidates the distinctive organising role that local Catholic religious institutions played in creating and reinforcing transregional collective nostalgia and a sense of ‘being from’ Louisiana during resettlement. First, within the Black migrant concentration in Los Angeles, Louisiana migrants created an enclave in which Catholic parishes were used to geographically organise the city. Second, parishes organised social life and reinforced the migrant community by stimulating co-migrant contact, Louisiana-centred interaction, and support for adaptation. Finally, migrants shaped how parishes functioned by incorporating elements of Louisiana-based practices into Los Angeles routines, thereby preserving continuity between two places in both practical and nostalgic terms.     

Paternal dimensions and complexities: Understanding the relationships between parental dyads and fathers’ involvement among Black fathers with criminal records

ABSTRACT

The benefits of fathers’ involvement in their children’s lives are well documented. However, the effect of incarceration, especially among Black families, has contributed to disbanded family bonds. Spells of incarceration disrupt family relationships and having a criminal record, results in formerly incarcerated men being jobless and unable to financially contribute to their families. Fatherhood encompasses more than being the sole household income earner and father involvement is complex, particularly, within contemporary family structures (Jones & Mosher, 2013). Incarceration, especially, among Black fathers has been associated with family dissolution and reduced financial wellbeing (Oliver, 2001; Roberts, 2004; Western & Wildemann, 2009).This study analyzed factors associated with fathers’ involvement with their children among Black fathers with criminal records. Fathers’ involvement was conceptualized using Lamb, Pleck, and Levine’s (1985) Threefold Typology, which included fathers’ level of engagement, accessibility, and responsibility with their children. These three components of father involvement were the dependent variables. This study utilized secondary analysis of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing (FFCW) or “Fragile Families” study. Among Black fathers with criminal records, this study explored relationships among fathers’ involvement, sociodemographic characteristics, and parental dyads. This study found variations among factors associated with three dimensions of father involvement.     

A mixed-method exploratory study of interprofessional education in social work at historically Black colleges and universities: A faculty perspective

ABSTRACT

A mixed-method approach was used to capture social work faculty experiences in integrating interprofessional education (IPE) in the social work curriculum at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Questions measured attitudes, needs, preparation, and readiness of HBCU faculty to participate in preprofessional and graduate IPE courses. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were used. The 23 participants indicated that there was strong interest and endorsement for participation in IPE as an educational tool to improve interdisciplinary team work and social care outcomes. However, faculty had limited previous involvement with IPE courses. Many partners were identified for IPE courses with almost all endorsing alcohol and substance abuse counseling, mental health counseling, public health, early childhood education, nursing, rehabilitation counseling, school of divinity, and school of psychology. The following IPE teaching methods were endorsed by almost all of the faculty: seminars, IPE common tools, case analysis, collaborative assessment, role playing, and experiential activities. Qualitative analysis of the open-ended questions yielded five themes: designing/evaluating IPE programs, embedding IPE courses in the social work curriculum, facilitating trust among faculty, removing negative IPE stereotypes, and IPE courses sustainability. The study contributes vital information about an important group of stakeholders whose participation in IPE, heretofore not mentioned in the IPE literature, needs to be integrated. We recommend that the IPE higher education community work with HBCUs to implement IPE.