ABSTRACT
In all of the ethnographic studies of Black students that I have conducted, I have found that peer pressures leading to academic disengagement and poor school performance are due to a number of factors in addition to the phenomenon of “acting White.” In this chapter I will report the findings from my studies of peer pressures in two settings: Shaker Heights, Ohio and Oakland, California. My studies show that negative peer pressures are widespread among African American students and that these pressures contribute significantly to the students’ academic disengagement.
