And what a bummer that kids feel like they have to purposely do worse in school because they don't want to be accused of acting differently than their peers expect them to... I mean, it happens in every school district and in every socio-economic circle, but still, what a bummer...
Smart black students being accused of acting too white is an issue educators are debating at a youth and race conference this week. Students say the stigma is keeping some of their peers from doing well in school. Tenth grader Anais Guzman is on the honor roll. She says some of her peers see the achievement as acting too white:
"They can get high grades but they don't want to because they'll be considered as acting white, so they put white people down,” Guzman said.
That's the argument some educators say is fueling the achievement gap in North Carolina schools. Smart black students being accused of "acting too white" is one issue they discussed. "It's a serious issue in North Carolina,” said William Darity with the African-American Research Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill.
College freshman Erin Burns added, “Black students that are doing well in the classroom or hang out with white friends or have good grammar, talk properly or don't use slang, they get accused of being white a lot."
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