A social network analysis of acting white

Abstract

Using social network and interview data, this case study illuminates why acting White did not apply to students at a predominantly Somali African American school in the U.S. Specifically, this case study shows that high-achieving Somali working-class students were not isolated from their peer networks in their school. Furthermore, this study suggests that Acting White may be not applicable to schools where schools are structurally small-sized, culturally college-bound, and ethnically-homogenous.