<em>“Trust Me, You Are Going to College”: How Trust Influences Academic Achievement in Black Males</em>

Abstract

IntroductionYoung Black males in America have traditionally been viewed as a high-risk population. A significant number of Black males drop out of high school, are (or have been) in the penal system, in gangs or have died a violent death much too young (Ferguson, 2001). Considerable amount of public discourse and literature has focused on Black boys through a lens of pathology or deficits (as debunked by Brown & Donnor, 2011; Ferguson, 2001; Ladson-Billings, 2006; Noguera, 2008). Correspondingly, much of the historical scholarship negatively concerning Black males in American education has permeated the public domain, research, and, perhaps most importantly, the perceptions of educators and Black males themselves. This article seeks to challenge the dominant narrative of negative academic characteristics of Black males, by adding to the expanding discourse focusing on positive Black male academic achievements.Since the landmark civil rights case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which ended the doctrine of separate but equal, public schools have been trying to resolve the issue of how to best educate Black students. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965 helped codify the Brown decision in public schooling, but there were still pockets of resistance to Black students being integrated throughout the country, and not just in the South. In the 1970s and early 1980s in cities such as Boston and Philadelphia, bussing for integration became a mechanism for trying to achieve better educational outcomes for Black children (Fluehr-Lobban, 1990).In the past few decades, a significant shift has occurred in scholarship surrounding Black males from deficit models to scholarship focused on positive strength-based assets of Black male students (e.g., Darling-Hammond et al., 2007; Davis, 2003; Davis & Jordan, 1994; Fergus, Noguera & Martin, 2014; Giroux & Schmidt, 2004; Baldridge, Hill, & Davis, 2011; LadsonBillings, 2006; Noguera, 2008; Noguera & Wing, 2006). Darling-Hammond (2007), LadsonBillings (2006) and Noguera (2008) have articulated how notions of inferiority found in earlier literature focusing on the study of Black males in education fixated on students' deficiencies rather than their positive achievements. The prevailing belief is that deficit-based thinking has hampered policymakers, educators and in many ways, Black males themselves, into believing their deficits were too significant to overcome and most importantly said criticisms were accurate. Therefore, the belief is that a self-fulfilling prophecy helped reinforce in many young Black male students that there was little hope of attaining positive academic achievement.This article contributes to the growing shift in the literature toward more positive discourse surrounding Black males in general and positive academic achievement specifically by examining the experiences of high-achieving Black male participants and the factors that helped contribute to their acceptance and attendance in college. One of the ways young Black males counter the toxicity of negative influences and expectations was through persistence. Despite the fact that these young Black males have often had to navigate through a history of racial discrimination in this country, challenges in family structure, low income, and in many cases, extremely violent neighborhoods, communities and schools, they still experienced positive supports and maintained positive attitudes that allowed them to persist and realize positive academic achievement. Central to this persistence and positive attitude were specific types of trust. In order to create more positive educational outcomes, it is critical to examine why some young Black males succeed in the face of adversity while many of their peers do not.Literature ReviewAccording to a Forbes Magazine article from 2013, trust is the most important element in business and is the basis for strong relationships (Peshawaria, 2013). …