Stereotypes of a Black male misunderstood (and it's still all good)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand African American male students' experiences and perceptions of racial microaggressions at a community college. The qualitative study, through the use of in-depth interviews with six African American male identified students, sought to answer the following research questions: 1) How do African American males attending a community college perceive and interpret individual and institutional forms of racial microaggressions? 2) In what ways can perceptions and experiences of racial microaggressions be linked to retention, persistence and completion rates of African American males attending a community college? 3) What are the experiences of African American male participants with racial microaggressions within a community college with predominately White faculty and how do they make sense of these experiences with respect to their academic and social achievement? The paper concludes with recommendations for future research on Black males attending community college including more integrated and intentional supports for African American male students, and to cultivate "counterspaces" for Black male students. Further, future studies should capture the experiences of racial microaggressions on African American male and female faculty, staff and students. As well as, continue to build on current research that employs Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a theoretical framework to examine how race and racism continue to influence and shape education and identify policies and practices that perpetuate discriminatory and racist practices in educational settings. Keywords: African American/Black males, racial microaggressions, community college, critical race theory, counter-stories, counterpaces.