The Sons of Emmett Till: Addressing Black Male Masculinity in Urban High Schools in New Orleans

Abstract

This dissertation explores how Black boys in New Orleans’ urban high schools develop, define, and do masculinity. Beginning with a narrative literature review, this study provides themes common among the six peer-reviewed articles that are specifically written on the subject of Black boys’ masculinity in urban high schools in the United States. Analyzed using Critical Race Theory, the themes discussed in these six articles were used to formulate interview questions for 10 Black male students in New Orleans high schools. The empirical portion of this study found that Black boys in New Orleans urban high schools develop masculinity at birth, define it as person’s character traits, and perform masculinity according to society’s standards, enacting a cool pose (Majors & Billson, 1992). These findings lead the researcher to utilize Critical Race Theory in conversation with Feminist Standpoint Theory and Queer Theory to provide scholar-practitioners with the tools to re-evaluate the conversations that take place behind closed doors in relation to Black boys and their development, definition, and expression of masculinity.