Black, Gifted, and Living in the “Country”: Searching for Equity and Excellence in Rural Gifted Education Programs

Abstract

The nature of rural living is often characterized as remote, limited in social and academic experiences and opportunities, and predominantly White and low income. For Black gifted students, these characterizations define daily isolation and alienation, accompanied by racially oppressive conditions that cause stress and give constant reminders of their oppressed group status, despite their high intellectual, academic, affective, and creative potential. These conditions, coupled with the misnomer that being a rural student means that one must be from the dominant culture, render them invisible on many social and demographic variables. Most scholarly research related to rural education focuses on one demographic – poor White students from Appalachian, Midwest, or Southern communities. While most of the literature focuses on this demographic, the majority of Black gifted students living in rural areas are located in the southern region of the United States. The Black rural community, including Black gifted students, is almost invisible in literature explicating the conditions of rural education in America. This chapter takes an updated look at Black gifted students in rural America based on our previous work on this population. We explore where these students reside, the traits that make them unique, which includes attention to culture, and make recommendations for future research and programming to meet their intellectual, academic, creative, and psychosocial needs with attention to access, equity, and excellence.

Citation

Davis, J.L., Ford, D.Y., Moore, J.L. and Floyd, E.F. (2020), "Black, Gifted, and Living in the “Country”: Searching for Equity and Excellence in Rural Gifted Education Programs", Chambers, C.R. and Crumb, L. (Ed.) African American Rural Education (Advances in Race and Ethnicity in Education, Vol. 7), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 39-52. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2051-231720200000007017