Search results

When young children notice and comment about physical appearance differences often associated with race, adults may experience discomfort and uncertainty about how to respond. As a result, many adults try to avoid or terminate such discussion, leaving children with unanswered questions and misunderstandings. To prepare educators to be supportive of the development of children’s positive racial identity and racial awareness, it is important for educators to examine their own attitudes, biases, and knowledge about race and racism. This chapter summarizes research on children’s racial identity and awareness, describes critical approaches to anti-racist education, and provides resources and strategies through which professionals can better understand themselves and the young children they serve.

As the First Lady, Michelle Obama stated that she had a number of priorities but that the first year would be mainly about supporting her two girls in their transitions to their new life in the White House. Her choice to be mom-in-chief drew unusually intense and rather puzzling, scrutiny. The chapter briefly discusses the range of reactions along the political spectrum as well as African-American feminists’ analyses of the stereotypes of Black women underlying those reactions. This analysis engages the debates from a different perspective. First, the chapter addresses the under-theorizing of the racialized gender norms embedded in the symbolism of the White House and the role of First Lady. It challenges the presumption of traditional notions of true womanhood and the incorrect conclusion that mothering would preclude public engagement.

Second and most importantly, this chapter argues that there are fundamental misunderstandings of what mothering meant for Michelle Obama as African-American woman. Cultural traditions and socio-historical conditions have led Black women, both relatives and non-kin, to form mothering relationships with others’ children and to appreciate the interdependence of “nurturing” one's own children, other children, and entire communities. Those practitioners whose nurturing activities encompassed commitment and contributions to the collectivity were referred to as community othermothering. Using primary sources, this chapter examines in detail Michelle Obama's socialization for and her practice of community othermothering in her role as First Lady. Attention is focused on her transformation of White House events by extending hospitality to more within Washington, DC, and the nation, plus broadening young people's exposure to inspiration, opportunities, and support for setting and accomplishing their dreams. Similarly, the concept of community othermothering is also used to explain Michelle Obama’s reinterpretation of the traditional First Lady's special project into the ambitious “Let's Move” initiative to end childhood obesity within a generation. The othermothering values and endeavors have helped establish the White House as “the People's House.”

This chapter examines the framing of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement in mainstream media. An analytic sample of 4,303 articles collected from the Dow Jones Factiva database reveals variation in depth, breadth, and intensity of BLM coverage in the following newspapers between 2012 and 2016: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Al Jazeera English. We review contemporary literature on racial inequality and employ Media Framing and Critical Race Theory to discuss the implications of our findings on public perceptions, future policy formation, and contemporary social protest worldwide.

In this chapter, the author examines benevolent sexism as a form of performative kindness. Taking a feminist polemical approach, the author illustrates how being a ‘good girl’ requires submitting to occupy a subject position that attracts benevolent sexism. Benevolent sexism focusses on gendered discourses, such as what women wear and how they act, and it can be mistakenly construed as kind or flattering attention. Such gendered discourses are designed to keep women compliant and conforming to gendered roles, while limiting their voice and agency. A case study is presented which draws on biographical and popular press resources to illustrate how three highly placed American female political leaders, Francis Perkins, Federal Labor Secretary (1933–1945), Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State (2009–2013), and Kamala Harris, Vice President (2021–current), contend with sexism and public interest in their mode of dress and role as mothers. The author demonstrates how these women are punished with hostile sexism, historically and contemporarily, requiring them to tenuously negotiate between accepting benevolent sexism to avoid hostile sexism.

Many Black women continue to negotiate their way within higher education institutions, which are influenced by social class, race, and gender biases. Several scholars contend that Black women’s objectification as the “other” and “outsider within” (Collins, 2000; Fitzgerald, 2014; Jean-Marie, 2014) is still apparent in today’s institutions yet many persist to ascend to top leadership positions (Bates, 2007; Epps, 2008; Evans, 2007; Hamilton, 2004; Jean-Marie, 2006, 2008). In particular, the inroads made by Black women administrators in both predominantly white colleges (PWIs) as well as historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) depict a rich and enduring history of providing leadership to effect social change in the African American community (i.e., uplift the race) and at large (Bates, 2007; Dede & Poats, 2008; Evans, 2007; Hine, 1994; Miller & Vaughn, 1997). There is a growing body of literature exploring Black women’s leadership in higher education, and most research have focused on their experiences in predominantly white institutions (Bower & Wolverton, 2009; Dixon, 2005; Harris, Wright, & Msengi, 2011; Jordan, 1994; Rusher, 1996; Turner, 2008). A review of the literature points to the paucity of research on their experiences and issues of race and gender continue to have an effect on the advancement of Black women in the academy. In this chapter, we examine factors that create hindrance to the transformation of the composition, structure, and power of leadership paradigm with a particular focus on Black women administrators and those at the presidency at HBCUs. From a review of the literature, our synthesis is based on major themes and subthemes that emerged and guide our analysis in this chapter. The chapter concludes with recommendations for identifying and developing Black women leaders to diversify the leadership pipeline at HBCUs and other institutions for the future.

This chapter explores social media and athlete mental health and well-being from a sociological perspective. The chapter provides an overview of current literature and encourages future research to address the mental health and well-being impacts of social media use among athletes.

The chapter synthesizes existing literature focusing on sociological approaches to mental health, social media's impact on mental health, and athlete mental health and well-being. Focus is given to the ways social media can impact athlete mental health and well-being through virtual maltreatment and using the platforms for social change and challenging stigmatization.

Virtual maltreatment typically manifests in the intersectionality between gender, race, and sexual orientation adding to mental health challenges of vulnerable groups. Conversely, athletes could help challenge stigmatization of mental health and use their status to create social change among social groups experiencing higher rates of mental health challenges.

The chapter reveals that sociological perspectives around athlete mental health and well-being related to social media are growing, yet predominately concentrate on publicly available social media content. Therefore, more concentrated efforts are needed to fully understand these impacts in the short and long-term.

The chapter provides one of the first insights on social media and athlete mental health and well-being from a sociological perspective and argues that athletes contend with unique stressors compared to the general population which can exacerbate mental health challenges. The chapter advances that more research is needed to inform practice and help safeguard vulnerable populations of athletes.

African-American and Hispanic students are underrepresented in gifted education. In many cases, African-American and Hispanic students are underachieving in the classroom setting and lack interest in what is being taught. This chapter will discuss the underrepresentation of African-American and Hispanic students in gifted programs, curricula and program challenges within general and gifted classrooms, Bloom’s taxonomy and James Banks’ multicultural curriculum model. The chapter will also provide an overview of the Ford–Harris matrix, and introduce a color-coded layout of the matrix and provide pros and cons for each matrix level.