Navigating the “Dual Pandemics”: The Cumulative Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Rise in Awareness of Racial Injustices among High School Students of Color in Urban Schools

Abstract

We explored the psychological and educational impact of distance learning during the COVID-19 and racial injustice pandemics. The sample included 19 urban high school students of Color from the San Francisco Bay Area. Interview data were analyzed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis revealing seven themes: (1) challenges learning from home; (2) shifts that impact students’ experience with school; (3) emotions emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic; (4) increased awareness and engagement related to racial injustices; (5) emotional reactions to the rise in awareness to racial injustices; (6) shifts in identity due to social isolation; and (7) coping strategies and support needed.

Keywords

Racism Social School Counselors Urban Education Adolescent Subjects Pandemics Racial injustice Covid-19

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Balingit

Natanson

Chen

(2021, March 4). As schools reopen, Asian American students are missing from classrooms. Washington Post . Retrieved May 25, 2021, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/asian-american-students-home-school-in-person-pandemic/2021/03/02/eb7056bc-7786-11eb-8115-9ad5e9c02117_story.html

Bansak

Starr

(2021). COVID-19 shocks to education supply: How 200,000 U.S. Households dealt with the sudden shift to distance learning. Review of Economics of the Household, 19(1), 63-90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-020-09540-9

Borrero

N. E.

Yeh

C. J.

(2021). Justice oriented transformative collaboration in schools as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Education, 9(1), 57-72. https://doi.org/10.5121/ije.2021.9105

Borrero

N. E.

Yeh

C. J.

Dela Cruz

Collins

(2021). The COVID-19 pandemic and emerging cultural assets. Equity & Excellence in Education, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2021.1992603

Braun

Clarke

(2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

Braun

Clarke

(2020). One size fits all? What counts as quality practice in (reflexive) thematic analysis? Qualitative Research in Psychology, 18(3), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2020.1769238

Bronfenbrenner

(1992). Ecological systems theory. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Brown

E. C.

Freedle

Hurless

N. L.

Miller

R. D.

Martin

Paul

Z. A.

(2022). Preparing teacher candidates for trauma-informed practices. Urban Education, 57(4), 662-685. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085920974084

Bruner

Chow

Gunia

Ducharme

Godin

. (2020). Most likely t,o…have a zoom graduation party, star in a viral TikTok, lose a summer job, completely rethink plans for the future: Eight high school seniors around the world on what it’s like to Come of age in 2020. Time, 195(20/21), 42-51. https://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=f6c68c31-8725-4b5f-84cb-060fa747f4°c%40sdc-v-sessmgr02

10.

Cheah

C. S.

Wang

Ren

Zong

Cho

H. S.

Xue

(2020). COVID-19 racism and mental health in Chinese American families. Pediatrics, 146(5), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-021816

11.

Cheng

Conca-Cheng

(2020). The pandemics of racism and COVID-19: Danger and opportunity. Pediatrics, 146(5). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-024836

12.

Esposito

Giannitto

Squarcia

Neglia

Argentiero

Minichetti

Cotugno

Principi

(2021). Development of psychological problems among adolescents during school closures because of the COVID-19 lockdown phase in Italy: A cross-sectional survey. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 8, 975-987. https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2020.628072

13.

Fitzpatrick

Carson

Weisz

J. R.

(2021). Using mixed methods to identify the primary mental health problems and needs of children, adolescents, and their caregivers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 52(6), 1082-1093. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-020-01089-z

14.

Gazmararian

Weingart

Campbell

Cronin

Ashta

(2021). Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of students from 2 semi-rural high schools in Georgia. Journal of School Health, 91(5), 356-369. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.13007

15.

Goosby

Heidbrink

(2013). The transgenerational consequences of discrimination on African-American health outcomes. Sociology Compass, 7(8), 630-643. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12054

16.

Gorski

(2019). Avoiding racial equity detours. Educational Leadership, 76(7), 56-61.

17.

Griffin

C. B.

Gray

Hope

Metzger

I. W.

Henderson

D. X.

(2022). Do coping responses and racial identity promote school adjustment among black youth? Applying an equity-elaborated social–emotional learning lens. Urban Education, 57(2), 198-223. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085920933346

18.

Hamilton

J. L.

Nesi

& Choukas-Bradley

(2020, April 29). Teens and social media during the COVID-19 pandemic: Staying socially connected while physically distant . https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/5stx4

19.

Harrell

S. P.

(2000). A multidimensional conceptualization of racism-related stress: Implications for the well-being of people of color. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70(1), 42-57. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0087722

20.

Hvalshagen

Nittala

Raman

Sullivan

Zolbanin

H. M.

(2021). When worlds Collide: Framing students’ challenges with stay-at-home learning during COVID-19 through the lens of conflicting role identities. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 48(1), 227-235. https://doi.org/10.17705/1CAIS.04829

21.

Kamenetz

. (2021, March 24). New data highlight disparities in students learning in person. NPR . https://www.npr.org/2021/03/24/980592512/new-data-highlight-disparities-in-students-learning-in-person

22.

Koo

K. K.

Yao

C. W.

Gong

H. J

. (2021). “It is not my fault”: Exploring experiences and perceptions of racism among international students of color during COVID-19. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000343

23.

Ladson-Billings

(2021a, March 24). This is us! Educating post covid/post civic unrest America — Tragedy or opportunity? [Keynote address] [Paper presentation]. 2021 Don C. Locke Multiculturalism and Social Justice Symposium. Raleigh, NC. United States. 2021 Don C. Locke Multiculturalism and Social Justice Symposium Featuring Gloria Ladson-Billings.

24.

Ladson-Billings

(2021b). I’m here for the hard re-set: Post pandemic pedagogy to preserve our culture. Equity & Excellence in Education, 54(1), 68-78. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2020.1863883

25.

Landertinger

L. C.

Greene

Cooper

Hopson

(2021). Emotional and mental health support for Black students: Responding to racial trauma and White terror amidst COVID-19. The COVID-19 Crisis and Racial Justice & Equity: Addressing the Twin Pandemics, 36(1), 154-164.

26.

McKinney de Royston

Vossoughi

(2021). Fixating on pandemic “learning loss” undermines the need to transform education. Truthout . Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://truthout.org/articles/fixating-on-pandemic-learning-loss-undermines-the-need-to-transform-education

27.

Milner

H. R.

IV (2012). But what is urban education? Urban Education, 47(3), 556-561. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085912447516

28.

Morales

(2021). “Beasting” at the battleground: Black students responding to racial microaggressions in higher education. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 14(1), 72-83. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000168

29.

Patton

(2020). We are NOT enduring “twin” pandemics . https://medium.com/@lpattondavis/we-are-not-enduring-twin-pandemics-fd4843575f59

30.

Pérez-Gualdrón

Yeh

C. J.

Russell

(2016). Development and evaluation of a culturally-responsive program for ethnic minority high school boys. Journal of School Counseling, 14(13), 1-43. http://jsc.montana.edu/articles/v14n13.pdf

31.

Pilecco

Leite

Góes

Diel-Biegas

Aquino

(2020). Addressing racial inequalities in a pandemic: Data limitations and a call for critical analyses. The Lancet Global Health, 8(12), e1461-e1462. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30360-0

32.

Pincus

Hannor-Walker

Wright

Justice

(2020). COVID-19’s Effect on students: How school counselors rise to the rescue. NASSP Bulletin, 104(4), 241-256. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192636520975866

33.

Povero

Turco

Dal Negro

R. W.

(2022). The emotional response to pandemic of middle-and high-school students of an Italian Northern Province: The ERP study. Children, 9(1), 59. https://doi.org/10.3390/children9010059

34.

Rim

(2020, June 4). How student activism shaped the Black Lives Matter movement. Forbes . https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherrim/2020/06/04/how-student-activism-shaped-the-black-lives-matter-movement/?sh=39f574734414

35.

Shullman

(2020, May 29). We are living in a racism pandemic,’ says APA President. Retrieved March 31, from https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2020/05/racism-pandemic.

36.

Stolberg

(2020, June 7). “Pandemic within a pandemic’: Coronavirus and police brutality roil Black communities. The New York Times .

37.

Stop AAPI Hate. (2021). 2020–2021 National report . Retrieved December 9, 2021, from https://stopaapihate.org/2020-2021-national-report/

38.

Thahkur

(2020). Mental health in high school students at the time of COVID-19: A student’s perspective. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 59(12), 1309-1310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2020.08.005

39.

The COVID Tracking Project at the Atlantic (2021). Federal COVID Data 101: What we know about race and ethnicity data. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://covidtracking.com/analysis-updates/federal-covid-data-101-race-ethnicity-data

40.

Thurber

Bandy

Harbin

M. B.

(2021). Teaching race and racial justice: Developing Students’ cognitive and affective understanding. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 9(1), 117-137. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.9.1.10

41.

U.S. Department of Education. Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. (2019) Status and trends in the education of racial and ethnic groups . Retrieved April 1, 2021, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/raceindicators/indicator_RDA.asp

42.

Wrigley-Field

(2020). US Racial inequality may be as deadly as COVID-19. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(36), 21854-21856. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2014750117

43.

Yeh

C. J.

Borrero

N. E.

Suda

J. F.

Cruz

C. I.

(2021). Place matters: Exploring Native Hawaiian youths’ cultural selves, pride, and generativity. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 12(1), 76-86. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000226

44.

Yeh

C. J.

Inman

A. G.

(2007). Qualitative data analysis and interpretation in counseling psychology: Strategies for best practices. The Counseling Psychologist, 35(3), 369-403. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000006292596

45.

Zaccor

K. M.

(2022). Connecting with students through a critical, participatory curriculum: An exploration into a high school history teacher’s construction of teacher–student relationships. Urban Education, 57(5), 871-898. 0042085918794779. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085918794779