On Shaky Ground: Black Authenticity at Predominantly White Institutions

Abstract

This study investigates the ways in which social context affects processes of black authenticity, resulting in shaky ground for authentic blackness among black college students at predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Because of normalized whiteness, black PWI students are negotiating authentic blackness in social contexts that limit black expression and identity through external pressure from nonblack students, in addition to experiencing intraracial pressures from black peers. These students must walk a thin line: they have to avoid being labeled as either “too black” or “inauthentically” black by nonblack students while simultaneously working to be seen as “black enough” by black peers, which highlights the precarity of black authenticity at PWIs. I use interviews and qualitative surveys of 44 black students at two PWIs and one historically black university (HBCU); the data from the HBCU are used to highlight contrasts between two school types. Results indicate that, as a result of tighter boundaries around blackness drawn by both black and nonblack peers, black PWI students experience behavioral constraints, limited options for ethnic identification, and believe that HBCU students see them as less authentically black. Conversely, HBCU students did not describe similar behavioral constraints or ethnic exclusion, and made no claims of inauthentic blackness for black PWI students. Overall, results suggest that the social contexts of PWIs significantly affect black students’ experiences with black authenticity.