Although Black students may share race-related experiences at predominantly White institutions (PWIs), they are a heterogeneous community with diverse identity beliefs, goals, and expectations about college. In the current study, we foreground how Black students at PWIs understand their racialized identities in relation to one another and within the broader university context. Drawing from interview data with 32 Black undergraduate students, we explore intraracial academic and social norms at two PWIs, with a particular focus on how students’ intersectional identities inform their relationships and experiences with other Black students. We add to the growing literature that actively challenges the homogenization of Black student populations and discuss how intraracial norms contribute to students’ campus adjustment and sense of belonging.
AnnammaS. A.JacksonD. D.MorrisonD. (2017). Conceptualizing color-evasiveness: Using dis/ability critical race theory to expand a color-blind racial ideology in education and society. Race, Ethnicity, and Education, 20(2), 147–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2016.1248837
2.
ArellanoL.VueR. (2019). Transforming campus racial climates: Examining discourses around student experiences of racial violence and institutional (in)action. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 12(4), 351–364. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000122
3.
BaileyM. (2021). Misogynoir transformed: Black women’s digital resistance. New York Press.
4.
BeasleyS. T.Chapman-HilliardC.McClainS. (2016). Linking the emancipatory pedagogy of Africana/Black studies with academic outcomes among Black students attending PWIs. Journal of Pan African Studies, 9(8), 9–25.
5.
Bentley-EdwardsK. L.Chapman-HilliardC. (2015). Doing race in different places: Black racial cohesion on Black and White college campuses. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 8, 43–60. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038293
6.
BlockettR. A. (2017). “I think it’s very much placed on us”: Black queer men laboring to forge community at a predominantly White and (hetero) cisnormative research institution. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 30(8), 800–816. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2017.1350296
7.
BorrT. G. (2019). The strategic pursuit of Black homophily on a predominantly White campus. Journal of Higher Education, 90(2), 322–346. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.1513305
8.
BroomsD. (2019). Not in this alone: Black men’s bonding, learning, and sense of belonging in Black male initiative programs. Urban Review, 51(5), 748–767. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-019-00506-5
9.
Burrell-CraftK. (2020). Are (we) going deep enough? A narrative literature review addressing critical race theory, racial space theory, and Black identity development. Taboo, 19(4), 9–26.
10.
CarterD. J. (2008). Cultivating a critical race consciousness for African American school success. Educational Foundations, 22(1–2), 11–28.
11.
CaseA. D.HunterC. D. (2012). Counterspaces: A unit of analysis for understanding the role of settings in marginalized individuals’ adaptive responses to oppression. American Journal of Community Psychology, 50(1–2), 257–270. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-012-9497-7
12.
ChavousT. M. (2005). An intergroup contact-theory framework for evaluating racial climate on predominantly White college campuses. American Journal of Community Psychology, 36(3–4), 239–257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-005-8623-1
13.
ClaytonK. A. (2020). Biracial identity development at historically white and historically Black colleges and universities. Sociology of Education, 93(3), 238–255. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038040720926163
14.
CrumbL.HaskinsN.DeanL.HarrisJ. A. (2020). Illuminating social class identity: The persistence of working-class African American women doctoral students. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 13(3), 215–227. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000109
15.
DancyT. E.EdwardsK. T.Earl DavisJ. (2018). Historically White universities and plantation politics: Anti-Blackness and higher education in the Black Lives Matter era. Urban Education, 53(2), 176–195. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085918754328
16.
DaoudN.MwangiC.EnglishS.GriffinK. (2018). Beyond stereotypes: Examining the role of social identities in the motivation patterns of Black immigrant and Black native students. American Journal of Education, 124(3), 285–312.
17.
DavisS. (2019). When sistahs support sistahs: A process of supportive communication about racial microaggressions among Black women. Communication Monographs, 86(2), 133–157. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2018.1548769
18.
DeCuir-GunbyJ. T.MarshallP. L.McCullochA. W. (2011). Developing and using a codebook for the analysis of interview data: An example from a professional development research project. Field Methods, 23(2), 136–155. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X10388468
19.
FordK.MalaneyV. (2012). “I now harbor more pride in my race”: The educational benefits of inter- and intraracial dialogues on the experiences of students of color and multiracial students. Equity and Excellence in Education, 45(1), 14–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.643180
20.
Fries-BrittS.George MwangiC. A.PeraltaA. M. (2014). Learning race in the U.S. context: Perceptions of race among foreign-born students of color. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 7(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035636
George MwangiC. A. (2014). Complicating Blackness: Black immigrants and racial positioning in U.S. higher education. Journal of Critical Thought and Praxis, 3(2), 1–27.
23.
George MwangiC. A.Fries-BrittS. (2015). Black within Black: The perceptions of Black immigrant collegians and their U.S. college experience. About Campus, 20(2), 16–23. https://doi.org/10.1002/abc.21187
24.
George MwangiC. A.ThelamourB.EzeoforI.CarpenterA. (2018). “Black elephant in the room”: Black students contextualizing campus racial climate within U.S. racial climate. Journal of College Student Development, 59(4), 456–474. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2018.0042
GómezJ. M. (2015). Rape, Black men, and the degraded Black woman: Feminist psychologists’ role in addressing within-group sexual violence. Feminist Psychologist: Newsletter for the Society of the Psychology of Women (American Psychological Association Division 35), 42, 12–13.
27.
GómezJ. M. (2019). Group dynamics as a predictor of dissociation for Black victims of violence: An exploratory study of cultural betrayal trauma theory. Transcultural Psychiatry. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461519847300.
28.
Goode-CrossD.TagerD. (2011). Negotiating multiple identities: How African American gay and bisexual men persist at a predominantly White institution. Journal of Homosexuality, 58, 1235–1254. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2011.605736
29.
GriffinK.CunninghamE.MwangiC. (2016). Defining diversity: Ethnic differences in Black students’ perceptions of racial climate. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 9(1), 34–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0039255
30.
GuiffridaD.DouthitK. (2010). The Black student experience at predominantly White colleges: Implications for school and college counselors. Journal of Counseling and Development, 88, 311–318.
31.
GunaratnamY. (2011). Messy work: Qualitative interviewing across difference. Researching race and ethnicity. (1st ed., pp. 79–105). Sage Publications. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9780857024626
32.
GusaD. (2010). White institutional presence: The impact of whiteness on campus culture. Harvard Educational Review, 80(4), 464–489.
33.
HannonC. R.WoodsideM.PollardB. L.RomanJ. (2016). The meaning of African American college women’s experiences attending a predominantly white institution: A phenomenological study. Journal of College Student Development, 57(6), 652–666.
34.
HarperS. R. (2012). Race without racism: How higher education researchers minimize racist institutional norms. Review of Higher Education, 36(1), 9–29. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2012.0047
35.
HarperS. R.HurtadoS. (2007). Nine themes in campus racial climates and implications for institutional transformation. New Directions for Student Services, 2007, 7–24.
36.
HarrisJ. L. (2020). Inheriting educational capital: Black college students, nonbelonging, and ignored legacies at predominantly White institutions. Women’s Studies Quarterly, 48(1–2), 84–102.
37.
HernandezK. C.Murray-JohnsonK. K. (2015). Towards a different construction of Blackness: Black immigrant scholars on racial identity development in the United States. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 17(2), 53–72.
38.
HillC. (2012). Consensual qualitative research: A practical resource for investigating social science phenomena. American Psychological Association.
39.
hooksb. (1990). Homeplace (a site of resistance). In RitchieJ.RonaldK. (Eds.), Available means: An anthology of women’s rhetoric(s) (pp. 382–390). University of Pittsburgh Press.
40.
HopeE. C.KeelsM.DurkeeM. I. (2016). Participation in Black Lives Matter and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals: Modern activism among Black and Latino college students. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 9(3), 203–215.
41.
HotchkinsB.DancyT. (2017). A house is not a home: Black students’ responses to racism in university residential halls. Journal of College and University Study Housing, 43(3), 42–53.
42.
HurtadoS.RuizA. (2012). The climate for underrepresented groups and diversity on campus. Research Brief. Higher Education Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles.
43.
HypoliteL. (2020a). “It just helps to know that there are people who share your experience”: Exploring racial identity development through a Black cultural center. Journal of Negro Education, 89(3), 233–248.
44.
HypoliteL. (2020b). People, place, and connections: Black cultural center staff as facilitators of social capital. Journal of Black Studies, 51(1), 37–59.
45.
JacksonB.HuiM. (2017). Looking for brothers: Black male bonding at a predominantly White institution. Journal of Negro Education, 86(4), 463–478.
46.
Johnston-GuerreroM. P. (2016). Embracing the messiness: Critical and diverse perspectives on racial and ethnic identity development. New Directions for Student Services, 154(2016), 43–55. https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.20174
47.
JourianT. J.McCloudL. (2020). “I don’t know where I stand”: Black trans masculine students’ re/de/constructions of Black masculinity. Journal of College Student Development, 61(6), 733–749. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2020.0072
48.
KarkoutiI. (2016). Black students’ educational experiences in predominantly White universities: A review of related literature. College Student Journal, 50(1), 59–70.
49.
KeelsM. (2020). Campus counterspaces: Black and Latinx students’ search for community at historically White universities. Cornell University Press.
50.
KellyL. L. (2020). “I love us for real”: Exploring homeplace as a site of healing and resistance for Black girls in schools. Equity and Excellence in Education, 53(4), 449–464.
51.
KirgiosE. L.ChangE. H.MilkmanK. L. (2020). Going it alone: Competition increases the attractiveness of minority status. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 161(2020), 20–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2020.03.009
52.
LeathS.ChavousT. (2017). “We really protested . . . I felt like I was in a movement”: The influence of sociopolitical beliefs, political self-efficacy, and campus racial climate on civic engagement among Black college students attending PWIs. Journal of Negro Education, 86(3), 220–237. https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation/86.3.0220
53.
LeathS.ChavousT. (2018). Black women’s experiences of campus racial climate and stigma at predominantly White institutions: Insights from a comparative and within-group approach for STEM and Non-STEM majors. Journal of Negro Education, 87(2), 125–139. https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.87.2.0125
54.
LeathS.JonesM. (2021). Racial climate and mental health service utilization among Black college students at diverse institutions. Currents, 2(1).
55.
LeathS.MimsL.EvansK. A.ParkerT.BillingsleyJ. (2022). “I can be unapologetically who I am”: A study of friendship among Black undergraduate women at PWIs. Emerging Adulthood, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968211066156
56.
LewisJ.MendenhallR.HarwoodS.HunttM. (2013). Coping with gendered racial microaggressions among Black women college students. Journal of African American Studies, 17, 51–73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-012-9219-0
57.
McCabeJ. (2015). “That’s what makes our friendships stronger”: Supportive friendships based on both racial solidarity and racial diversity. In LeeE. M.LaDousaC. (Eds.), College students’ experiences on power and marginality: Sharing spaces and negotiating differences (pp. 64–79). Routledge.
58.
McGuireK.CasanovaS.DavisC. (2016). “I’m a Black female who happens to be Muslim”: Multiple marginalities of an immigrant Black Muslim woman on a predominantly White campus. Journal of Negro Education, 85(3), 316–329.
59.
MeansD. (2017). “Quaring” spirituality: The spiritual counterstories and spaces of Black gay and bisexual male college students. Journal of College Student Development, 58(2), 229–246. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2017.0017
60.
MobleyS.JohnsonJ. (2015). The role of HBCUs in addressing the unique needs of LBGT students. New Directions for Higher Education, 79–89. https://doi.org/10.1002/h
61.
MoralesE. (2012). Black boundary lines: Race, class and gender among Black undergraduate students. UCLA. ProQuest ID: Morales_ucla_0031D_10197.
62.
NdemanuM. T. (2017). Antecedents of college campus protests nationwide: Exploring Black student activists’ demands. Journal of Negro Education, 86(3), 238–251.
63.
PattonL. D. (2011). Perspectives on identity, disclosure, and the campus environment among African American gay and bisexual men at one historically Black college. Journal of College Student Development, 52(1), 77–100.
64.
SandersK. N. (2016). Black culture centers: A review of pertinent literature. Urban Education Research and Policy Annuals, 4(1), 30–38.
65.
SellersR. M.SmithM. A.SheltonJ. N.RowleyS. A.ChavousT. M. (1998). Multidimensional model of racial identity: A reconceptualization of African American racial identity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2(1), 18–39.
66.
SheltonJ.CobbR. (2018). Black Reltrad: Measuring religious diversity and commonality among African Americans. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 56(4), 737–764.
SolórzanoD.CejaM.YossoT. (2000). Critical race theory, racial microaggressions, and campus racial climate: The experiences of African American college students. Journal of Negro Education, 69(1–2), 60–73.
69.
StackmanV. R.ReviereR.MedleyB. C. (2016). Attitudes toward marriage partner availability, and interracial dating among Black students from Historically Black and Predominantly White Institutions. Journal of Black Studies, 47(2), 169–192.
70.
StewartD. (2009). Perceptions of multiple identities among Black college students. Journal of College Student Development, 50(3), 253–270.
71.
StewartD. (2014). Know your role: Black college students, racial identity, and performance. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 28(2), 238–258.
72.
StrayhornT.Tillman-KellyD. (2013). Queering masculinity: Manhood and Black gay men in college. Spectrum: A Journal on Black Men, 1(2), 83–110.
TraversC. (2019). Theorizing manhood, masculinities, and mindset among Black male undergraduate students. Journal of Negro Education, 88(1), 32–43.
75.
VolpeV. V.JonesB. M. (2021). “Enriching the Africana soul”: Black college students’ lived experiences with affinity housing at a predominantly White institution. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000332
76.
VranaS. R. (2007). Interracial social comfort and its relationship to adjustment to college. Journal of Negro Education, 76(2), 130–140.
77.
WilliamsQ.WilliamsB.BrownL. (2020). Exploring Black girl magic: Identity development of Black first-gen college women. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 1–14. http://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000294
78.
Winkle-WagnerR.KellyB. T.LuedkeC. L.ReavisT. B. (2019). Authentically me: Examining expectations that are placed upon Black women in college. American Educational Research Journal, 56(2), 407–443.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
