When Who I Am Impacts How I Am Represented.
...Racial Identity in Context for the Gifted African American Student
The role of race in the lives of gifted African American students is an understudied phenomenon. The discourse in the literature regarding the influence of racial identity on academic achievement has been relatively narrow, often ignoring such important conceptual issues as the fact that racial identity is dynamic across situations; that race is not important to all African Americans; that the individual's assessment of what is African American is most important; and that racial identity cannot be understood without examining the social context. This critical review of the literature draws on both developmental and social psychological research to suggest that these assumptions are shortsighted and lead to unnecessarily simplistic recommendations for intervention and policy.
Although much of the current literature on gifted students of color is focused on increasing identification of these students, there is growing attention to social and psychological issues related to their development and achievement (Ford, Harris, & Schuerger, 1993; Grantham & Ford, 1998; McIntosh & Greenlaw, 1986; Patton & Townsend, 1997). Ethnic identity development in gifted African American students is one such psychological factor that researchers have recently begun to explore (Ford, Harris, & Schuerger, 1993; Grantham & Ford, 1998; Patton & Townsend, 1997). The general literature on development in African American students suggests that ethnic identity plays a protective role in their lives (Miller, 1999); students who identify strongly with their ethnic group are better able to negotiate potentially negative environments, to deal with discrimination and prejudice, and to have high self-esteem. While there is empirical support for this contention (see Miller for a review), relationships between racial identity...
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