Tagged: Patricia Hill Collins

Race & Ethnicity Studies

Wake Up and See the Carolina Blue: Color Blindness in Wake County, NC

“We have an achievement gap,” a Wake County, North Carolina School board member expounded during his Fall 2009 campaign. “One that is significant. 50% of our African American boys are dropping out. This drives up crime and societal costs. This is a skewed system that fails to adjust for the needs of children of poverty and in doing so we fail to challenge our most gifted or raise our most vulnerable. Too many of our children are falling behind.” The...

Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

The Obamas and the Status of Black Families

nmccoy1     As the Obamas take their place as the nation’s First Family in the White House as well as history, they are also apparently stepping into the role of ‘model African American family.’  A recent CNN article (see below) articulates the positive possibilities for the African American community in seeing a loving and stable Black family.  Though the media’s portrayal of African Americans has been caricatured and stereotyped as hypersexualized, welfare mothers, drug addicts, and gang members, the...