burden of Blackness, and James contributed his view: see everybody through the “I don’t lens of race. I can step outside of the lens and unite people through discussion. Racism prevails when we make differences highlighted. Peers like to joke about race. It’s Eric added that when speaking of majority students, disrespected. generational.” “I feel take the time to get to know me; they turn their nose up at Experiences They don’t me.” such as these seemed unlikely to support academic success. The participants shared much about their experiences prior to coming to HVCC; acknowledging the significance of their high school experiences as well their early experiences on the predominantly White campus. These early experiences appeared to fit with the burden of Blackness theme in that there is historical evidence (Ferguson, 2000) showing a pattern of treatment that young Black males experience very early in their educational journeys. Consistent with the literature, two participants described what Noguera (2003) termed the and sorting that occur within schools. When the “labeling processes” participants expressed their experiences as students during their educational “special ed” journey, Kevin recounted his own: In third grade, I was diagnosed as ADHD and dyslexic; they kept telling me this so I actually started believing them. I was labeled in 6th grade as needing special ed; I was told by my teachers do this; you do that; “you can’t can’t don’t even In high school, my first year and a half was spent in one classroom. They try.” were limiting my ability. I knew I belong here; I didn’t wasn’t dumb! Kevin confided that his treatment during his primary and secondary education had served to motivate him in choosing his future career in special education. Kevin communicated his frustration that teachers during his early education encourage him, and how didn’t well he has done since enrolling at HVCC.
burden of Blackness, and James contributed his view: “I don’t see everybody through the lens of race. I can step outside of the lens and unite people through discussion. Racism prevails when we make differences highlighted. Peers like to joke about race. It’s generational.” Eric added that when speaking of majority students, “I feel disrespected. They don’t take the time to get to know me; they turn their nose up at me.” Experiences such as these seemed unlikely to support academic success. The participants shared much about their experiences prior to coming to HVCC; acknowledging the significance of their high school experiences as well their early experiences on the predominantly White campus. These early experiences appeared to fit with the burden of Blackness theme in that there is historical evidence (Ferguson, 2000) showing a pattern of treatment that young Black males experience very early in their educational journeys. Consistent with the literature, two participants described what Noguera (2003) termed the “labeling and sorting processes” that occur within schools. When the participants expressed their experiences as “special ed” students during their educational journey, Kevin recounted his own: In third grade, I was diagnosed as ADHD and dyslexic; they kept telling me this so I actually started believing them. I was labeled in 6th grade as needing special ed; I was told by my teachers “you can’t do this; you can’t do that; don’t even try.” In high school, my first year and a half was spent in one classroom. They were limiting my ability. I knew I didn’t belong here; I wasn’t dumb! Kevin confided that his treatment during his primary and secondary education had served to motivate him in choosing his future career in special education. Kevin communicated his frustration that teachers during his early education didn’t encourage him, and how well he has done since enrolling at HVCC.