Bad Boys: Public Schools in the Making of Black Masculinity (Law, Meaning, and Violence)

Statistics show that black males are disproportionately getting in trouble and being suspended from the nation's school systems. Based on three years of participant observation research at an elementary school, Bad Boys offers a richly textured account of daily interactions between teachers and students to understand this serious problem. Ann Arnett Ferguson demonstrates how a group of eleven- and twelve-year-old males are identified by school personnel as "bound for jail" and how the youth construct a sense of self under such adverse circumstances. The author focuses on the perspective and voices of pre-adolescent African American boys. How does it feel to be labeled "unsalvageable" by your teacher? How does one endure school when the educators predict one's future as "a jail cell with your name on it?" Through interviews and participation with these youth in classrooms, playgrounds, movie theaters, and video arcades, the author explores what "getting into trouble" means for the boys themselves. She argues that rather than simply internalizing these labels, the boys look critically at schooling as they dispute and evaluate the meaning and motivation behind the labels that have been attached to them. Supplementing the perspectives of the boys with interviews with teachers, principals, truant officers, and relatives of the students, the author constructs a disturbing picture of how educators' beliefs in a "natural difference" of black children and the "criminal inclination" of black males shapes decisions that disproportionately single out black males as being "at risk" for failure and punishment. Bad Boys is a powerful challenge to prevailing views on the problem of black males in our schools today. It will be of interest to educators, parents, and youth, and to all professionals and students in the fields of African-American studies, childhood studies, gender studies, juvenile studies, social work, and sociology, as well as anyone who is concerned about the way our schools are shaping the next generation of African American boys. Anne Arnett Ferguson is Assistant Professor of Afro-American Studies and Women's Studies, Smith College. a00......Page 1 a01......Page 2 a02......Page 3 a03......Page 4 a04......Page 5 a05......Page 6 a06......Page 7 a07......Page 8 a08......Page 9 a09......Page 10 a10......Page 11 a11......Page 12 b001......Page 13 b002......Page 14 b003......Page 15 b004......Page 16 b005......Page 17 b006......Page 18 b007......Page 19 b008......Page 20 b009......Page 21 b010......Page 22 b011......Page 23 b012......Page 24 b013......Page 25 b014......Page 26 b015......Page 27 b016......Page 28 b017......Page 29 b018......Page 30 b019......Page 31 b020......Page 32 b021......Page 33 b022......Page 34 b023......Page 35 b024......Page 36 b025......Page 37 b026......Page 38 b027......Page 39 b028......Page 40 b029......Page 41 b030......Page 42 b031......Page 43 b032......Page 44 b033......Page 45 b034......Page 46 b035......Page 47 b036......Page 48 b037......Page 49 b038......Page 50 b039......Page 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b251......Page 263 b252......Page 264 b253......Page 265 b254......Page 266 b255......Page 267 b256......Page 268 c00......Page 269 "Black males are disproportionately "in trouble" and suspended from the nation's school systems. In Bad Boys, Ann Arnett Ferguson offers an account of daily interactions between teachers and students to illuminate this serious problem. She demonstrates how a group of eleven- and twelve-year-old males are identified by school personnel as "bound for jail" and how the young men construct a sense of self under such adverse circumstances.". "Through interviews and participation with pre-adolescent African American boys in classrooms, playgrounds, movie theaters, and video arcades, Ferguson explores what "getting into trouble" means for the boys themselves. She supplements the boys' perspectives with interviews with teachers, principals, truant officers, and relatives of the students. Together these data construct a disturbing picture of how educators' beliefs in a "natural difference" of black children and the "criminal inclination" of black males shape decisions that disproportionately single out black males as being "at risk" for failure and punishment.". "Bad Boys should be of interest of educators, parents, and all professionals and students in the fields of African American studies, childhood studies, gender studies, juvenile studies, social work, and sociology, as well as anyone who is concerned about the way our schools are shaping the next generation of African American boys."--BOOK JACKET. How does it Feel to be Labeled "Unsalvageable" By Your Teacher? Black males are disproportionately "in trouble" and suspended from the nation's school systems. In Bad Boys. Ann Arnett Ferguson offers a richly textured account of daily interactions between teachers and students to illuminate this serious problem. She demonstrates how a group of eleven- and twelve-year-old males construct a sense of self under adverse circumstances. Statistics show that black males are disproportionately getting in trouble and being suspended from America's schools. Based on three years of participant observation research at an elementary school, Bad Boys offers a richly textured account of daily interactions between teachers and students to understand this serious problem.