Because the nation is still an extremely racially segregated place, Black children who live in white communities are not likely to see a lot of other children who look like them. This can have potentially troubling consequences.
Children Can Be Harassed About Being Smart
Though there is a popular perception that Black students give other students a hard time if they are smart, the facts — and the anecdotal evidence of many who went through such experiences — indicate that it is Black students in predominantly white schools who encounter the most hostility about being smart. A CBS News poll of more than 1,000 high school students nationwide found that the most hostility would tend to come from white boys. When students were asked if they would be proud or embarrassed to tell friends they had done well in school, Black females were most likely to be proud, while white males at 17 percent were the most likely to be embarrassed. Also when asked whether their friends would be supportive if they had to do homework instead of hang out, Black females were the most likely to say friends would be supportive at 45 percent, and Black males and white females were tied at 40 percent, but only 24 percent of white males reported that their friends would be supportive.
