Hidden in Blackness

This timely book offers a transdisciplinary approach for understanding and improving the educational experiences of Black immigrants.

Hidden in Blackness analyzes the experiences, perspectives, and development of Black immigrant students, while also complicating how race, ethnicity, nativity, and nationality are understood across the P–20 education landscape.

The authors unpack how Blackness and anti-Black racism in the United States can foster Black immigrants becoming hidden in Blackness in schools and education research—meaning their Black identity is homogenized into a U.S. construction of Blackness while their ethnicity, nationality, and nativity go unacknowledged or is weaponized to subjugate other people of Color. The book culminates by offering the Black Diasporic Illumination (BDI) framework with recommendations for supporting these students with a positive sense of self and abilities in the face of racial realities. BDI bridges sociocultural ecology, ethnic-racial identity and socialization scholarship, asset orientations, and critical constructions of race and racism into a transdisciplinary approach for understanding the experiences of Black immigrants in U.S. education.

Book Features:

• Spans the experiences and outcomes of both K–12 and higher education Black immigrant students to provide a more complete picture.
• Integrates a structural lens that considers the role of systemic racism, nativism, xenophobia, anti-Blackness, and white supremacy embedded within the educational experience.
• Amplifies the rich diversity that exists among Black communities and immigrant communities in the United States.
• Offers researchers, practitioners, and policymakers guidance for better supporting these students through awareness of their educational experiences, needs, challenges, and successes.
• Provides insights into the demographic diversity of Black immigrants (e.g., parental education level, nationality, ethnicity, English-language proficiency, and citizenship/documentation status) and how these shape educational experiences and outcomes differently.

Chrystal A. George Mwangi, a transnational Black women scholar, is an associate professor of higher education at George Mason University. Adaurennaya “Ada” C. Onyewuenyi, a second-generation Nigerian of the Igbo tribe, is an associate professor of psychology and affiliate faculty of African American studies at The College of New Jersey.

"​At a time when the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion and social justice are being debated, this book strikes at the heart of how these issues are both present and absent in the research narratives related to Black immigrant students. It addresses the challenges of using constructs and theories that often do not represent their educational experiences. By recommending alternative, non-U.S.-centric theories and models, (the authors) make an invaluable and much-appreciated contribution to the body of knowledge on Black immigrant students across the U.S. Pre-K–20 education system."
—From the Foreword by Janice B. Fournillier, professor, Georgia State University

“This deeply researched, student-centered volume fills a critical gap in the field and equips scholars and practitioners with essential insights for better seeing and serving the rich diversity of the Black immigrant student population from K–12 through college. A groundbreaking contribution!”
—Carola Suárez-Orozco, professor in residence, Harvard Graduate School of Education

“Hidden in Blackness highlights the unique, often-overlooked experiences of Black immigrant students in the American education system, challenging educators to see beyond the monolithic views of Blackness and consider the intersections of Black immigrant identities. George Mwangi and Onyewuenyi present these students’ stories with depth and insight, making this work crucial for educators, researchers, and policymakers committed to understanding diversity in education.”
—Mercy Agyepong, assistant professor of sociology of education, NYU Steinhardt

“Hidden in Blackness offers a richly researched, historical, and contemporary portrait of the diversity and intersectionality of immigration and Black experiences in the U.S. education system. Destabilizing tired binaries and divisions fabricated by white supremacy, George Mwangi and Onyewuenyi introduce a necessary both/and narrative that can hold the dynamic, complex realities of human experience. Hidden in Blackness makes a profound contribution to the study and practice of human development—and the lives of people racialized as Black in the United States."
—Leoandra Onnie Rogers, associate professor of comparative human development, The University of Chicago

Contents

Series Foreword James A. Banks  xi

Foreword: What Do You Know About and How Do You Study “Black and Immigrant Students”? Janice B. Fournillier  xv

Acknowledgments  xix

Introduction: Complicating Blackness and Immigration  1
Hidden in Blackness  1
Black Immigration Flows and Immigration Policies  2
Black Immigrant Demographic Shifts in the United States  6
How We Enter: Author Positionalities  9
Organization of the Book  13

1.  Lifting the Veil on the Landscape of Black Immigrant and U.S. Education Scholarship  14
The Research Landscape  14
Reframing Black Immigrants’ U.S. Educational Experiences  18
Conclusion  21

2.  Complicating Racial Identity Development  22
Black Identity Development Theories  22
Black Immigrants and Black Identity Development  26
Linking Blackness and Nativity, Ethnicity, and Nationality  31
Centering Power in Understanding Black Immigrants’ Racial Identity Development  38

3.  Complicating the K–12 Education System and Structures  40
School Environment  41
Family vs. School or Family and School?  54
Conclusion  56

4.  Complicating K–12 Social Support and Resources: Black Immigrant Youth Navigating Gatekeepers and Shepherds  57
Gatekeepers and Shepherds  58
Family and Community Expectations, Socialization, and Support  58
Peers as Facilitators, Supporters, or Prohibitors  67
Teachers and School Counselors as Interrupters, Advocates, or Instigators  75
Black Immigrant Students’ Strategies to Navigate Various Environments and Relationships  80
Conclusion  82

5.  Complicating Access to Higher Education  83
Framing the College-Going Process  84
College-Going Motivators, Supports, and Resources  85
Barriers to the College-Going Process  94
Conclusion  100

6.  Complicating Student Experiences in Higher Education  101
Adjustment to College  101
Experiences With Campus Culture and Climate for Diversity  104
Classroom and Academic Experiences  109
Social and Peer Engagement  112
Conclusion  120

7.  Complicating Education and Workforce Outcomes  121
Educational Outcomes: Complicating the Success Story  121
Workforce Participation and Outcomes  125

Conclusion: Hidden No More: The Black Diasporic Illumination Framework  131
Developing the BDI Framework: Theoretical and Conceptual Grounding  131
BDI Framework  133
Implications for Future Research  136
Implications for Education Practice and Policy  138
Conclusion  140

Epilogue: A Love Letter to Black Immigrant Students Navigating the U.S. Education System  142

Appendix: Data Sources and Research Designs  145

Endnotes  155

References  157

Index  193

About the Authors  201