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The Myth of Black Low Self-Esteem
| Article
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17895 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
Date : |
3 / 1990 |
6,531 Words |
| Author
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Stephen P. Powers, David, J. Rothman, and Stanley Rothman
Stanley Rothman is Mary Huggins Gamble Professor of Government
and director of the Center of the Study of Social and
Political Change at Smith College. David J. Rothman is a
Ph.D. candidate at New York University. Stephen P. Powers is
a research assistant at the Center for the Study of Social and
Political Change. |
Parents, educators and many psychologists say that one of the biggest obstacles to educational achievement among young blacks is a low self-esteem. And, they say that while the teaching in most of the nation's schools is seldom overtly racist, the lessons far too often use the accomplishment of whites at the expense of offering positive images of minorities.
- Julie Johnson
Today blacks and some other minorities (notably Hispanics) continue to lag far behind whites in their levels of achievement in education, occupational status, and earnings. While many blacks have been able to take advantage of the sweeping civil rights legislation in place since the 1960s and have climbed into the middle classes, growing numbers have been much less successful. In fact, the policies and programs of the last twenty-five years have not helped them to move up in American society, and they remain either in poverty or the lower echelons of the work force.
INTRODUCTION: RACE, SELF-ESTEEM, AND MEASURES OF ACHIEVEMENT
Since the early 1950s, the "low self-esteem" theory has been one of the most widely accepted explanations of black underachievement. Also, especially during the last two decades, it has served as a partial justification for the policies that address it, such as affirmative action. Most Americans are probably aware of this theory and its applications: Even if they go no further than the daily papers or network news, they no doubt recognize versions of the theory in the quotation at the head of our essay. As the passage above suggests, the low self-esteem theory is used to explain many of the problems facing black individuals and communities in America.
According to the low self-esteem theory, these problems are primarily symptoms of one underlying reality. The central hypothesis is that the continued underachievement of that the result of institutionalized racism, albeit not in an immediately evident way. In this model, racism not only deprives people of their fundamental civil rights but also damages the self-esteem of individuals in minority groups. This low self-esteem creates low expectations and, therefore, low levels of achievement. In other words, even though much overt racism has subsided in America, the legacy of racism continues to takes its toll in low self-esteem among blacks, making it virtually impossible for them to succeed in a white man's world; their personalities are too often damaged by history. Not only does low self-esteem
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