To Be Popular or Smart: The Black Peer Group

by Jawanza Kunjufu

Information on peer pressure and how the peer group can be used to reinforce academic achievement.

110 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1988

Reviews

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting ideas on the racial monolith and cultural identity, how fear of rejection and low expectations limit the possibility of success, the adoption of a raceless persona to combat the double bind of an individual's two opposing identities, the assignment of effort (internal) vs. ability (external) in academic performance, and the importance of deprogramming internalized inferiority in racial minorities.

However, the book does feel dated. I believe that some of the proposed solutions are flawed and impractical among today's youth. For example, the cooperative learning models proposed in the book sound like the perfect grounds for cultivating toxic, ableist, and negatively dependent peer relationships. When you assign a project to a team of "students of different ability groups," they are not going to all contribute equally. They are going to (either directly or indirectly) rank their peers by "ability" and assign responsibilities accordingly. It will encourage open judgement of their peers and will promote "higher achieving students" to do all the work, while discouraging "lower achieving students" from contributing, learning, and improving. The cooperative learning model also fails to accomodate students of differing learning and studying styles. Instead, I truly think that the most helpful solution in schools is to introduce smaller class sizes, so that teachers can spend more time with each of their students and build a more open line of communication.

Either way, the author makes the point that adolescents value social activities higher than academic pursuits because of peer pressure, low self-esteem/expectations, and inadequate support. But as he stated in the book, "we must make our youth confront their fears, but only after we have confronted ours." While change ultimately rests on the students, it starts with parents, teachers, and the community.

[Kimberly OutspokenMom · Rating 5 out of 5]

an excellent reading choice for educators, parents and students who would like insight into the Black Peer Group phenomena with its temptations of luring Black youth away from tried and true avenues of becoming successful adults in America.

[CKE387 · Rating 2 out of 5]

"wondered why schools give more glory to their athletes than their scholars. Where are the pep rallies and trophies for the honor roll students?"

"If being smart is acting white, what does blackness mean?"