Article addresses the concept of racial identity development in biracial youth and the role of the school counselor in assisting biracial youth to develop a positive racial identity. Interventions are presented with goals of promoting the development of a healthy biracial identity and alleviating at-risk behaviors. (BF)

In a world where socially constructed categories of race are misconstrued as biological, the author, a light-skinned "Black," found herself unacceptable to both sides. From exploring her own Blackness to owning both her Whiteness and her Blackness, her story explores the biracial experience that goes beyond racial identity models. (EMK)

Human beings tell stories to make sense of their experiences. Implications of this position for counseling are explored, using the author's experiences as the son of a Native American. His decision at age 11 to leave home for a better life is described as a critical incident. (EMK)

Describes a parent training program at an adoption agency that places children transracially; an instrument designed to measure parents' perception of the importance of racial awareness; and use of this instrument to evaluate effectiveness of an agency-based training session. Notes findings that training can have a positive effect on transracial…

Efforts aimed at promoting multiculturalism in the classroom are often pedestrian and ineffectual. When instructors do succeed at facilitating honest discourse, they frequently fail to anticipate the great deal of pain, frustration and anger that is invoked. Rather than sustain a false sense of community, we argue that a dialogic, multicultural…

The author introduces a reflective model of racial, cultural and spiritual engagement for researchers and research participants in an attempt to guide them in the development of perhaps more empowering research about African-Americans. The model focuses on three essential areas to help guide researchers and participants: the cultural self, the…

This study accessed selected social values held by children toward racially different peers within the context of school related experiences. The degree of social acceptance by Black and White children of each other was quantified. Using a modified social distance scale first developed by Park and Borgadus, seven statements were scaled to seek…

Racial socialization and ethnic identity are emerging, albeit atheoretical, constructs that have been argued to promote prosocial outcomes among ethnic minority youths. Using structural equation modeling, the author explored the influence of racial socialization and ethnic identity on school engagement in a sample of 131 African American youths.…

Social pressure to avoid "acting White" was explored for high school students in Toledo (Ohio) in schools of differing racial compositions. Thirty-eight high school students, most of whom were Black or Mexican American and 28 of whom were participants in a scholarship incentive program for high-achieving minority students called Toledo…

This study compared selected items from the 1992 and 1995 (Revised) Higher Education Research Institute's Faculty Surveys (HERIFS) for Clarkson College (Nebraska). The HERIFS surveys are designed to collect data concerning faculty at various institutions nationwide for comparative purposes. This study attempted to identify changes between selected…

Since the publication of the first edition of this book, the nation has moved from silence about the reality of racism to the denial of its existence. Talking about racism is never easy, but the eight chapters from the original edition and eight new chapters provide insight into racism in education and strategies for change. Included are: (1)…

Research conducted on career counseling with African Americans has centered on a few main themes. One theme is that career development models and inventories are based upon the White middle-class American male. Therefore, these models may not be relevant for minority individuals. Second, differences between African American culture and majority…

Critical debates about black expressive culture and black cultural productions within television are examined as a means of exploring processes by which questions about the American racial order, and blackness itself, are constructed, reproduced, and challenged. The central thread of the argument is that commercial culture operates as both a site…

Crocker and Major (1989) hypothesized three mechanisms by which members of stigmatized groups may protect self-esteem. The mechanisms are: (1) in-group social comparisons; (2) valuing/devaluing performance selectively; and (3) racial prejudice. A test of Crocker and Major's hypothesized mechanisms was produced with the development of the…

This study explored the processes that lead to relatively lower academic performance among African American students. It has been suggested that African American students perceive that, because of discrimination, education is less useful as a tool for upward mobility for African Americans than it is for members of other ethnic groups. The nature…