Acts of Resistance: Student (In)visibility

Consent Decree, Community Psychology

Article on racism at Champaign Unit 4 School District.

From abstract:

This paper argues that public school structures are
oppressive for all students. Because of racial, class and gender
biases, school environments are often especially problematic for
African American and working-class/working-poor students.
Boys and girls also experience school differently because of
gender roles. These intersecting problems include facing
dominant narratives based on stereotypes and discrimination. The
current study took place in a school building that serves
predominately African American and low-income students. The
questions examined include: how does school silence children,
and how do children resist being silenced? Observational and
interview data indicate that children are disciplined into
invisibility by treating them stereotypically and consequently
demanding uniformity in their behavior as a way to control their
mostly colored bodies. Children resist such treatment through
creative and collaborative acts that promote their voice and
visibility and which critique the dominant narrative. In general,
students attempt to construct an alternative view that allows
another, student-generated narrative to emerge.

Regina Day Langhout

Culture & Psychology

2005

Segregated Students at the University of Illinois, 1945 to 1955

Segregation, University of Illinois, Black Experience on Campus

First Paragraph:

African American students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UlUC) had to bear much of
the burden their ancestors had endured. They were allowed to attend the University, however enrollment
was on a limited basis, and they were not accepted as full and equal participants. The experiences of
African American students at UIUC from the end of World War II to the Brown decision (1945 to 1955)
were part of a history of oven and institutionalized discrimination dating back to the founding of the University.
African American students were constant victims of discrimination from the start of their enrollment at the
University of Illinois. The determination of these students, with the assistance of Albert R. Lee, the unofficial dean
of African American students, and the encouragement of African American elected officials, community individuals,
the Interracial Committee, and individuals in nearby Chicago and St. Louis, enabled them to fight the discrimination
emanating from varying levels.

Deirdre L. Cobb

Journal of the Midwest History of Education Society - Volume 24

1997

Maudelle Bousfield and Chicago's Segregated School System, 1922-1950

African-American University Students, Black Experience on Campus

Bousfield became the first African American woman to attend and graduate from the University of
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She continued to be the only African American female at the university for about two years. Continues some discussion of her experience at the University of Illinois.

Dionne Danns

Midwest History of Education Journal, Volume 25 Number 1

1998

DIGITAL DIVIDE 2.0 AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES AND LIBRARY RESOURCES IN ILLINOIS

Douglass Branch, Library Computing, Digital Divide

Abstract:

In the information era inequality is increasingly dictated by a myriad of issues related to both access and use of computer and internet technologies. Mere access to the web is an indisputably insufficient claim to equity; attention must also be paid to issues such as autonomy, skill, purposes, and perceptions related to technological access and participation in cyberspace. The final—and still yet emerging—barrier to equality is termed here as Digital Consciousness, a state of being which most digitally disadvantaged populations have little opportunity to develop. This is understandably so as the recipe for such an understanding includes socialization, digital literacy, and a realization of self and structure in the modern web. All of these factors are dependent upon both access and use. To develop a Digital Consciousness a person must have avenues and contexts available that provide these ingredients. The library is one potential space for this, but it is unclear to what extent contemporary libraries effectively facilitate this process. The inequalities that African American communities have endured historically have been harsh, and digital inequality is no exception. To truly remedy the digital inequality for the African American people and other disadvantaged populations we must call for extensive change; a social movement situated within the context of the information revolution. This movement must embody cyberdemocracy, collective intelligence, and information freedom, each of which is dependent upon Digital Consciousness. This report assesses the computing and internet resources present in numerous Illinois public libraries that serve African American populations. Library outlets are evaluated for their capacity to enable patrons to develop Digital Consciousness. The study finds that while libraries do a moderately good job providing basic resources for connectivity, creation, and the reception and production of knowledge, they do not live up to the potential that they could be. The paper concludes with discussion about how to best address challenges and start crafting sustainable and effective solutions.

Jeff Ginger

Unpublished course paper

July 2008

Affirmative Action at University of Illinois: The 1968 Special Educational Opportunities Program

Teacher Education, University of Illinois, SEOP

First Paragraph: In the spirit of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Higher Education Act of 1965, the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) initiated the Special Educational Opportunities Program (SEOP), a program to recruit
more African American students to the UIUC campus. The SEOP will be the focus of this piece. The objectives are
twofold. First, I will discuss the implementation and nature of SEOP including recruitment, admission requirements,
initial academic achievement, and graduation rates. Next, I will illustrate the impact this first substantial number of
Black students left on the UIUC campus both socially and academically. The first group of SEOP students will be the
focus though later students will be discussed tangentially.

Joy Ann Williamson

Volume 25, Number 1

Midwest History of Education Journal

1998

1935 Negro History Week Celebrations in Champaign-Urbana

“The longer I live here the more I see it”: Exploring length of residence, group identification and race-related stress among black Caribbean immigrants

Caribbeans, Migrants, Psychology, Black Caribbean immigrants, ethnic identity, racial identity

This study explored the relationships among length of residence, group identification (racial and ethnic identity) and race-related stress for a sample of Black Caribbean immigrants (n = 96). Participants were recruited through university student organizations, community establishments and snowball sampling. It was hypothesized that length of residence and racial identity would predict race-related stress, and that racial identity would mediate the relationship between length of residence and race-related stress. Regression analyses revealed that racial identity did not mediate the relationship between length of residence and race-related stress. However, length of residence was a significant predictor of cultural race-related stress. Further, racial identity approached significance as a unique predictor of cultural race-related stress. The implications of these and other findings for interventions and future research are discussed.

Andrew D. Case

IDEALS @ Illinois

Master's Thesis

2009

The Uncorrected Self: Identity Negotiation in Juvenile Detention

Campus-Community Interactions, Campus-Community Engagement, Criminal Justice, Juvenile Detention, Community Psychology

Dissertation based on ethnographic study at the Champaign County Juvenile Detention Center, in which the researcher studies how the process of being a "juvenile delinquent" shapes their self-perception and worldview.

Kate Hellenga

Dissertation, Psychology

2003

SUPPORT, ACHIEVEMENT, EXCELLENCE, SUCCESS:
EXPERIENCES OF UNDER-REPRESENTED STUDENTS IN
A PRE-COLLEGE ACADEMIC SUPPORT PROGRAM: Summer Bridge? - Project Upward Bound dissertation

And Everything's the Same: Transformation of a Campus Through The Eyes of an Intended Change Agent

Project 500, Oral History, Campus-Community Interactions, Black Experience on Campus

Dissertation centered around an in-depth oral history of Clarence Shelley, former Dean of Students at University of Illinois and one of the individuals charged with ensuring Project 500 be a success from an administrative point-of-view.

Abigail Brookens Broga

dissertation, Education

2003