mg, I believe that some Black students equate "acting White" with succeeding academically in school. However, I think that if those Black students were to attend schools with White students, and if they had more opportunities interacting with White students after school, then they wouldn't continue to have this belief in inherent White superiority [academic, or otherwise].

Unfortunately, for various reasons, many public schools in the United States are still largely segregated, even in cities that have sizable numbers of non-White people. Consequently, many of these Black students who equate "acting White" with academic achievement have had little to no experience going to school with non-Black students.

Thank goodness, my experiences in integrated public schools and college showed me that I was wrong to think that White people-as a group and not as individuals-were smarter than non-Black people as a group and not as individuals.

Here's an article on this subject that you and others may be interested in:

http://www.blackcommentator.com/100/100_cover_acting_white.htmlActing White? African American Students and Education by Thomas Rhymes, Ph.D.

The African American author of this article refutes the commonly held belief that African American students connect "acting White" with academic success.

Here is an excerpt from that article:
"Somehow many African Americans (usually the affluent, disconnected ones) have swallowed this misconception about African-American youth being anti-intellectual and anti-education. This ideology concerning nerds and geeks did not originate in the African-American community, but in predominantly white, middle-class, suburban communities. In our schools, being smart just doesn't matter much. Kids don't admire it or despise it. All other things being equal, they would prefer to be on the smart side of average rather than the dumb side, but intelligence counts for far less than, say, physical appearance, charisma, or athletic ability. Think about it, high school athletes get more press and recognition than those on the debate teams. As a matter of fact, how many academic competitions do we have in our public schools? It seems like sheer hypocrisy, to me, for anyone to suggest that African Americans place less value on education than the rest of the population."

-snip-

Here's another excerpt:

"Let's say for a moment, that I actually bought into this misconception about African-American youths' aversion to education; when the curriculum is viewed from our social studies, history and English classes across the country; it's easy to see how education and "whiteness" becomes inseparable. No, I do not believe that education in and of itself should be viewed as white, but I am saying that I can understand why it may be viewed that way by some.

For example, most of the history classes (World & U.S.) focus mostly on people of European descent. Curriculum in our public schools continues to be either opposed to or indifferent about a more multi-cultural emphasis. Only a handful of our public school students know more than the customary African-American figures (Frederick Douglass, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Harriet Tubman etc.) displayed in our curriculum. The study of world history usually begins with the Roman Empire (untouched is the study of the ancient Egyptian, Nubian or Ethiopian civilizations) and ends with modern Europe. Secondary U.S. History curriculum similarly omits any significant study of the institution of slavery or Reconstruction and their role in this country's history. These omissions become even more glaring when classes such as African-American studies are not required courses. English Literature courses may devote a few weeks a year (usually around February) to authors such as Langston Hughes, Alice Walker, James Baldwin or Toni Morrison; hardly enough time for the average student to become familiar with African-American history or culture".

-snip-

Dr. Rhymes also makes the point that entrance to honors programs in schools are often biased against African Americans. And he makes other points refuting the belief that African Americans students equate acting White with excelling in school.

**

After reading that article I still believe that some Black students equate "acting White" with succeeding in school. And I still maintain that if those Black students went to school with White students they wouldn't have that belief for long {because they would see that some White students don't do well academically and they'd see that some Black students do better than some White students.

My bottom line? I believe that we should be talking about improving the education system, the curriculum, teacher training, and the over-all learning environment in public schools so that students-regardless of race and ethnicity-learn to value learning and not just learn to value getting good grades.