The ancestors of most African Americans came to the West as captives. They fought courageously for more than three hundred years to become free persons. After the Civil War, Congress passed laws that illegalized slavery, granted citizenship to African Americans, and gave males voting privileges. Even with these legal adjustments, African Americans have been the victims of racism, segregation, stereotypes from mainstream media, and prejudice and discrimination.
Theory Before Action
To understand the effect of racial discrimination on the psyche of those who experience it, several educators developed a theory about the matter. They believed that members of ethnic groups who are victims of prejudice, discrimination, and racism experience deleterious effects. The theorists thought that African Americans, for example, have “both low-levels of self-esteem and negative self-concepts” because society views them negatively and treats them the same way. The researchers sought to prove their theory by conducting an ethnic group/self-esteem study.
Self-Esteem of Ethnic Groups
Jane Brooks cites the work of Jennifer Crocker and Jean Twenge, who conducted a “meta-analysis of studies of self-esteem” in 2002. The researchers intended to discover which American ethnic group would score the highest on a self-esteem test. They also wanted to identify how each group’s self-esteem ranked in comparison to how positively society regarded that group. The researchers proceeded by making 712 self-esteem comparisons among five ethnic groups: Native Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, African Americans, and European Americans.
The outcomes surprised Crocker and Twenge. They learned that African Americans scored the highest in the self-esteem category, but ranked last in the area of Society’s Positive Regard for the group. They concluded that African Americans consistently make positive statements about themselves even though society does not view them positively. European Americans were second, Latinos third, Native Americans fourth, and Asian Americans were last. Asian Americans’ ranking surprised the researchers because, outside of European Americans, the other groups hold them in high regard.
Self-Esteem, Age, Wealth and Status
The researchers discovered that the differences in self-esteem among the various groups of elementary school children were insignificant. However, as the students moved into high school and into adulthood, the differences were noticeable. In other words, children of all ethnic groups speak positively about themselves. However, as they get older and begin to understand their culture better, the degree of self-esteem becomes evident. As for economic stature, researchers discovered that anyone from any group who enjoyed a high status had high self-esteem.
Geographic Location
The researchers discovered that for African Americans and Asian Americans, self-esteem was highest where each group has a high concentration of people. For example, West Coast Asian Americans had higher self-esteem than the others around the country. The largest concentration of Asian Americans is on the West Coast. Similarly, self-esteem among African Americans was higher in the South because the majority of African Americans live in that region.
According to Cocker and Twenge, data collected in the 1980s reveals that self-esteem among African Americans began to rise during that period, which is approximately twenty years after the Civil Rights Movement. They suggest that the emphasis on group pride, desegregation, African and African American studies, and the experience of changing American society positively affected African Americans of the Civil Rights era. In turn, they passed these contributions and positive attributes on to the next generations. A similar process occurred with Asian Americans and Latinos after the Civil Rights Movement.
Interpretation of Scores
The researchers suggest, “a variety of cultural factors explain self-esteem in different ethnic groups.” They suggest that the groups with the highest scores tend to have an orientation of individualism. These individuals place importance on striving for independence, reaching personal goals, emphasizing uniqueness, and setting themselves apart from others. Because African Americans and European Americans ranked first and second respectively, they are the groups that reflect pure Americanism more than the others. In other words, to be American means to be individualistic.
Although African Americans and European Americans have some collectivist qualities, they emphasize individualism more than the other groups do. In contrast, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Native Americans tend to stress interdependence, group interests, and harmony, which may account for the low rankings in the individual-driven self-esteem area. The people of these groups will probably not make a great deal of positive statements about themselves because the group is more important than the individual.
Self-Esteem in African Americans
It surprised the researchers that African Americans scored the highest in self-esteem because all other ethnic groups do not hold them in high regard. This lack of respect is consistent with the American “Black” experience because African Americans have progressed in spite of society’s negative, destructive thoughts and actions toward the group.
However, what many may find surprising is that African Americans may be more individualistic than group-centered. If so, the lack of a group-centered world view and an emphasis on individual accomplishments may deter African American group advancement.
Source:
Brooks, Jane B. The Process of Parenting Seventh Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008, pp. 108-110.
William Cook - Mr. Cook is a graduate of Hunter College of the City University of New York. He is pursuing a Ph.D in History and Education.
