Chapter 8: “You’re the Scholar— Please, Let Me Be One, Too”: How Race Shapes Access to Institutional Resources at a Predominantly Black and Latina/o School

Lipton High School is a large urban high school with larger-than-state-average proportions of college-eligible Black and Latina/o students. Through institutional, survey and focus group data, this case study explores the school environment and networks among students, teachers, and counselors that shed light on campus racial dynamics.

I explore the following research question: How does race shape access to college-going resources at a predominantly Black and Latina/o school? First, I set up a framework for understanding how race may work at a school like Lipton given the contemporary U.S. racial structure. Added to this framework is literature on the role of social capital (in the form of school agent–student relationships) in student experiences. Second, I present a profile of Lipton High School. Third, I show how college culture is racialized so that it is present only in “pockets” for Black and Latina/o students despite their efforts to seek it out. The impact of race is differentially interpreted by Black and Latina/o students; achievement is perceived as more individualized by Latina/o students and as more institutionalized by Black students. Achievement is overtly and covertly racialized by school teachers and counselors. School agents were not optimistic about students’ likelihood of success and shifted responsibility for student success to the students and their parents. Finally, I draw some conclusions and review the implications of these findings for preparing Black and Latina/o students for college.