Observing Black Youth Sociopolitical Group Participation and High School Democratic Climate through the Lens of Critical Race Theory

Background/Purpose: The existing literature provides abundant evidence of the benefits of sociopolitical group participation for youth (e.g., community service, volunteer experiences, and service-learning programs). Such programs often provide opportunties for youth to engage communities in ways that are intended to confront important social issues.

Yet, few studies have focused on the implications of sociopolitical group participation on civic engagement for adolescent minority students. Furthermore, little is known about how school democratic environments impact sociopolitical group participation among youth or any differences that may exist along racial lines.

The purpose of this paper was to determine if high school democratic climates influence Black youth participation in sociopolitical groups using critical race theory as a lens. It was hypothesized that Black youth would be less likely than White youth to participate in sociopolitical groups due to perceived lack of support. It was also hypothesized that Black and White youth participation in sociopolitical groups is more comparable when the climate at their school is perceived to be more democratic.

Methods: Data and sample: The data for this study are taken from The Commission on Youth Voting and Civic Knowledge Youth Post Election Survey 2012dataset. Four thousand, four hundred and eighty-three participants aged 18 to 24 were surveyed about their political participation and their educational experiences.

Measures: Participants’ gender, race/ethnicity, and high school racial composition were self-reported. Scales were created to assess participants’ parental SES (α = .42), family socialization (α = .57.), high school democratic climate (α = .63), and high school civics education quality. The dependent variable observed was participants’ sociopolitical group participation in school (α = .67).

Data Analyses:A logistic regression model was developed to test the hypotheses, including a number of variables that functioned as demographic controls.

Results: The hypotheses were only partially supported in that Black youth were more likely than White youth to participate in sociopolitical groups when the high school democratic climate was low (69% vs. 22%, p < .001). However, Black and White youth participation was found to be comparable when the high school democratic climate was high (34% vs. 43%, p = .51).

Conclusions and Implications: The results of this study suggest that Black youth are significantly more likely to participate in sociopolitical groups compared to their White peers when the democratic climate at their school is low.

Critical race theory posits that social institutions (e.g., schools) promote Whiteness as a standard against which all other groups should be measured. This could possibly diminish the inclination of White youth to engage in activities that would increase their voice because they believe in a system designed to promote their privilege. Conversely, Black youth are typically socialized to notice their oppression. As a result, when they enter spaces that suppress their voice in some way, they may be more inclined to engage in actvities that will allow them to express their opinion or to act constructively on behalf of others or themselves, particularly when they are cognizant of the systemic inequalities that exist.