Persistently Present, Yet Invisible? Exploring the Experiences of High-Achieving Black Students in the Greater Toronto Area

Authors

  • Rhonda C. George York University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53967/cje-rce.5719

Keywords:

Black students, racialization, high achievement, enrichment, belonging

Abstract

Through employing critical race theory, seen-invisibility, and circuits of dispossession as theoretical frames, this article complicates discourses around equity and Black student achievement by examining the underexplored experiences of high-achieving Black Canadian students in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Drawing on focus group data with four adolescent participants, the study finds that they experienced violent forms of racialization in their educational environments through a lack of physical, social, and intellectual space to exist as both Black and high-achieving. This rendered them persistently present due to their race, yet invisible in the perceptions of their intellect.

Central to this article is an articulation, unpacking, and thus granular analysis of the particular ways that racialization can operate within education systems to still marginalize Black students and erect complex barriers––even when they demonstrate strong academic performance. These emerging insights inform a need for a broader and more holistic understanding of Black Canadian student experiences and a rethinking of intervention and resistance strategies.

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Author Biography

Rhonda C. George, York University

Dr. Rhonda C. George is an award-winning sociologist, emerging scholar and turntablist whose research examines the social and intersectional dimensions of race, racialization, and racial stratification within social institutions such as sport, education, health, and popular culture. Her interdisciplinary work uses Critical Race paradigms to interrogate the ways in which Black communities––particularly Caribbean diasporic groups––experience, navigate, and resist systemic racial barriers. 

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Published

2023-09-21

How to Cite

George, R. C. (2023). Persistently Present, Yet Invisible? Exploring the Experiences of High-Achieving Black Students in the Greater Toronto Area. Canadian Journal of Education Revue Canadienne De l’éducation, 46(4), 1013–1050. https://doi.org/10.53967/cje-rce.5719

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