Ogbu, J. U. (2003). Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement. Mahwah, NJ:  Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. (ISBN: 0-8058-4515-1, 320 pages)  

Glenda L. Allen-Jones, Ph.D.

The United States is a land of wealth and opportunity. The “American Dream,” as experienced by some, is realized by hard work, which equals success. Yet, the realization of a prosperous future could be hampered by the lack of educational attainment. The gap in achievement between Black and White students is an important issue impacting many communities and their citizens obtaining the “American Dream.” Dr. John Uzo Ogbu devoted 30 years of his life as a scholar addressing the issues of minority education, culture, and identity. Poverty, racism, and a Euro-centric curricula are the issues often discussed with respect to Black underachievement. Within Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb, he systemically explores these issues and many others to learn their impact on the achievement gap within Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio.  

The racial discrepancies in education are the premise for the book. Moreover, the book contributes key insights on the topic of underachievement for Black students.  Ogbu describes Shaker Heights as an upper middle-class suburb outside of Cleveland, Ohio with a diverse population of 30,000. He engaged in extensive research within the community of Shaker Heights at the invitation of the Black Community and Shaker Heights School District officials. The community and its education officials sought to answer the question of why the children of academically and economically successful black parents were “academically disengaged” and performing at levels below their White counterparts.  

Ogbu, utilizing his training as an anthropologist, conducted an ethnographic study. He lived and experienced Shaker Heights by being immersed within the community. As a result, he was able to establish rapport and trust with constituents by gaining entrance into schools, homes, and meetings to learn the perspectives of those living within the community.  Ogbu’s eight months of fieldwork included extensive classroom observations, group and individual formal interviews, informal interviews, and formal document analysis. The research was committed to obtaining data to answer the following crucial and complex question: Why are Black students not performing academically at comparable levels as their Whites counterparts even when taking into account similar socio-economic status levels?  

The book was organized in three parts or sections: Black Academic Achievement and Its Explanations, Societal and School Factors, and Community Forces. One of the first factors addressed is academic disengagement. In the book, Ogbu asserts that Black students understand the importance of working hard to do well in school. Within discussions and interviews with elementary, middle, and high school students, the low-effort syndrome became apparent. Furthermore, students indicated that they could work harder, but they were completing just the right amount of work to not fail. For example, one middle school student stated:  

I mean, I’ll do homework on occasion just to make sure my grades, just to make sure I maintain a 3.0, but I won’t do anything overly. Like, like, say this math class, and everything worth 5 points. So if he {the teacher} gives us like 20 problems, I’ll do it but if he give us like 40 or 50 problems and it’s worth 5 points, I won’t do it. (p.19)

Classmates being content with being average, teachers failing to talk with students about the importance of education, and an attitude of not caring are some of the reasons students gave for their lack of effort. Upon further exploration, other factors became evident such as peer pressure not to do well in school, poor study habits, and student lack of understanding of the connection between high educational attainment and future economic success. In addition, some students blamed teachers for their poor performance. Also, one school official noted that the poor academic achievement of the Black students in this study could be attributed to the increased amount of students working part-time jobs. These work hours competed with the time available for studying. Ogbu found that the Black students were aware of race relations within their community. More importantly, they were aware that Black achievement levels were lower than White achievement levels.  

In most instances, it was the middle and high school students who discussed the issue of race relations. The comments related to the issue covered a spectrum of responses. In a discussion with Ogbu, several high school students expressed the difference between “publicly” and “privately” held thoughts on diversity by Whites. One student stated:

Like on the surface kind of level it’s suppose to be all peaceful, like you know, We have no problems and you know everything’s fine; and you know, Blacks and Whites are equal and whatever. But I think there is, there is a part of the White community of Shaker who does look at Blacks as being you know, inferior. And whether they, I mean obviously they don’t like openly act out on these personal beliefs [because] that’s illegal. But you know it does seem that there is that feeling. There’s not really like we have a race riot going on here or anything [to show that we have race relations problems] but like I think the community as a whole, it is segregated. And, like you know, the White community, they don’t really know much about the Black community. They don’t care to; they don’t want to deal with it. (p. 65) 

Ogbu used the cultural-ecological theory to explain the disengagement and performance of minority students. The theory addresses the system (e.g., how minorities are treated by society and its institutions) and community forces (e.g., how minorities interpret and respond to the treatment) as mediums of influence on student academic performance. For example, Ogbu learned that many Black parents moved to Shaker Heights because of the excellent reputation of the schools. Although they were leading economically prosperous lives, many Black parents worked more than one job in order to meet the financial requirements of living within the community. However, the voices of these parents were not a major presence within the book. The perceptions of their children provide the reader glimpses into the parents’ rationale and their points of view on academic attainment. Ogbu discovered that parental involvement within the schools was low, and in some instances, parents did not address educational issues the home as well. It was difficult to fully discern why involvement was lacking without the inclusion of the voices of the parents. Some students were aware of the sacrifices their parents were making to have them in Shaker Heights. For example, one male student remarked “Well, anyway, you know, [they will say] once I got here, I’m gonna [get a good education]. But by the time [students] get to Shaker, and their parents are inspired (emphasizes the word) to come, [parents] still got to work. They still got to pay the bills” (p.247).  

The factors behind the performance gap of Black students are diverse and quite complex. Ogbu listed three effects which he referred to as missing connections: (a) schooling is not perceived as a preparation for the job market; (b) inadequate knowledge of educational requirements of future jobs; and (c) how courses at school levels are related is not understood. Ogbu surmised these missing connections by linking the historical-societal obstacles to education.  

The strength of Ogbu’s book is the extensive coverage he gives to discovering the issues surrounding and influencing the underachievement and disengagement of Black students. In addition, Ogbu thoroughly, yet thoughtfully, conveys the conclusions drawn from the data in a manner which does not harbor on finding a source of blame. A weakness of the book is the missing voices of the parents within the Shaker Heights community. In some instances, parents make tremendous sacrifices to live within the community. The absence of the parent voices, rationales, and reasons leave a communication gap with respect to lives of the parents and how their lives impact their children.  

Ogbu concluded that parents, teachers, and, most importantly, students themselves have important roles in working to solve the problem of academic underachievement for Black students. Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb is a well-written book that tackles the topic of Black underachievement in a comprehensive manner. The substantive and controversial findings are sure to engender discussion. The book should be read by all concerned with solving the problems of academic disengagement and underachievement for Black students. As the African proverb states, “It takes a village to raise a child.”

About the Author:  Dr. Glenda L. Allen-Jones is a university lecturer in the Department of Early Childhood at Governors State University (USA).  Her scholarly interests include parental involvement, male involvement, family literacy, and Head Start.   Address correspondence to the author at Early Childhood Department, Governors State University - G238, University Park, IL 60466 USA; e-mail g-jones@govst.edu.