Born Unveiled: The Process, Protest, and Product of Racialization Among International Black African Collegians in US Graduate Education

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on the racialization of graduate international Black African collegians (IBAC) and the effects it has on their racial identity development. The intercentricity of race maintains that race is a defining factor for how one is situated in US society. However, many international students do not come from communities stratified by race first. For example, Black US Americans (BUSA) are socialized to view race as a master narrative from an early age. Yet, IBAC, are socialized in ways that tend to prioritize clan, tribal, or ethnic heritage as differentiating characteristics. I argue that despite being raced as similar, BUSA and IBAC undergo different socialization processes and therefore, the identity formation around race for IBAC follows a different trajectory than that of BUSA. The study includes semi-structured interviews conducted with ten graduate IBAC recruited through purposeful selection. Transcripts were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis, a qualitative approach which seeks to provide detailed examinations of a person’s lived experiences. Based on this analysis, four thematic clusters and 14 subthemes were identified revealing how participants made sense and meaning of their racialization. The first theme, Becoming Veiled, outlines the process of becoming Black in a US context. The second theme, Living Under the Veil, draws attention to how IBAC maneuver through highly racialized environments. The final two themes, Resisting/Refusing the Veil and Opting Out both relate to how participants enact their agency to preserve their core essence. This dissertation extends current understanding of international student identity development by bringing into conversation critical intercultural studies, sociology, Black studies, and comparative education. Results from this study (in conversation with others) makes a strong case for reconsidering a blanket application of Cross’ (1978) Nigrescence Model as a schema for all Black students.