Graduation Term
2020
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Department of Educational Administration and Foundations: Educational Administration
Committee Chair
Pamela Twyman Hoff
Abstract
This study explored the anti-black lived experiences of 9 senior-level Black men who are administrators at Historically White Institutions. Black critical theory (BlackCrit) and theory of marginality and mattering are the guiding frameworks used to examine the lived experiences of the Black administrators. The purpose of this study was to reveal the ways that Black senior-level administrators process, navigate, and make meaning of their lived experiences and anti-blackness at HWIs. Critical ethnography was used as the research methodology to help reveal the personal reflections and strategies that Black men who are senior-level administrators engage in to combat the pervasiveness of anti-blackness. From the in-depth interviews and field observations with the participants, two themes emerged: anti-blackness and Blackness. These themes suggested that Blackness is the cure for anti-blackness. The anti-black lived experiences identified in this study revealed that these were the sub-themes for reflections: sundown institutions, personal sacrifices, and work twice as hard. Blackness was recognized as a form of resistance against anti-blackness through these sub-themes for strategies: Black and Proud, Wakanda, and hiding in plain sight. By embracing Black identity coupled with sharing their lived experiences, anti-blackness at HWIs can be exposed, disrupted, and reimagined by Black men who are senior-level administrators.
Access Type
Dissertation-Open Access
Recommended Citation
Smith, DuJuan Eugene, "Black while Leading: Unmasking the Anti-black Lived Experiences of Senior-Level Black Men Administrators at Historically White Institutions" (2020). Theses and Dissertations. 1324.
https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/etd/1324
DOI
https://doi.org/10.30707/ETD2020.20210208070731124940.90