John Ogbu
Encyclopedia
John Uzo Ogbu was a Nigerian-American
anthropologist
and professor known for his theories on observed phenomena involving race and intelligence, especially how race and ethnic differences played out in educational and economic achievement. He suggested that being a "caste-like minority" affects motivation and achievement, depressing IQ scores
. He also concluded that some students did poorly because high achievement was considered "acting white
" among their peers. Ogbu was also involved in the 1996 controversy surrounding the use of African American Vernacular English
in public schools in Oakland, California
. The 2000 book Eminent Educators: Studies in Intellectual Influence focused on him as one of "four intellectual giants of the 20th century."
and Methodist Teachers' Training College. He enrolled in a seminary at Princeton University
in 1961, but soon transferred to the University of California, Berkeley
to study anthropology
, earning his baccalaureate
in 1965, his master's degree
in 1969, and his Ph.D.
in 1971. He taught at UC Berkeley from 1970 until his death.
could be divided into "voluntary minorities" (groups of immigrants who chose to come to the United States, and their descendants) versus "involuntary" or "caste-like" minorities (descendants of groups of persons who found themselves in the United States, or under United States jurisdiction, against their will). In Minority Education and Caste (1978), Ogbu argued that "involuntary minorities" often adopted an "oppositional identity" to the mainstream
culture in response to a glass ceiling
imposed or maintained by white
society on the job-success of their parents and others in their communities. Therefore, he reasoned, some non-whites
"failed to observe the link between educational achievement and access to jobs."
students in a Washington, D.C.
, high school did not live up to their academic potential because of the fear of being accused of "acting white." Ogbu further echoed these findings in his 2003 book Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement (which summarized his nine-month research on the educational gap between white and African-American students in the Shaker Heights City School District located in the upscale Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, Ohio
). He concluded that these students' cultural attitudes hindered their own academic achievement and that these attitudes are too often neglected by parents, educators and/or policymakers.
Though the study's conclusions gained a popular foothold and have been espoused by such noted figures as Bill Cosby
, a later study obtained different results. In 2003, Karolyn Tyson, a sociologist, and William Darity Jr, an economist, both at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
, directed an 18 month study at eleven North Carolinian
schools which found that white and black students have essentially the same attitudes about scholastic achievement; students in both groups want to succeed in school and show higher levels of self-esteem when they do better in school. The results of this study have been published in a book by Stanford sociologist Prudence Carter. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/12/magazine/12ACTING.html?ex=1260594000&en=37bb3e44882a21bc&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland
A 2006 study titled An Empirical Analysis of "Acting White" by Roland G. Fryer, Jr. at Harvard University
and Paul Torelli suggested that the phenomenon has a significant effect on black student achievement, especially in schools with high interracial
contact and among high achieving students, but little or no effect in predominantly black
or private
schools.http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/fryer/files/Empiriccal%2Banalysis%2Bof%2B%2527acting%2Bwhite%2527_final%2Bmanuscript.pdf
In 1996, Ogbu played a prominent role in the debate about the utility of African American Vernacular English or African American English or African American Language. As a member of a task force
on African American education in Oakland, California
he noted that linguists (e.g., William Labov
, John Rickford, Walt Wolfram
, and others) have long distinguished between the "standard" or "proper" English required in the classroom and black vernacular English
spoken at home and with peers. Ogbu encouraged teachers to become familiar with and to make use of this variety (called "Ebonics
" by the Oakland Unified School District
) in helping speakers of African American Vernacular English acquire Standard American English in addition to their "home" variety.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
anthropologist
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
and professor known for his theories on observed phenomena involving race and intelligence, especially how race and ethnic differences played out in educational and economic achievement. He suggested that being a "caste-like minority" affects motivation and achievement, depressing IQ scores
Intelligence quotient
An intelligence quotient, or IQ, is a score derived from one of several different standardized tests designed to assess intelligence. When modern IQ tests are constructed, the mean score within an age group is set to 100 and the standard deviation to 15...
. He also concluded that some students did poorly because high achievement was considered "acting white
Acting white
In the United States, acting white is a pejorative term usually applied to African-Americans, which refers to a person's perceived betrayal of their culture by assuming the social expectations of white society. Success in education in particular can be seen as a form of selling out by being...
" among their peers. Ogbu was also involved in the 1996 controversy surrounding the use of African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
in public schools in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. The 2000 book Eminent Educators: Studies in Intellectual Influence focused on him as one of "four intellectual giants of the 20th century."
Early life and education
Born in the village of Umudome, Onicha in the Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria, Ogbu attended Hope Waddell Training InstituteHope Waddell Training Institute
The Hope Waddell Training Institute is a school in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria founded by missionaries from the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 1895...
and Methodist Teachers' Training College. He enrolled in a seminary at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1961, but soon transferred to the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
to study anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, earning his baccalaureate
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in 1965, his master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in 1969, and his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in 1971. He taught at UC Berkeley from 1970 until his death.
Involuntary minorities
Ogbu observed that in some cases groups of people of the same race but located in different countries manifested different ability and/or achievement levels according to some measures. He studied how, why and to what degree this might be so. He concluded that U.S. AmericansDemographics of the United States
As of today's date, the United States has a total resident population of , making it the third most populous country in the world. It is a very urbanized population, with 82% residing in cities and suburbs as of 2008 . This leaves vast expanses of the country nearly uninhabited...
could be divided into "voluntary minorities" (groups of immigrants who chose to come to the United States, and their descendants) versus "involuntary" or "caste-like" minorities (descendants of groups of persons who found themselves in the United States, or under United States jurisdiction, against their will). In Minority Education and Caste (1978), Ogbu argued that "involuntary minorities" often adopted an "oppositional identity" to the mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
culture in response to a glass ceiling
Glass ceiling
In economics, the term glass ceiling refers to "the unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements." Initially, the metaphor applied to barriers in the careers of women but...
imposed or maintained by white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
society on the job-success of their parents and others in their communities. Therefore, he reasoned, some non-whites
Person of color
Person of color is a term used, primarily in the United States, to describe all people who are not white. The term is meant to be inclusive among non-white groups, emphasizing common experiences of racism...
"failed to observe the link between educational achievement and access to jobs."
Acting white
In 1986 Signithia Fordham co-authored, along with Ogbu, a study which concluded that some African AmericanAfrican American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
students in a Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, high school did not live up to their academic potential because of the fear of being accused of "acting white." Ogbu further echoed these findings in his 2003 book Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement (which summarized his nine-month research on the educational gap between white and African-American students in the Shaker Heights City School District located in the upscale Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, Ohio
Shaker Heights, Ohio
Shaker Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population was 28,448. It is an inner-ring streetcar suburb of Cleveland that abuts the city on its eastern side.-Topography:Shaker Heights is located at...
). He concluded that these students' cultural attitudes hindered their own academic achievement and that these attitudes are too often neglected by parents, educators and/or policymakers.
Though the study's conclusions gained a popular foothold and have been espoused by such noted figures as Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
, a later study obtained different results. In 2003, Karolyn Tyson, a sociologist, and William Darity Jr, an economist, both at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
, directed an 18 month study at eleven North Carolinian
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
schools which found that white and black students have essentially the same attitudes about scholastic achievement; students in both groups want to succeed in school and show higher levels of self-esteem when they do better in school. The results of this study have been published in a book by Stanford sociologist Prudence Carter. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/12/magazine/12ACTING.html?ex=1260594000&en=37bb3e44882a21bc&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland
A 2006 study titled An Empirical Analysis of "Acting White" by Roland G. Fryer, Jr. at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and Paul Torelli suggested that the phenomenon has a significant effect on black student achievement, especially in schools with high interracial
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
contact and among high achieving students, but little or no effect in predominantly black
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
or private
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
schools.http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/fryer/files/Empiriccal%2Banalysis%2Bof%2B%2527acting%2Bwhite%2527_final%2Bmanuscript.pdf
African American Vernacular English
- Main article: African American Vernacular EnglishAfrican American Vernacular EnglishAfrican American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
In 1996, Ogbu played a prominent role in the debate about the utility of African American Vernacular English or African American English or African American Language. As a member of a task force
Task force
A task force is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology...
on African American education in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
he noted that linguists (e.g., William Labov
William Labov
William Labov born December 4, 1927) is an American linguist, widely regarded as the founder of the discipline of variationist sociolinguistics. He has been described as "an enormously original and influential figure who has created much of the methodology" of sociolinguistics...
, John Rickford, Walt Wolfram
Walt Wolfram
Walt Wolfram is a sociolinguist at North Carolina State University, specializing in social and ethnic dialects of American English. He was one of the early pioneers in the study of urban African American English through his work in Detroit in 1969. Since the 1960s he has authored or co-authored...
, and others) have long distinguished between the "standard" or "proper" English required in the classroom and black vernacular English
African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
spoken at home and with peers. Ogbu encouraged teachers to become familiar with and to make use of this variety (called "Ebonics
Ebonics
Ebonics is a term that was originally intended to refer to the language of all people descended from enslaved Africans, particularly in West Africa, the Caribbean, and North America...
" by the Oakland Unified School District
Oakland Unified School District
Oakland Unified School District is a public education school district which operates elementary schools , middle schools , and high schools in Oakland, California.-History:...
) in helping speakers of African American Vernacular English acquire Standard American English in addition to their "home" variety.
Death
He passed away in 2003 after suffering from a post-surgery heart attack at the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center. He is survived by his wife, Marcellina Ada Ogbu, and his children Elizabeth, Nnanna, Grace, Cecilia, and Christina. He was buried in Nigeria.Further reading
- Berube MR (2000). Eminent Educators: Studies in Intellectual Influence. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-31060-2.
- Brandes S, Dundes A, Nader L. In memoriam: John Ogbu. via University of California.
- Freedberg L (August 23, 2003). John Ogbu -- Expert on Ethnic Success. San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
. - Gardner-Kitt Black student achievement: The influence of racial identity, ethnic identity, perception of school climate, and self-reported behaviorespse.ed.psu.edu/schoolpsych/126
- Gibson MA, Ogbu JU (eds.). Minority Status and Schooling: A Comparative Study of Immigrant and Involuntary Minorities. New York: Garland, 1991.
- Goleman D (April 10, 1988). An Emerging Theory on Blacks' I.Q. Scores. New York Times Education Life, p. 23.
- Maclay K (August 26, 2003). Anthropology Professor John Ogbu Dies At Age 64. UC Berkeley News.
- Ogbu's Theory (December 1996). Special issue of Anthropology and Education Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 4.
- Ogbu JU (1978). Minority Education and Caste: The American System in Cross-Cultural Perspective. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
- Ogbu JU (1981). Origins of Human Competence: A Cultural-Ecological Perspective. Child Development.
- Fordham S, Ogbu JU (1986). Black students' school success: Coping with the "burden of 'acting white'." The Urban Review.
- Ogbu JU (1992). Understanding Cultural Diversity and Learning. Educational Researcher.
- Ogbu JU (1987). Variability in Minority School Performance: A Problem in Search of an Explanation. Anthropology & Education Quarterly.
- Ogbu JU (2002). Cultural Amplifiers of Intelligence: IQ and Minority Status in Crosscultural Perspective, J. M. Fish Race and Intelligence: Separating Science from Myth. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
- Ogbu JU, Davis A (2003). Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement. Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers. ISBN 0-8058-4515-1.
- Ogbu JU, Simons HD (1998). Voluntary and Involuntary Minorities: A Cultural-Ecological Theory of School Performance with Some Implications for Education. Anthropology & Education Quarterly.
- Staff report (November 21, 1997). "What 15 Top Anthropologists Are Working On Now." The Chronicle of Higher Education, pp. B7-B8.
- Tang HH (2003) New Arrival Students in Hong Kong: Adaptation and School Performance sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B29803810