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V. African-American–White Girls’ Friendships

Fifty years after the United States Supreme Court decision ending de jure school segregation, African-American1 and White students’ experiences of school remain very different. Notwithstanding the saliency of disproportionate educational chances, the social implications of desegregation, including Black–White girls’ friendships, are equally significant to evaluating the decision’s success. Drawing on Black feminist theory, social science literature on girl–girl friendship formation, and the impact of race on Black–White interpersonal relationships, I problematize the micropolitics of Black–White girls’ friendships as they develop (or not) in the social context of de jure desegregated American schools. Racial distinctions are most clearly pronounced during Black–White associations; Quillian and Campbell (2001) find that ‘race is less of a barrier to friendships between Whites, Asian, and Hispanics than it is among Whites and Blacks’ (p. 38). Even young children (ages 5–12) express same-race bias for friends (Graham and Cohen, 1997; Hartup, 1983), and the propensity to select same-race friends increases with age (Hallinan and Teixeira, 1987). Gender plays a salient role, with girls (especially White girls) expressing same-race biases far greater than boys (Graham et al., 1998). Although same-race friendship preferences do not automatically affect an individual’s ability to view cross-race peers as socially acceptable, what are the cues to signal Black girls’ social acceptability in America’s segregated school system that normalizes White cultural norms (Perry, 2002)? Research on White female-dominated peer groups reveals that girls who are considered physically attractive, have relative family wealth, and demonstrate an appealing degree of precocity attain higher social status and more desirable friends than those who do not possess these characteristics (Adler and Adler, 1998; Adler et al., 1992; Eder, 1995; Merten, 1996). I examine each of these features separately and their effects on Black–White female friendships.