The academic opportunity gap: how racism and stereotypes disrupt the education of African American undergraduates

Using Critical Race Theory as a framework, this article reveals how racism and stereotypes obstruct the academic success of black students. Through the use of focus groups, African American undergraduates from a large California State University campus, share the ways in which campus racism impacts their achievement potential as well as their behavior and emotional well-being. The results of the study illuminate how research on the difference in black-white grade performance must begin to examine the role of racism, and the way in which it constricts the academic opportunities afforded to African American undergraduates.