The Myth of Personal Responsibility: Counter-stories of Black Girls’ Access to Achievement

Systems of tracking in U.S. schools have exacerbated racial inequalities in student access to quality education. This qualitative study examines Black girls’ experiences attending these advanced-level courses and the obstacles they face in accessing these courses. I find that educator emphasis on personal responsibility as a function of color-evasiveness limits Black girls’ opportunities for accessing and positively experiencing advanced-level courses. Counter-stories of Black girls, as well interviews with a parent and school personnel, show the ways that personal responsibility influences beliefs about individual-level drive, parental engagement, and course selection and content. Black girls’ counter-stories show an awareness of the ways racism as an outcome of color-evasiveness functions in crafting narratives about Black girls. These counter-stories also show the ways in which they resist such framing.