Having mistakenly saved Integration Interrupted for this week (!), I was forced to reflect on what I had learned about race in the American education system both from the book and from our class, and how it compares to my personal secondary school observations at an English private school. Having grown up in a predominantly white neighborhood east of London, it seemed thus no surprise to me that Brentwood School’s demographic comprised 95% whites – of my class of 150, only 3 students were black.

The notion of “acting white” was thrown around by kids in my school to describe one of our mixed-race friends, though not for his academic achievements; rather, for his appearance and comportment. Already a light-skinned guy, his wishes to conform to his predominantly white friend group through his dress and his tastes and interests were met with amusement. People would claim that he was the “whitest black kid they knew”, which was rather ironic since for many, he was the only black kid they knew. Conversations I have had with him since leaving school have raised a lot of the same concerns that participants raised in Tyson’s interviews. He explains to me that he felt isolated, forced to adjust, scared to admit interests in stereotypically black interests, lest friends chastise.

He had no black role models to whom he could turn and embrace his blackness. He agrees now that media played the most significant role in shaping his understanding of what it means to be black. In whitewashed communities, both micro- and macro-, it is important to recognize the role of television, music, film, fashion, and other entertainment media in representing the black community. Unfortunately for my friend, Brentwood School’s white populace also used the same media as a lens through which to scrutinize his every action. He was made to feel foreign, whether he either chose to “act white” or to own his blackness. He felt compelled to choose the former, corroborating Tyson’s findings that fitting in is imperative for black students. The difference for my friend was that he attended a school in which he had no choice but to fit in with the almost entirely white student body.

I imagine that Tyson would find similar conversations in racially integrated British schools, which can be found in major metro areas such as London, as she did in Integration Interrupted. An interesting extension would be to understand further what it is like to be the only black student in a mass of white, both in the classroom and in the playground.