Simply Put, I’m Tired: Efficacy to Combat Racism among African American Adolescent Boys and Girls

This study examined the mediating role of self-efficacy to combat racism on the effect of school-based racial discrimination and African American adolescents’ racialized educational beliefs. Our study analyzed data from a total of 525 African American adolescents’ boys (N = 256) and girls (N = 269). For African American boys and girls, teacher racial discrimination was associated with racialized educational beliefs, conceptualized by how hard African American adolescents believe they have to work in a school-based on their race. The results further revealed that for African American boys’ self-efficacy to combat racial discrimination in school mediated the relationship between teacher and peer racial discrimination and racialized educational beliefs. However, for African American girls’ self-efficacy to combat racial discrimination mediated the relationship between peer racial discrimination and racialized educational beliefs. The results did illustrate that feeling less self-efficacious to combat racial discrimination was associated with endorsing racialized educational beliefs for African American girls and boys. Research and practice implications are provided as well as the importance of considering gender differences amongst African American adolescents.