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John Uzo Ogbu (May 9, 1939 – August 20, 2003) was a Nigerian-American
anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms an ...
and professor known for his theories on observed phenomena involving
race and intelligence Discussions of race and intelligence – specifically, claims of differences in intelligence along racial lines – have appeared in both popular science and academic research since the modern concept of race was first introduced. With the inc ...
, especially how race and ethnic differences played out in educational and economic achievement. He suggested that being a "caste-like minority" affects motivation and achievement, depressing IQ scores. He also concluded that some students did poorly because high achievement was considered " acting white" among their peers. Ogbu was also involved in the 1996 controversy surrounding the use of
African American Vernacular English African-American Vernacular English (AAVE, ), also referred to as Black (Vernacular) English, Black English Vernacular, or occasionally Ebonics (a colloquial, controversial term), is the variety of English natively spoken, particularly in urba ...
in public schools in
Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...
. The 2000 book ''Eminent Educators: Studies in Intellectual Influence'' focused on him as one of "four intellectual giants of the 20th century."


Early life and education

Born in the village of Umudomi, in Onicha Local Government Area,
Ebonyi State Ebonyi State ( ig, Ȯra Ebonyi) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north and northeast by Benue State, Enugu State to the west, Cross River State to the east and southeast, and Abia State to the south ...
, Ogbu attended Hope Waddell Training Institute and Methodist Teachers' Training College where he taught Latin, mathematics and geography. He enrolled at
Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...
with the intention to become a minister in Nigeria, but soon transferred to the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...
to study
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
. At Berkley he earned his baccalaureate in 1965, his
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
in 1969, and his Ph.D. in 1971. He taught at UC Berkeley from 1970 until his death.


Involuntary minorities

Ogbu argues that cultural differences alone cannot account for differences in minority education, since some minority communities do quite well and others do not. In addition, he observes that in some cases groups of people of the same race but located in different countries manifested different ability and/or achievement levels according to some measures. Ogbu points out that there are two kinds of differences between cultures. There are primary differences, which existed before cultures came into contact with each other. Then, there are secondary differences, which come into existence when two cultures interact with each other. He says that many of these secondary differences are created by subordinate groups in opposition to the cultural references of the dominant group. In the U.S. context, Ogbu concluded that among U.S. Americans there are "voluntary minorities" (groups of immigrants who chose to come to the United States, and their descendants) versus "involuntary" or "caste-like" minorities (descendants of groups of persons who found themselves in the United States, or under United States jurisdiction, against their will). Voluntary minorities (e.g. Korean-Americans) tend to manifest non-oppositional secondary differences with the dominant culture. On the other hand, involuntary minorities (e.g. Native Americans) tend to manifest oppositional secondary differences with the dominant culture. However, both voluntary non-oppositional cultural subjects and involuntary oppositional cultural subjects are required to adhere to dominant (white) American cultural frames of reference if they want to acquire upward social mobility. In ''Minority Education and Caste'' (1978), Ogbu argued that involuntary minorities often adopted an oppositional identity to the mainstream culture in response to a
glass ceiling A glass ceiling is a metaphor usually applied to women, used to represent an invisible barrier that prevents a given demographic from rising beyond a certain level in a hierarchy.Federal Glass Ceiling Commission''Solid Investments: Making Full ...
imposed or maintained by
white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...
society on the job-success of their parents and others in their communities. Therefore, he reasoned, some
non-whites The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...
"failed to observe the link between educational achievement and access to jobs." Often, the oppositional culture/identity created by the involuntary minority involves the incorporation of attitudes, behaviors, and speech styles that are stigmatized by the dominant group, which, of course, precludes those who adopt the manifestations of the oppositional culture from external success in the dominant culture. When immigrant minorities (voluntary minorities) acquire the language of the dominant culture, it is seen as an addition to the first language (non-oppositional primary differences). However, when nonimmigrant minorities (involuntary minorities) acquire the language of the dominant culture, it is the negation of their oppositional culture, and thus their cultural reality.


Acting white

In 1986
Signithia Fordham Signithia Fordham is a prominent Anthropologist who studies how race influences Black students in the classroom. She began her career working with John Ogbu on their research "Acting White" and has done similar research since. Most of her research ...
co-authored, along with Ogbu, a study which concluded that some
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
students in a Washington, D.C., high school did not live up to their academic potential because of the fear of being accused of "acting white." Ogbu further echoed these findings in his 2003 book ''Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement'' (which summarized his nine-month research on the educational gap between white and African-American students in the Shaker Heights City School District located in the upscale
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
suburb of Shaker Heights, Ohio). His book presents a cultural-ecological theory which highlights two sets of factors that shape minority students’ academic performance: 1) ''the system'' (the way society and institutions have historically treated and do treat minorities) and 2) ''community forces'' (how minorities respond to and interpret their treatment, which is highly dependent upon their unique history and minority status in America). He concluded that these students' cultural attitudes hindered their own academic achievement and that these attitudes are too often neglected by parents, educators and/or policymakers. Though the study's conclusions gained a popular foothold and have been espoused by such noted figures as
Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...
, a later study obtained different results. In 2003, Karolyn Tyson, a sociologist, and
William Darity Jr William A. Darity Jr. (born April 19, 1953) is an American economist and social sciences researcher. Darity's research spans economic history, development economics, economic psychology, and the history of economic thought, but most of his resea ...
, an economist, both at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...
, directed an 18-month study at eleven North Carolina schools which found that white and black students have essentially the same attitudes about scholastic achievement; students in both groups want to succeed in school and show higher levels of self-esteem when they do better in school. The results of this study have been published in a book by Stanford sociologist Prudence Carter A 2006 study titled ''An Empirical Analysis of "Acting White"'' by Roland G. Fryer, Jr. at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
and Paul Torelli suggested that the phenomenon has a statistically significant effect on black student achievement, but only in certain school contexts. In public schools with high interracial contact and among high achieving students, there was an effect, but there was little or no effect in predominantly
black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...
or
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schools.


African American Vernacular English

In 1996, Ogbu played a prominent role in the debate about the utility of African American Vernacular English. As a member of a task force on African American education in
Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...
he noted that linguists (e.g., William Labov,
John Rickford John Russell Rickford (born September 16, 1949) is a Guyanese–American academic and author. Rickford is the J. E. Wallace Sterling Professor of Linguistics and the Humanities at Stanford University's Department of Linguistics and the Stanford G ...
, Walt Wolfram, and others) have long distinguished between the "standard" or "proper" English required in the classroom and black vernacular English spoken at home and with peers. Ogbu encouraged teachers to become familiar with and to make use of this variety (called " Ebonics" by the Oakland Unified School District) in helping speakers of African American Vernacular English acquire Standard American English in addition to their "home" variety.


Awards

* 1979,
Margaret Mead Award Margaret Mead Award is an award in the field of anthropology presented (solely) by the Society for Applied Anthropology from 1979 to 1983 and jointly with the American Anthropological Association afterwards. This award was named after anthropologis ...
from the
Society for Applied Anthropology The Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) is a worldwide organization for the Applied Social Sciences, established "to promote the integration of anthropological perspectives and methods in solving human problems throughout the world; to advocate ...
. * 1997, Elected Chancellor's Professor at
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...
. * 1997, Elected Fellow of the International Academy of Education. * 1998, Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award from the American Educational Research Association.


Death

He died in 2003 after suffering from a post-surgery heart attack at the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center. He is survived by his wife, Marcellina Ada Ogbu, and his children Elizabeth, Nnanna, Grace, Cecilia, and Christina. He was buried in Nigeria.


See also

*
List of people from Ebonyi State The following is a list of notable people whose state of origin is Ebonyi State, Nigeria. {{compact ToC, side=yes, top=yes, num=yes A * Chris Abani * Anthony Agbo * Anyim Pius Anyim, first president of the Nigerian Senate from Ebonyi St ...


References


Further reading

*Berube MR (2000). ''Eminent Educators: Studies in Intellectual Influence''. Greenwood Press. . *Beuchling O (2012). ''Bildung als Adaptation? John U. Ogbu und der kulturökologische Ansatz der Minderheiten- und Sozialisationsforschung''. Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Berlin. . *Brandes S, Dundes A, Nader L
In memoriam: John Ogbu.
via University of California. *Freedberg L (August 23, 2003). John Ogbu—Expert on Ethnic Success. ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pa ...
''. *Gardner-Kitt ''Black student achievement: The influence of racial identity, ethnic identity, perception of school climate, and self-reported behavior''espse.ed.psu.edu/schoolpsych/126 *Gibson MA, Ogbu JU (eds.). ''Minority Status and Schooling: A Comparative Study of Immigrant and Involuntary Minorities''. New York: Garland, 1991. *Goleman D (April 10, 1988). An Emerging Theory on Blacks' I.Q. Scores. ''New York Times Education Life'', p. 23. *Maclay K (August 26, 2003)
Anthropology Professor John Ogbu Dies At Age 64
''UC Berkeley News''. *''Ogbu's Theory'' (December 1996). Special issue of ''Anthropology and Education Quarterly'', Vol. 27, No. 4. *Ogbu JU (1978). ''Minority Education and Caste: The American System in Cross-Cultural Perspective''. San Diego, CA: Academic Press. *Ogbu JU (1981). Origins of Human Competence: A Cultural-Ecological Perspective. ''Child Development''. *Fordham S, Ogbu JU (1986). Black students' school success: Coping with the "burden of 'acting white'." ''The Urban Review''. *Ogbu JU (1992). Understanding Cultural Diversity and Learning. ''Educational Researcher''. *Ogbu JU (1987). Variability in Minority School Performance: A Problem in Search of an Explanation. ''Anthropology & Education Quarterly''. *Ogbu JU (2002). Cultural Amplifiers of Intelligence: IQ and Minority Status in Crosscultural Perspective, J. M. Fish ''Race and Intelligence: Separating Science from Myth.'' Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. *Ogbu JU, Davis A (2003). ''Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement.'' Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers. . *Ogbu JU, Simons HD (1998). Voluntary and Involuntary Minorities: A Cultural-Ecological Theory of School Performance with Some Implications for Education. ''Anthropology & Education Quarterly''. *Staff report (November 21, 1997). "What 15 Top Anthropologists Are Working On Now." ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'', pp. B7-B8. * Tang HH (2003) ''New Arrival Students in Hong Kong: Adaptation and School Performance'' sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B29803810 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ogbu, John 1939 births 2003 deaths Nigerian emigrants to the United States Nigerian scientists American social scientists Princeton Theological Seminary alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni University of California, Berkeley faculty Hope Waddell Institute alumni People from Ebonyi State