The Indignant Generation: Black Male Counternarratives of School Disaffection, Carceral Discipline, and Racial Threat Theory

Abstract

This phenomenological study explores the experiences of Black males in U.S. public schools and draws parallels between Black millennials and the “indignant generation,” a term Lawrence Jackson uses to describe African American life between 1934–1960. While the purview of school discipline discourse is saturated with conversations on racial disparities, the exigent problem still remains. As such, this research provides a nuanced probe into concepts of discontent and indignation within Black students. In doing so, this study recasts Black male students as experts, not observers, within educational research. Using counter-storytelling as the theoretical and analytical framework, this study examines both student engagement and school disaffection through the lens of “Black male positionality.” Participants (Black males, ages 25–35, n = 9) provide individual reflections of their past schooling experiences and also detail critical needs in educational reform. Using semi-structured interviews, participants provide in-depth, retrospective perspectives of schooling and reconceptualize renewed possibilities of educational reform for Black students today. The study’s major findings demonstrate school carcerality was evident via counterproductive discipline policies and semblances of “untapped potential” among students. The study’s findings surface important topics in Black education and help to broaden the scope of research to explore concepts of Blackness, being, and belonging within phenomenological studies.

1. Introduction

There is a perennial undertone within education discourse that falsely blames minority students and families for school underperformance (Ogbu, 1978; Payne, 1998/2005). Exhaustive research has been done on the proverbial “achievement gap.” Yet a lesser acknowledged fact is that these studies ultimately uphold White supremacy. Considering that White student achievement is not above 62% on any national assessment (NAEP, 2022a, 2022b), nor is there substantial evidence for the credibility of these assessments (Singer & Braun, 2018; Torney-Purta & Amadeo, 2013), these success metrics are invalid. Unfortunately, African American,1 Latinx, and immigrant families are perhaps the most exploited towards endemic and deficit assumptions of school failure (Tuck, 2009). Studies on deficit ideologies and urban “cultures of poverty” habitually reify empirical racism, bias, and discrimination (Ogbu, 2004; Ogbu & Simons, 1998; Payne, 1998/2005), and “simultaneously reinforce and reinscribe a one-dimensional notion of these people” as deficient and hopeless (Tuck, 2009, p. 409). These narratives are unfortunately popular and circumvent more holistic understandings of individual children, versus larger cultural patterns of underperformance (Fordham & Ogbu, 1986; Harper & Davis, 2012; Ogbu, 2004). Existing research demonstrates that urban [city] and high-minority schools are often plagued with systemic economic and racial inequalities (Kozol, 2005; Mickelson, 2001). Many of the disparities found in urban schools stem from overcrowded infrastructure, under-resourcing, culturally irrelevant curricula, course disparities, carceral discipline, and a high density of underqualified teachers (Chenoweth, 2007, 2009; Kozol, 2005). On a larger scale, lesser is known about student experiences within these schools.

Research suggests that over 40% of high school students of color fail to graduate with their class (Bridgeland et al., 2006). African American students, in particular, have an 81% overall graduation rate (NCES, 2024). Aside from disparities in graduation rates, the school-to-prison pipeline is another compounding problem in the U.S. This pipeline particularly targets African American students (Hinton, 2016; Kim et al., 2010; Lewis et al., 2010), as racially discriminatory discipline practices were institutionalized with the onset of desegregation in the 1960s and 1970s (Stern, 2023). Consequently, high-minority schools became increasingly policed and surveilled in the 1970s and 1980s, all under the guise of improving school safety (Hinton, 2016). Hinton (2016) asserts that schools in low-income Black neighborhoods served as experimental sites for the implementation of school resource officers [SROs] and law enforcement interventions. As such, instead of teachers and principals managing student discipline, the school-to-prison pipeline outsourced disciplinary measures to the carceral state. This solidified the idea that the urban crisis could only be solved through the containment of minority youth. This has enduring implications.

An array of research indicates cultural bias, stereotype threat, cultural mismatch, and racial threat theory [RTT] undergird classroom experiences for Black males. Specific to school discipline, researchers emphasize that the school-to-prison pipeline is not the result of individual student failure, but rather the consequences of systemic deficiencies and racialized double standards in public schools (Kim et al., 2010). These findings seem redundant, as this problem has been documented for over four decades (Kim et al., 2010; Stern, 2023). As such, the oversaturation of school-to-prison pipeline research often explore structural and theoretical disparities; yet, there is little research that documents student narratives and perspectives from inside the pipeline (Bell, 2020, 2021). Examining the identifying causes of student disaffection is critical when looking at the school-to-prison pipeline from an “inside out” perspective, versus the proverbial “outside in” lens that is popularized in mainstream discourse.

It is important to identify what causes academic or social disinterest in school. While many educational reforms aim to “fix” U.S. education, there is an exigent need to preemptively identify key stakeholders in the educational reform process: Black male students. As such, this study gleans into student perspectives through narrative research and social action. Currently, there is modest literature that documents the narratives and experiences of students within the school-to-prison pipeline (Harper & Davis, 2012). In addition, there are virtually no studies that capture at-risk students’ (or recent graduates’) perspectives on educational reform. While researchers and policymakers are important stakeholders, students should also serve as cogenetic agents within the reform process. To that end, this article explores the following research questions: What are the educational experiences of Black males in U.S. public schools, specifically related to discipline? What are the most salient factors that contribute to school disaffection for Black males? The remainder of this paper will provide: (a) a historical overview that draws parallels between 21st century Black male student experiences and the indignant generation [1934–1960], (b) a theoretical framework on counter-storytelling,2 (c) method, (d) findings, (e) discussion, and (f) conclusion.

2. Historical Overview: Paralleled Histories Between Indignant Generations

Historian Lawrence Jackson termed the phrase “indignant generation” to signify the group of African Americans who lived between the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights Movement (Jackson, 2013). Spanning from 1934–1960, notable figures from this demographic include Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, Zora Neale Hurston, and Richard Wright, among others. This critical era–nestled betwixt rigid Jim Crow racism and changing legislation of the mid-twentieth century–serves as a bedrock for contemporary understandings of race today (Jackson, 2013). Intuitively, the “indignant” nature of this generation reflected their responses to the injustices they faced–including Jim Crow racism, the Great Depression, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (Justia U.S. Supreme Court, 1954), economic uncertainty, and global decolonization. In response to these injustices, Black populations reacted to their oppressive realities during this time through “urban realism,” or the embraced acknowledgement of a different lived experience based on race.

Here, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka is salient for this discussion. Whereas Black communities sought greater educational equity, as segregated White schools often received four times the funding than neighboring Black schools (Ransby, 2003), integration was largely implemented haphazardly and impractically. Central to the desegregation decision was the assurance of “intergroup contact under optimal conditions–that is, equal status, cooperative contact, supported by institutional authorities” (Durrheim, 2024). Considering that these conditions were not enforced, Southern states defied the Court’s decision and ultimately facilitated the widespread mismanagement of school integration (Homana et al., 2018). Black students were sent to White schools without the consideration of hostile learning conditions. Additionally, there were no provisions made for the Black teacher workforce, which resulted in 38,000 Black teachers being displaced in the decade following the Brown decision and a loss of 100,000 Black educators between 1954–1970 (Fenwick, 2022). Thus, the unvarnished realities of African American schooling experiences between 1934–1960 gives a different depiction from mainstream narratives, which often suggest the transition to integration was seamless.

In a similar vein, millennial Black male students [born 1980–1996] represent another population that parallels the indignant generation. Nestled between the turn of the millennia, No Child Left Behind, zero tolerance policies, inflated college tuition prices, the prison industrial complex, and high-stakes assessments, Black male students attending schools between 1990–2014 operated within a distinct and complicated milieu. Similar to Jackson’s “indignant generation” of the mid-20th century, perspectives from today’s contemporary era provide rich semblances of resistance, perseverance, and countercultural thought that amplify “unvarnished realities” within schooling experiences. While much research has been conducted on Black males in education, there are few studies that situate students as agents, not observers, of their own experiences. Accordingly, this research prioritizes the voices of marginalized students to uncover the candid, honest, and unfiltered realities of past schooling experiences.

3. Literature Review

3.1. Black Male Discourse, in Context

As noted, there is perhaps no demographic more saturated with prescriptive research than Black males. Existing education discourse often places an “emphasis on the ‘other,’” while ultimately reifying “a taken-for-granted undergirding of Whiteness at its base” (Barba, 2022, p. 791). Fries-Britt (1997) notes:

The images created of Black men in our society often confine them to environments shaped by drugs, crime, athletics, and academic failure. In education, we have contributed to this negative portrait by the disproportionate amount of research that emphasizes remediation and disadvantage (p. 65)

Fixing “the Negro problem” is a problematic research perspective to expose (Barba, 2022), progressive intentions notwithstanding. In contrast, there is a growing need to explore Black student experiences in relation to classroom instruction, learning environments, discipline, engagement, and student-teacher relationships. Additionally, it is important to understand the experiences of Black males, from the perspective of Black male participants. Harper (2009) cautions:

Anyone who takes time to read about them could confidently conclude that Black male [students] are troubled, their future is bleak, they all do poorly and there is little that can be done to reverse longstanding outcomes disparities that render them among the least likely to succeed in college (pp. 699–700)

Yet, for the last several decades, academics and practitioners have sought to understand the “achievement gap” in racial terms (Ogbu, 2004). Resultantly, Harris (2006) notes, “the theory that Black [people] resist schooling has been embraced by educators and the general public and is practically regarded as common sense” (p. 799). Ogbu and Simons (1998) problematically argue that the education system works well for middle-class White students and favors the dominant White culture. Yet, the perpetuation of “achievement gap” research, without a thorough interrogation of observable opportunity and resource disparities is important to note (Carter & Welner, 2013). This glaring oversight is research malpractice, as it standardizes educational inequity as a byproduct of functionalism. Thus, it is an indisputable fact that today’s educational systems are framed in White cultural ethos, which tend to undermine and marginalize minority group perspectives (Perry et al., 2003). This sort of hegemony, or the standardization of one dominant perspective, permeates to nearly every facet of schooling–including curricula, school discipline disparities, teacher preparation, and the overrepresentation of minority students in special education (King, 2005; King et al., 2014; Schott Foundation, 2012). As such, Black male perspectives should be explored independently.

3.2. Classroom Disparities

Growing research finds that many U.S. schools are underserved in many academic areas. As noted, some of these disparities include: course offerings, unqualified teachers, and disproportionate school discipline, among other things (Kozol, 2005; Lewis et al., 2010; Toldson & Lewis, 2012). Kozol’s (2005) hallmark research notes that many high-minority schools are grossly underfunded and overcrowded. Written over two decades ago, Kozol (2005) further finds that many urban schools lack academic rigor and relevancy for students. Today, this issue is compounded with the presence of uncertified and inexperienced teachers, and a growing teacher shortage (Wiggan et al., 2020). Unfortunately, many teachers are not qualified to teach the subjects they are assigned. This largely impacts Black students, who often attend schools with the least qualified teachers (Education Trust, 2021). This contributes to the “indignance” that Jackson so rightfully coined for Black people in the early 20th century. Within U.S. schools today, Black students are most like likely to be overlooked, underserved, and under-resourced.

Recent data from the U.S. Department of Education note that schools serving the greatest percentage of Black students have more than twice the percentage of novice teachers (Education Trust, 2021). Notwithstanding, aside from inadequate teacher preparation, teacher bias is common among both novice and veteran teachers. Okonofua and Eberhardt (2015) assert that teachers often interpret behavioral misconduct from Black students through existing stereotypes. In doing so, Okonofua and Eberhardt (2015) note that teachers often respond more harshly and support punitive discipline for Black males, especially on a student’s second offense. Considering that 79% of the K-12 teaching force is White, most of whom are women, the overwhelming majority of teachers are left with inaccurate perceptions of Black youth, particularly males. Historically speaking, Parker (2010) describes the prevalence of “lynch narratives,” which purport 18th and 19th century fears of African American men as criminally deviant. Within these narratives, “[Black] men must be subjugated to preserve the social order” on behalf of the purity and safety of White women (p. 130). The historical undergirding of these assumptions is no less prevalent in U.S. classrooms today, especially considering the evidence of carceral school discipline immediately following desegregation (Stern, 2023). Bell (2021) notes that Black male students, specifically, are often labeled “prison bound” or “unsalvageable,” which are extensions of anti-Black bias and the legacy of Black student criminalization (p. 11). Goff et al. (2008) similarly document the propensity of individuals that implicitly correlate Black people with crime. To that end, Milner (2007) notes, “whatever the source, some teachers have unsubstantiated, unquestioned, and inaccurate thoughts and beliefs about Black male students; put simply, these thoughts can be harmful and quite detrimental” (p. 245). Conversely, Gilliam et al. (2016) find that teachers, regardless of race, expect more challenging behaviors from Black children, particularly Black boys. These learning conditions are problematic, as they undermine student achievement and student outcomes.

Another compounding problem is limited course offerings. Toldson and Lewis (2012) illustrate discrepancies between course requirements for graduation and the actual classes that are offered in schools. Toldson and Lewis (2012) additionally reveal that once students reach high school, many schools that predominately serve Black students fail to offer the necessary courses that are needed to matriculate into local public colleges and universities. This issue is particularly pervasive in advanced mathematics and science course offerings, where only 29% of high-minority schools offer calculus and only 40% offer physics classes (Toldson & Lewis, 2012). Without question, these are systemic and structural issues that disadvantage Black students.

An additional area of racial disparity is found in student discipline. Research consistently shows that in comparison to their White counterparts, African American and Latinx students are typically three-to-six times more likely to be suspended from school (Schott Foundation, 2012). Skiba et al. (2002) and Bradshaw et al. (2010) find that teachers often give Black students more disciplinary referrals for subjective offenses than their White counterparts. Similarly, Wegmann and Smith (2019) contend that White students have increased odds of a receiving behavioral warnings versus Black students. Punitive discipline disrupts student attendance and academic achievement. This, in turn, increases school dropouts and leads to failed classes (Balfanz et al., 2007, 2014; Lewis et al., 2010; Noltemeyer et al., 2015).

The relationship between racial bias, teacher preparation, and student discipline is a compounding problem in U.S. schools. Research overwhelmingly demonstrates that African American students experience the greatest discipline disparities–including more subjective offenses, harsher punishments, and criminalization at younger ages (Hinton, 2016; Kim et al., 2010; Lewis et al., 2010). This is disturbing and warrants a deeper exploration into student narratives. Considering Bell’s (2020) compelling research which finds that irrespective of gender and social class, Black students perceive school discipline as unfair because “(a) punishment was excessive in relation to the conduct violation, or (b) their voices were marginalized,” it is important to consider the role of frustration or indignance within student perceptions of educational inequity.

4. Theoretical Framework

This research is grounded in counter-storytelling, or counternarratives, which is central component of critical race theory [CRT]. Counter-storytelling foregrounds the lived experiences of people of color and exposes exclusionary practices found within unjust systems, such as education (Bei & Knowler, 2023). Here, the conflation between theory and methodology is important to note. While counter-storytelling is typically a methodology employed by CRT, it also serves as this study’s general theoretical framing. Counter-storytelling foregrounds the importance of intersectionality, which are the compounding descriptors that comprise a person’s identity (Crenshaw, 1993). Black male students have various visible intersectional identities, including race, gender, and age. Each of these identity markers has an independent relationship to systems of power, privileging some more than others (Collins, 2000). As such, Merriweather Hunn et al. (2006) note that counter-storytelling “aims to expose race neutral discourse to reveal how [W]hite privilege operates within an ideological framework to reinforce and support unequal societal relations” (p. 244). Counter-storytelling explores stories that detail “…the experiences and perspectives of those who are historically oppressed, excluded, or silenced in educational settings” (Bergen et al., 2023, p. 414). In this way, counter-storytelling can be used as a theoretical framing, analytical tool, and also as a method of representation (Bei & Knowler, 2023).

Solórzano and Yosso (2002) note three distinct types of counternarrative approaches, including: (a) personal stories, (b) stories of others, and (c) composite stories. Here, composite stories most closely align with the phenomenological nature of this study, as it presents counternarratives of Black males as a collective. Birk (2023) posits that “CRT-informed composite counter-stories,” facilitate resistance to “systemic and institutional [W]hiteness”–both within academia and educational research (p. 28). These composite counter-stories provide disruptive narratives from marginalized voices and communities in efforts to challenge hegemonic assumptions (Miller et al., 2020). The inclusion of marginalized students’ voices–and the reconfiguration of students as rightful stakeholders in the educational reform process–is what gives credence to counter-storytelling as the theoretical framework for this study. The scope of this research helps to subvert majoritarian narratives on school discipline that occupy mainstream discourse.

5. Method

The purpose of this study is to gain insight into Black male students’ experiences in K-12 schools from a retrospective perspective. Largely missing in current discourse are insider perspectives of the school-to-prison pipeline, especially from students once labeled “at-risk.” Instead of examining the school-to-prison pipeline solely through an institutional lens, this research delves into narrative data to provide an insider’s look into the educational experiences of Black males. It is important to note that this study solely focuses on Black males’ perspectives on their experiences as former students, not those of parents, teachers, or administrators–as found in Bell (2021), Whitley (2024), Bryan (2017) and others. The ultimate goal of this research aims to: (1) examine carceral school discipline through student narratives, and (2) reposition student voices as valuable perspectives for educational reform. As such, this research explores the following research questions: What are the educational experiences of Black males in U.S. public schools, specifically related to discipline? What are the most salient factors that contribute to school disaffection for Black males? Considering that racial group identity is a binding factor for this study, a phenomenological inquiry was determined the best approach. This study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board at Towson University (Protocol #3000).

5.1. Participant Selection

Due to the sensitive nature of this study (including discussions on incarceration), the researcher relied on purposive and convenience sampling to recruit nine (9) former public school students who fit the study’s criteria. The following demographics capture the inclusion criteria for this study: former K-12 student in U.S. public schools; 18+ years old; self-identifies as Black male; once identified by school counselors, teachers, or administrators as academically or behaviorally “at-risk;” high school graduate. The researcher relied on personal networks to recruit participants.

Table 1. Participant demographic data.

Pseudonym	Age	Educational Attainment	Occupation	City
Braxton	25	Bachelor’s	Musician	Chicago
Daniel	27	J.D.	Lawyer	Dallas
Hasaan	35	Some college	Artist	Boston
Jonathan	34	Ph.D.	Educational Administrator	Baltimore
Langston	29	Ph.D.	Professor	Charlotte
Sean	30	Bachelor’s	Non-Profit Manager	Charlotte
Theo	28	Master’s	Pastor	Baltimore
William	29	Ph.D.	Pastor	New York
Marcus	30	Some college	Community Activist	Atlanta

provides a snapshot of participant demographics, including age,3 educational attainment, occupation, and city of residence at the time of data collection. Participant names were deidentified and pseudonyms were assigned on the onset of data collection and analysis.

5.2. Positionality Statement

As a researcher who supports African American education, it is my hope to identify the best supports for African American students in schools. Considering that my research focus also aligns with my racial identity, I employed bracketing procedures and reflective memoing during the data analysis and collection process–to ensure that my voice, biases, and/or preconceived assumptions were eliminated. My role throughout the research design was to “simply report” and allow the participants’ testimonies to inform the data.

5.3. Data Collection

Participants individually engaged in two (2) semi-structured audiotaped interviews with the researcher, 45-min each–totaling to 1.5 h. Interviews were conducted virtually and in-person. The researcher coordinated with the participants’ schedules to identify the most appropriate time to conduct the interviews, including afterwork, on the weekends, etc. Audio recordings were used for interviews, and then transcribed. With regard to the first research question, participants were asked questions like: How many disciplinary actions do you think you received over the course of your K-12 schooling career (i.e., suspensions, expulsions, in-school suspension [ISS], detentions, alternative school placements, etc.)? When [meaning, what grade(s)] did you receive the most disciplinary infractions? Explain the reasons why you do (or do not) believe disciplinary actions (i.e.: suspensions, expulsions, in-school suspension [ISS], detentions, alternative school placements, etc.) are good options for students. What made you persevere through schooling? Based on your decision to stay in (or discontinue) school, do you think your life is better because of your decision? (see Appendix B). With regard to the second research question, participants were asked questions like: What was your favorite subject in school, and why? What was your least favorite subject in school, and why? Think back to your experiences in school (K-12), describe your most memorable academic experience and why you think you remember it? Think back to your experiences in school (K-12), describe your most memorable social experience and why you think you remember it? Who or what motivated you to go to school as a child? If that motivation were not there, how do you think your life would have been different? (see Appendix A). Participants were given a copy of the transcriptions for their review to ensure member checking.

5.4. Data Analysis

After data collection, interview transcriptions were closely analyzed and reported (Creswell, 2013). This research employed an abductive inquiry approach (Dubois & Gadde, 2002; Tavory & Timmermans, 2014), which considers prior understanding within the research process without the total confinement of strict deductive analysis, as uncustomary for phenomenology (van Manen, 2017). Considering that phenomenological research often evolves throughout the empirical and theoretical process (Dubois & Gadde, 2002), participant narratives were organized based on frequency to showcase depth of the larger phenomenon in order to “discover what is phenomenal or singular about a phenomenon or event” (van Manen, 2017, p. 814). Here, it is important to note that frequency was used as an organizing aid rather than the primary determinant of phenomenological significance.

What distinguishes this study from a greater phenomenological report is that the narratives are arranged in a “blended” approach (Glense, 2011). Although participants are examined individually, the large-scale results and implications involved blending and consolidating interview data–thus capturing a collective phenomenon. Although atypical for phenomenological inquiries, themes were loosely assigned based on frequency, which helped the researcher to distinguish what was phenomenal or singular about participants’ narratives (van Manen, 2017), and the depth to which these experiences happened across interviews. The overall goal was to provide an unvarnished depiction of the lived phenomena within the school-to-prison pipeline. No special instrumentation needed for data collection or analysis; instead the lived experiences of the participants were reported from participant narratives (van Manen, 2017). The next section presents the study’s findings.

6. Findings

Figure 1 presents the study’s findings related to the two research questions. Again, the following research questions guided the study: What are the educational experiences of Black males in U.S. public schools, specifically related to discipline? What are the most salient factors that contribute to school disaffection for Black males?

6.1. Theme #1: Counterproductive Discipline

The first research question examined the experiences of Black males in U.S. public schools, and gathered specific insight into school discipline. Throughout the participants’ responses, the theme of Counterproductive Discipline surfaced in many of their answers. Here, counterproductive discipline describes disciplinary measures that are disruptive to learning and fail to abate misbehavior. To begin this discussion, Hasaan describes how he believes in-school suspension [ISS] and detention are counterproductive to academics. He notes:

Often in detention, kids don’t really have to do nothing. You can just sit there and chill. I feel like I don’t know if detention really works, but I think it would work good if kids had to do community service. Suspensions, I think it depends on the case… there’s a lot of race stuff that goes on with stuff like that [and] kids don’t deserve that.

Whereas Hasaan describes the derelict nature of student discipline, Jonathan describes the carceral nature of punishments. He asserts:

Punishment is so, in a lot of places, so arbitrary. And it’s very indicative to like this idea of you have to like suffer. If I make you suffer, then it will all be worth it. These kids aren’t suffering when they’re suspended. They’re going home. They’ll be in Instagram. They’re just having a good time. They ain’t learning nothing. And then they come back and they literally wear the laurel of glory because they beat the shit out of [someone] and they got day off from school for it.

Another participant, Braxton, cautions that the consequences of carceral discipline are counterintuitive.

They call it punishment, [but] at the same time the child already probably doesn’t want to go to school. So if you’re kicking them out, you know, they’re going to assume “I guess I don’t need to be here,” or “They don’t want me here” type of situation. That’s how I felt when I was being suspended.

He continues:

And what would those kids be doing? What do they do when they’re not in school? Nothing, sitting at home. I know that personally, because I had a lot of friends that used to get suspended, including me. I mean, we didn’t really do anything, because your parents at work or out doing whatever, you know, most of the time. So they’re not really doing anything productive when they’re not in school.

As displayed, Hassan, Jonathan, and Braxton all describe punitive school discipline. Additionally within this theme of Counterproductive Discipline, the influence of school discipline on student identity formation is important to note. Another participant, Langston, describes the role of labeling theory within the realm of carceral discipline. In a description of in-school suspension [ISS] or school detention, he cautions:

Kids are so used to being there, and once a kid has been in trouble like once or twice, you’re labeled a troublemaker. So it’s like the odds of recidivism is pretty high. And then after a while the kids start looking at it like a vacation spot.

As Langston expresses, the overall aim of school discipline is counterproductive for students who eventually–through recidivism, labeling, and repeat offenses–treat suspension like “a vacation spot.” As saliently described above, counterproductive nature of school discipline surfaced throughout the participants’ interviews. Within this theme, the following subthemes were evident: In Trouble for Talking, Teachable Moments, and Alternative Forms of Discipline. The first subtheme, In Trouble for Talking is presented in the following section.

6.1.1. In Trouble for Talking

Each participant recalled various forms of punitive discipline in their past K-12 schooling experiences. Within their descriptions, discussions of place, context, time, and location were also mentioned. One unexpected subtheme that emerged within the boarder theme of Counterproductive Discipline was In Trouble for Talking. Here, participants described isolated moments of being reprimanded for speaking out of turn. Considering that this topic served as a tributary element within the larger overall theme of Counterproductive Discipline, it served as a subtheme instead of a theme. To begin this conversation, it important to observe Langston’s comment. He describes the following defining moment:

There was like one moment at school that changed my whole education experience. My English teacher, ninth grade, said “What is this an example of on the board?” She didn’t ask for hands or anything, and I said, “alliteration.” In fact, alliteration was the answer. She turned around, she threw a book at the door and said get the hell out of my room, opened the door, and threw a desk out and kicked me out of class. I’m still confused about why I got kicked out that day.

While Langston’s experience left him surprised, others were less stunned. Marcus reflects:

I would be like talking out of turn, holding side conversations or really being disruptive when I was in the classroom with teachers that I didn’t like. When you feel like the teacher doesn’t respect you—you’re automatically guilty.

Others, such as Hasaan, Sean, and William, also reflected on the numerous times punitive discipline would derive from talking out of turn. Hasaan notes, “Yeah, you know, like we in line for lunch, and I’m just talking. You know, so that’s when a lot of my suspensions happened was I would get in trouble for talking at school. I got in some serious trouble in middle school.” Additionally, Sean also describes how talking was the source of many disciplinary infractions. He mentions “I was a talker. I still am a talker. So it wasn’t like I was disrespectful, I would just be talking.” Additionally, William mentions how excessive talking was the source of his disciplinary problems. He notes:

I got in trouble. I got written up… I got called to the principal maybe five or six times in elementary school. I got in trouble in class quite a bit by my second-grade teacher especially for talking too much in class… I got a lot of notes home from second grade.”

While several participants described points of contention related to disruptive talking, other participants recalled Teachable Moments, which is the second subtheme. This is further explained in the section to follow.

6.1.2. Teachable Moments

Related to the overall theme of Counterproductive Discipline, the important subtheme of Teachable Moments also surfaced. Here, a teachable moment is defined when “a teacher has the opportunity to deliver a message about a concept or a procedure in such a way that [is meaningful] for students and they thereafter understand that concept [better]” (Thompson, 2008, p. 19). The “conventional wisdom” concerning teachable moments occurs when something is revealed that was once formerly hidden (Thompson, 2008, p. 19). To better understand this concept, Sean’s testimony provides an excellent example. He reflects:

One time, I set some tissue paper on fire at the school. And so I got suspended for a couple of days. And it was on some just boys being boys, like let’s see something burn. And I was the one that said, sure, I’ll do it. And everybody snitched on me. So, when I lit the fire on school, they threatened me with like expulsion and everything. And the principal said, well, we could suspend you for the year and you’d be done. But what would that do? You’re a good kid. You made a bad decision. So I had to do this full book report on arson, had to visit the fire department. Like it was this big deal. And I think I got like two days of ISS, in school suspension for it, kind of, you know. But I learned from it. So I think there are moments where there needs to be real consequences, but it needs to be a teachable consequence.

He continues:

Yeah, you know, so sometimes some of the incidents where I see kids getting suspended for, it’s like, well what did you get suspended for? Well, I cussed at the teacher. Well, you know, what were you trying to do? Well, I was trying to tell her, like I didn’t know the damn math problem. But what they heard, what the school heard was damn, and you’re suspended. But really the real issue was he don’t know the math problem. Yeah, and he’s frustrated. And so I think in those incidents, yes, there should not be a suspension, like there needs to be a deeper intervention or strategies to really address behaviors and the root of the behavior.

While Sean described an experience of his principal using his misbehavior as a teachable moment, other participants describe the opposite effect. Many participants described missed opportunities for “teachable moments,” especially concerning discipline. In the overall misunderstanding of Black student behavior, many teachers prescribed punishments without apprehending the underlying causes of students’ misbehavior. To explicate this point, Jonathan provides the following reflection:

Honestly, I’m not trying to be funny. I do believe in the work of restorative justice practices. Allowing the person who has caused the harm to repair it… I think that there’s a place and space for kids to repair the harm they caused. Why should the custodian clean up the graffiti that you painted? No, you roll up your sleeves, for all the kids, roll up your sleeves and clean it up. We’ve detached ourselves from what it means to give kids responsibility.

In addition to the dialectical nature of teachable moments, Marcus further problematizes teachers’ and administrator’s use of punitive discipline without recourse. In doing so, this eradicates opportunities for “teachable moments.” He asserts:

So are we disciplining our children in the schools to help them to feel that they are a problem? I mean, children are not gonna be 100% in line with everything that an adult instructs them. But it’s like slavery, man. You know, how you gonna take an 8-year-old and punish them so severely—when they’re just being a [typical] 8-year old? They don’t have the understanding to be totally in line and upright about every single thing. How do you have such a lack of love and compassion for a child to where your first thought is to remove them? You’re teaching them that they’re a problem. You’re teaching them that they can’t do anything right.

As demonstrated in Marcus’s reflection, “teachable moments” are two-fold. Often punitive discipline sends both explicit and implicit messages to students about behavior and respectability. As such, this unavoidably impacts student identity formation. This is addressed in greater detail in the second theme.

6.1.3. Alternative Forms of Discipline

The last subtheme related to the Counterproductive Discipline theme is Alternative Forms of Discipline. Here, participants describe the ways school discipline could be better administered and more effective. Daniel notes that extraction from the learning environment should be avoided, if possible. He asserts:

I think suspension and all types of suspensions should be like last resorts…So if the kid gets kicked out of the classroom, because there could be other issues that you just got to—that they’re dealing with. Or it could just be a specific teacher, you know?

Jonathan, an educator, describes his frustrations–both as a former student and current school administrator. He mentions, “sometimes we have to just think differently about how we think about the punitive measures we do to kids.” He continues:

Obviously, suspensions aren’t working. Expulsions aren’t. Like all these punitive things that we’ve come up with, these consequential structures that are antiquated and old and not working, they are not working. So, I’m a big proponent of restorative justice, restorative practices. I see their place… I do believe like it’s a huge mind shift to say, you know, we’re not gonna suspend him. What we’re gonna do is, we’re gonna talk to him.

Similar to Jonathan, Theo also describes alternative forms of discipline that are helpful for students. He describes the importance of incorporating mental health components. Theo states:

I think that is amazing. I think with my little ADD self I think learning how to like mindful meditation, you know, I think that would have been excellent… Elementary, middle and high school—I was either kicked out or suspended out of all those schools… But suspension don’t do nothing but make me miss work.

William similarly notes how student discipline and appropriate consequences are often incongruent. He notes:

I think that there are consequences to actions and that the consequences have to fit the infraction. I think sometimes removing a child from a situation is something that has to be done, but when they’re not in school we know also that they’re not learning. And that increases their opportunity to get into more trouble. I feel like a lot of folks are proponents of removing children from learning opportunities. But the question is, how do you balance that? I do know that removing them is not the optimal answer.

Throughout participant interviews, the discussion of alternative forms of discipline surfaced in response to the counterintuitive nature of school suspensions and expulsion. Considering that Counterproductive Discipline was the primary theme for the first research question, participants provided recommendations for reform that encompassed more restorative practices. Participants recommend for suspensions and expulsions to be “the last resort,” and caution against students being removed from the learning environment. In this regard, restorative justice practices are seen as a replacement for extractive discipline. The next section details the data from the second research question.

6.2. Theme #2: Untapped Potential

With regard to the second research question, participants were asked to describe their K-12 educational experiences and provide any salient memories. Throughout the participants’ responses, the theme of Untapped Potential surfaced as a starting point for many of their descriptions of school disaffection. Here, “untapped potential” signifies the underdeveloped capabilities of students who fail to meet academic, personal, or social achievements due to lack of interpersonal or intrapersonal support. With regard to school disaffection, or an overall disinterest in school, this phenomenon is often described as a cognitive or emotional detachment from school (Robinson et al., 2015). One participant, Langston, describes feeling judged and mischaracterized by his teachers–which ultimately led to various forms of educational detachment. He notes:

So just knowing that that teacher didn’t like me, didn’t think much about me. And I know the way I appeared, like back then I had like cornrows, I had big clothes, so maybe I was being judged or whatever based on how I looked… But the teachers I knew that cared about me, I never got kicked out. I always wanted to be in class, you know? The teachers that I got kicked out, they despised me from the day I walked in class. The teachers, I felt like they were always trying to find a reason for me to be out… That’s controlling.

Specific to school disaffection, Sean describes feelings of disinterest that stemmed from feeling overlooked and undervalued by his teacher. He notes:

So the very first time I could think I was like legit disinterested in school was in the second grade. So in my school you did these academically gifted testing and what not. And my second-grade teacher… kind of moved kids in the classroom based on who she wanted to work with kind of thing. And I remember sitting in class being like, “Well why I can’t get to play with the Legos”? And it was like this experiential activity, you know, whatever to kind of help prepare the smarter kids or whatever. And once I wasn’t selected for this group, I was like, “What? Man, forget it.” And so that was the first time I remember feeling like that… I was just like, I don’t care what this lady [the teacher] say to me anymore. So yeah, that was my first experience, and I remember that vividly in class. She wouldn’t let us play with the Legos.

Like Sean, Langston similarly shares memories of being disliked by his teachers. He even describes how this led to observable disaffection, which eventually caused him to be suspended from school. Langston describes:

I was removed from class a lot. Several times a month. You know, I think it was mainly not because I was a clown, but because the teachers, the relationship, like my teachers didn’t like me. So if my teachers didn’t like me, I’m not gonna always do what they want me to do, or I’m not gonna be so kind.

Specific to feelings of disaffection, Hasaan mentions that, for him, this started in middle school. He recalls:

I know in middle school my disinterest kind of started because like being cool started coming around, you know, and I was kind of like never had no girlfriends and stuff like that. So I started, you know, trying to imitate these guys that did have girlfriends. And that’s pretty much all it was, was like the girls, just trying to be cool for the girls.

Similarly, Jonathan mentions that his entry to high school was fraught with feelings of disaffection and notes:

So I think back to 9th grade and what caused me to be disinterested. I think it might have been just the awkwardness of teenage years. Just like the sense of not belonging, if you will. I missed like well over 60 days of my 9th grade year. The way my brother was in and out of juvenile halls, in and out of prison, as long as the principal, nobody called my house, my father was like, oh praise God. And as long as I brought home good grades.

For Hasaan and Jonathan, school disaffection stemmed from external factors which remained unrecognized by teachers and administrators in school. To that end, one subtheme within the larger theme of Untapped Potential discusses a specific age range where participants felt most vulnerable: middle and high school. As such, Age Transitions surfaced as its own subtheme, which is discussed in the subsection to follow.

6.2.1. Age Transitions

Related to school disaffection and the feelings of Untapped Potential, participants also described specific age milestones that were impactful in their educational careers. Here, many of these responses focused specifically on the transitional nature of the middle and high school years. For example, Marcus notes, “I began to get in trouble in middle school. I think I might have had in-school suspension [ISS] a couple of times.” Similarly, William recalls, “In seventh grade I had a difficult time with the teacher.” As such, Age Transitions surfaced as an imperative subtheme. Like Marcus, William defines middle and high school years as the most troublesome. Embedded within his testimony, he attempts to explain why the middle and high school years were the most taxing. William describes:

I would say that high school was quite awkward because of the development stages that children go through, learning to navigate the different kind of social climate in exercising in learning people skills. School was not difficult. I enjoyed that part of it. It was academically challenging. I was often the only minority in my classes, because I was in a lot of advanced classes, so I was often the only minority in those classrooms… But it was a time of finding myself, I think.

Unlike William, Jonathan explains his experience in a school that was not academically challenging. Notwithstanding, high school was a pivotal moment in his career. Jonathan mentions:

So 9th grade was just like the typical “I don’t want to be there” kind of teenage attitude—I just felt very different. I felt very, very different. And granted, I didn’t go to the best high school in the world… very tough, very low performing, low achieving school, a lot of at-risk kids at that school. But I just did not feel I belonged in that school at all. I felt very detached, very, very detached.

Like Jonathan, Marcus also described an awareness of his substandard education in middle school, and thus an overall disinterest in school. He recalls:

I think it became apparent that my education was subpar sometime in middle school, to be honest. It’s interesting because often times young people you can’t articulate with our words how we feel. But in retrospect, when I think about why it was that at a certain point I became totally disinterested in school, it’s like that was what was going on.

Aside from structural issues mentioned by William, Jonathan, and Marcus, participants also described the culminating factors of pubescence, hormones, and maturity–all of which are typically experienced during middle and high school years. William describes:

I wanted to be cool. I wanted to fit in. Not because I didn’t have the aptitude, but because I didn’t want to do it. And there was just a lot going on. I was still developing as a child, these new hormones and stuff also contributed to that. But I really had that fit-in stage.

Similarly, Braxton notes, “I did get suspended in middle school a lot. Basically hanging out with the wrong people and getting disconnected from what I needed to focus on in school.” Overall, participants described an important developmental milestone in their academic years related to school disaffection and the overall theme of Untapped Potential.

6.2.2. Enrichment

The last subtheme within the larger theme of Untapped Potential was the importance of extracurriculars, mentoring, and enrichment. As such, Enrichment served as its own subtheme. School enrichment is defined as “programs and experiences designed to supplement classroom learning for students in grades K-12, typically occurring during or after school hours” (Mance, 2021, para. 1). Participants were asked to respond to interview questions like: If you could change anything about school today, what would it be? Why do future generations need this change? Who or what motivated you to go to school as a child? If that motivation were not there, how do you think your life would have been different? In response to these questions, Braxton describes the importance of afterschool activities. He asserts:

Giving [students] opportunities, like as simple as after school programs… Because a lot of times, as a kid, they just don’t know what to do. And they have that 18-year-old that didn’t go to college that’s still at home leading them into the wrong direction.

Braxton continues:

We didn’t have like Boys and Girls Clubs and different after school programs where kids can go and, you know, be mentored and learn different things outside of school. So, you know, that’s what—it’s a lot of killing and all that stuff, [and] that’s the reason a lot of it’s happening. And a lot of them are so young, everybody that’s dying or shooting somebody is like 18 to 25 or 30, so they don’t have options.

William also describes his experiences in afterschool activities and how transformative they were to his academic career. He mentions:

I was in a group of boys, we had this like mentoring group, and we—I forgot the name of it. But some guys at the local college, Black men, had a group of Black boys and we would go there I think once a week, and we would eat and, you know, we would study. They would do different things with us, like different programming. One in particular I remember was self-defense. We did a self-defense. We would do basketball and stuff like that.

In response to why this enrichment program is important, William explains the importance of positive gender and racial representation. He asserts:

I think surrounding Black boys with Black men is very important—that generational mentorship, especially older Black men to young Black men, it seems to be very important. I think that if you infuse children, especially boys, with affirmation, you’ve got to tell them that there’s life after survival mode, and that if they can stay the course, then good things will happen. It’s easy to see it from someone who’s been on the road, from people that are just trying to all navigate it together. I think also acknowledging that you don’t have to be perfect to be successful.

In the participants’ narratives, Enrichment–through the role of mentoring, extracurriculars, and various programming–is a mediating factor for Black male students. As Braxton and William mention, the positive effects of enrichment prove useful both inside and outside of the classroom. This warrants further exploration in future research.

7. Discussion

In the framework of critical race theory [CRT], counter-storytelling serves as a vital methodological tool designed to challenge and subvert majoritarian discourse about Black youth. Existing dominant narratives often depict distorted realities and reify existing bias about students and communities of color. Unfortunately, the prevailing narrative today centers a deficit-based perspective of Black students, with studies on “achievement gaps” unfortunately still common (Cabral-Gouveia et al., 2023; Wu & Shen, 2025). Even within the realm of educational reform discourse, Black male students are often quantitatively examined through the lens of behavioral deviance, academic underperformance, and social apathy (Brislin et al., 2024; Hines et al., 2022; Wood et al., 2021), without a qualitative examination of their lived educational experiences. This study, instead, aims to provide an insider’s look into the school-to-prison pipeline from the perspective of Black male students. Participants in this study provide counternarratives to mainstream discourse by describing their own educational experiences. In doing so, this study centers the lived experiences of Black male students for themselves, by themselves.

This study examined the following research questions: What are the educational experiences of Black males in U.S. public schools, specifically related to discipline? What are the most salient factors that contribute to school disaffection for Black males? The study suggests that Counterproductive Discipline and Untapped Potential were the most salient themes related to Black male schooling experiences. This is complementary to existing studies on Black male achievement (Brooms, 2014; Harper, 2009; Harper & Davis, 2012; Hopkins, 1997; Lewis et al., 2010; Schott Foundation, 2012). Notwithstanding, this study is distinct for its use of student counternarratives as authentic sources of data. Research consistently finds that student removal from academic settings, such as in-school suspension [ISS], detention, out-of-school suspensions [OSS], and expulsions, are inherently problematic (Kim et al., 2010; Lewis et al., 2010; Schott Foundation, 2012). Participants note that not only are these measures disruptive to student learning, they are counterproductive in ensuring recourse (Losen et al., 2017).

Aside from the carceral nature of criminalization, the academic repercussions of missed instructional time deserves further study. One participant, Braxton, emphatically suggests that “there [are] other ways to teach discipline instead of making a child miss a week of school or even a month.” Considering that this participant has firsthand experience with extractive school discipline, and ultimately suggests that there are “other ways to discipline,” this should be further examined. Racial discrepancies in student discipline also warrants greater attention. Research suggests that even for the same discipline infractions, African American male students surveilled more closely are more likely to receive harsher punishments than their White peers (Bell, 2021; Hilberth & Slate, 2014; Losen & Gillespie, 2012). In fact, Harper’s (2017) national study found that 55% of all Black student suspensions originated from thirteen southern states in 2011–2012. Within these thirteen states, in 84 districts, Black students represented 100% of the student suspensions (Harper, 2017). Although a regional analysis of participant narratives extended beyond the scope of this study, this systemic issue is still important to note. Notwithstanding, Hasaan mentions that “… there’s a lot of race stuff” that is deeply interconnected to school discipline and ultimately, “kids don’t deserve that.” For Black male participants in this study, the unjust nature of school discipline hinged largely on race.

Participant experiences with counterproductive discipline closely align with research on selective exclusion (Kupchik & Ward, 2014). Here, the extent to which students were removed from classroom instruction varied–ranging from serval times a month to once an academic year, on average. Kupchik and Ward (2014) note that disparities in school security measures are evident in classroom spaces and also in school security technology, where certain populations are surveilled more closely. Similar to existing discourse on the school-to-prison pipeline, participants’ removal from classroom environments were often due to subjective classroom disruptions, not threats to school safety. Hasaan describes “I would say something in class, and next thing you know you’re the class clown because you’re trying to always get that laugh and now, you’re failing.” Subjective interpretations of student behavior, and convenient use of student removal, are laced with implicit bias. Within the realm of school discipline, teachers and administrators possess tremendous power in the disruption–or cultivation–of students’ learning experiences. As frequently noted, one counterproductive consequence of extractive discipline is missed instructional time. In an analysis of this phenomenon, Langston suggests the overreliance on carceral discipline is an avoidant mechanism for teachers. He notes:

It gives teachers an escape route for not really building those relationships or building what they need to make sure a kid is going to be successful. So it’s kind of like, okay, go, go ahead and go to ISS. I’m gonna write you up to get you suspended, so I won’t have to deal with you… So it’s kind of like creating again those two different worlds in school to where, you know, the winners or the people that are really prospering from the education are the kids that don’t look like you or me. And I don’t like that.

As earlier mentioned, the above sentiments are confirmed in existing discourse on racial bias in school discipline, which suggests that Black males are 3.6 times more likely to be suspended or expelled than their White counterparts (Darling-Hammond & Ho, 2024) and sixteen times more likely to be suspended than their White female counterparts (U.S. Department of Education, 2014). Research suggests that these discrepancies in suspensions are often due to subjective discipline proceedings, not inherent racial differences in student deviance or criminality (Skiba et al., 1997, 2002; Skiba & Williams, 2014). This is important to note, as explicit and implicit bias are still embedded within school discipline processes–six decades after Stern’s (2023) and Hinton’s (2016) research on the history of surveillance in schools and communities of color.

Also embedded within the Black male experiences is the idea of racial identity formation, which describes an overall awareness of a racialized existence. Racial identity formation is reiterated throughout the schooling process. Langston demonstrated an awareness of this in relation to school discipline, when he recalls “usually the kids that are being suspended or put in ISS [were] the Black and Brown kids.” Bell (2021) characterizes U.S. schools as structurally violent, “anti-Black institutions” (p. 11). Similarly, Brooms (2014) asserts that “the public educational system plays an important role in the socialization of adolescent Black males” (p. 196), often in negative ways. This sort of racialization is important to consider, especially with regard to cultural mismatch between minority student populations and White teachers (Emdin, 2016). Considering that 79% of U.S. teachers are White and have been near the eightieth percentile over the last five decades (NCES, 2023), the reality of cultural mismatch is common in U.S. classrooms. Here, cultural mismatch describes racial incongruence between teachers and students (Douglas et al., 2008; Emdin, 2016; McGrady & Reynolds, 2013; Milner & Hoy, 2003). This is particularly important to note in relation to racial threat theory [RTT]. Here, racial threat theory describes the phenomenon which suggests “a growing proportion of people of color threatens the racial and economic dominance of White people and will be accompanied by higher levels of social control” (Welsh et al., 2025, p. 89). While this is typically observed on national or political scale in response to changing demographics and threats to power, researchers have drawn connections between RTT and education (Lee, 2023; Welch & Payne, 2010, 2018).

Related to RTT, the U.S. Census Bureau supports longitudinal predictions of increased racial diversity among U.S. K-12 students over the next thirty-five years. Student populations are expected to reach 64% students of color by 2060 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020). As such, as White teachers will continue to be outnumbered by U.S. student populations, while their classrooms are “browning” (Bryant et al., 2017). Existing studies confirm that race is often a source of classroom dissonance (Dee, 2003; Ford & Sassi, 2014; Milner & Hoy, 2003), particularly in relation to student discipline. Mathias (2013) notes that many Black and Brown students are misunderstood by White teachers, who have a different cultural ethos. This leads to incongruences in communication style, instructional relevance, racial norms, and cultural miscues. Research suggests that teachers typically perceive Black and Brown students negatively in contrast to their White counterparts (McGrady & Reynolds, 2013), and ultimately–these racial attitudes affect student achievement. Participants’ testimonies about the enduring issue of bias have exponential implications for today’s Black male students.

In relation to the second research question, participants in this study exhibited perceptions of unfair treatment, irrelevant curricula, and unengaging instruction–all of which led to feelings of emotional or academic disinterest in schooling. This sort of righteous indignation is best described by Marcus who plainly notes, “I don’t see how school was helping me figure out the things that were most important to me in my life.” Throughout the interviews, many participants describe fractures between schooling and real-life relevance. This demonstrates curricular and pedagogical limitations, not student [in]ability. In this same vein, it is important to negate problematic discourse on Black male achievement, which falsely attributes student cognition or academic inferiority to performance disparities (Ogbu, 2004; Ogbu & Simons, 1998; Payne, 1998/2005). Many existing studies promote deficit-based narratives about students and communities of color (Irvine, 1990). To that end, the exhaustive research on minority student underachievement is problematic in two-folds: (1) it fails to acknowledge systemic discrepancies in opportunity and access; and (2) it fails to acknowledge the role of relevancy and engagement in the learning process. Konold et al. (2018) warn that student engagement should be monitored as a proximal outcome within intervention efforts. Yet, considering that current models of education normalize White, middle-class ethos (Ighodaro & Wiggan, 2011; Kunjufu, 2002), there are ample studies that provide strategies to better engage Black students (Emdin, 2016; Hopkins, 1997). Ladson-Billings (1994), for example, notes that African American students who attend schools specifically designed for their unique learning needs tend to succeed, even when previous school experiences are unsuccessful. Hopkins (1997) finds that students are better engaged in learning and demonstrate an increased sense of belonging when they are exposed to mentorship opportunities. Emdin (2016) similarly tasks educators with making meaningful connections to students and communities. In doing so, Emdin (2016) recommends for teachers to study the cultural contexts in which they teach. Participant narratives support this direction of research, as their testimonies of school disaffection were often mediated by outreach programs and yearnings to be better understood.

Findings suggest that student disengagement typically stems from both internal and external factors. This research revealed Age Transitions as a key contributor to school detachment. One participant, Marcus, conclusively describes the pitfalls of today’s educational contexts and notes:

Now people would tell you, you need this, this, that and the other for your future. You’ve got to make sure you get good grades because if you get good grades then you can get a scholarship, and if you get a scholarship then that will be your way into college. And if you go to college, then you can get a degree. And if you get a degree, you can get a good job, start a family and live happily ever after. That’s what they’d say, but I mean, when you’re 13 years old, you’re trying to figure out yourself, I guess it’s puberty. You’re trying to learn yourself socially. You’re trying to figure out not only how you fit with the student body, but you’re also trying to figure out your place, your parents’ place, your family’s place in society. Now, you’re not gonna sit a 12-year-old down and articulate that very directly, but I think that’s what’s going on. But then you spend all this time in school, and it’s not addressing any of these things at any time. And so how do you become attracted to something you can’t see yourself in?

Marcus’s reflections on the dissonance between schooling and the lived experiences of Black males is a compelling argument for educational reform. Throughout his narrative, he speaks to larger issues of relevance and placemaking. Whereas current discourse projects societal factors as inhibitors for learning, Marcus instead reorients the discussion to instead focus on how schooling served as a distraction–due to its irrelevance. This perspective is illuminating as misperceptions about student priorities and disaffection are often filtered through racial and socioeconomic bias (Harris, 2006; Robinson et al., 2015). Marcus instead provides a counternarrative that details evident disconnects between archaic systems of learning and the everyday experiences of Black male students. Whereas this topic has been addressed, in part, through research on culturally responsive pedagogy (Emdin, 2016; Ladson-Billings, 2006), student perspectives are still largely missing in its justification.

Considering the current status in education, it is important to offer enrichment and mentoring, specifically for Black male students. The findings demonstrate that middle and high school years provide the greatest opportunities for student support and outreach. Whereas the last fifteen years have demonstrated “significant” bipartisan support for early learning programs (First Five Years Fund, 2026), which are unquestionably important, participants indicate further scaffolding is also needed in middle and high school. In this way, it is important to provide corrective counternarratives in educational research, such as these, to better align optimal targets for educational interventions.

In contradistinction to existing discourse, student success is often attributed to instructional factors, not a lack of intelligence or inherent disinterest among particular student subgroups (Ladson-Billings, 2006; Perry et al., 2003). Additionally, in relation to school discipline, most students with disciplinary records are underserved and misunderstood.

By documenting these unique perspectives, this research exposes the systemic inequities of carceral discipline. Participants’ indignation towards their perceived unfair treatment recasts existing research on student apathy and disaffection as an incomplete story (Harris, 2006; Robinson et al., 2015). Participants expose harmful disparities–such as the lack of available mentors, ill-trained teachers, knowledge of “subpar” schooling, teacher bias, and counterproductive discipline—as contributors to, and byproducts of, the educational underservice of Black males in U.S. schools. The innerworkings of these factors is largely unexplored in mainstream discourse. This research attempts to provide firsthand narratives within these failed systems. Ultimately, these counternarratives validate the voices of Black male students and transform their personal experiences into powerful evidence for greater educational understanding. In doing so, this study recasts Black males as participants and cocreators, not subjects, in educational reform research.

8. Limitations

While directly beneficial to the study, one unavoidable limitation of this research is the retroactive nature of the interview design. Considering that participants reflected on memories over 10+ years old, responses were filtered through more matured lenses in retrospect. As such, the maturation of participants in present-day inevitably distills their retroactive responses. Additionally, given that certain educational conditions—such as Common Core State Standards [CCSS], COVID-19, virtual learning, artificial intelligence [AI], etc.—have recently altered the educational landscape, participant responses are not necessarily reflective of the contemporary experiences of students today. Notwithstanding, there are several considerations that the researcher made to mitigate potential biases and ensure accuracy of retrospective accounts of schooling, including the study design and participant selection. Since the nature of this study sought to report the lived experiences of Black males, the researcher allowed participants’ narratives to serve as the guiding lens for data reporting and analysis. Long salient quotes were provided as a way to depict, in detail, the phenomenological experiences of Black males in U.S. schools without influence from the researcher. Convenience sampling through the researcher’s personal and professional networks also helped to ensure that participants felt comfortable sharing unredacted details from their experiences. As such, this study provides an imperative approach to educational reform by repositioning Black students as cogenetic agents in their own narratives of indignance. This is needed in current discourse.

9. Conclusions

Lawrence Jackson’s Indignant Generation provides compelling narratives of African American life in the 1930s–1960s. Nestled between the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights Movement, Black members of the indignant generation offered imperative perspectives that portrayed a troubled time in American history. In doing so, narratives from Jackson’s indignant generation expanded the scope of public discourse beyond White acceptability. This same inquiry into the unpolished experiences of Black students today is warranted. Black students today grapple with systemic racism, albeit in different forms, including disparities in education, policing, and socioeconomic opportunities. Specific to education, participants in this study detail the unique experiences and perspectives of Black males in U.S. schooling. Cradled between Generation X [War on Drugs, Reaganomics, etc.] and Generation Z [COVID-19, digital learning, Common Core, artificial intelligence], Black male millennials represent an imperative demographic in relation to school discipline.

Schooling in the 1990s and early 2000s was hallmarked by zero tolerance policies, No Child Left Behind, 11 September [and subsequent Black/Brown/Islamic] xenophobia, the school-to-prison-pipeline, and privatized prisons. As such, with the insurgence of racial disparities in school suspensions and expulsions, Black students from this generation provide imperative insights into the lived experiences of carceral discipline. In the case of both Jackson’s indignant generation and students in this study, African Americans rely on counter-storytelling to author their own stories and [re]situate their experiences both within–and in contradistinction to–existing discourse. Most impressively, Black perseverance and “excellence” has survived, despite the structural and institutional abandonment of Black youth in most U.S. school settings.

Currently, there is scant literature documenting the narratives and experiences of students impacted by the school-to-prison pipeline. While student dropouts, school disaffection, and carceral discipline all feed into the prison-industrial complex, there are limited studies that capture the perspectives of students once labeled “at-risk.” Unfortunately, these issues are often isolated in disparate disciplines (i.e., criminal justice, education policy, sociology, etc.). In this study, Black males shared stories of educational indignance in unredacted form. These testimonies provide counternarratives to existing studies, which are often devoid of firsthand accounts.

This study examined the experiences and perspectives of high school graduates who were once tethered to the school-to-prison pipeline through repetitive disciplinary infractions. Instead of examining the school-to-prison pipeline exclusively through an institutional lens, this article provides an insider’s look into Black students’ lived experiences. Findings from this study demonstrate that Counterproductive Discipline and Untapped Potential surfaced as the two most salient factors of Black male learning experiences. Specific subthemes related to school discipline included: In Trouble for Talking, Teachable Moments, and Alternative Forms of Discipline. With regard to the theme of unacknowledged potential, specific subthemes of Age Transitions and Enrichment were pertinent to participants’ memories of schooling. Findings suggest that additional research on the lived experiences of Black students is needed, especially among Black millennials, as counternarratives help to amplify silenced voices. This perspective is needed in educational reform. The exigent findings from this study are important to consider for future directions in educational reform.