Trapped between justified anger and being the strong Black woman: Black college women coping with racial battle fatigue at historically and predominantly White institutions
Abstract
Using the unique form of a composite counterstory culled from the experiences of 13 Black women at historically and predominantly White colleges and universities in a Western U.S. state, this paper explores the psychological tensions and silencing Black college women face as they navigate social constructions of their selfhood under a White gaze. This study centers these Black women’s voices through a tradition of storytelling and examines the ways they try to carve their own place by often engaging liberating, yet repressive, historically constructed STRONGBLACKWOMAN imagery to counteract equally silencing Angry Black Woman imagery. The historically and predominantly White institutional spaces within which these women study, live, and play exacerbate this tension, propelling them to model and rely upon stereotypically ‘positive’ representations of Black womanhood to deal with the pain of microaggressions. Altogether, these factors create instances of enhanced racial battle fatigue.
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For Black women, racialized labor includes a continuing battle of perception in terms of being perceived as angry and being perceived as strong.
“For Black women racialized labor includes a continuing battle of perception in terms of being perceived as angry and being perceived as strong, where ghetto is a synonym for the angry Black woman (Corbin, Smith, & Garcia, 2018).”
From The Emergence of Racialized Labor and Racial Battle Fatigue in the African American Student Network (AFAM) (2020) · cites this paper as Corbin, Smith, & Garcia, 2018
For Black people in particular there may be an impetus to disguise emotions in order to avoid being seen as the angry Black person.
“For Black people in particular there may be an impetus to disguise emotions in order to avoid being seen as the angry Black person (Arnold et al., 2016;Corbin et al., 2018).”
From The Emergence of Racialized Labor and Racial Battle Fatigue in the African American Student Network (AFAM) (2020) · cites this paper as Corbin et al., 2018
These women sought support as they labored to determine how to appropriately assert themselves and their authority at the institution without being seen as the angry Black woman.
“These women sought support as they labored to determine how to appropriately assert themselves and their authority at the institution without being seen as the angry Black woman (Arnold et al., 2016;Corbin et al., 2018;Haynes, 2019).”
From The Emergence of Racialized Labor and Racial Battle Fatigue in the African American Student Network (AFAM) (2020) · cites this paper as Corbin et al., 2018
In previous work RBF has been described as a cumulative social-psychophysiological response to racial micro- and macro-aggressions, including hypervigilance, social withdrawal, self-censorship, and questioning one's ability or worth.
“In previous work RBF has been described as a cumulative social-psychophysiological response to racial micro-and macro-aggressions, including hypervigilance, social withdrawal, self-censorship, and questioning one's ability or worth (Corbin et al., 2018;Gildersleeve et al., 2011;Jay, 2009;Smith et al., 2011).”
From The Emergence of Racialized Labor and Racial Battle Fatigue in the African American Student Network (AFAM) (2020) · cites this paper as Corbin et al., 2018
The impact or consequences of anti-Black racism are significant for Black students who may feel unsafe, experience depression, and self-police their own behaviours to avoid further targeting.
“The impact or consequences of anti-Black racism are significant for Black students who may feel unsafe, experience depression, and self-police their own behaviours to avoid further targeting.”
From Black Students’ Experiences of Anti-Black Racism on Campus (2025) · cites this paper as Corbin et al., 2018
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References 79 · Cited by 165
- Authors
- Corbin, N. A., Smith, W. A., & Garcia, J. R.
- Affiliations
- Weber State University (US)
- University of Utah (US)
- Teacher Education Department, Weber State University, Ogden, UT, USA
- Corresponding author
- Corbin, Nicola A.
- Venue
- International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2018-05-14
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 626-643
- ISSN
- 0951-8398 (ISSN-L)
- 1366-5898
- OpenAlex
- W2799462252
- Cited by
- 165
- References
- 79
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 7
- FWCI
- 29.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Critical Race Theory in Education
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Feminist Theory and Gender Studies
- Keywords
- Black college women, racial battle fatigue, microaggressions, predominantly white institutions, historically Black colleges and universities, counter-storytelling, Black womanhood, racial identity, coping, silencing, white gaze
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