"Africans Do Not Fail": Examining the Model Minority Stereotype and Anti-Blackness at a New York City Public School.

This article examines how teachers and counselors at Wilson High School, a predominantly Black public school in the Bronx, perceive and treat West African immigrant students (WAISs) through the lens of the model minority stereotype—a label typically used to describe minority groups perceived as academically successful due to cultural values. Despite adults’ widespread belief that WAISs are high-achieving and well-behaved, these perceptions did not align with the students’ actual grade point averages, which were generally average to below average. Adults attributed WAISs’ academic behaviors to an essentialized “African culture” that supposedly promotes educational success, contrasting it with negative stereotypes of African American culture, which they associated with oppositional attitudes toward schooling. The study highlights how this stereotype affords WAISs symbolic capital and preferential treatment, while also perpetuating intraracial tensions and overlooking the diverse realities and needs of African immigrant students. It recommends that future research and educational policies consider the complex racialization of African immigrants, including their immigrant identities, rather than relying solely on racial or ethnic categorizations.