Investigated social pressure to avoid acting white, interviewing relatively high achieving African American and Mexican American students in public and private high schools. Most did not avoid academic achievement to avoid accusations of acting white, and most reported no loss of ethnic identity. They felt strong resentment toward peers'…

Social pressure to avoid "acting White" was explored for high school students in Toledo (Ohio) in schools of differing racial compositions. Thirty-eight high school students, most of whom were Black or Mexican American and 28 of whom were participants in a scholarship incentive program for high-achieving minority students called Toledo…