Racial Battle Fatigue, Role Strain, and African-American Faculty at Public Community Colleges

Book excerpt: African Americans remain disproportionately underrepresented in the faculty ranks at institutions of higher education in the United States. The faculty role is critical to the quality and exchange of teaching and learning, particularly at public community colleges. The extant literature documents how "chilly" campus climates and racially charged encounters can be harmful to African-American faculty. Moreover, along with the traditional responsibilities and demands of the faculty role, African-American faculty members contend with racism, discrimination, and an anti-Black sentiment in academia as a microcosm of society, likely resulting in race-related role strain. Overall, this exploratory study sought to understand the nature and extent to which full-time male and female African-American faculty at public community colleges experience Racial Battle Fatigue because of racial microaggressions (i.e., the exchange and response to race-related mental, emotional, and physical tensions) and the racialized stressors associated with their faculty role.