Black men continue to face many challenges in the United States, but their negative portrayal in the media seems to be one of the pervasive challenges facing them. While “occupying” a huge space in the media landscape, one wonders why such a space has not been adequately used to draw public interest/attention to the problems facing Black men. This dilemma with implications for policy outcomes (action/inaction) deserves further theoretical insight. To explore this, the article draws on the critical race theory and white racial frame with the literature on the social construction of Blackness, Black men, and media gatekeeping to advance the argument that the intersections of race, social structures, and media gatekeepers create incentives for the negative portrayal of Black men.

America’s urban communities have continued to face many challenges, especially the challenge of education, for several decades. Although factors such as racial injustice and community-driven problems have been used to explain the educational disparities in predominantly Black urban communities, many Black students, particularly males, have been performing well in the public/magnet school system (K-12). Drawing on a field study conducted at Capital Preparatory Magnet School (CPMS) in Hartford, Connecticut, the findings of the study show that CPMS has not only developed an institutional culture of excellence, but elements of the culture have shaped the school’s academic success for many years.

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