WHAT AFRICAN-AMERICAN MOTHERS PERCEIVE THEY SOCIALIZE THEIR CHILDREN TO VALUE WHEN TELLING THEM BRER-RABBIT STORIES

Sociologists and psychologists observe that African American mothers s ocialize their children to enduring Black ''cultural motifs'' and ''st yles of behavior'' rather than ''informed Black values.'' Yet, little empirical data exists on what African American mothers socialize-or pe rceive they socialize-children to value. Using a qualitative, quasi-an alytic inductive technique, in-depth interviews with 30 low-income Afr ican American mothers, who participated in African American Brer Rabbi t storytelling, were examined. The findings suggest that the women's t eachings about Brer Rabbit's trickery include ''informed Black values. '' The women teach that tricks per se are undesirable; however, Brer R abbit's tricks are good because they dramatize highly valued, group-af firming traits, such as ''thinking ahead,'' ''thinking well,'' ''using your head instead of your fist,'' and ''protecting the physically sma ll and defenseless against the physically big and powerful.'' A discus sion of the women's Africentric group-affirming teachings is presented .