Fryer's empirical analysis found - contrary to the popular beliefs of many - that a stigma attached to "acting white" does exist. In integrated schools, black students' popularity rose with their grade point averages but declined when their GPAs rose above 3.5. The disconnect between popularity and academic success was even more dramatic for Hispanics, whose popularity took a sharp dive once grade point averages reached 2.5.
http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/daily/2005/08/17-fryer.html
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Not surprisingly, Fryer calls W.E.B. DuBois, who applied a mastery of several disciplines to the experience of black people in America, his hero. His inspiration, he says, comes from his own background. Marked by family instability, legal skirmishes, and lackluster academics, it bears more resemblance to the upbringings of the troubled black youth he studies than to those of his Harvard colleagues. As Fryer ascends rapidly through the ranks of academia, landing not only an appointment at Harvard but also a plum spot in the Society of Fellows while still in his 20s, friends and family from Florida and Texas are doing jail time.
"I was and still am friends with a lot of people who I thought had incredible talent from where I sat but did not realize their full potential. The question is, Why? What happened? Why did I somehow get out of there and none of my friends did?" he says. "That is my motivation. I'm working to try to understand the condition of me, my friends, and other black Americans."
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