Analyzes life histories of professional African American women to illuminate the process of “armoring” among women raised in two kinds of family systems: families of nurturance and support, and families of struggle and survival. The authors believe the armoring process is a critical element of African American women’s psychosocial development as a psychological buffer for self-protection against racism. Armor enables a Black girl to develop and to maintain a sense of self-worth, dignity and beauty in the face of social standards clearly signaling otherwise. The authors found a woman’s armor is as much a coping mechanism against racism as it is against sexism. In fact, in the narratives taken from both groups of women, the parents did not teach their daughters explicit ways for dealing with racism.
