The disproportionality of African American male students diagnosed with disabilities and placed in special education services compared to their White counterparts raises questions about how students are identified for testing, assessed, and placed into special education in public schools. This study explores the special education placement experiences of parents of African American male elementary-aged students who have a special education placement of specific learning disabled (SLD) or emotional disturbance (ED). The objective was to closely examine parents' lived experiences with their child's identification and placement for special education services and their perceptions regarding their role and ability to advocate for their child during the process. The research was guided by Bell's (1980) Critical Race Theory (CRT), Deutsch's (1967) cultural deficit model, and parental participation concepts, given the focus is on investigating a decisive aspect regarding race within the specific context of parental involvement of African American parents in the special education placement process of their male children. A qualitative case study design was used to conduct the study. Fifteen participants were interviewed, and the data collected was analyzed. While parents reported varied communication methods and advocacies, the actual, expressed, and potential implied barriers participants revealed were: parents voiced concerns about special education placement, parents expressed a lack of adequate knowledge of the entire special education placement process, and parents felt that the special education determination took a long time, parents felt they did not receive adequate support from general education teachers. They recommended the use of experts and the education of parents about placement. The implications of the study and recommendations for future research have been discussed. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]