Critical 'street race' praxis: advancing the measurement of racial discrimination among diverse Latinx communities in the U.S. Issue 4 (8th August 2021) - Vargas, Edward D.
ABSTRACT: Research demonstrates a causal link between increased exposure to racial discrimination and adverse health outcomes among diverse racial and ethnic populations in the U.S. However, most research on Latinx communities overlooks how discrimination varies according to individual accounts of how their race is perceived by others. To address this gap, our study draws from critical race theory to analyze a new multi-dimensional measure of racial status – 'street race' and its association with discrimination experiences. We analyzed data from the 2015 Latino National Health and Immigration Survey (n = 1, 493). Our main dependent variables are experiences of everyday discrimination and our explanatory variables are five mutually exclusive categories of 'street race.' We estimated a series of logistic regression models, which disaggregated the 'street race' measure, to better understand everyday discrimination experiences across street race categories. We found that Latinxs who are racialized on the street as Black or as Arab/Middle-Eastern relative to White were more likely to have experienced discrimination because of their race/ethnicity. They were also more likely to have experienced discrimination in the employment domain, by police, in the housing market, as consumers in shops or restaurants, and while receiving medical care. Employing a critical race approach, our study expands the conceptual measurement of discrimination to incorporate a more nuanced approach that captures interpersonal racism based on 'street race.' Further research will benefit from employing our 'Critical Street-Race' theory for developing equity-focused multi-level interventions at the interpersonal, community, and policy levels.