Recuperando nuestra identidad: AfroLatinx students decolonizing their African lineage. Issue 2 (7th February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: García-Louis, Claudia
• Is Part Of: International journal of qualitative studies in education. Volume 34:Issue 2(2021)
• Page Start: 89
• Page End: 107
• Publication Date: 2021-02-07
• Subjects: Latinx heterogeneity -- decolonizing ethnicity -- AfroLatinx students -- Latinx racialization; Education -- Research -- Periodicals; Éducation -- Recherche -- Périodiques; Sciences de l'éducation -- Méthodes qualitatives -- Périodiques; 370.72
• DOI: 10.1080/09518398.2020.1735561
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0951-8398

Abstract

Abstract: Educational researchers rarely disaggregated by Latinx student's race, replicating the systemic omission of AfroLatinxs within the context of Latinidad and Blackness. The purpose of this study was to highlight AfroLatinx undergraduate college students experiences as members of the Latinx community, and to identify if their racialization as Black impacts their campus experiences and self-identification. I incorporated a critical analysis of the legacy of colonization by underscoring the role of mestizaje as usurper of Latinidad. The narratives of 12 self-identified AfroLatinx students reveal three major themes: their homes served as the primary site where colorist behaviors emerged but schools replicated their insidiousness; their sense of (in)visibility on campus arose from their institutions' inability to recognize their holistic identity as AfroLatinxs; and they actively resisted their marginalization by engaging in decolonizing behaviors. I conclude with an analysis of how institutions operate as colonial sites but AfroLatinxs students are forging a resistance.