Too Latinx or Not Latinx Enough? Racial Subtexts and Subjectivities in a Predominantly White University

ABSTRACT

This study examines how Latina students attending a predominantly white university in the Pacific Northwestern United States describe their academic and social wellbeing in relation to their racial subjectivities and the racially-charged campus interactions they have experienced. Critical Race Theory and Latina/o Critical Race Theory help us interpret how these students assert the authenticity of their identities in ways that either validate or contest the whiteness that tacitly frames so many aspects of their academic and social lives. These findings open a conversation on a subject that is taboo within Latinx communities and largely invisible within Predominantly White Institutions: how simultaneous claims to Latinx belonging and white privilege play into systemic racism on campus and throughout the U.S.

KEYWORDS:

• Latinx
• white privilege
• higher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies, CLLAS at the University of Oregon [Faculty Research Grant].