Strategies of Resistance among Racially Minoritized Students at a Hispanic-Serving Institution: A Critical Race Theory Perspective

ABSTRACT

Employing critical race theory and a student resistance framework, this study qualitatively explored how minoritized college students view and interpret their racialized experiences in academic settings at a Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) and what strategies they have employed to manage and respond to the campus racial climate. Drawn from seven focus groups and eight in-depth interviews, the findings demonstrate that the studied campus promoted racial diversity but failed to facilitate the processes and practices to achieve the educational benefits of a diverse college campus. Study participants were keenly aware of the campus racial climate and encountered racism in a variety of forms. They strategically relied on informal networks for support and collective well-being and also engaged in subtle and creative strategies of resistance. The article includes recommendations for creating equitable, safe, productive environments for racially minoritized students at HSIs and elsewhere.

KEYWORDS:

• Race
• racism
• critical race theory
• campus racial climate
• support networks
• resistance
• Hispanic-serving institution

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. “Minoritized” refers to groups of people not necessarily in the numerical minority who have been assigned socially constructed characteristics of a minority; others view and even treat them as inferior, valueless, and subhuman in order to maintain control and power over them (Shields et al., 2005). We reject this socially constructed power structure.