Afro-Latinidad and Schools, a Technicolor Experience: Challenging Essentialism Through Critical Race Theory

• In Event: Challeges in Schools: Race, Class, and Gender Perspectives

Abstract

African-Americans and Latin@s are typically researched as completely distinct groups or as separate communities under the larger heading of Students of Color without sufficient attention given to Afro-Latin@s who culturally and physically embody both communities. The testimonios of two self-identified Afro-Latinas are explored as counterstories to the everyday processes of racialization as experienced by students throughout their K12, undergraduate and graduate studies. The present study asks; How do schooling experiences socialize Afro-Latinas in the understanding of their own race/ethnicity and their racialized learner identities? Critical Race Theory and the metaphorical use of Technicolor reveal the possibilities and limitations present within educational research that addresses race but fall short of sufficiently addressing the complexities at the intersections of race and racism.

Author

• Tuesda Roberts, Michigan State University