More Than Just Hoodlums: Chicano/Latino Middle School Boys Challenging Racial Microaggressions

• In Event: Employing Asset-Based Frameworks to Understand Latino Male Achievement in the K-16 Educational Pipeline

Abstract

Racial microaggressions are subtle insults, that can be verbal, nonverbal and/or visual, that are directed towards people of color either on purpose or unconsciously, that end up shaping their experiences throughout the educational system (Solórzano, Ceja, & Yosso, 2000). Whether intentional or unintentional, these practices are often institutionalized within schools and serve as a mechanism to alienate students of color. For Chicano/Latino males, these practices often take the form of severe punishment, lowered expectations and over-representation in special education and remedial courses (Morris, 2012; Saenz & Ponjuan, 2009). Critical Race Theorist have been at the forefront of challenging racial microaggressions and other forms of institutional racism by challenge everyday practices within institutions (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995; Stovall, 2006). While Critical Race Theory has been widely used in education to capture the racialized and gendered experience of undergraduate students (Solórzano, Ceja, & Yosso, 2000; Villalpando, 2003), graduate students (Malagon & Alvarez, 2011; Poon & Hune, 2009), and faculty members of color (Smith, Yosso, & Solórzano, 2006), CRT has not been used to understand how institutional racism and racial microaggressions shape the educational trajectories of students at earlier stages in the pipeline.

Using counterstorytelling as a methodological tool, this study seeks to understand how Chicano/Latino middle school males respond to racial microaggressions that they experience at school and the impact that they have on their aspirations for the future (Delgado, 1998; Yosso, 2006). Counterstorytelling as described by Yosso (2006) is “a method of recounting the experience and perspectives of racially and socially marginalized people” that reflect on the lived experiences of People of Color to raise consciousness about social and racial injustice” (pp.10). As such, counterstorytelling seeks to give a voice to middle school Latino males and allow them to challenge the negative stereotypes that are associated with their community. The study is guided by the following questions: How do Latino middle school students respond to racial microaggressions within school and construct positive outcomes? What factors motivate middle school student to do well academically and begin to plan for college?

Data from this study comes from a yearlong ethnographic study that employed a Critical Race Theory framework to explore the experiences of a group of Chicano/Latino middle school males. Using a homogenous purposeful sampling, 20 Latino males between the ages of 11 to 13 participated in a series of interviews and focus groups (Patton, 2002). Participants answered questions regarding their cultural background, perceptions about race, and their experiences in schools.

Findings revealed that while participants were aware of preferential treatment towards Non-Latino students and other discriminatory practices, they maintained high aspirations and positive attitudes. Rather than giving into the low expectations that they believed school agents had of them, participants used this as motivation to prove them wrong and challenged negative views about Chicano/Latino males. Participants took pride of their ethnic background and used different forms of capital from their community as motivation to succeed academically.

Author

• Eligio Martinez Jr, Tarrant County College