Multicultural Distress, Critical Consciousness, and Everyday Racism Among Undergraduate Students

• In Event: Critical Consciousness Perspectives on Race and Racism

Abstract

Critical consciousness is the literacy of text and social conditions, particularly structural oppression. Multicultural distress occurs when marginalized people are exposed to dominant cultures. The sample consisted of 370 undergraduate students from an urban university in New Jersey that represented students from racially and economically diverse backgrounds completed three different scales. The results indicated Asian and Black women had significantly higher levels of critical consciousness. Asian women, Black women, and Black men reported significantly higher levels of multicultural distress and frequency of daily racism. Raising one's critical consciousness and awareness of multicultural distress could be a protective factor for marginalized groups to cope with oppression effectively.

Authors

• Franklin Dickerson Turner, Kean University

• Rieko Miyakuni, Winona State University