“It’s Different Here”: Racial Climate and Belonging Across School and Community Contexts for Immigrant-Origin Youth

• In Event: Unapologetically Centering Youth in Theory, Practice, and Praxis

Abstract

Schools’ racial climates are an integral part of youths’ sense of social belonging. Newcomer immigrant youths’ perception of racial climate is an increasingly important topic. We focus on immigrant youths’ perceptions both within and out-of-school contexts of their belonging and racial identities. From two years of ethnographic fieldwork and youth interviews, we find that students experience school and CBO climates differently. Youth often encountered deficit-based assumptions and racialized exclusion tied to language and immigrant background while feeling safe in CBOs. This contrast reveals how racial climate is contextually shaped. This paper contributes work on racial climate and belonging by highlighting immigrant-origin youths’ cross-institutional experiences and naming the structural and relational conditions that foster belonging. Recommendations for policy and praxis are discussed.

Authors

• Sophia Rodriguez, New York University

• Melissa Ortiz, New York University