Un Testimonio Matemático: Language, Mathematics, and Mexican Racialization in Southern California Schools

• In Event: Language and Race in Schools: Transnational Mexico/US Youth Experiences

Abstract

Previous research attends to race/racism in mathematics education, highlighting school mathematics as a racialized (Martin et al., 2024), hierarchical (Shah & Leonardo, 2017), and dehumanizing institutional space (Gutiérrez, 2018). What is still missing in the literature are firsthand accounts of the long-term impacts of the status quo in mathematics education for racialized-Othered students. Drawing on CRT and Latinx critical race theory (LatCrit), I examine my history in mathematics education and the influential role school mathematics played in my racialized identity development as an abject Mexican/honorary white. I exemplify these issues through a testimonio matemático—a critical narration of my experiences in mathematics education as a Mexican American K–12 student and young adult in college. The process of writing and analyzing my testimonio matemático revealed connections between racialization processes, school language policies, mathematics classes, and hegemonic whiteness as fundamental aspects of my educational experiences in K–12 California public schools.

Author

• José Gutiérrez, University of Utah