Group Position Theory and Racial Frames: Perceptions of Discrimination among Mexican Americans and Whites

• In Event: 1284 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 24. Latinx Racial/Ethnic Identity

Abstract

This paper examines how perceptions of discrimination shape the content and manner in which Mexican Americans and whites discuss intergroup relations in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The distribution of years of education, income and homeownership between Mexican Americans and whites suggests that racial inequality exists in Albuquerque, as Mexican Americans have disproportionately lower levels of socioeconomic attainment than whites. However, I find that both Mexican Americans and whites explained-away the prevalence of racial inequality in Albuquerque by deploying three race-minimizing frameworks: multiculturalism, class inequality, and spatial minimization. Moreover, I find that Mexican Americans do not view themselves as belonging to a lower-status position within the racial hierarchy relative to whites because of their long history, and sizeable representation in positions of political and economic power in New Mexico. Accordingly, Mexican Americans and whites engage in the reproduction of race-minimizing ideology to protect their perceived privileged status within Albuquerque’s racial landscape. Yet, unlike whites, I argue that the reproduction of race-minimizing ideology among Mexican Americans is rooted in strategies for dealing with discrimination, as they attempt to avoid the anti-immigrant, anti-Mexican stigma within the national racial landscape. Contrary to group position theory, these findings show that Mexican Americans’ positioning within the racial hierarchy is not necessarily compatible with attitudes that highlight and challenge racism. These findings point to how Mexican Americans’ intra-group heterogeneity shapes the diversity in where they position themselves within the local and national racial hierarchies. These findings also suggest that whites and nonwhites can reproduce color-blind ideology regardless of their positioning within the racial hierarchy.

Author

• Casandra Danielle Salgado, University of California-Los Angeles