An Indigenous Mexican High School Club Foregrounding Cultural and Racial-Ethnic Identity Through a University-Community Partnership

• In Event: Bridging Multiple Worlds: Innovative Partnerships to Educate Diverse Democracies Within Culturally and Socioeconomically Diverse Communities

Abstract

Objectives
Research on acculturation of children of Mexican immigrants has focused almost exclusively on inter-ethnic discrimination between youth of different national origins (e.g., U.S. and Mexican; Huyn & Fuligni, 2010; Romero & Roberts, 2003). However, far less is understood about co-national discrimination among Mexican youth and how youth cope with these experiences in the school context. This two-part study examined discrimination experienced by Indigenous Mexican adolescents at a California high school and how they reaffirmed their Indigenous culture and racial-ethnic identity through their student club, RAICES Indígenas de Mexico.

Theoretical Framework
This study was based on the community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) model (Hills, Mullett, & Carroll, 2007), recognized by the U.S. Institute of Medicine, through which researchers collaborate with community members to take actions that address local social problems. RAICES was founded to address results from the first phase of this study, which revealed racial-ethnic discrimination experienced by Oaxaqueño high school students from their mestizo Mexican peers (Cooper, Gonzalez, & Wilson, 2015). In line with CBPAR goals, high school students, administrators, teachers, community members, and the author agreed that developing the club and its activities would be grounded in students’ lived experiences, individual and community needs, salient identities, and interests.

Methods
In a mixed-methods approach, 49 Mexican-heritage high school students (Mage = 15.86; 26 girls) were surveyed about their perceptions of co-national discrimination among Mexican youth. Indigenous Mexican (n = 14) and non-Indigenous Mexican (n = 35) participants completed measures of perceived discrimination and provided written explanations for whether or not they perceived discrimination to be common among Mexican students. In addition, to examine how these adolescents addressed experiences through their participation in RAICES, this study drew from ethnographic evidence collected at club meetings, field trips, and community events over two years.

Results
Quantitative analyses revealed that high percentages of both Indigenous (55%) and non-Indigenous (47%) students perceived co-national discrimination as common among Mexican students. Coding of students’ written explanations for why they agreed or disagreed that such discrimination occurs revealed, in order of frequency: language (55%), including having an accent, not speaking English, not speaking Spanish well, or speaking an Indigenous language; appearance (40%; echoing the view that darker skin color is inferior to lighter skin); and region of Mexico from which students or their families emigrated (35%).

High school students used their membership in RAICES as a platform for organizing and participating in club events and activities that brought their cultural (e.g., traditional Indigenous dance from southern Mexico) and racial-ethnic identities (e.g., Oaxaqueño identity) to the forefront in their school setting (e.g., discrimination video to educate teachers, dance event to represent Oaxaca at a 5 de Mayo high school event).

Significance
This study advances research on how schools can use the CBPAR model linking university researchers with community youth to create partnerships with their growing Indigenous-heritage populations. Through such partnerships, universities can create intergenerational CBPAR opportunities for Oaxaqueño college students to mentor Oaxaqueño adolescents as researchers, helping them succeed in school while coping with prejudice and discrimination.

Author

• Elizabeth Gonzalez, University of California - Santa Cruz