George Floyd, Twin Cities, and Racial Literacy: Seeing Race Through the Eyes of Multiethnic Alumni

• In Event: Narratives of Students of Color: Experiences On and Off Campus

Abstract

There are very few longitudinal studies of racial literacy development and even fewer that focus on mixed and multiethnic students and their ongoing awareness of racial issues and identity development. This paper uses longitudinal interview data from 12 multiethnic university alumni who lived in the Twin Cities metropolitan area in Spring 2020, when George Floyd was murdered and a vast uprising ensued in the region and across the country. Participants’ analysis of race relations came from their emerging racial literacy developed during college, particularly from their engagement with mixed student organizing. This racial literacy, combined with geographic proximity, allowed them to have a more nuanced and critical view of Floyd’s murder and the subsequent turmoil/uprising.

Authors

• Orkideh Mohajeri, West Chester University of Pennsylvania

• Marc P. Johnston-Guerrero, The Ohio State University