Racism and the Experiences of Latina/o College Students at a PWI (Predominantly White Institution)

Abstract

This study explored Latina/o American college students at a predominantly white university in the South. The authors assessed how 12 Latina/o American college students understood racism and racial microaggressions, and developed counter-spaces to navigate the white college milieu. Qualitative analysis revealed instances of racism were dealt with through assimilation and working hard to excel. Additional responses involved aligning themselves with same-race groups and maintaining a high grade point average. Our findings demonstrated that Latina/o students often utilized counter-spaces and determination to excel in college. Finally, a major contribution of our research was that it provided an example of a small case study of Latinas/os, primarily consisting of males, a group that has traditionally been underrepresented in higher education, who performed very well academically at a PWI.

Keywords

sociology Latinas Latinos Hispanics critical race theory LatCrit college students racial microaggressions

Introduction

Currently, 40 percent of Latina/o American college students graduate from college within a six-year period (Robertson, 2013). Only 11 percent of Latinos ages 18–24 hold a bachelor’s degree (Cerezo and McWhirter, 2012). Although more than half of Latina/o college students attend two-year community colleges as opposed to four-year institutions (Llagas and Snyder, 2003), the bulk of Latinas/os attend predominantly white institutions (PWIs) (Gonzalez J, 2010). Latina/o students who successfully matriculate the terrain of higher educational institutions represent a small portion of students enrolled in college compared to their significant presence in primary and secondary schools (Contreras, 2009). Latinos are the largest ethnic group in the USA and, unfortunately, have among the lowest levels of college completion (Astin and Oseguera, 2003; Nunez, 2009). Finally, given the increased diversity missions adopted by most universities and colleges in the nation, it is important to identify the unique concerns, experiences, and qualitative realities provided by Latina/o college students.

Latina/o students attending PWIs have been stereotyped as ‘under qualified’ and ‘lacking intelligence’, and have been made to feel unwanted in these environments (Yosso et al., 2009). Not surprisingly, Latina/o students frequently report racism, discrimination, and isolation while attending PWIs. Unfortunately, traditional retention models (see Tinto, 1993) are frequently inadequate to address the problems that Latina/o college students encounter because these models tend to emphasize assimilation as the gateway to a socially and academically productive college experience. However, opponents of the traditional model argue that assimilation efforts disavow the cultural heritage a Latina/o student desires as well as their need to thrive in the PWI environment (Crisp and Nora, 2010).

Latinas/os represent a very diverse group. A Latino can racially be ‘Black, Asian, Indigenous, White/European, or a mixture of these four’ (Hernandez and Lopez, 2004: 38). Not surprisingly, Latinas/os often identify with their country of origin (e.g. Puerto Rico or Cuba) or they assume a pan-ethnic self-identification, and usually refer to themselves as ‘Hispanic’ or ‘Latino’ (Jones-Correa and Leal, 1996). Moreover, their levels of collegiate degree attainment are different in that Cubans and Central and South Americans have higher collegiate success rates than their Mexican American or Puerto Rican counterparts (Hernandez and Lopez, 2004). The acknowledgement of these nuances in the Latino culture is particularly relevant at this point in our discussion because country of origin may determine the form that microaggressions, i.e. often subtle racial slights, take (Yosso et al., 2009).

Additionally, emphasis was placed on how Latina/o students utilized ‘counter-spaces’ to direct themselves through the tumultuous terrain of the PWI. Counter-spaces provide places of refuge both on and off campus for Latinas/os to challenge notions of unworthiness (Yosso, 2005), and directly help students cope with the harmful impact of racial microaggressions by enabling them to preserve their ethnic identity and experience inseparability and community in a hostile environment (Solorzano et al., 2000; Yosso et al., 2009).

Review of the Literature

Previous scholars have identified several factors that are central to the social adjustment and academic success of Latina/o American students and other students of color, and their negotiation of racism on PWI campuses. In the sections that follow we provide a summary of critical race theory and its usefulness as a conceptual lens in our study along with a brief overview of racism and the impact of racial microaggressions on the experiences of Latina/o American collegians. Finally, we highlight scholarship related to how the following impact the experiences of Latina/o students: campus environment; socio-cultural factors; involvement factors; and the development of counter-spaces.

Critical Race Theory and LatCrit

Critical race theory (CRT) is a useful theoretical approach for investigating problems encountered by marginalized groups in a diverse society. The late legal scholar Derrick Bell, who was the father of critical race theory, opined in his classic Faces at the Bottom of the Well that ‘writing in critical race theory stresses that oppressors are neither neatly divorceable from one another nor amenable to strict categorization’ (1992: 145). Further, according to Solorzano et al. (2000) a critical race approach is open to intense scrutiny of the experiences of subordinated groups because of its reliance on five areas of focus. The tenets of critical race theory (Crenshaw, 2011; Solorzano et al., 2000) are:

the primacy of race and racism and their interconnectedness with other forms of subordination;

a questioning of the dominant belief system/status quo;

a commitment to social justice;

the centrality of experiential knowledge; and

a multidisciplinary perspective.

Moreover, critical race theory will be used in this study as a lens to assess and present the narrative accounts of Latina/o collegians who attend a predominantly white college in the South.

Critical race theory is useful in examining issues of race, inequality, and unfair treatment within educational settings, particularly PWIs. Aguirre (2010: 763) points to the utility of a critical race approach when evaluating the plight of students of color in institutions of higher education when he states, ‘One innovative feature of critical race theory is the use of narratives or counter stories to give voice to minority persons. By introducing their lived experience into discourses about social processes and institutional practices, minority persons challenge the dominant social reality; that is, the “stock story” the dominant group uses to justify its alter ego.’ Alexander (2012: 345–346) shows how critical race theory is also applicable to investigations of racial discrimination against faculty of color at PWIs and how these institutional settings allow whites to engage in ‘denial when presented with evidence of racism’. Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) in their study of critical race theory in education suggest that critical race theory in education rests on the following tenets:

race continues to be significant in the USA;

US society is based on property rights as opposed to human rights;

the intersection of race and property creates an analytical tool for understanding inequity.

Additionally, Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) argue that critical race theory is a valuable framework for scrutinizing educational inequity by emphasizing that the racism people of color must traverse in educational settings is a microcosm of the racism that is pervasive within the larger society. A very poignant illustration of how critical race theory can inform our perspectives on the efficacy of seemingly well intentioned educational policies is presented by Crenshaw (1988) as cited in Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995: 56):

the civil rights community, however, must come to terms with the fact that antidiscrimination discourse is fundamentally ambiguous and can accommodate conservative as well as liberal views of race and equality. This dilemma suggests that the civil rights constituency cannot afford to view antidiscrimination doctrine as a permanent pronouncement of society’s commitment to ending racial subordination. Rather, antidiscrimination law represents an ongoing ideological struggle in which occasional winners harness the moral, coercive, consensual power of law. Nonetheless, the victories it offers can be ephemeral and the risks of engagement substantial. (Crenshaw, 1988: 1335)

Thus, critical race theory is vital in challenging dominant ideologies and norms within educational and legal institutions (Bell, 1992; Crenshaw, 1988, 2011; Ladson-Billings and Tate, 1995).

When examining the situation and the obstacles faced by Latinas/os at PWIs, LatCrit must be acknowledged. LatCrit is an analytical framework that challenges ‘dominant ideologies that mask racist beliefs and practices perpetrated against people of color in the USA, particularly Latinas/os’ (Huber et al., 2008: 39). LatCrit is frequently utilized to examine issues of racism, immigration, nativism, white supremacy, and policies (e.g. House Resolution 4437, Proposition 187, Proposition 227) that specifically disparage Latinas/os (Delgado and Stefancic, 2001; Huber et al., 2008; Santa Ana, 2002; Sue et al., 2007). LatCrit delineates how white supremacy operates to position whites as the recipients of unearned privileges, oppresses non-whites, normalizes white values and norms, and marginalizes Latinas/os in educational settings (De Genova, 2005; Delgado and Stefancic, 2001; Huber et al., 2008; Suarez-Orozco and Paez, 2002). LatCrit is additionally useful because it extends the discussion of race beyond the traditional conventions of the black/white binary (Delgado and Stefancic, 2001; Huber et al., 2008; Yosso, 2002).

The Impact of Race and Racial Microaggressions

Optimal academic achievement prospects for Latina/o college students are often mitigated by the constant presence of campus racism (Rivas-Drake and Mooney, 2008). Blatant forms of racism are common occurrences for students of color at PWIs (Museus et al., 2008; Robertson, 2012). Racial microaggressions are subtle forms of racism that are endemic to the PWI experience for Latina/o, African American, and other students of color (Pierce, 1969, 1995; Solorzano et al., 2000). Specifically, psychiatry professor Chester Pierce, who introduced the term microaggressions in 1969, characterized them as distasteful tools originally used against African Americans to castigate them and maintain their position of inferiority within the prevailing social order. However, in his study of Chicana/o scholars, Solorzano (1998) indicated that racial microaggressions can also come in the form of not so subtle racially assaultive remarks. In this study, we examine instances of blatant racism and not so subtle racial microaggressions that emerge in the form of racially assaultive remarks. In particular, microaggressions typically manifest themselves differently than more overt forms of racism, and may consist of a stare or glance, a comment (such as ‘you speak English so well’), a put down, a racist joke, or a stressful confrontation (Solorzano et al., 2000). Further, there are three types of microaggressions: interpersonal microaggressions; racial jokes; and institutional microaggressions (Yosso et al., 2009).

Campus Environment

According to Solorzano et al. (2000), an optimal campus racial setting includes the following:

the inclusion of students, faculty, and administrators of color;

a curriculum which emphasizes the historical and current experiences of people of color;

programs to support the recruitment, retention, and graduation of students of color; and

a mission that reinforces the institution’s commitment to diversity and pluralism.

Consequently, the placement of Latinas/os in a collegiate situation that is racially comfortable and welcoming plays an integral part in the matriculation, adjustment, and ultimately the graduation of the student (Cortez, 2011; Helm et al., 1998).

Socio-cultural Factors

Socio-cultural factors, such as ethnic identity, immigrant status, gender roles, community orientation, and religion have been shown to be very important determinants of Latino student adjustment and retention (Flacks and Thomas, 1997; Hurtado, 1994; Schneider and Ward, 2003; Suarez-Orozco and Paez, 2002). Hernandez and Lopez (2004) suggest that socio-cultural factors involve numerous variables that influence personal and environmental experiences. Moreover, socio-cultural factors affect myriad aspects of ethnic identity, self-concept, and psycho-social development (Schneider and Ward, 2003; Torres, 2003; Yazedijan and Toews, 2006).

Family ties and finances are two important socio-cultural factors that play significant roles in the progress of Latina/o collegians. Primarily, Latina/o students view the family as a source of support and comfort (Hernandez and Lopez, 2004). According to Hernandez (2000), strong family relationships contribute to optimal higher education outcomes in three ways:

by encouraging students to do well to honor their family that has sacrificed to get them into college;

by engendering an attitude that ‘failure is not an option’; and

serving as a source of positive reinforcement.

Also, universities must work to assist parents in understanding the nuances of US higher education (e.g. by using bilingual and culturally sensitive recruitment materials) to increase prospects for achievement. Conversely, financial assistance is essential to the enrollment and retention of college students from low income backgrounds (Robertson, 2012).

Equally, Latinas/os as well as other students of color thrive in PWI environments when they have adjusted socially (Charles et al., 2004; Feagin et al., 1996; Gonzalez RG, 2010; Rivas-Drake and Mooney, 2008; Robertson, 2012). These students, in a categorical sense, tend to have higher high school grades, come from a higher socio-economic background, not report significant problems while attending the PWI, and exhibit a willingness to assimilate when compared to their less successful PWI counterparts of color (Charles et al., 2004; Crisp and Nora, 2010; Feagin et al., 1996; Tinto, 1993).

Involvement Factors

Involvement factors are central to the academic progress of Latina/o students (Hernandez, 2000; Hurtado et al., 1996; Tinto, 1993). Involvement factors include faculty student interaction, mentorship, and participation in student organizations (Hernandez, 2000). Essentially, these factors are very important to matriculation and collegiate success (Hernandez, 2000).

Gonzalez (2002) explicated the importance of faculty of color on PWI campuses for the matriculation of Latinas/os. Faculty of color have been found to be very important agents of success because these individuals can serve as excellent mentors and assist in making hostile environments manageable (Feagin et al., 1996; Robertson, 2012). As well, faculty of color can serve to infuse into the class curriculum information that is culturally relevant but that often is ignored by white professors (Booker, 2007; Hoston et al., 2010). In general, faculty of color generally affirm Latina/o students’ academic self-concept (Hernandez and Lopez, 2004).

Student organization involvement is another important component of collegiate success for Latina/o students. Student involvement in athletics, fraternities, and campus organizations has been shown to be an integral component of the success of students of color at PWIs (McClure, 2006). Participation in campus organizations can foster a feeling of community for Latino collegians which may positively impact student academic outcomes (Garland and Grace, 1993).

Development of Counter-Spaces

Counter-spaces refer to ‘spaces’ or ‘areas’ on the PWI campus that Latina/o students carve out in order to preserve their culture and develop a sense of belonging (Yosso et al., 2009). Counter-spaces can vary from culturally specific student centers, campus courses, relationships with Chicana/o faculty, to student organizations, etc. Furthermore, counter-spaces can facilitate a ‘home away from home’ feeling of comfort which may help minimize the alienation that students of color frequently experience at the PWI, and may subsequently increase their prospects for optimal adjustment and academic achievement (Yosso et al., 2009). Finally, Solorzano et al. (2009), in their examination of how African American students encounter and respond to racial microaggressions, delineate counter-spaces as social spaces where African American undergraduates could preserve their culture, vent their frustrations, and create a niche for themselves.

Method

This study utilized semi-structured interviews to examine factors that were central to the plight of students of color at PWIs and are correlated with a positive campus environment. An optimal racial climate at PWIs for students of color in general, and Latinas/os specifically, contributes to academic success along with accentuating the following:

retention of students, faculty, and administrators of color;

course offerings and academic programs inclusive of the historical and contemporary experiences of people of color;

programs to recruit students of color;

a mission that acknowledges the importance of diversity; and

the primacy of campus racism and racial microaggressions as inhibitors to positive adjustment (Allen et al., 1991; Carroll, 1998; Robertson and Mason, 2008; Solorzano et al., 2000; Yosso et al., 2009).

Qualitative interviews were necessary to facilitate an enhanced understanding of students’ experiences at the PWI.

Subjects

Interviews were conducted with 23 self-identified Hispanic/Latina/o students (19 students identified as Mexican; one student identified as Puerto Rican, one identified as Cuban, one identified as Spanish, and one student identified as Peruvian American) by the second author at a mid-sized regional university in the South from October 2011 through January 2012. However, responses from only 13 (11 Mexicans, one Puerto Rican, and one Peruvian American) of the 23 participants best exemplified the emergent themes of racism and racial microaggressions and counter-spaces which was the focus of our study; 10 of the 13 interviews which reflected the aforementioned themes were male and three were female. Interviews ranged from 20 minutes to one hour and 30 minutes, were audio-taped, and then transcribed for the purpose of detailed analysis and accurate quoting of students’ viewpoints. Respondents ranged in age from 19 to 25 years of age and were primarily from middle to upper middle class socio-economic backgrounds (17 participants had annual household incomes in the US$49,000 to 200,000 range), with the rest identifying as coming from either working or lower class socio-economic backgrounds (six participants had incomes in the US$25,000 to 32,000 range). In regard to classification, six students were freshmen, seven students were sophomores, six students were juniors, and four students were seniors. Students represented the following majors: accounting (two students); civil engineering (two students); criminal justice (seven students); dietetics and pre-med (two students); education (two students); general studies (one student); general business (one student); graphic design (one student); mechanical engineering (one student); civil engineering (one student); and psychology (three students). Student grade point averages ranged from 2.5 to 3.52. Nine students (39%) had a grade point average of 3.0 or higher, four students (17.3%) had a grade point average less than 2.5, and the remaining 10 students (43.4%) were between 2.6 and 3.0. Snowball or convenience sampling was used to recruit participants. This procedure was a cost-efficient way for the researchers to secure a sample that met the basic criteria for inclusion in a relatively short amount of time. Respondents were solicited by posting flyers across campus dorms and placing announcements in the student union and the university dining hall, and by the second author’s frequent attendance at student organization meetings and interacting with students and talking with them. The benefits of this process were substantial. This methodology builds trust between potential participants and the researcher (Sadler et al., 2010). Thus, frequent attendance at student organizational meetings made it possible for the second author to establish rapport between herself and the participants prior to the implementation of the study. In addition, snowball sampling is a widely employed method of sampling in qualitative research and in various disciplines across the social sciences (Noy, 2008). Its efficiency helps the researcher to locate the appropriate population with a minimum of time, money, and effort (Cohen and Arieli, 2011). Since Latinos that reside in the South are reluctant to volunteer personal information due to the risk of social or other discriminatory repercussions (Branton et al., 2011; Carter, 2013) the methodology used in this study was ideal for studying the unique experiences of this population.

As mentioned earlier, to establish rapport with the target population the second author frequently attended and participated in student organization meetings and frequented the student center which was a ‘social hub’ of sorts for the study’s participants, in which they were asked if they would mind taking part in the study. This offered several advantages: networks with Latinas/os allowed the respondents to feel comfortable with their participation in the study; developing rapport with the Latina/o students also allowed interviews to flow smoothly and the asking of deeper, probing questions. All participants were given pseudonyms to protect their anonymity.

Setting

A university library study room served as the setting for the interviews. The first author reserved a study room in the university library in order for the second author to conduct interviews with the participants during the study. The university library study room setting was utilized because it was relatively quiet, semi-private, and easily accessible for students, and it was open every day of the week which made it easy to schedule interviews that fitted within the schedules of the students.

Data Analysis

We used critical race theory as a conceptual lens to discern our thematic categories and to understand how Latina/o students negotiated racism and racial microaggressions, how they utilized counter-spaces in some instances, how they managed the exigencies of the PWI environment, and their social adjustment to a PWI in the South. Critical race theory as a conceptual lens in our study was useful for the reasons articulated by Solorzano and associates:

Critical race theory offers insights, perspectives, methods and pedagogies that guide efforts to identify and analyze, and transform the structural and cultural aspects of education that maintain subordinate and dominant racial positions in and out of the classroom. (2000: 63)

We used content analysis to analyze the narratives (Berg, 2007; Strauss and Corbin, 1990). This approach was used to ascertain recurrent themes in the respondents’ narratives by immersing ourselves in the data and identifying thematic patterns (Berg, 2007; Strauss and Corbin, 1990). Latent content analysis was also incorporated to discern the ‘deep structural meaning conveyed by the message’ from the respondents’ answers to the interview questions (Berg, 2007: 308). This method of narrative analysis was particularly instructive as content analysis is ‘the most obvious way to analyze interview data’ (Berg, 2007: 134).

Words and phrases were the units of analysis and were used to extrapolate abstract themes from the interview transcripts. The coding process entailed examining all responses, recording emergent themes, and determining how the ideas were indicative of racism and racial microaggressions. Racism and racial microaggressions were collapsed into one theme due to difficulty deciphering into which theme a response best fit. This was arduous because of the inherent difficulty in determining if an incident should be characterized as ‘overt’ or ‘subtle’. Solorzano (1998) opined that racial microaggressions often entail racial assaultive remarks in addition to the reality that they are often subtle or appear innocuous. Therefore, it is reasonable to surmise that racially assaultive remarks can be perceived as more overt than ‘subtle’ depending upon the interpretation by the recipient. Some of our participants endured comments that could be deciphered as subtle by some and perhaps more offensive by others.

For instance, if a white person were to say to a black person, ‘You are not like the rest of them, you are different,’ there would be some African Americans who would refer to this as subtle and some that would view it as overt (Solorzano et al., 2000: 61). Solorzano et al. (2000) address this discrepancy of interpretation to a degree by inferring that each individual must be taught to recognize these microaggressions and take necessary action in each instance of recognition. Furthermore, the extent to which a microaggression is understood by the recipient is dependent upon the extent to which the recipient has knowledge of, and has internalized, pervasive societal racial stereotypes (Steele and Aronson, 1995).

To establish reliability, an outside coder reviewed the list of responses, emergent themes, and definitions. The outside coder was selected for their extensive experience with coding and analyzing narratives. After a 96 percent coding reliability rate was established between the researcher and the outside coder, it was determined that a feasible coding system had been established. In order to accurately control for reliability, a second outside coder was selected to code and analyze the narrative data after the initial coding reliability had been established. The reliability established by the second coder was 98 percent.

Findings

Qualitative analysis of the narratives provided by these 23 Latina/o students revealed themes related to how these students negotiated the academic terrain of the PWI. The first theme, the impact of racism and racial microaggressions, is related to the verbal assaults experienced by these students as well as the minimization of their culture and heritage inclusive of the potential psychological, academic, and social impact that these assaults had on the Latina/o students. In the subsection that follows, we present the impact of such instances and the different types of racial microaggressions that occurred within the PWI milieu. The second theme, counter-spaces, refers to safe environments that allowed Latina/o students to preserve their culture, vent their frustrations, and carve out their own social ‘space’. Counter-space narratives are presented to illuminate how students utilized them to develop a cultural niche at the PWI in our study.

The Impact of Racism and Racial Microaggressions

Eight of the 23 participants (34.7%) experienced the influence of race and racial microaggressions but did not describe the experience as negative while four of the 23 participants (17.3%) furnished rejoinders from which a negative consequence/effect on them could be discerned. Thus, 12 of the 23 participants (52% of the participants) were impacted by racism or racial microaggressions in some manner. The responses which most prominently exhibited the impact of racism and racial microaggressions are presented. Moreover, replies that revealed blatant racism and were too ‘overt’ to be characterized as ‘microaggressions’ are offered because these experiences negatively impact student adjustment as well as their prospects for academic success. So the fact that some responses were too blatant was the rationale for collapsing the responses into the single theme ‘racism and racial microaggressions’. Conversely, other students had experiences that were positive. The inclusion of positive experiences provided a glimpse into how these students were able to successfully navigate the intellectual and social terrain of the PWI under study.

The following comments provided by Arturo, Santos, and Victor illustrate both racism and racial microaggressions encountered by Latinas/os and perpetrated by other students. The students were asked questions concerning their perceptions of the overall campus milieu, social spaces, and comments publicly made to them that were derogatory in nature. Arturo, a 19-year-old Mexican American freshman majoring in general studies expressed himself in this way:

Yes. I have heard a racist comment but it came from somebody I’ve known since high school, I didn’t take it too seriously. One of my redneck friends told me, ‘There are too many wetbacks here’ and I told him, ‘Dude but I’m Mexican’ and he said, ‘Oh, but you are different.’ I guess because I don’t act like all of the Mexicans around here, he said it’s because I listen to country music, wear boots, and I hunt. But he just told that to me because I’m his friend. I don’t think he would say it to somebody he didn’t know.

Other students recounted the prevalence of racism on campus. Santos, a 21-year-old Puerto Rican American sophomore majoring in psychology, shared this experience:

Yeah, duh. I heard a racist comment and I did not care. Well between our friends we joke around and stuff, but when you walk in the student center you hear people saying a lot of things that are not too appropriate to say in public. I hear things. I know I have heard things but right now I can’t remember a particular comment. I was thinking, ‘Oh that’s messed up, there is a specific time to say things and this is not one of them.’ Most of the stuff I hear is about blacks and I remember hearing the comment in a joking kind of way but I could just tell it was pretty serious and I remember looking over and they were all white and I was thinking to say something like they should at least have one black guy with them.

Other Latino students have created distance between themselves and members of their ethnic group in order to more easily assimilate within the dominant PWI culture. In direct support of the previous perspective offered by Arturo, Victor, a 24-year-old Mexican American junior majoring in criminal justice, shared his experience:

To be honest, this is going to sound funny but I don’t hang out with many Mexicans. I played football in high school more than I played soccer so that had a big effect on me and a big influence on my circle of friends. When I was in high school Mexicans didn’t hang out with me because I played football and when I came here I ended up knowing more whites and blacks and only a few Hispanics because of that. I’m all around. I don’t just hang out with a certain type of group, so as far as me being treated differently, I’m not. Actually I get asked sometimes if I’m white or I get asked if I speak Spanish because most people say I don’t look Hispanic and I don’t sound Mexican, so I don’t get treated differently at least not by the other racial groups, Hispanics don’t really hang out with me but that’s because I’m not into what they are into, like soccer.

Arturo, the first respondent, was told by a person whom he considered a friend that he was ‘different’ from other Latinos. This is the classic example of a microaggression because it involved a subtle put down. Arturo was essentially told that although most Mexican Americans are not very good, he was perceived by members of the PWI culture as good because he was not like the rest of them. Clearly, this statement was a microinsult, or an offensive or inconsiderate comment regarding someone’s racial or ethnic heritage (Sue et al., 2007; Yosso et al., 2009). Interestingly, the fact that Arturo did not seem the least bit upset by the disparaging comment could suggest his lack of identification with Latino culture or a high degree of assimilation. If the former is the case, it may impede his social standing and academic achievement. To support this, Devos and Torres (2007) found that Latina/o students who strongly identified with Latino culture (relative to Caucasian/white culture) and viewed significant others (e.g. family members, siblings, respected community members) as high academic achievers were academically stronger than their less culturally aware counterparts. Also, Arturo’s comment (that his friend ‘just told that to me because I’m his friend. I don’t think he would say it to somebody he didn’t know’) may further lead this Latino male to believe that he has earned a respected place in the minds of his PWI peers, a place that the majority of members of his cultural community lack. Accordingly, these feelings may motivate Arturo to freely accept racist speech and perpetuate internalized racism against members of his own cultural group.

Santos also experienced a racial microaggression. First, he stated that he did not care when he or other students of color were objects of interpersonal microaggressions. Then he went on to explain that he frequently hears disparaging remarks about African Americans, which are commonplace. Such commentaries are frequent in social spaces and strengthen the notion that the campus is less than ‘racially harmonious’. Interestingly enough, such occurrences are not uncommon and many students of color report repeated racial tension and a non-supportive campus environment (Robertson and Mason, 2008; Solorzano et al., 2000; Yazedijan and Toews, 2006).

The statements of Victor are very similar to those of Arturo in that he appears to more closely identify with white students with whom he shares an interest in football than with Mexican Americans who traditionally play soccer. Further, he gives the impression that he has no problem when others mistake him for being white. Perhaps even more disturbing is that he mentions that he does not associate with Mexican Americans and has stereotyped all of them as being soccer players. Finally, it seems that Victor has internalized the racism that whites generally hold toward members of his own culture which is a form of cultural negation (Gonzalez, 2002).

The participants reported that the PWI campus milieu was less than hospitable. The following responses are an explication of the visceral effects of racism and racial microaggressions. In the paragraphs that follow, Latino students explain how they were insulted by the assumption that every Latino is a Mexican American, reveal their anger with being told they should only speak English on campus, and share their feelings associated with microagressions in the classroom. Rigo, a 22-year-old Peruvian American senior majoring in criminal justice, said this:

We are in Texas and I wouldn’t expect any less from this place. The racism is all around and it’s bound to spill over into the university. How could it not? I’ll be walking around campus speaking Spanish with my friends and I’ll hear comments like ‘Hey, we are in America, speak English’ or random stuff like that. I don’t know. I was in the student center and it was crowded I turned to see who it was and everybody was going about their business like nothing happened.

Rigo also criticized the assumptions that many students have about him because he speaks Spanish:

People here assume that if I speak Spanish I’m Mexican and I’m not, I’m Peruvian. I usually want to say, ‘Just because I speak Spanish doesn’t mean I’m Mexican. You’re American and ignorant.’ It doesn’t really affect me, it bugs me but there isn’t much I can do about it. I like Mexicans but people around here think there is only one kind of Hispanic, MEXICAN. Again people are very ignorant around here but that’s because of where the university is located.

Robert, a 23-year-old Mexican American senior majoring in accounting, provided this extended narrative:

I’ve had racism happen to me plenty of times. I can’t really say they were comments or reactions to my actions. Like I would be in one class, one of the toughest classes in the accounting major where you have to make a certain grade to go to the next one and here I am busting my butt coming to class in a work uniform and dirty work boots and people are thinking, ‘Oh, he’s not going to make it. He’s going to fail,’ but the next semester who walks in the front door? And everyone is kind of like, ‘This guy made it. I didn’t think he was going to make it.’ I guess those are like the filter classes or something like that or they are designed to filter out people who aren’t serious about their major. I’ve seen their faces. I’ve seen that look of shock. Even professors look shocked when they look at their grade book and they see that I passed or when I got this job they looked shocked like, ‘How did Robert get a job with the number one accounting firm in the US?’ I guess they are shocked because I never went up to them and asked them for help or begged them to do my resume for me like other students. I never went to them but I did get the job, so how did I do it, is what they wonder. I have never had any faculty make an overtly racist comment because I guarantee you they would have a lawsuit on them. As far as students making comments, yeah, I manage the dining hall – it happens all the time, it is to be expected. The other day I had to kick some students out because they were making a mess just because. This is not your home, you don’t do that. When I kicked them out they called me every name you can imagine. That is why I say that it is to be expected.

Rigo’s comments were very revealing. Rigo reported being told not to speak Spanish on campus because he is in America. He also contended that racism is ‘all around the campus’. Finally, he revealed that it is always assumed that he is a Mexican American, despite the fact that he is a Peruvian American. An obvious negative result of these racialized experiences and pejorative assumptions regarding his ethnic identity was a degree of psychic stress and frustration facilitated by the reductionist act of lumping all Latinos together as ‘Mexican’ (Pierce, 1969, 1995). More specifically, Rigo’s encounter can be characterized as a ‘micro invalidation’ and an ‘interpersonal microaggression’ in that it diminished/lessened the significance of his ethnic identity as well as being a visceral interpersonal insult that occurred within an academic space (Sue et al., 2007). Likewise, the relevance of Rigo’s incident can be seen in Strayhorn’s (2010) study on the influence of social and cultural capital on the academic achievement of African American and Latino males. In the study, Strayhorn found Latino males were underrepresented on collegiate campuses and faced myriad challenges, such as relatively low retention rates, disproportionate enrollment in two-year colleges, and racially disparate treatment. Further, Hurtado and Carter’s (1997) work on the effects of college transition and perceptions of the campus racial climate on Latino students’ sense of belonging emphasized the need for college campuses to pay greater attention to students’ particular sense of integration in college life, in order to increase these students’ sense of community belonging and ultimately their graduation rates.

Robert contributed the final comment and explicated that he was the victim of a racial microaggression in his accounting class. He revealed his discernment that his classmates and professor doubted his ability to successfully matriculate through the institution’s academically rigorous accounting program. Hence, an obvious negative consequence of this microaggresion was the psychological strain associated with a student of color being doubted intellectually (Pierce, 1995; Sue et al., 2007). Although Robert could not prove with absolute certainty that his classmates and his professor subscribed to these beliefs, he did mention that the students and the professor looked at him with shock when he passed the class and was hired by one of the nation’s top accounting firms. Robert further stated that while working on his campus job, managing one of the many campus eateries, he had been called ‘every name in the book’, including racial slurs, especially when he had to kick students out of the dining area for being disruptive. The commentary offered by Robert points to subtle microaggressions in the classroom and overt racial insults in campus spaces. Crisp and Nora (2010) elucidate the role of positive academic experiences, both inside and outside the classroom, in encouraging Latina/o student persistence in college.

Several students that we interviewed reflected on institutional microaggressions such as not having enough classes that emphasized Latino culture and history, not having an adequate number of Latino faculty, and the lack of organizations helping to make the collegiate experiences more satisfying. Martin, a 25-year-old Mexican American junior majoring in mechanical engineering, provided this perspective:

Latino culture is not emphasized because it’s engineering, but my sister has a different major and she took a Latino history course at her campus.

Lola, a 25-year-old Mexican American senior majoring in history and sociology, provided this extended narrative:

We are trying to bring Latin studies classes to campuses. Martin Luther King has a chapter in the history book, Cesar Chavez has a paragraph. Cesar Chavez is not everything that Hispanics are about, you know. We want the Chicano Movement and everything [to be discussed in classes]. In America, growing up as a child the only reason you know Hispanics exist in this country is because you have a class with one of them or one of your friends is Hispanic, so that irritates me really deeply. It irritates me because without Hispanics, you do not have America. We have molded it into what it is. So that is what we are trying to do, we are trying to get a class here so that people can be more open to understanding our ideas, to understand our culture, because a lot of people are quick to discriminate against us, even African Americans. I have never seen any Latino courses but maybe I’m not looking in the right place. But I think they should be offered but I’m not sure as to how popular they would be. In the history department they have those (Latino history courses) in the catalog but they have never offered them.

Sandra, a 19-year-old Mexican American freshman majoring in education, shared how she felt in this way:

There is a fraternity, Phi Iota Alpha. There is a sorority called Kappa Delta Ki or Kappa Delta Chi or something like that, then another one is starting up that is the Rudi SIA Sigma Iota Alpha. It is the sisterhood for the father alpha. So there is a lot but they don’t really worry about school right now. It’s the first semester for the Rudi SIA’s so they are really just focused on getting established on campus. I don’t think they really care about school right now. They are just keeping up their grades enough to be in the sorority because I think you have to have a 2.5 or something like that.

Marco, a 19-year-old Mexican American freshman majoring in accounting, offered:

I don’t think we are really encouraged to join student government but those that are starting up the fraternity are trying to motivate Latinos to get active here and in the community. They want us to step up and do something instead of just going with the flow because Latinos are here and that’s about it. We are just here.

Robert’s frustration supports the voluminous literature which posits that campuses which exhibit a commitment to pluralism by including students, faculty, and administrators of color and whose curriculum is racially affirming, rather than racially denigrating, are better suited to enroll, retain and graduate students of color. For instance, in a study regarding the personal and interpersonal factors predictive of college adjustment for 190 Hispanic freshmen, Yazedijan and Toews (2006) found that faculty mentoring, particularly by faculty of color, assists the acculturation, adjustment, and academic success of Hispanic students. To buttress the aforementioned point, Patton and Catching’s (2009) examination of the underrepresentation of faculty of color at PWIs revealed that only 3.55 percent of collegiate faculty in the USA are of Hispanic origin. Second, Crockett et al. (2007), in their study of stress, social support, coping, and psychological adjustment among Mexican American college students, revealed that positive organizations (i.e. those that can be perceived as reflecting the interests of Latino students) can moderate the effects of social stress by serving as a form of social support for Latinas/os.

The remaining responses were provided by Lola, Martin, Sandra, and Marco, respectively. Lola spoke about course listings of Latino/Hispanic course(s) in a history department catalog, but not hearing much about these course(s) in other campus departments. While the aforementioned may not directly be the fault of the university, it could possibly be interpreted that the Latino-themed courses in the department are not taught frequently, not stressed as important, and are not advertised to students of color who are more likely to take them. Lola’s experience has traction because even though it might not rise to the level of an institutional microaggression, the dearth of ethnically-oriented class offerings along with lack of exposure to their content can negatively influence adjustment, matriculation, and a sense of inclusion for students of color at PWIs (Museus et al., 2008). Moreover, Martin lamented that since he majors in engineering, information related to Latinos or Latino culture would have little significance in his classes. The claim by Martin has some traction, but it would not seem beyond reason for his professor(s) to incorporate contributions by engineers of color into the classroom discussions. Omitting accomplishments of persons of color can be harmful to students of color and has the negative consequence of constituting classroom/institutional microaggression and contributing to a general analysis by the students (i.e. Lola, Martin, Sandra, and Marco) that their historical/cultural narratives and their ethnic historiographies are not worthy of intellectual classroom dialogue (Cerezo and McWhirter, 2012; Nunez, 2009). Likewise, this omission can represent one of many forms of psychological stressors that students of color may be exposed to on a PWI campus, which is a negative outcome as well (Hurtado et al., 1996).

Finally, Sandra and Marco opined that while there are Latina/o fraternities accessible on campus, most of the encouragement to join and take part in them has come from other students as opposed to the campus in general. Sandra and Marco cited opportunities for Latina/o students to become active in Latino fraternities or sororities on campus because these organizations promote positive structural and academic campus integration for these students (Museus et al., 2008). The fact that undergraduates reported that the campus did not readily disseminate or make information about these organizations known could be surmised as supporting a cosmetic desire for inclusion, i.e. diversity of convenience, that only serves to make the university appear inclusive but does not illustrate a true commitment to students of color and is undoubtedly negative (Solorzano et al., 2000; Strayhorn, 2010).

Counter-spaces

It is hoped that instances in which Latina/o students developed ‘counter-spaces’ (i.e. social spaces carved out within the existing milieu which allow students to cultivate friendships and develop a sense of community) to make the college environment more manageable can serve as a foundational base for the creation of programs, initiatives, and organizations to improve college life for these and all students of color.

Four of the 23 students (17.3% of the participants) relied on counter-spaces to successfully navigate the PWI environment. Yosso et al. established that ‘social counter-spaces allow room outside the classroom confines for students to vent frustrations and cultivate friendships with people who share many of their experiences’ (2009: 677). These ‘social counter-spaces’, which may be formal or informal, reaffirm race, instill belonging, encourage students to excel, and create a sense of home and family for the Latino students who utilize them. While only four of 23 students utilized counter-spaces, they are important to note because they contribute to the academic success of students of color according to existing literature (Solorzano et al., 2009). First, the faculty provided opportunities for safe expression. Second, student organizations (i.e. fraternities and campus organizations) were invaluable sources of support for these students. Arturo, a 19-year-old general studies major, who was mentioned in the previous section, provided this perspective:

My professors talk to me on a one on one basis. They are always encouraging us to come by their offices if we have questions or need help, especially my sociology professor. He is really good about getting back to me when I email him.

John, a 19-year-old Mexican American sophomore majoring in civil engineering, provided this extended narrative:

Phi Iota Alpha is my fraternity and when I came here a couple of years ago, the founders, well my brothers now, were really humble to me. They opened up their arms to me, showed me around, became my friends and I joined. So I guess you can say I joined for a couple of reasons: they were real humble to me and they came from various backgrounds and different types of families. Some had it better, some weren’t from here, and there was a different history to everybody. I felt like I could relate to all of them in many ways. We all knew each other before we joined so I guess that is why we work so well together. Everything we have done on campus to spark Latino interest has been a success. We did an event where we talked about Latino culture, which showcased different types of foods: Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, along with a jalapeno eating contest. A lot of Latinos came out and they brought their friends and family. I felt really proud because Latinos don’t usually attend anything here. We are pretty much used to keeping to ourselves and I was really proud that we did something that we could attend, something we could put a Latino seal on, I guess you can say.

John, who was quoted earlier, took a proactive stance regarding the need for Latinos to be role models for one another. Interestingly, for this student, one professor continually motivated him to succeed. He used these words to express himself:

My fraternity tries to encourage all Latinos to get involved. We get involved because we have to be role models and we have to get our name out there but we also have to mobilize other Latinos. We have to get into the existing organizations and get more Latino organizations here. There are also professors who try to encourage students. I had a professor that was really humble to me. He would give me extra pushes and help me out with whatever I needed. He’s always there for me. He’s a very busy guy but he makes time. He’ll find a way to get back to you with a message or a phone call. Students are also very good at encouraging. Like I said before, we tend to help people and try to encourage others to get out there and help. Nothing is going to come to us. We have to go get it.

Eric, a 19-year-old Mexican American sophomore majoring in dietetics and pre-med, provided this narrative account:

I interact very closely with several professors and advisors since I’m doing dietetics and pre-med. I speak with Dr. A (a male advisor) on a regular basis. I have one professor who is white and she married a Mexican American and she loves the Hispanic culture. She is always asking me things and talking to me on a one on one basis. I love talking to her, I basically told her my life story. She is my advisor and I don’t know how we just sat down one day and talked for like two hours. I also talk to Dr. B (a male Professor) a lot. He is always asking questions about me and my family so I guess you can say I meet with a lot of them. They like me and I like them.

Alonso, a 22-year-old Mexican American junior majoring in General Business, opined:

I’m one of the founders of my fraternity. 2011 was our first whole year on campus and we have been working really hard to make a name for ourselves on this campus. I thought I could join a white fraternity because I kind of fit in there or I could join the black one because I fit in there too, but I really did not. I saw that people like myself had really nowhere to go here. So when [the president of the fraternity] called, I was more than ready to help him get the fraternity on campus. So, I did this for myself and for other Latinos like me.

Elena, a 19-year-old Mexican American sophomore majoring in graphic design, used these words to share her feelings:

I wanted to embrace my Hispanic culture because I have moved around a lot and I have met all different kinds of people and I wanted to meet people that shared my views and background, someone I could relate to. It’s always nice to be around people like that. I had to seek that out in a sorority because it’s not exactly everywhere I go here. Now that I’m in a sorority I basically hang out mostly with Hispanics because all of the Hispanics know each other. In a lot of the places I have lived there haven’t been a lot of Hispanics so it is hard to make friends with them.

Counter-spaces were utilized by a few students in our study. However, these counter-spaces consisted of fraternities, sororities, classrooms, and relationships with faculty mentors, which were different from those generally provided in the literature. For example, in contrast to the counter-spaces voiced by Latino students in previous studies (e.g. Solorzano et al., 2000; Yosso et al, 2009), these students did not rely on intramural sports, dinner gatherings, campus cultural centers, ethnic newspapers, student unions, etc. Moreover, they did not report adorning their walls with persons of cultural significance or reserving specific areas of campus to meet, discuss important issues, or relax and connect with other Latinos. More importantly, the students did not speak of their counter-spaces, except those who identified sororities and fraternities, in ways that the researchers could analyze as conducive to serving as a ‘home away from home’ or as providing a ‘cultural niche’. Therefore, it appears that the establishment and use of counter-spaces is an individualized enterprise that allows male and female Latino students to create spaces in which they can best survive and thrive in the academic milieu. Perhaps a future area of inquiry regarding counter-spaces should focus on the socio-cultural factors responsible for the specific form of counter-spaces that are employed by Latinas/os and other students of color and the campus characteristics which influence these forms.

Discussion

Critical race theory along with LatCrit (a sub-area of critical race theory) informed our study. It served as a tool for understanding how students negotiated and made sense of racism within the collegiate milieu. Specifically, we qualitatively examined the experiences of 23 Latina/o students at a PWI in the South to understand how they negotiated racism and racial microaggressions, and developed counter-spaces, and how both impacted their collegiate experience.

While racism and racial microaggressions can take the form of racial jokes, interpersonal and institutional microaggressions, a slight majority of these students were subjected to interpersonal microaggressions. These verbal and non-verbal slights were psychologically stressful and devalued the individual and shared experiences of members of this culture. The participants reported being told racially insensitive jokes, being asked not to speak Spanish because they were in ‘America’, and being perceived by some students and professors as being less ‘competent’ than other members of the student population (e.g. whites).

In spite of the racism and racial microaggressions that they frequently encountered, for the most part, these Latino students appeared to have adjusted very well (a slight majority dismissed the microaggressions as isolated incidents) to the PWI setting. For instance, when Arturo was told there were ‘too many wetbacks’ on campus by a white classmate, he simply responded that his friend did not view him as a ‘Mexican’ and indeed he should not do so, because Arturo wore ‘cowboy boots’. And apparently, Arturo was not offended. Further, Santos reported hearing racial slurs being directed towards African Americans and Latino Americans while in the student union. His reaction only involved him saying that there is a ‘certain time’ to make pejorative statements about people of color and that some people of color should at least ‘be around’ when such statements are being made.

Students used fraternities, sororities, classrooms, and relationships with professors as counter-spaces. In contrast to previous scholars that have examined how Latinas/os successfully navigate the terrain of academia (e.g. Gonzalez, 2002; Saenz et al., 2007; Villalpando and Solorzano, 2005) none of our participants mentioned adorning their walls with persons of cultural significance nor did they discuss reserving specific areas of campus in which they could meet, discuss important issues, or relax and connect with other Latinos.

Equally our respondents reported good relationships with faculty who were not of color. While not unprecedented in scholarship (e.g. Crisp and Nora, 2010; Hoston et al., 2010) this finding exemplifies something uncommon in the extant literature because there were no descriptions of faculty of color serving as mentors or role models. Moreover, our study was devoid of accounts from students concerning classes or class discussions which emphasized the cultural, historical, and intellectual accomplishments of persons of Latino descent (Feagin, 1998; Helm et al., 1998; Robertson, 2012).

Our study had two limitations. First, since only four of the 23 participants were female, we are unable to translate our findings to Latina females on the campus of this PWI or similar institutions in other parts of the USA. Second, the over-representation of Mexican American students in our population further minimizes the transferability of our findings to Latino students from different countries of origin. The history, population, and culture of various Latino populations (e.g. Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Cuba) are uniquely different and future studies should explore these differences. In spite of the these limitations, the current study contributes to the scholarly literature by revealing the unique experiences of a sample of Latino students, primarily consisting of males who traditionally have not performed exceedingly well academically, at a PWI in the South and who were academically successful.

Recommendations for Retention and Recruitment Programs

Given the PWIs’ broad mission of respect for diversity and inclusion (Berrey, 2011; Cole, 2010), the interpersonal microaggressions experienced by several of the Latino students in this study grossly undermine this mission. Several scholars (Bush and Bush, 2010; Guiffrida and Douthit, 2010; Hernandez and Lopez, 2004; Hurtado et al., 1996; Nora and Cabrera, 1996; Robertson, 2012; Sedlacek et al., 2003; Yazedijan and Toews, 2006) have offered a number of recommendations which simultaneously enhance the college experience of Latinas/os and other students of color and move PWIs toward a true commitment to the intellectual and social growth of Latina/o American students. These recommendations are as follows:

Recruit Latina/o American faculty and staff persons;

Recruit Latina/o American administrators;

Develop a strategic plan to retain Latina/o American students;

Establish a Latina/o American student development or cultural office with a university staff person to elucidate the university’s commitment to the achievements of Latina/o American students;

Develop courses and Latino, Hispanic, or Chicana/o studies department(s) which emphasize the importance of the accomplishments, concerns, and history of people of Latino descent;

Institute programs to inform Latina/o American families about college and what it entails (e.g. pre-college, bilingual, and culturally sensitive recruitment materials) since family involvement is crucial to Latina/o American student collegiate success.

These recommendations, which are grounded in the prevailing literature as related to the academic success of students of color at PWIs, are applicable to the 23 Latina/o students in this study. Specifically, although the students in our study were academically successful, our data validate the importance of the above six recommendations. First, Arturo and Eric mentioned such things as utilizing professors as counter-spaces but none of the professors mentioned were alluded to as being of Latino descent. One can only imagine how many more Latina/o students who were not included in our relatively small sample could be impacted positively if they were able to interact and be mentored by Latina/o professors, administrators, and professional staff persons. Secondly, since the literature shows that the academic success of all students of color increases by having cultural centers and multicultural student associations on campus, the university at which our study was conducted would be enhanced since none of our students reported that the university had either of them (Bush and Bush, 2010; Guiffrida and Douthit, 2010). Finally, Lola explained that she heard of a Latino history course but was unable to find out if it was still being offered. The fifth recommendation delineates the importance of developing Latino, Hispanic or Chicano studies departments and their function not only as counter-spaces, but also in support of collegiate satisfaction and academic success (Yosso et al., 2009).

Conclusion

Given the increasing number of Latina/o American college students that attend PWIs (Gonzales J, 2010), it is imperative that institutions of higher learning provide institutional support and create a more inclusive environment for these students. A major contribution of our research was that it provided an example of a small case study of Latinas/os, a group that has traditionally been underrepresented in higher education, yet who in this case performed very well academically in a PWI environment. Our study included a cohort of high performing males which is significant because Latino males are both underrepresented among collegiate students and have been shown not to perform to the levels of Latina females in college (Cerezo and McWhirter, 2012; Robertson, 2013). The prevailing literature is replete with instances of Latino males being marginalized, stereotyped, and maligned in higher educational settings (Astin and Oseguera, 2003; Nunez, 2009; Yosso et al., 2009). Thus, our study provides a portrait of Latina/o academic success in general, and Latino male success in particular, which is a welcome and much needed addition to the prevailing literature.

The findings in this qualitative study provide direct evidence that racial microaggressions negatively impact the psychological, cultural, and social adjustment of the participants. However, in spite of these assaults, Latina/o college students have successfully used counter-spaces to combat individual and institutionalized racism, to encourage one another, and validate their culture. Since Latina/o students have levels of college completion that need to improve (Astin and Oseguera, 2003; Nunez, 2009), universities that are truly committed to diversity and inclusiveness must demonstrate that they value these students by creating and developing a climate wherein the history, culture, and heritage of these students is inherently respected, valued, and accepted.

Footnotes

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

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