“Cops Only See the Brown Skin, They Could Care Less Where It Originated”: Afro-Latinx Perceptions of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement

Abstract

The increasing visibility of Afro-Latinxs in the United States has catalyzed interest among researchers about this group’s unique experiences of racialization. However, much less attention has been given to the relationship between Afro-Latinx identity formation and perceptions and/or participation in social movements. Drawing on web-based survey data with 115 Afro-Latinxs, we examine how Afro-Latinxs view the Black Lives Matter Movement with a focus on the extent to which they perceive that this explicitly anti-racist movement is relevant to their own lives. We theoretically ground our analysis in research related to collective identity and group consciousness to explore how Afro-Latinxs’ unique understanding of their ethno-racial identity and group position impacts their participation in the movement. We find that overwhelmingly Afro-Latinx respondents believe they should participate in Black Lives Matter, but how they articulate their support sheds light on the diverse ways they position themselves vis-à-vis other Black-identified groups in the racial hierarchy.

In Pursuit of Racial Equality: Identifying the Determinants of Support for the Black Lives Matter Movement with a Systematic Review and Multiple Meta-Analyses

“…“(R)” indicates that, for ease of use, in S7 the original measure of negative beliefs about equal opportunity was reversed to reflect perceptions of social inequality. S1: Arora and Stout 2019; S2: Barker, Nalder, and Newham 2021; S3: Bonilla and Tillery 2020; S4: Cole 2020; S5: Corral 2020; S6: Drakulich et al 2020; S7: Holt 2018; S8: Holt and Sweitzer 2018; S9: Hordge-Freeman and Loblack 2020; S10: Ilchi and Frank 2020; S11: Lake, Alston, and Kahn 2018; S12: Meleady and Vermue 2019; S13: Merseth 2018; S14: Riley and Peterson 2020; S15: Seaton et al 2020; S16: Selvanathan, Lickel, and Jetten 2020; S17: Selvanathan et al 2018; S18: Towler, Crawford, and Bennett 2020; S19: Updegrove et al 2020; S20: Watson-Singleton et al 2020; S21: Wouters 2019. …”

Diasporic Consciousness in African Immigrants’ Support for #BlackLivesMatter

“…As Hordge-Freeman, and Loblack (2020) found in their similar study on the triple consciousness of Afro-Latinxs and their support for #BlackLivesMatter, “political solidarity does not require uniformity” (530). But contrary to Hordge-Freeman and Loblack’s findings that revealed several Afro-Latinx respondents’ rejection or non-support for #BlackLivesMatter, none of the participants in the present study declared overt opposition to #BlackLivesMatter.…”

“…Literature on ethnoracial identity and engagement with #BlackLivesMatter informed the interview guide. I adopted questions akin to those used in Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman and Angelica Loblack’s (2020) study on Afro-Latinxs and how their unique ethnoracial negotiations influenced their support for #BlackLivesMatter. These questions provided insight on the participants’ engagement with #BlackLivesMatter while invoking an intimate reflection on how they conceptualize their ethnic identities in the context of U.S. racial politics (e.g., “What do you think it means to be an African immigrant [or a child of African immigrants] in America?”).…”

“…These migrations illustrate Black immigrants' unique experiences of being racialized primarily as Black or African American in the broader U.S. context while being ethnicized as Jamaican, Colombian, or Kenyan in other spaces. Growing scholarship from sociology and political science has aided in the development of more nuanced empirical studies that investigate the complexities of Black identity formation, interethnic relations and coalitions, group consciousness, and political action (Greer 2013;Bailey 2001;Smith 2014;Hordge-Freeman, and Loblack 2020;Austin 2018;Nunally 2010;Model 2008;Rogers 2006;Waters 1990Waters , 1999Roth 2012); nevertheless, African immigrants have remained undertheorized and understudied in the present literature.…”

Ethnic-Racial Identity as a Source of Resilience and Resistance in the Context of Racism and Xenophobia

“…Marginalized youth who have a clearer understanding of the broader context in terms of historical and structural disadvantages may lead to a belief in common fate and empathy for other marginalized groups. Among Afro-Latinx young adults, those who articulated their support for Black Lives Matter (BLM) were more likely to position themselves and their political interests within a Black collective (Hordge-Freeman & Loblack, 2020). Those who voiced their overwhelming support often pointed to the history of African diaspora and the inequities Black people face irrespective of their geographical location.…”