‘It’s About the Way I’m Treated’: Afro-Latina Black Identity Development in the Third Space

Abstract

Through an ethnographic study of an afterschool program serving girls of color in the New York City metro area, this study examines how girls who are ethically Latina and racially Black embrace and articulate AfroLatinx identity. It asks, what are the contexts and institutional processes that facilitate the development of a Black identity among Latina youth? I find that while the Latinx home and school contexts produce a mestiza identity that erases and subjugates Blackness, study participants find viable and affirming representations of Afro-Latinidad through their participation in this afterschool program. Specifically, I argue that the programs’ Black staff members and social justice-centered curriculum produces an increased identification with Blackness among Latina youth. Understanding how Afro-Latina girls learn to embrace their Black identity challenges us to examine how to leverage curriculum and pedagogy to affirm the racial identities of all Black girls.

Showing Up: A Theoretical Model of Anti‐Racist Identity and Action for Latinx Youth

“…Thus, youth’s anti‐racist identities and actions should be cultivated throughout adolescence through critical racial socialization that highlights knowledge of their racial and ethnic communities’ histories, ancestral practices, healing and ways of knowing, and a recognition of systemic root causes of racial inequality. These conversations or experiences may occur in community‐based educational spaces (e.g., Salas Pujols, 2020), in schools (Aldana & Byrd, 2015; Rivas‐Drake, Pinetta, et al., 2021; Rivas‐Drake, Rosario‐Ramos, et al., 2021) and at home (e.g., Ayón, 2016; Ayón et al., 2018). In school‐based ethnic studies (Sleeter & Zavala, 2020) and intergroup dialogues about race (Richards‐Schuster & Aldana, 2013) with other Latinx youth, youth can be encouraged to unpack how they conceive of race and ethnicity, and how racism shapes their racial and ethnic experiences in ways that are similar to or unique from other Latinx and non‐Latinx people in their schools and neighborhoods.…”

“…To be sure, there are certain Latinx people who are given greater access to the use of the Latinx panethnic label by other Latinx people, which is grounded in oppressive notions of who Latinx people are and should be. A stereotypical Latinx person is often conceived as someone who speaks fluent Spanish (or speaks Spanish in certain ways), has tan skin, dark eyes, and engages in cultural practices that connect them to their specific ethnic group’s culture (Flores & Rosa, 2015; Flores‐González et al., 2014; Salas Pujols, 2020). Thus, the use of panethnic labels rooted in stereotypical notions of Latinidad excludes youth who are Black and/or Indigenous, those who do not speak the so‐called correct Spanish (e.g., Spanglish) or do not speak Spanish at all, those who speak Indigenous languages, and those who are not aware of or do not practice the cultural traditions of their ancestors.…”

Latinx Adolescents' Assets, Risks, and Developmental Pathways: A Decade in Review and Looking Ahead

“…3 Investigating these alliances and their effects on Latinx youth's adjustment and development is an important gap in the literature that deserves more attention. Afro-Latinx youth bridge both ethnic/racial groups and how they negotiate their ERIs in family, peer, school, and neighborhood contexts will increase our understanding of Latinx youth's ERI and educational pathways (Pujols, 2020).…”

Suficiente, Enough: Reckoning With the Complexities of a Colonial Past That Racializes LatinXs as MestizXs

“…Furthermore, the racialization of LatinX identity as mestizX dangerously erases intragroup racial, cultural, geohistorical, and linguistic diversity (Jiménez Román & Flores, 2010;Milian, 2013;Moreno Vega et al, 2012). It also dilutes the hemispheric realities of LatinXs living in the United States given what happens in Latin America has a direct effect on their lives of LatinXs in the United States (Menchaca, 2001;Salas Pujols, 2022;Von Vacano, 2012).…”

“…A monolithic approach to assessing LatinXs carries over to higher education research (Dache et al, 2019; García-Louis, 2016; Jiménez Román & Flores, 2010; Salinas, 2020) where most of the scholarship on LatinXs in higher education centers the experiences of mestizXs—individuals of Spanish and American Indian descent (Blackwell et al, 2017; García-Louis & Cortes, 2020; Salas Pujols, 2022). The push to develop a one-size-fits-all model to serving LatinXs in education has produced the opposite effect: the one-size-fits-few dilemma.…”