Middle‐class Latin@ Identity: Building a Theoretical and Conceptual Framework

Abstract

Middle‐class Latin@ identity is a rare discussion in the racial/ethnic studies and identity literatures. Often the Latin@ middle class is invisible as much of the research focuses on the poor, working class and immigrant populations. This article provides a discussion of literature that addresses the shape of middle‐class Latin@ identity. It then moves to provide a theoretical and conceptual framework of strategies of identity negotiation for middle‐class Latin@s based on this existing literature. Ultimately, it provides a much needed shift in both the identity and race/ethnic studies literatures by balancing structural and agentic elements of conceptualizing how middle‐class Latin@ people’s identities are maintained, constructed, and negotiated.

Imposed Hispanicity: How the Imposition of Racialized and Gendered Identities in Texas Affects Mexican Women in Romantic Relationships with White Men

“…As Latin@s 1 become an increasingly growing population in the United States, significant attention, particularly from government agencies and academics, has been given to issues of racial formation and identification among this population [1,[6][7][8][9][10][11]. The influence of government forms on racial identification, the confluence of race and ethnicity, and the lumping of people with a shared history of colonization under a panethnic umbrella term while simultaneously negating the preferred identities of this particular group of people are issues routinely faced by Latin@s in the U.S.…”

“…Thus, this article examines how Mexican women, located in four areas of Texas, navigate their racial and ethnic identities, as well as how white men, and these women's romantic partners perceive them racially and ethnically in a highly stratified society. Specifically, I explore identity and the inequalities 1 Similar to Delgado [1], I use "Latin@" as a panethnic label used for a group of people whose descent, whether current of in past generations, is wholly or partially geographically-based in Latin America and which implies a racial/ethnic identity [2]; and, I specifically use the "@" symbol to "degender the use of Latino or Latina so it can be read as either/neither form (Espinal 2007)" [1]. More specifically, I use "Latin@" to signify the colonial relationship between Latin America and the United States rather than Latin America and Spain [3,4].…”

Declining segregation through the lens of neighborhood quality: Does middle-class and affluent status bring equality?

“… 1 There are a number of studies that examine middle-class and affluent African American communities (for example: Lacy, 2007: Pattillo-McCoy, 1999) or middle-class and affluent Hispanic communities (for example: Bean et al, 2001; Brown, 2007; Delgado, 2010; Kochhar, 2004; Rodriguez, 1996; Vallejo, 2010, 2012; Vallejo and Lee, 2009) without exploring locational attainment directly. …”