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When we have survived: understanding internalized racial oppression, antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure in Latine professionals

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When we have survived: understanding internalized racial oppression, antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure in Latine professionals

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Content When We Have Survived: Understanding Internalized Racial Oppression, antiBlackness,
and Indigenous Erasure in Latine Professionals
Lauren Lizárraga Gray
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education
May 2024

© Copyright by Lauren Lizárraga Gray 2024
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Lauren Lizárraga Gray certifies the approval of this Dissertation
Aaron Hinojosa
Darline P. Robles
Briana Hinga, Committee Chair
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2024

iv
Abstract
This study applied critical race theory and critical race methodology to understand how
internalized racial oppression (IRO) operates within Latine professionals. Within the context of
IRO, this study also examined antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives
within the Latine community. The purpose of this study was to center the voices of Latine
professionals and understand their experiences with IRO and connected phenomena, as well as to
expose settler colonialism as a system of power that continues to affect the racialized experiences
of Latine people in the United States. Testimonio methodology was used to learn about the
experiences of 11 study participants who identified as Latine professionals. This qualitative
study used a phenomenological approach to understand how IRO informs the experiences of
Latine professionals, and how IRO perpetuates antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and
majoritarian narratives. A constant comparative method, which included open, axial, and
selective coding, was used to analyze the data based on themes recognized from the theoretical
framework. Findings from the study include discussions about the insufficiency of current pan
ethnic and racial identifiers within the Latine community, new definitions of IRO, manifestations
of IRO within Latine professionals and the workplace, and concepts for dismantling IRO. This
study highlighted the importance of understanding the insidious ways in which oppression is
replicated through IRO, and highlighted the importance of naming and exposing antiBlackness,
Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives as part of IRO within the Latine community.
Keywords: internalized racial oppression, internalized racism, antiBlackness, Indigenous
erasure, settler colonialism, colonization, majoritarian narratives, Latine, Latino, professionals,
workplace

v
Dedication
To the world we dream about, and the one we live in now.
–Orpheus, Hadestown
To my dearest Ken: Thank you for your unwavering support, your unconditional love,
and holding my hand through the dark and the light. “A thousand kisses” from you will never be
enough. I am endlessly grateful for you. To our boy Hux: you are the sunshine of my life!
To Mom and Dad: This whole journey was made possible by you two in every way.
Thank you for your endless support throughout my life and throughout this doctoral journey. I
am so lucky that you two are not only my parents, but my best friends. To Guppy and Grandma:
thank you for building the dream that inspired me to pursue my education all the way. Your
hopes, dreams, and love inspire me to fight for a better world. To my siblings Stevie, Kiki, Nick,
and Stew: Thank you for loving me, cheering me on, and for all the laughs and the fun times. I
love you all. To Charlie and Eliza: My angel gals! My prayer is that this work contributes to a
better world in which you two can reach your own dreams. Toi loves you!
To my dearest friends, Phil, Bella, Evelyn, Barney, Bracey, Hugo, Claudia, Cory,
Karissa, and Jenáe: Your friendship got me through this! Thank you for the encouragement and
letting me run ideas by you, for sharing your dreams, and for the fun times, drinks, and deep
conversations. I treasure you all.
To Dr. Uthoff: I don’t know where I’d be without you. Thank you for believing in me,
helping me, supporting me to do the hard work, and for always cheering me on!
To my great-grandfather César Lizárraga, USC Class of 1940: Thank you for paving the
way for our family to pursue higher education. You walked this path so that 84 years later, I
could too.

vi
Acknowledgments
To Dr. Briana Hinga: You changed my life! Thank you for modeling what it looks like to
be an ally, and to fight for justice and a better world. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have
learned from you and for the privilege of having you chair my dissertation committee.
To Dr. Aaron Hinojosa and Dr. Darline Robles: I am so grateful for the time and energy
you poured into my work, and for your support and encouragement. My work is made possible
through your work and commitment to empowering not only Latine people, but all people. I am
honored by your participation on my dissertation committee.
To Dr. Jennifer Phillips: I am so grateful for the opportunity to have learned from you
and for your support with my dissertation. Thank you for all you have done to encourage me and
support my doctoral journey.
To Dean Pedro Noguera: Thank you for your leadership of the Rossier School of
Education. It is your leadership that has allowed me to conduct this study with the goal of
pursing racial equity for Latine people and all people of color.
To my study participants: I am deeply inspired by your willingness to challenge the status
quo and to fight for racial justice and equity for all people. Thank you for co-constructing this
knowledge with me.
To my reading group, Saida, Jeny, Mayu, and Connie: We did it! I treasure our times
together and know I have found friends for a lifetime. I could not have done this without you!
To Theresa: thank you for your incomparable APA knowledge and editing skills, your
leadership within our cohort, and for being a wonderful friend.
There are no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this dissertation can be sent to llizarra@usc.edu

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Table of Contents
Abstract.......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication....................................................................................................................................... v
Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... vi
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x
List of Figures................................................................................................................................ xi
List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................................... xii
Chapter One: Overview of the Study.............................................................................................. 1
Background of the Problem ................................................................................................ 2
Purpose of the Study ........................................................................................................... 4
Significance of the Study.................................................................................................... 5
Overview of Theoretical Framework and Methodology .................................................... 6
Definitions........................................................................................................................... 7
Organization of the Dissertation ....................................................................................... 13
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature ........................................................................................ 14
Theoretical Framework..................................................................................................... 14
Racial History of Latine People in California and Mexico............................................... 25
Conclusion to Racial History of Latine People in California and Mexico ....................... 54
Implications of History: An Anti-Essentialist Understanding of the Modern Latine
Community ....................................................................................................................... 54
Conclusion to Implications of History.............................................................................. 68
Internalized Racial Oppression......................................................................................... 69
Conclusion to Internalized Racial Oppression.................................................................. 90
Possibilities for Justice...................................................................................................... 90
Conceptual Framework..................................................................................................... 95
Summary........................................................................................................................... 98

viii
Chapter Three: Methodology........................................................................................................ 99
Research Questions........................................................................................................... 99
Overview of Design ........................................................................................................ 100
Research Setting.............................................................................................................. 100
The Researcher: My Testimonio..................................................................................... 101
Data Sources ................................................................................................................... 104
Testimonio ..................................................................................................................... 104
Participants...................................................................................................................... 105
Instrumentation ............................................................................................................... 106
Data Collection Procedures............................................................................................. 107
Data Analysis.................................................................................................................. 108
Credibility and Trustworthiness...................................................................................... 109
Ethics............................................................................................................................... 110
Chapter Four: Findings............................................................................................................... 111
Demographic Findings.................................................................................................... 111
Study Participants ........................................................................................................... 112
Conclusion to Demographic Findings ............................................................................ 119
Research Question 1: How Do Latine Professionals Conceptualize Internalized
Racial Oppression? ......................................................................................................... 119
Research Question 1 Conclusion .................................................................................... 141
Research Question 2: How Do Latine Professionals Conceptualize the
Dismantling of Internalized Racial Oppression? ............................................................ 142
Research Question 2 Conclusion .................................................................................... 155
Research Question 3: From the Perspectives of Latine Professionals, How Has
Internalized Racial Oppression Affected Their Organizational Experiences? ............... 155
Research Question 3 Conclusion .................................................................................... 170

ix
Research Question 4: From the Perspectives of Latine Professionals, How Does
Internalized Racial Oppression Perpetuate Majoritarian Narratives, Antiblackness,
and Indigenous Erasure? ................................................................................................. 171
Research Question 4 Conclusion .................................................................................... 191
Research Question 5: From the Perspectives of Latine Professionals, How Can
We Build Solidarity With the Black, Afro Latine, Blue-Collar Latine, and
Indigenous Communities? .............................................................................................. 192
Research Question 5 Conclusion .................................................................................... 199
Summary of Findings...................................................................................................... 199
Chapter Five: Recommendations................................................................................................ 201
Discussion of Findings.................................................................................................... 201
Recommendation 1: Create More Opportunities to Learn About IRO,
antiBlackness, Indigenous Erasure, and Majoritarian Narratives for the Latine
Community ..................................................................................................................... 224
Recommendation 2: Create Organizing Systems for IRO, Its Manifestations, and
Intersections With Root Racism and Other Phenomena................................................. 228
Recommendation 3: Expand the Conceptualization of Diversity and Privilege
Within the Latine Community ........................................................................................ 236
Limitations and Delimitations......................................................................................... 242
Recommendations for Future Research.......................................................................... 244
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 244
References................................................................................................................................... 246
Appendix A: Interview Protocol................................................................................................. 263

x
List of Tables
Table 1: Demographics of Study Participants 114
Table 2: Manifestations of Internalized Racial Oppression 125
Table 3: Internalized Racial Oppression Dismantling Concepts 145
Table 4: Findings 204
Table A1: Interview Protocol 267

xi
List of Figures
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework 98
Figure 2: Latine Internalized Racial Oppression Relationship Map 233
Figure 3: Root Racism and Internalized Racial Oppression Origin Map 236
Figure 4: Spectrum of Internalized Racial Oppression 237
Figure 5: Visual Framework Depicting Privilege and Diversity Within the Latine
Community
240

xii
List of Abbreviations
CCW Community cultural wealth
CRM Critical race methodology
CRT Critical race theory
CRT/M Critical race theory and methodology in combination
IRO Internalized racial oppression

1
Chapter One: Overview of the Study
Those who will not change do not survive; but who are we, when we have survived?
–Deborah Miranda, After Saint Serra: Unearthing Indigenous Histories at the
California Missions (Panich, 2016)
This study is focused on the problem of internalized racial oppression (IRO) within
Latine professionals. IRO is a phenomenon that negatively affects people of color while enabling
the reproduction of systemic inequality in the United States (Pyke, 2010). Scholars acknowledge
that people of color are not to blame for IRO; IRO is a consequence of experiences with
colonialism, racism, and oppression (David et al., 2019; Pyke, 2010). Because of the larger
systems of oppression within which IRO occurs, there is less of a need to explicitly oppress
racial groups because oppressed groups may begin participating in their oppression (Bailey et al.,
2011) due to centuries of exposure to “racist stereotypes, values, images, and ideologies
perpetuated by the White dominant society” (Pyke, 2010, p. 553). Because of the unique racial
construction and history of Latine people, Latine IRO is connected to legacies of antiBlackness
and Indigenous erasure created by settler colonialism in the United States and Latin America
(Bañales & Rivas-Drake, 2022; Haywood, 2017a). This dissertation and study centered the
voices of Latine professionals to understand their lived experiences with IRO, especially within
organizations. The Latine professional identity is an intersection at which both privilege and
oppression are experienced; Latine professionals are people of color who have had access to
education and opportunities but who have also likely had to navigate negative racial experiences
throughout their lives and within organizations. The intersection of oppression and privilege
within the Latine professional identity highlights the tension between oppression and privilege
that often occurs with IRO. Further, this dissertation study explored how Latine professionals

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may be uniquely positioned to disrupt IRO, antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian
narratives and work towards building solidarity. Understanding how IRO operates within Latine
professionals is a necessary approach to understanding and dismantling racism, as well as
creating more equitable organizations and a more equitable society overall. This dissertation
centered the voices of Latine professionals to understand their experiences with IRO,
antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives.
Background of the Problem
Banks and Stephens (2018) cited Frye’s (2000) work in which they used a birdcage as a
metaphor for the intersectionality of oppression. In Frye’s (2000) metaphor, each bar of the
birdcage is a manifestation of oppression. If the bird captured in the cage focuses on removing a
single bar, escape may seem possible, even easy. However, once the bird understands that it is
restricted by an interlocking system of bars, escaping becomes more complex. Haywood (2017b)
explained that all marginalization is “entangled and interlocked” (p. 958), and the realization of
this is the only way communities of color can achieve liberation. The Latine community has a
complex history of oppression and marginalization interwoven with the oppression of Black and
Indigenous people in the United States and Latin America (Menchaca, 2001). Previous calls for
understanding Latine inequality in the United States have emphasized the need to understand
Latine oppression through a lens separate from the Black–White dichotomy that has historically
shaped racial reality in the United States (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002; Urrieta & Villenas, 2013;
Yosso, 2005). This dissertation argues that while a uniquely Latine lens is appropriate for
understanding Latine oppression, it cannot be separated entirely from the historical legacies that
have shaped Latine existence in the United States and Latin America, such as settler colonialism,
antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure.

3
A key component of understanding the Latine experience in the United States and Latin
America is understanding how existing within these two colonial states led to the internalization
of inherently racist ideologies and mythologies about Latine, Black, Indigenous, and White
people. While IRO is linked to the survival of people of color (Alleyne, 2005; DeGuzmán, 2005;
Menchaca, 2001; Pyke, 2010; Ruiz, 2006), IRO also allows and enables White supremacy to
continue as the status quo in the United States (David et al., 2019; Pyke, 2010). Color-blind and
seemingly race-neutral ideologies such as meritocracy are increasingly being identified as
manifestations of IRO and deficit racial narratives, especially within organizations (Alemán &
Gaytán, 2017; Banks & Stephens, 2018; Hasford, 2016; Ray et al., 2017). One scholar has
conceptualized the internalization of these narratives as the “blind acceptance of the White
world” (Gonzalez et al., 2014, p. 47). While these beliefs are not unique to Latine people,
colonial legacies have positioned Latine people to have a unique relationship with Whiteness and
have privileged the perpetuation of antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure (Bañales & RivasDrake, 2022; Chavez-Dueñas et al., 2014).
In addition to understanding how antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian
narratives operate within IRO, this dissertation and study examined how these phenomena have
influenced perceptions of the blue-collar Latine and Afro Latine communities. These two
identities brought different aspects of the Latine professional identity into focus. The blue-collar
Latine identity highlighted a different lived experience from the study participants from an
income and educational perspective, while the Afro Latine identity highlighted a different lived
experience from the study participants from a racial perspective. The positioning of blue-collar
Latine and Afro Latine people potentially exposes them to increased marginalization through
IRO. This study sought to collaborate with the Latine professional study participants to expose

4
how marginalization toward these communities might occur. This dissertation explored how the
simultaneously privileged and marginalized identity of Latine professionals creates a unique
intersection at which they can potentially disrupt majoritarian narratives, antiBlackness, and
Indigenous erasure through the understanding of their experiences with IRO.
Essential to the study’s context was understanding how geography shaped the history of
Latine people. Because of this, the study included a geographical focus on California. Similar to
other states in the Southwest United States, the shifting control of the land—which first belonged
to Indigenous people, then was colonized by Spain, then came to be under the control of Mexico,
and finally, the United States—affected the racial legacies of California (Menchaca, 2001). This
various “ownership” influenced the lived experiences and perceptions of Latine people for
centuries and still affects them to this day. This study examined that legacy through a review of
history conducted in the literature review and by situating the study around Latine professionals
who are from, live in, and/or have a career in California.
Lastly, essential to this dissertation was the belief that Latine people are not to blame for
their IRO or for attempting to survive in a world that has primarily attempted to exclude and
demean them (Yosso, 2002). Also essential to this dissertation and study was the belief that
Latine professionals are not at fault or to blame for pursuing success, happiness, education,
wealth, or working within “the system” to succeed. However, this dissertation and study
rigorously examined why and how systems of power replicate inequality and how Latine people
contribute to (knowingly, unknowingly, or out of survival) and experience racial oppression.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to center the lived experiences of Latine professionals and
understand their experiences with IRO. This study also aimed to understand how majoritarian

5
narratives, antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure were perpetuated within the context of Latine
professionals’ experiences with IRO.
The following research questions guided the study:
1. How do Latine professionals conceptualize internalized racial oppression?
2. How do Latine professionals conceptualize the dismantling of internalized racial
oppression?
3. From the perspectives of Latine professionals, how has internalized racial
oppression affected their organizational experiences?
4. From the perspectives of Latine professionals, how does internalized racial
oppression perpetuate majoritarian narratives, antiBlackness, and Indigenous
erasure?
5. From the perspectives of Latine professionals, how can we build solidarity with
the Black, Afro Latine, blue-collar Latine, and Indigenous communities?
Significance of the Study
Understanding the mechanisms of racism and discrimination would be “incomplete”
without understanding the internalized components of how they operate (Speight, 2007, as cited
in Bailey et al., 2011, p. 481). This study sought to contribute to scholarship that explicitly links
specific beliefs and behaviors within the Latine community to IRO so that IRO may be more
widely understood. Further, it is widely agreed upon that discrimination and racism still exist
within organizations (Bechard & Gragg, 2020; Bertrand & Mullainathan, 2004; Cocchiara et al.,
2016; Cruz, 2016; Damaske, 2009; Kennedy, 2021; Ray et al., 2017; Segrest Purkiss et al.,
2006). Understanding and being able to identify IRO could further support the disruption of
White supremacy within organizations and society. Enabling Latine people and other people of

6
color to examine how they simultaneously experience and reproduce oppression could be a step
toward liberation for all people of color (Haywood, 2017; Ray et al., 2017). This study worked
toward that goal by examining antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, majoritarian narratives, and
IRO within Latine professionals.
Overview of Theoretical Framework and Methodology
Critical race theory (CRT) was the theoretical framework that guided this study. CRT is
an anti-racist ideology that regards race as the primary cause of and key to understanding
inequality in the United States (Bell, 1995; Ladson-Billings, 2013). Critical race methodology
(CRM), as developed by Solórzano and Yosso (2002), expanded upon the foundations of CRT
by further emphasizing the importance of intersectionality in understanding the experiences of
racialized people. This study used several tenets of CRT/M to examine the racialized experiences
of Latine professionals, including challenging the dominant ideology, committing to social
justice, centering experiential knowledge, and implementing a transdisciplinary approach to
understanding issues of race (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002).
Additionally, consistent with the tenets of CRT, settler colonialism is a system of power that this
dissertation and study will seek to expose. Settler colonialism is a unique form of colonialism in
which settlers come to inhabited land, declare the land to be their new home, and engage in the
process of claiming the land as property through the genocide of Indigenous inhabitants (Glenn,
2015; Rowe & Tuck, 2017; Tuck & Gorlewski, 2016) and through the enslavement of Africans
who work the stolen land (Rowe & Tuck, 2017; Tuck & Gorlewski, 2016). A nuanced,
historically rooted understanding of the problem of IRO within Latine professionals is needed so
that the outcomes of this research do not reproduce inequality. This study used testimonio, a

7
qualitative interview methodology rooted in Latin American tradition, to record the lived
experiences of 11 Latine professionals who comprised the study’s participants.
Definitions
This dissertation utilized various terms specific to the problem of practice and the Latine
community. Provided is a list of terms to understand the problem of practice and the study.
• Afro Latine refers to Latine people of Black or African descent (Haywood, 2017a).
Haywood wrote, “The term Afro Latino indicates that Blackness as a racial identity
can apply to a variety of ethnicities, and Latinidad as an ethnicity can comprise
individuals of an assortment of races” (p. 759). Afro Latine people have broadly been
erased from the Latine identity, and Blackness has largely been erased from the
conceptualization of Latinidad (Fornoff, 2022). Because of this, and the history of
colonization and slavery within Latin America, antiBlackness still manifests within
Latine spaces (Haywood, 2017b). Afro Latine people often have a different racialized
lived experience than non-Afro or light skinned Latine people (Haywood, 2017b).
• antiBlackness refers to “a form of colonial oppression that includes practices,
policies, and dogmas that uniquely harm, disregard, reject, and devalue the lives and
contributions of Black people” (Adames et al., 2021, p. 29, as cited in Bañales &
Rivas-Drake 2022, p. 5). AntiBlackness is intertwined with but “distinct” from White
supremacy (Ray et al., 2017, p. 151).
• Blue-collar Latine community refers to Latine people who work in blue-collar jobs or
careers. Blue-collar occupations are traditionally considered labor or skilled trade
roles (Lips-Wiersma et al., 2016). Latine people are overrepresented in blue-collar
jobs (Dubina, 2021). Because this dissertation focused on Latine professionals,

8
specifically the professional identity, blue-collar Latine people represent an important
population impacted by this study.
• Color-blind racism/ideology refers to the idea that there is a “new racism” that has
largely replaced “Jim Crow-style” racism (Bonilla-Silva & Dietrich, 2011, p. 191).
This new racism is mostly “subtle,” superficially nonracial, “institutionalized,” and
“rationalizes racial inequality” as a product of the “markets,” as well as a “naturally
occurring phenomenon” due to the “cultural deficiencies” of people of color (BonillaSilva & Dietrich, 2011, p. 191). Seemingly race-neutral ideology, such as the myth of
meritocracy, is also included in the conceptualization of color-blind racism (Alemán
& Gaytán, 2017).
• Critical race methodology (CRM) is an expansion of critical race theory that
emphasizes the importance of understanding the lived experiences of racialized
people from an intersectional perspective. Specifically, it challenges racism in
education and research by centering race in the research process (Solórzano & Yosso,
2002).
• Critical race theory (CRT) is an anti-racist ideology that surpasses the call for equal
rights, affirmative action, and integration. CRT regards race as the primary cause of
and key to understanding inequality in the United States (Bell, 1995; Ladson-Billings,
2013). Storytelling, allegory, counternarrative, visionary fiction, and first-person
accounts of lived experiences characterize CRT’s verbal and written components
(Bell, 1995; Delgado & Stefancic, 2017; Ladson-Billings, 2013).
• Essentialism, when applied to race, refers to the idea that members of a racial group
“share defining qualities” and leads to the assumption of the characteristics of that

9
group, positioning these characteristics as “unchanging” or “immutable” (Roth et al.,
2023, p. 3). Essentialism holds that a person belonging to one group cannot belong to
another (Roth et al., 2023), i.e., if a person is Black, they cannot also be Latine.
• Incommensurability refers to the acknowledgment that the goals of critical theories,
social justice, and civil rights work often do not agree with the goals of
decolonization (Tuck & Yang, 2012).
• Indigenous erasure refers to the “systematic political and economic
disenfranchisement of Indigenous people and devaluation of their appearance,
languages, and cultural ways” (Bañales & Rivas-Drake, 2022, p. 5). Indigenous
erasure began with settler colonialism, which involved the stealing of Indigenous land
and Indigenous genocide (Glenn, 2015; Rowe & Tuck, 2017; Tuck & Gorlewski,
2016). Bañales & Rivas-Drake (2022) also conceptualized Indigenous erasure as antiIndigeneity.
• Internalized racial oppression refers to “the individual inculcation of the racist
stereotypes, values, images, and ideologies perpetuated by the White dominant
society about one’s racial group, leading to feelings of self-doubt, disgust, and
disrespect for one’s race and/or oneself” Pyke (2010, p. 553). An additional definition
describes IRO as “the ‘subjection’ of the victims of racism to the mystifications of the
very racist ideology which imprison and define them” (Hall, 1986, p. 26, as cited in
Pyke, 2010, p. 552).
• Latine is used throughout this dissertation as a “gender-neutral form of the word
Latino, created by LGBTQIA+, gender non-binary, and feminist communities in
Spanish speaking countries. The term Latine is intended to remove gender from the

10
word Latino by replacing it with the gender-neutral Spanish letter E” (Call Me Latine,
n.d.). Further, there is precedent for gender-neutral Spanish words that follow this
protocol: “This idea is native to the Spanish language and can be seen in many
gender-neutral words like ‘estudiante’” (meaning student; Call Me Latine, n.d.).
Latine is derived from the pan ethnic identifier Latino, which is defined as a person
who is from, or whose ancestors or family are from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba,
Central, or South America who is of any race (Hayes-Bautista & Chapa, 1987, as
cited in Martínez & Gonzalez, 2021; Humes et al., 2011, as cited in Haywood,
2017a). Latine was chosen as the gender-neutral term for this dissertation instead of
Latinx due to recent discussions in the Latine community indicating that Latinx is
challenging to pronounce in Spanish, potentially making it less inclusive (LATV
Media, 2021). Latine was used throughout this study when referring to the
Latino/Hispanic community as a whole; I use Latine as a pan ethnic identifier that is
inclusive of all individuals regardless of the Latino/Hispanic ethnic identifier they
use, including but not limited to Latina/o/e/x, Hispanic, Chicana/o/e/x, Tica/o,
Mexican/a/o, etc. Part of this dissertation involved exploring issues of pan ethnic
labeling and how it obscures specific experiences of people of different races within
an ethnic identity. While this dissertation seeks to provide an anti-essentialist analysis
of Latine professionals and the Latine community, it uses the term Latine to describe
people of a collective group that may share specific experiences as a community.
When appropriate, this dissertation identifies the specific country of origin for
individuals and groups and includes other racial identifiers, such as Black or
Indigenous (i.e., Afro Latine).

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• Majoritarian narratives refer to cultural stories that “privilege” White people, men,
individuals in the middle or upper class, and the heterosexual orientation (Solórzano
& Yosso, 2002; p. 28). Privilege occurs when these positionalities are deemed the
natural or default way of being for humans (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). Majoritarian
narratives can be believed and perpetuated by people of color (Solórzano & Yosso,
2002).
• People of color refers to people who are not White (Dictionary.com, 2023). This term
is used throughout this dissertation to collectively refer to non-White people.
However, this dissertation made an effort to refer to people of color by their
appropriate/chosen racial or ethnic identifier. Also, this dissertation made every effort
to ensure that the use of people of color did not overshadow the specific experiences
of Black people in the United States, as discussed in Ray et al. (2017).
• Professional refers to a “practitioner who works in a knowledge-based service
occupation” (Evetts, 2006, as cited in Scanlon, 2011, p. 17). Although there is a lack
of one-size-fits-all criteria dictating who is definitively a professional, they are
usually considered “knowledge workers” and obtain postsecondary education and/or
“formal credentialing” in a particular occupation (Scanlon, 2011, p. 17). However,
through a CRT lens, “professional” and “professionalism” are constructs that reveal
certain “explicit and implicit assumptions grounded in certain worldviews” (Marom,
2019, p. 7) and connote an adherence to the “White normativity” that characterizes
organizations (Ray et al., 2017). Thus, this study used the professional identity as an
intentional dynamic of exploration to understand how systems of privilege and

12
marginalization are interlocked within the Latine professional identity. Professional
roles are considered white-collar jobs (Lips-Wiersma et al., 2016).
• Racism/systemic racism is defined as “a human invention constructed by groups to
differentiate themselves from other groups, to create ideas about the ‘Other,’ to
formulate their identities and to defend the disproportionate distribution of rewards
and opportunities within society” (Banks, 1995, p. 22, as cited in Perez Huber, 2009,
p. 642). Racism occurs when one group of people “believes itself to be superior, and
the group that believes itself to be superior has power to carry out racist behavior” (p.
642), and it is also noted that multiple racial groups are impacted by racism
(Solórzano et al., 2002, as cited in Perez Huber, 2009). Perez Huber (2009) argued
that race is “a vehicle to allocate and deny power, knowledge, and rights to particular
groups of people through racism” (p. 642).
• Settler colonialism refers to a unique manifestation of colonialism in which settlers
come to inhabited land, declare the land to be their new home, and engage in the
process of claiming the land as property through the genocide of Indigenous
inhabitants (Glenn, 2015; Rowe & Tuck, 2017; Tuck & Gorlewski, 2016). Further,
the settler society/community is upheld by the theft of Africans from their homeland,
who are then enslaved and become settler property used to work the stolen land
(Rowe & Tuck, 2017; Tuck & Gorlewski, 2016). The relationship between settlers,
Indigenous inhabitants of the land, and Black/African slaves has been theorized as a
triadic relationship of “constitutive elements” (King, 2014, as cited in Rowe & Tuck,
2017) of settler colonialism: settlers (White supremacy)–Indigenous erasure–slavery
(antiBlackness) (Rowe & Tuck, 2017; Tuck & Gaztambide-Fernandez, 2013).

13
• Testimonio is a form of interviewing in which participants share the truths of their
lived experiences and how they have “come to understand” these truths (Delgado
Bernal et al., 2012, p. 364). Testimonio is an epistemology that is deeply rooted in
Latin American tradition, shaped by Latina feminists, and involves the telling of
one’s lived experience within the societal, political, and colonial realities that exist
(Delgado Bernal et al., 2012). Specifically, testimonio is a way to give voice to those
“in the margins” whose experiences are silenced or untold. It reveals how one has
come to understand the truth of their reality (Delgado Bernal et al., 2012).
• White supremacy is defined as “a political, economic, and cultural system in which
White people overwhelmingly control power and material resources, as well as
conscious and unconscious ideas of White superiority and entitlement; relations of
White dominance and non-White subordination are daily reenacted across a broad
array of institutional and social settings” (Ansley, 1997, p. 592, as cited in Bañales &
Rivas-Drake, 2022, p. 5). Includes racialization processes that “aim to serve the
interests of White people” (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017, as cited in Bañales & RivasDrake, 2022, p. 5).
Organization of the Dissertation
The first chapter of this dissertation provided an overview of and context for the problem
of practice that guided this study. Chapter Two reviews relevant literature that situates the
problem of practice within a historical context and examines how history has shaped the modern
Latine community. Chapter Three details the methodological approach that guided the study.
Chapter Four discusses the study’s findings, and Chapter Five shares recommendations and areas
for future research.

14
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature
The literature review aims to convey the complexity of the origins and existence of
Latine people in the United States through the theoretical framework of CRT. Through the lens
of CRT/M, this dissertation and literature review seeks to expose settler colonialism as a power
structure that informs the histories and lived realities of people of color in the United States. An
examination of the existence of Latine people through CRT/M and in the context of settler
colonialism tells a story of survival and the consequences of survival for racialized people in a
settler colonial state. Latine people comprise a large part of the United States-born population
and are also one of the largest groups of immigrants coming to the United States (González,
2022). This dual existence of ancient and recent history tells of a complex Latine heritage with
common themes that span centuries.
This section sets a historical context with which to understand the experience of Latine
professionals with IRO, antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives. It begins
with an explanation of the theoretical framework in which the problem of practice is explored,
followed by an exploration of the literature review themes. The themes discussed in this section
include: the historical occurrences contributing to Latine racial construction in California and
Mexico; an examination of the modern Latine community; IRO and its manifestations in the
Latine community and within organizations; and possibilities for justice.
Theoretical Framework
CRT is the framework that supports this literature review, focusing on exposing settler
colonialism as a system of power that affects Latine IRO and informs the lived experiences of
people of color. While CRT calls for the centralization of marginalized voices, exposing settler
colonialism as a system of power calls for acknowledging and dismantling antiBlackness and

15
Indigenous erasure and examining the problem through a historical lens. The lens of CRT is used
to examine Latine history, IRO within the community, and expose settler colonialism as a system
of power that affects Latine people.
Critical Race Theory and Methodology
CRT has a storied past through which it has evolved and been adapted to advance
equality and justice for people of color in the United States. CRT is a movement that began as a
legal strategy to understand the role of race and racism in producing inequality for people of
color (Bell, 1995; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). Foundational scholars/theorists of CRT include
Derrick Bell, Alan Freeman, Richard Delgado, Charles Lawrence, Mari Matsuda, Patricia
Williams, Neil Gotanda, Gary Peller, Cheryl Harris, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Angela Harris, and
Jean Stefancic (Bell, 1995; Delgado & Stefancic, 2017; Ladson-Billings, 2013; Solórzano &
Yosso, 2002). While the CRT movement has evolved over time, there are several key ideas and
attributes that have proved to be foundational. Delgado and Stefancic (2017) explained that CRT
was born of the ideas of several previous movements, philosophies, and leaders. Movements that
influenced the creation of CRT include critical legal studies; feminism; and the Black Power,
civil rights, and Chicano movements that occurred throughout the second half of the 20th century
(Delgado & Stefancic, 2017; Yosso, 2005). Ideas such as legal indeterminacy, the understanding
of how those who hold the power in society contribute to the creation of social roles, and righting
“historical wrongs” (p. 5) are all preexisting themes that were foundational in shaping CRT
(Delgado & Stefancic, 2017).
While critical race scholars/theorists may not have conceptualized CRT in the same way,
they centered race as the key factor in understanding a legal system that oppresses people of

16
color (Bell, 1995). Bell (1995) cited Delgado’s (1990) work when describing the CRT values
agreed upon by most CRT scholars/theorists (p. 899):
• The importance of naming one’s reality or lived experience.
• Belief in the power of knowledge and ideas.
• The ability to question civil rights law that was moderate or promoted incremental
gains for people of color.
• The interdisciplinary exchange of ideas with the social sciences on race and racism.
• Critical examination of majoritarian narratives used by dominant groups to justify
racial oppression.
• Interpreting “doctrine” within specific contexts.
• “Criticism of liberal legalisms.”
• An understanding of “structural determinism—the ways in which legal thought
structures can impede law reform.”
Further, CRT scholars/theorists were committed to fighting against racism and the way it was
institutionalized in American law and by American society (Bell, 1995; Ladson-Billings, 2013).
Since its conception, CRT has branched into many different “crits” that further explore issues
specific to different groups (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017). For example, LatCrit explores issues in
the Latine community from a Latine-community-specific critical lens (Delgado & Stefancic,
2017; Perez Huber, 2009; Yosso, 2002).
As described by Derrick Bell—often regarded as the father of CRT (Delgado &
Stefancic, 2017; Lynn et al., 2013; Ladson-Billings, 2013; Urrieta & Villenas, 2013)—CRT is an
anti-racist ideology that surpasses the call for equal rights, affirmative action, and integration; it
regards race as the primary cause of and key to understanding inequality in the United States

17
(Bell, 1995; Ladson-Billings, 2013). Storytelling, allegory, counternarrative, visionary fiction,
and first-person accounts of lived experiences characterize the verbal and written components of
CRT (Bell, 1995; Delgado & Stefancic, 2017; Ladson-Billings, 2013). The CRT movement is
concerned with examining and transforming the interactions, relationships, and realities of race,
power, inequality, and oppression (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017). CRT scholars/theorists inherited
the belief from critical legal studies that institutions based on the practices of White supremacy
must be resisted and dismantled (Bell, 1995). Further, CRT scholars/theorists hold the belief that
“truths” that are considered to be objective and neutral are vehicles for a privileged class of
people to “depersonify” their interests and cloak them as “the universal authority and the
universal good” (Bell, 1995, p. 901). Delgado and Stefancic (2017) described CRT as “a
movement that questions the very foundations of the liberal order, including equality theory,
legal reasoning, enlightenment rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law” (p.
28). The foundational tenets of CRT as described by Delgado and Stefancic (2017, pp. 8–11) are
the following:
1. Racism is normal and endemic to American society and informs the daily experiences
of people of color.
2. Interest convergence: White people benefit materially and psychically from racism
and many policies addressing racial inequality are born out of White self-interest
rather than from the desire to benefit Black or other people of color.
3. Race is socially constructed and not an objective or biological reality; racial
differences constitute a miniscule part of genetics compared to what humans have in
common biologically. However, even though race is not a biological or scientific

18
reality, and because of the socially constructed importance of race, it has critical
consequences for the lives of people who have been racialized.
4. Intersectionality and anti-essentialism: no person or group has a singular, exactly
shared identity. There are many identity-based, political, sexual, ethnic, physical, and
financial/class variations amongst one group of people.
5. The importance of the “voice of color” (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017, p. 11): each
person who has been racialized or oppressed has a valid story of their lived
experience to tell.
This study specifically utilized an iteration of CRT called critical race methodology (CRM).
Originally created as a framework for challenging racism in education and research, it was
adapted for this study to understand the experiences of Latine professionals’ experiences with
IRO. CRM, as developed by Solórzano and Yosso (2002), expanded upon the foundations of
CRT by further emphasizing the importance of intersectionality in understanding the experiences
of racialized people. CRM challenges racism in education and research by centering race in the
research process; centering the importance of the intersections of race, class, and gender and how
they affect students of color; challenging dominant narratives about students of color; and
opening possibilities of justice through new ways of thinking (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002).
Rooted in the tenets of CRT as described above, the tenets of CRM are the following (Solórzano
& Yosso, 2002, pp. 25–27):
1. “The intercentricity of race and racism with other forms of subordination:” CRM
holds race as central to understanding the lived experiences of people of color while
also acknowledging that racial oppression is often layered with oppression based on

19
“race, gender, class, immigration status, surname, phenotype, accent, and sexuality”
(p. 25).
2. “The challenge to dominant ideology:” This tenet challenges the “claims” made by
educational institutions of “objectivity, meritocracy, colorblindness, race-neutrality,
and equal opportunity” (p. 26). This tenet argues that these seemingly neutral ideas
act as vehicles for White privilege and the interests and power of “dominant groups”
(p. 26).
3. “The commitment to social justice:” CRM is committed to eradicating “racism,
sexism, and poverty” while empowering people experiencing oppression (p. 26).
4. “The centrality of experiential knowledge:” CRM views the lived experiences of
people of color as “sources of strength” and data that are “legitimate” and necessary
for conducting research that challenges dominant ideology (p. 26).
5. “The transdisciplinary perspective:” CRM utilizes knowledge and methods from
many different fields to contextualize analyses of race and racism. Critical race
methodology draws upon the fields of “ethnic studies, women’s studies, sociology,
history, law,” (p. 27) and other fields.
While CRM was created to challenge racism in education and research, it is a useful framing that
can be applied to examine inequality in organizations, which this study proposes. Firstly, it is
well documented that organizations are institutions that perpetuate inequality for people of color
via majoritarian narratives such as merit, objectivity, and race-neutral mentality (Offermann et
al., 2014; Rattan & Ambady, 2013; Roithmayr, 2000; van Dijk et al., 2020), all of which CRM
aims to challenge (tenet number two). Secondly, there is scholarly precedent for acknowledging
the appropriateness of adapting educational CRT frameworks to other contexts, including

20
organizations (DeCuir-Gunby & Gunby, 2016). Work in the CRT field has been done regarding
the experiences of faculty of color in higher education (Bernal & Villalpando, 2002; Brissett,
2020; Cole et al., 2017) which frames the school/university as a place of employment, and
faculty of color as employees within an organization (DeCuir-Gunby & Gunby, 2016). Learning
from the CRT work done in higher education can support CRT/M-centered research within
organizations. Thirdly, centering CRM allows me, the researcher of this study, to be held
accountable in producing research that adheres to the tenets of CRM intending to empower
people of color, rejecting dominant ideology, and centering experiential knowledge, all with a
commitment to social justice.
While CRT and CRM are broad, the tenets represent consistent values appearing in all
CRT work, true to its origins and legacy. These tenets were centralized in this study to amplify
the narratives of Latine professionals and their organizational experiences with IRO.
Additionally, using CRT as a frame for this study ensured its contribution to a body of racial
justice scholarship that rejects majoritarian narratives and seeks an outcome that extends beyond
the reproduction of the status quo.
Settler Colonialism: Exposing a System of Power
Within the context of CRT/M, settler colonialism is a system of power essential to
understanding the problem of Latine IRO. The tenets of CRT/M call for the centering of issues
of race within the context of history, creating a transdisciplinary analysis. Exposing settler
colonialism as a system of power that shapes the realities of people of color supported the goals
of this dissertation and study.
Settler colonialism is a specific iteration of colonialism in which settlers come to an
already inhabited land, declare the land to be their new home, and engage in the process of

21
claiming the land as property through the genocide of Indigenous inhabitants (Glenn, 2015;
Rowe & Tuck, 2017; Tuck & Gorlewski, 2016). Further, the settler society/community is
supported by the theft of Africans from their homeland, who are enslaved and become settler
property used to work the stolen land (Rowe & Tuck, 2017; Tuck & Gorlewski, 2016). The
relationship between settlers, Indigenous inhabitants of the land, and Black/African slaves has
been theorized into a triadic relationship of “constitutive elements” (King, 2014, as cited in
Rowe & Tuck, 2017) of settler colonialism: settlers (White supremacy)–Indigenous erasure–
slavery (antiBlackness; Rowe & Tuck, 2017; Tuck & Gaztambide-Fernandez, 2013).
Additional foundational ideas of settler colonialism include the following:
• Settler colonialism is not just a singular event of invasion, it is a structure that exists
in modernity (Glenn, 2015; Rowe & Tuck, 2017; Tuck & Gaztambide-Fernandez,
2013; Wolfe, 2006).
• Settler colonialism is a collection of “structures, narratives, and justifications” that
promote “settler ontologies, especially of property and state violence against
Indigenous and Black peoples” (Tuck & Gorlewski, 2016, p. 212).
• Indigenous communities have survived, resisted, and theorized their
dispossession/oppression (Tuck & Gorlewski, 2016).
• Settler colonialism created a racial hierarchy (in addition to Black and Indigenous
people) in which racialized and “othered” people were subjected to violence,
oppression, and exploitation, such as in the labor and sexual contexts. However, the
violence experienced by other racial groups was not to the extent of the violence and
oppression that was experienced by Indigenous and Black people (Glenn, 2015;
Sanchez & Pita, 2014).

22
• Settlers are not only White; people of all races can be considered settlers and uphold
the settler colonial state (Tuck & Yang, 2012).
• Liberal ideals/projects that are aimed at social or racial justice, including the field of
ethnic and critical studies can often reify settler colonial ontologies and the settler
colonial structure through erasure/ignoring the history of settler colonialism and its
impact on society (Arvin et al., 2013; Glenn, 2015; Rowe & Tuck, 2017). Further,
calls for change and civil rights should not be based on ideals of community and
governance that perpetuate the ideals of the settler colonial nation-state (Arvin et al.,
2013). Tuck and Yang (2012) asserted that the burden of the reality of understanding
that one has benefitted from the erasure and forced assimilation of the Indigenous
population of the United States is uncomfortable for non-Indigenous and non-Black
U.S. citizens/inhabitants. Because of this guilt and discomfort, settlers will attempt to
align with innocence, which is an attempt or attempts to relieve settler guilt and
responsibility without relinquishing privilege, power, or land.
• The assimilation and IRO of Indigenous people and racialized others is a tool that
supports the settler colonial state (Glenn, 2015; Tuck & Gaztambide-Fernandez,
2013).
• Indigenous communities are less concerned with equality or civil rights within the
settler colonial nation-state and are often more concerned with achieving sovereignty
and independence on their terms (Arvin et al., 2013).
I, the researcher, acknowledge that I am a Brown settler, and perpetuate and benefit from the
settler colonial state. I acknowledge that this dissertation does not fully align with calls for
decolonization. Furthermore, I acknowledge that some people of color, including myself, have

23
chosen to pursue change and equity from within settler systems, which include organizations and
institutions of higher education. Some of what is discussed in this dissertation is
incommensurable with decolonization (Tuck & Yang, 2012). However, I believe it is still
important to expose settler colonialism as a system of power that affects Latine people and from
which they benefit. A nuanced, historically rooted understanding of the problem of IRO within
the Latine community is needed so that the outcomes of this research do not reproduce inequality
or perpetuate settler innocence. Therefore, this study will frame the problem of Latine IRO
within the history of racial oppression in the United States. While CRT/M largely calls for the
liberation of all racialized and oppressed people, exposing settler colonialism requires that the
framing of any issue of oppression occurring in the United States includes an analysis of
antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and White supremacy. In fact, a school of thought exists that
specifically calls out the lack of a settler colonial framework in ethnic, feminist, and queer
studies, including critical race theory (Arvin et al., 2013; Tuck & Gorlewski, 2016). Tuck and
Gorlewski (2016) agreed that the tenets of critical race theory are extremely valid and necessary.
However, they also proposed that a greater context and understanding of race in the United
States is revealed “within the logic and structure of settler colonialism” (p. 210). Further,
exposing settler colonialism as a system of power creates the opportunity to highlight the specific
injustices (ongoing and historical) for Indigenous and Black people—within and outside of the
Latine community—while still acknowledging the injustice of racism and oppression that is
targeted at any other group; in fact, exposing settler colonialism as a system of power connects
these injustices to the very formation of the United States (Glenn, 2015).
The Latine American identity takes on a complex dynamic when situated within the
settler colonial triad of White supremacy–antiBlackness–Indigenous erasure. Latine people,

24
including immigrants, could be viewed as settlers of stolen land who benefit/have benefitted
from the legacy of slavery and Indigenous erasure while still experiencing violence and racial
oppression within the United States. Adding to this complexity is the fact that many Latine
people possess a mixture of European (White), Indigenous, and African (Black) ancestries
(Menchaca, 2001), all of which are components of the settler colonial triad. Thus, the oppression
that Latine people experience—and at times, perpetuate—has implications within each
component of the settler colonial triad.
Since this study focuses on Latine people’s experiences, a logical question would be,
“Why not use LatCrit as the theoretical framework through which to view this problem?” LatCrit
represents a supportive but complex aspect of this theoretical framework when viewed within the
context of settler colonialism. The origins of LatCrit occurred out of a need Latine CRT scholars
identified for work that went beyond what they identified as the Black–White dichotomy for
understanding racial oppression in the United States (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002; Urrieta &
Villenas, 2013; Yosso, 2005). This led to the creation of LatCrit, a collaborative extension of
CRT, which focuses on Latine-specific issues such as immigration, language, ethnicity, culture,
Chicana/Latina forms of resistance, and Indigeneity (Perez Huber, 2009; Urrieta & Villenas,
2013). The importance for the Latine community to have a specific lens through which to view
and theorize its specific issues cannot be overstated. However, a Latine-specific lens is one of
many lenses through which inequality can be examined. This study utilized an approach to
understanding the Latine community in which the problem of practice is located within the
Black–White dichotomy. This approach intends to acknowledge the origins of racial oppression
in the United States and open possibilities for justice and liberation that include people of color
within and outside of the Latine community.

25
Additionally, there is a deep history of anti-Indigeneity, Indigenous erasure, and
antiBlackness that affects the Latine community. For example, Busey and Silva (2020) unpacked
how the Latine movement toward identifying as Brown centers discussions of race around skin
color and the supposed biology of race that undermines the historically antiBlack and antiIndigenous roots of race construction in the United States and Latin America. Much of the
antiBlack discourse within the Latine community stems from the idea that Latine experiences
should be seen as distinct from those of the Black community, in a way that ignores or does not
fully address antiBlackness (Busey & Silva, 2020). Further, discourse surrounding the Brown
identity may perpetuate the exclusion of Afro Latine and Indigenous Latine people who do not
identify as Brown (Haywood 2017a).
This framing is not intended to minimize or take away from the real oppression faced by
the Latine community in the United States, which is central to this study and literature review.
This framing is meant to understand Latine oppression and IRO by connecting it to the larger
picture of racial oppression and violence in the United States. This study addressed the paucity of
research that centers the lived experiences of Latine people within organizations while
simultaneously examining the community’s history of antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure.
Further, this study used CRT/M to expose and analyze how settler colonialism is integrated into
Latine IRO and how it informs the perpetuation of antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and
majoritarian narratives from a historical perspective.
Racial History of Latine People in California and Mexico
Essential to understanding Latine IRO is understanding the historical occurrences that led
to the racial construction of Latine people and subsequent racial positioning in the United States.
Martha Menchaca, author of Recovering History, Constructing Race: The Indian, Black, and

26
White Roots of Mexican Americans (2001) believed that to understand the racial positioning of
Mexican Americans, one had to understand their “prehistory” within America, Europe, and
Africa (p. 18). Menchaca wrote that “Mexican Americans are a racially mixed people with a
complex history of conquest” (p. 18). While this study is about Latine people in general, this
historical review focuses on the racial construction of Latine people in Mexico for several
reasons. Firstly, the history of Mexican American Latine people is relevant due to Mexico’s
proximity to California, which served as a geographical boundary for this study. Secondly, while
Mexico was but one of the Spanish colonies in the Americas and Caribbean, the Spanish
colonization of Mexico is representative of the pattern of Spanish colonization elsewhere
(Schwaller, 2010), specifically through the casta system (Díaz-Sánchez & Hernández, 2013;
Jackson, 1995; Martínez, 2010). The casta system was a hierarchy of racial classifications, an
iteration of which was present throughout all the Spanish colonies (Díaz-Sánchez & Hernández,
2013; Martínez, 2010). Mexico and California serve as the exemplar locations through which the
legacies of the casta system affect the greater Latine community and are examined within this
literature review and dissertation. This portion of the literature review draws upon Menchaca’s
(2001) work, due to its comprehensiveness and unique commitment to examine race within
Spanish colonial Mexico.
Menchaca (2001), citing the work of scholar Octavio Romano-V, argued that an
“ahistorical” (p. 15) understanding of Mexican people contributes to an erroneous paradigm
which constitutes Latine people as new to the United States. The Latine identity comprises a
diverse range of ancestries, races, colors, and creeds, creating a spectrum of Latinidad that is
specifically shaped by the lived experiences of each Latine person (González, 2022). While there
exist Latine people of many singular and mixed ethnicities and races, it is broadly understood

27
that many Latine people, especially Mexican people, possess varying combinations of
Indigenous, African, and Spanish ancestries (Haywood, 2017a; Fornoff, 2022; Menchaca, 2001).
The push and pull of the multitude of identities contained with the Latine racial identity led to
the creation of a people who largely consider themselves Brown, which is neither Black nor
White, yet is both. This Brown identity has resulted in the oppression of Latine people and the
ability of Latine people to have a flexible relationship with race that sometimes reproduces
oppression (Bañales & Rivas-Drake, 2022; Menchaca, 2001).
This historical review outlines significant occurrences within the United States–Mexico
borderlands which have influenced IRO, antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure within the Latine
community. Beginning with an exploration of the three main ancestral branches of Mexican
people, this section will move on to explore the racial construction of Latine people in Mexico
during Spanish colonization and the subsequent Mexican era, with an emphasis on exposing the
structure of settler colonialism. Following this is an exploration of how colonial legacies
informed the racial positioning of the Latine community in the 20th century. It concludes with an
overview of the modern racial positioning of Latine people. A theme that runs through this
section is the examination of the Latine community’s historical relationship to labor and the
workplace, and the ways in which Whiteness and majoritarian narratives in the
organizational/workplace context have affected this relationship. This section will also explore
how alignment with a Brown identity throughout history has been a unifier for Latine people as
well as a specific distancing mechanism from Blackness. These themes set the context for
understanding how Latine IRO was created.

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Indigenous Origins
The racial tree of Mexican people has branches that reach back hundreds of thousands of
years and stretch across continents. To honor this study’s goal of disrupting antiBlackness and
Indigenous erasure, this historical analysis of Latine people acknowledges that many Latine
people have ancestry that includes Black and Indigenous races. Thusly, this historical review
begins with exploring Indigenous life prior to settler colonialism.
It is widely accepted that Indigenous people came to exist in America via the crossing of
the Bering Strait over 30,000 years ago (Fagan, 1991, Vigil, 1984, as cited in Menchaca, 2001).
Over thousands of years, these Indigenous inhabitants would migrate to, adapt to, settle in, and
farm the territories throughout North, Central, and South America, and the Caribbean (DunbarOrtiz, 2014; Menchaca, 2001). Some locations that display the earliest signs of Indigenous
existence can be found in California locales such as the Mohave Desert, San Diego, and the
Santa Barbara Channel Islands (Menchaca, 2001). California, along with other locations in the
American Southwest and Northern Mexico, is reputed to be part of the ancient empire of Aztlán
(Delgado, 1995; Lopez, 2019; Menchaca, 2001), which was said to be the home of the
Chichimec (Menchaca, 2001). The Chichimec are thought to be the ancient ancestors of Mexican
Indigenous people, and Aztlán is said to be their vast empire that mysteriously disappeared
(Menchaca, 2001). It is unknown whether the history of Aztlán is rooted in fact or mythology
(Menchaca, 2001); however, it is agreed upon that the supposed existence of Aztlán has factored
into Latine identity construction over centuries, mainly through a claim to land (Lopez, 2019;
Menchaca, 2001). In fact, Aztlán appears in the Codex Ramírez, an early Spanish account of
Indigenous history (González, 2022). Aztlán surfaced again in the 20th century as an important
component of Mexican and Chicano identity.

29
Some Indigenous societies began to shift from hunter-gatherer to non-nomadic
agricultural societies, or societies that would settle and domesticate the land through farming,
(Dunbar-Ortiz, 2014; Menchaca, 2001), especially through the farming of corn (Dunbar-Ortiz,
2014). Prior to colonization and notions of supposed civilization, it is known that Indigenous life
in North and Mesoamerica (comprising Mexico and Central America) was advanced; in addition
to organized systems of farming, these societies built stone structures such as temples, had
centralized forms of government, were artisans, and developed calendars (Dunbar-Ortiz, 2014;
Menchaca, 2001). Additionally, this was a time where the borders that divide Mexico and the
United States were nonexistent; therefore, the Indigenous people of the region built cities,
warred, allied, dispersed, intermarried, traded, and continued to migrate, mainly from
Mesoamerica to North America (Menchaca, 2001). These groups shared many profound
commonalities, including ancestry, and at times depended on each other for survival (Menchaca,
2001).
While Indigenous groups continued to migrate and settle throughout North and
Mesoamerica, Indigenous power was being consolidated in Mexico. Indigenous groups in
Mexico had a group of allied Indigenous states, which comprised the Aztec Empire (Menchaca,
2001). The Mexica, an Indigenous people, claimed they were the rightful rulers of the Empire
due to a claim that they were descendants of the Chichimec of Aztlán and were able to realize
this claim by conquering other Indigenous groups in Mexico (Menchaca, 2001). The outskirts of
the Aztec Empire comprised what is now Northern Mexico and Southwest America (DunbarOrtiz, 2014). Upon the arrival of the Spaniards to Mexico in 1517, the conquistadores would
encounter the mighty Aztec Empire, and the collision of these two groups would define life for
people in the region for centuries to come.

30
Spanish Settler Colonialism, the Mexican Era, and the United States–Mexican War
The Spanish colonization of what is now the United States and Mexico created a racial
paradigm that has lasted into modern times. It is widely accepted that the Spaniards were the first
Europeans to arrive at the inhabited lands that became the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean,
and South America (DeGuzmán, 2005; González, 2022; Horowitz, 2006; Menchaca, 2001).
Shortly after Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain commissioned the fated voyage of
Christopher Columbus, Cuba became a Spanish colony from which trips would be made to other
parts of the “New World” (Menchaca, 2001). Spaniards would encounter Florida in 1513
(González, 2022; Horowitz, 2006) and the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico in 1517, which
ultimately led to the violent overthrow of the Aztec Empire in 1521 (Menchaca, 2001), and the
continuation of Indigenous genocide as the means to acquire land (González, 2022). According
to Menchaca’s (2001) research, Spaniards brought enslaved Africans to Mexico in 1519, thus
completing the settler colonial triad and giving Spain a true colonial foothold in the Americas.
Further, scholars agree that the Spanish arrived and began colonizing the Americas well before
any other European groups, including the English (DeGuzmán, 2005; González, 2022; Horowitz,
2006).
African and Spanish Ancestry
In addition to Indigenous ancestry, many Mexican and Latine people also have African
and Spanish ancestry. African ancestry within the Latine community is largely thought to be the
result of the Spanish bringing enslaved Africans to the Americas (Menchaca, 2001), although not
all African people in the region were enslaved (Martínez, 2010). This fact is important because
much work has been done to erase and obscure Blackness from Latine ancestry and history
(Busey & Silva, 2021; Díaz-Sánchez & Hernández, 2013), in addition to the continued

31
discrimination of Black and Indigenous people within the Latine community (Martínez, 2010). It
is estimated that 150,000–200,000 enslaved Africans were brought to Mexico during Spanish
colonization (Fornoff, 2022; Menchaca, 2001). Menchaca (2001) wrote that most enslaved
people in Mexico were Malinké people from the Kingdom of Mali, with other enslaved people
being of the West African Wolof, Soso, and Bantu people. Some scholars believe that enslaved
men may have assisted in the conquering of the Aztec Empire (Fornoff, 2022; Menchaca, 2001).
Comprising the final component of Latine ancestry is European ancestry from Spain. The
Spanish ancestral make up is complex, as is their positioning in the European racial order.
Although technically White and European, Spaniards are not considered to be Anglo, nor are
they considered fully Caucasian (DeGuzmán, 2005; Menchaca, 2001). In fact, the Iberian
Peninsula, on which Spain and Portugal are located, is believed to be one of the most ancestrally
mixed areas of Europe, comprising diverse ancestry from Jewish, Arabic, Roman, Visigoth,
Phoenician, Celtic, Greek (DeGuzmán, 2005), and Muslim, Tartessian, Iberian, and Basque
ancestors (Menchaca, 2001). This mixed ancestry caused Anglo Europeans to consider Spaniards
as what DeGuzmán (2005) described as off White, or a race that is too mixed to be deemed
sufficiently White. This off Whiteness, caused by mixed ancestry, has been deemed as a
blackening, or a process through which the Spaniards were physically considered darker and
morally positioned as dark and evil by Anglo Europeans.
This blackening and characterization of Spaniards as off White served several purposes.
DeGuzmán (2005) wrote that due to the battle for land in the United States between many
European colonizers, the off-White Spaniards provided a fundamental and necessary antithetical
character who the English could villainize. This villainization served the purpose of creating a
unified Anglo identity upon which their hegemony could be based. Thus, the narrative known as

32
the Black Legend was born, which described Spaniards as papist barbarians and characterized
Spanish colonization as especially depraved, violent, greedy, and horrifically cruel toward
Indigenous people and enslaved Africans (DeGuzmán, 2005; Horowitz, 2006). The Black
Legend originated in a profound truth about Spanish colonization and was used by the English to
not only erase the Spanish as the original colonizers of the United States, but to also create a
mythology based on a unified Anglo identity of Whiteness, innocence, morality, antiimperialism, and Protestantism (DeGuzmán, 2005; González, 2022; Horowitz, 2006; Ruiz,
2006). Ironically, the violence of Spanish colonization differed very little from the cruelties and
violence brought by English colonization (González, 2022; Horowitz, 2006). Further, much of
the English colonial mentality was based on a Spanish blueprint, even to the extent that the name
America was eventually “appropriated” from the Spanish (DeGuzmán, 2005, p. xix). DeGuzmán
(2005) and Horowitz (2006) posited that the rhetoric of the Black Legend has extended
throughout the years to justify the overtaking of doubly colonized Mexican lands, as well as the
perpetual othering of Latine people, Latine immigrants, and the Spanish language. From this
point in history, Indigenous, African, and European ancestry would converge to create a mixedrace people.
Spanish Settler Colonialism
Spanish settler colonialism was unique in several ways, and this uniqueness was
fundamental to the creation of Latine people. González (2022) described three prominent ways in
which Spanish settler colonialism differed from English/Anglo settler colonialism: the role of the
church; philosophies on miscegenation and intermarriage between colonists, Indigenous people,
and Africans; and manumission. Spanish colonial philosophy was inextricably tied to the
Christianization of the Indigenous population, and, upon Christianization, it was deemed

33
acceptable for Spanish men to reproduce with or marry Indigenous women. Contrastingly,
English settler colonialism was family-based, and there were strict and often legally mandated
separation protocols between Anglo settlers and Indigenous and Black people. Manumission, as
well as miscegenation between Indigenous people, Africans, and Spaniards, later became
common practices in the Spanish colonies, leading to the creation of mixed-race groups as well
as large numbers of free Black people (González, 2022). Spanish and Portuguese colonies were
the only European colonies in which the number of free Black people outnumbered the enslaved
Black population (González, 2022), with some scholars estimating that free and enslaved Black
people even outnumbered Spaniards during the Spanish period (Díaz-Sánchez & Hernández,
2013; Fornoff, 2022). Contrastingly, manumission was rare in English colonies, and since
intermixing was highly rejected, free Black people were rare or not accepted (González, 2022).
Outside of manumission, Black people also escaped slavery and began forming
communities. Throughout Mexico and Hispañola (the island that is now the two nations of Haiti
and the Dominican Republic), individuals who escaped enslavement were known as cimarrónes,
or maroons; they formed communities on the outskirts of Spanish settlements (Díaz-Sánchez &
Hernández, 2013; Schwaller, 2018). In 1618, the first free Black town of San Lorenzo de los
Negros (later renamed Yanga to honor the formerly enslaved African royal who founded it) was
established in Veracruz, Mexico (Díaz-Sánchez & Hernández, 2013). Díaz-Sánchez and
Hernández (2013) noted the importance of acknowledging the existence of Black Latine people,
as well as honoring their legacy within the Latine community.
The Casta System
Fundamental to Spanish colonial society was the creation of a hierarchy of people based
on race, with each level of people having different privileges and oppressions assigned to them.

34
To support the Spanish settler colonial triad, the casta system was created in which the colonized
population of Spanish Mexico was legally organized into categories based on race (Díaz-Sánchez
& Hernández, 2013; Menchaca, 2001). The Spanish used the casta system to control the daily
lived experiences within the Spanish colonies (Acuña, 2014, as cited in Haywood, 2017a). The
casta categories included: African and Indigenous slaves and free people who comprised the
lowest rank of the casta, then afromestizos (mixed people of African and Indian descent),
mestizos (mixed people of Indian and Spanish descent), criollos (people of full White Spanish
descent but who were born in the “New World”), and at the highest rank of the casta,
peninsulares (White Spaniards born in Spain; Menchaca, 2001). Díaz-Sánchez and Hernández
(2013) listed five additional categories that captured other mixed-race combinations, and
Haywood (2017a) indicated that there were even up to 16 racial taxonomies.
Haywood (2017a) cited research describing how the Spanish colonizers valued light
physical features (such as hair, skin, and eyes) while simultaneously disparaging the physical
features of Indigenous and African people. Further, these “dominant colonial beliefs” that valued
lighter features were internalized by those who were colonized (Darity et al., 2005, Hall, 2011,
and Hunter, 2005, as cited in Haywood, 2017a, p. 762). An example of how these beliefs were
internalized is the practice of colorism, which Haywood (2017a) defined as the systematic
privileging of people who “most closely resemble a White phenotype” (p. 761). Haywood also
noted that colorism can occur on an intraracial and intraethnic scale, meaning that it could be
perpetuated by Latine people toward other Latine people who do not have Eurocentric features.
Colorism is but one way that colonial ideology has been ingrained and internalized within the
Latine culture, and this internalization will be further explored in this literature review.

35
Martínez (2010) and Jackson (1995) wrote that the casta system in Spanish American
colonies was not always as inflexible as it was intended to be, and that an individual could figure
out ways to move between categories or be subjectively placed in a different category by those in
charge of documentation. Further, Jackson wrote that the Spanish casta was very similar to
hierarchical racial structures in other non-Spanish colonies. Jackson indicated that casta-like
structures were common tools of control used by colonizers, who enacted a strategy of “divide
and rule which was facilitated by placing them into categories and playing those categories off
against each other” (pp. 151–152). However, Martínez importantly pointed out that although the
casta system was eventually abolished, the ideological entrenchment of those racial categories
was never able to be undone, rendering notions of flexibility or inflexibility of the racial
categories irrelevant. The casta system and its legacy are the keys to understanding IRO within
the Latine community. The ideological entrenchment begun by Spanish colonization continues to
manifest as antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure within the Latine community, which are two
major pillars within Latine IRO. Specific connections between the casta system and Latine IRO
are explored in a later section of this literature review.
Racial Dynamics in Spanish Mexico
While the strict casta system meant oppression for people of color in Mexico, Menchaca
(2001) described two situations in which people of color were complicit in upholding the settler
colonial state, for survival and to retain power. The earliest situation Menchaca noted was in the
case of tlatoques and caciques. Tlatoques were Indigenous kings who, following the defeat of the
Aztec Empire, became regional rulers who pledged loyalty to Spain. Caciques were the villages’
main governing body, comprised of Indigenous people, under the rule of the tlatoani (singular of
tlatoques). By providing an Indigenous figurehead and creating a class of “Indigenous nobility”

36
(p. 37), Spain believed it could more effectively gain support from the greater population of
Indigenous people, legitimize its settler colonial state, and suppress revolts. Further, this
relationship between the Spanish, tlatoques, and caciques created an economy; in exchange for
complicity (and survival), Spain would reward the Indigenous figureheads with status, land, and
gifts (Menchaca, 2001). This is an early example within Latine history of how alignment with
Whiteness and complicity often meant economic security and survival.
The second noted situation of complicity/survival by people of color is in the expansion
of the Spanish colony from inner Mexico toward the north of Mexico and toward the states that
would eventually become the American Southwest. Menchaca (2001) and Sánchez and Pita
(2014) cited historical records which described the settlers that ventured northward on behalf of
Spain as racially diverse. Menchaca (2001) explained they were motivated by the settler
ontologies of land, wealth, and freedom from the casta system. For example, the settlers and
founders of Los Angeles, California, in 1781 comprised 26 afromestizos, 11 Indigenous people,
five mestizos, and two Spaniards (Menchaca, 2001). Menchaca (2001) noted that while the racial
diversity of this group speaks of liberation and escape from a strict racial hierarchy, it also
exemplifies how people of color can be complicit in settler colonialism: the settlers of color—
some of whom had been racially oppressed in Mexico—participated in violence against
Indigenous people that reified the colonial state responsible for their oppression. These racially
diverse Mexican settlers, who in California were named Californios (Sánchez & Pita, 2014),
represented the epitome of oppression and complicity; within the next century, the stolen land
now owned by the Californios would be stolen again by Anglo settlers after the annexation of
California (Sánchez & Pita, 2014). Tuck & Yang (2012) also emphasized that settlers can be
diverse—using the term Brown settlers—and explained that settlers of color can perform

37
innocence and deflect their complicity in settler colonialism (p. 10). These are two examples of a
complex dynamic, created by White supremacy, that demonstrate how oppression causes the
need for survival, and how the quest for survival sometimes reproduces oppression. These
themes are still relevant today when examining IRO and how inequality can be perpetuated by
people of color.
Menchaca (2001) detailed how the proximity to Whiteness informed labor practices and
the economic mobility of those in the Spanish colonies. Criollos and peninsulares enjoyed the
most economic privileges because they were White and seen as superior; therefore, they
occupied leadership positions within the government and church and were able to obtain trade
licenses. Mestizos, due to their mixed ancestry, were blocked from any high level or
governmental and church positions, and either sought work or ventured towards Mexico’s
frontiers where the racial hierarchy was more flexible (Menchaca, 2001). If not enslaved, free
Black people and afromestizos had similar legal privileges to mestizos, although they were
considered “inferior” to Indigenous people and mestizos (Menchaca, 2001, p. 50). They faced
much discrimination in society, including having to pay additional taxes because of their African
heritage (Menchaca, 2001). Indigenous people were “legally confined” to exploitative service
and labor roles (Menchaca, 2001, p. 50). Encomiendas, or Indigenous farmland provided to the
conquistadores as rewards by the Spanish crown, were essentially plantations that existed upon
Indigenous labor (Menchaca, 2001). This theme of racial status barring economic mobility
continues to impact Latine people and other people of color in organizational contexts to this
day.

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The Spanish Missions
In addition to labor and the removal of people from their land, religion greatly factored
into the settler colonial project. The missions represented a complex arm of colonization which
sought to transform Indigenous people into laborers and loyal Spanish citizens (Silliman, 2001).
In California, the Catholic missions left an indelible but complex legacy. Twenty-one missions
were founded in California, with the mission period beginning in 1769 (Menchaca, 2001; Panich,
2016; Silliman, 2001), and with the last mission established in 1834 (Menchaca, 2001; Silliman,
2001). The Spanish padres, or Catholic fathers, instituted a policy called reducción in California,
which was the process by which diverse groups of Indigenous people from different locations
would be “relocated” to missions (Panich, 2016). The missions were created to assimilate
Indigenous people to colonial life by removing them from their land and culture; once the
Indigenous people were baptized at the mission, they could not leave and were forced to return if
they were caught escaping (Panich, 2016). Panich (2016) described that some Europeans and
Americans at the time drew parallels between Indigenous people’s treatment in the missions to
American slavery. According to Silliman (2001), labor was used as a colonial tool that not only
had economic implications but was also a form of “social control and domination” (p. 381). In
the missions, the routine of labor was used to ensure the colonial way of life was ingrained in
Indigenous people (Silliman, 2001).
However, both Panich (2016) and Silliman (2001) discussed the need to view the
missions from a perspective that captures the complexity of Indigenous agency and survivance.
Silliman (2001) discussed how labor was sometimes used to the advantage of Indigenous people
within the missions. Some examples include the refusal to work as a form of resistance or using
work to improve their living situation at the mission. Silliman (2001) presented these ideas in the

39
context of honoring Indigenous survival and not as revisionist history of settler innocence.
Similarly, Panich (2016) discussed the need for an anti-essentialist view of the missions that
demonstrates the simultaneous struggle and survival of Indigenous people. Panich explained that
the 2015 canonization of Father Junípero Serra revealed the complex relationship that Indigenous
Californians have with the missions and Catholic Church. Part of this complexity was because
some Indigenous people—while acknowledging that they are living testaments to the failure of
the mission system—supported Serra’s canonization (Panich, 2016).
Panich also discussed various ways archaeologists have proven that not all Indigenous
people in the missions lost or forgot their cultures. Archaeological findings have revealed that
Indigenous people retained some cultural practices despite the missions’ attempts at erasure
(Panich, 2016). Further, some Indigenous groups and people were able to avoid mission life all
together (Panich, 2016). These two perspectives are significant because they provide a nuanced
view of oppression and survival, not reducing either to essentialist narratives, but allowing for
the examination of how oppression and survival were and are sometimes linked.
Racial Dynamics During the Mexican Era
The casta system that endured throughout the Spanish period was nearly abolished by the
time Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821; however, racism persisted (DíazSánchez & Hernández, 2013; Menchaca, 2001). By this time, most of the Mexican population
was mixed race, and because of this, the new liberal Mexican leaders avoided legal racial
classifications (Menchaca, 2001). The law now indicated that most races could enter various
professions and seek government and religious offices; however, slavery had not been abolished
and racism abounded, especially toward Black and non-Christianized nomadic Indigenous
people (Menchaca, 2001). Mexicans perceived nomadic Indigenous tribes as a significant threat

40
to their new country and sought the aid of Anglo-American immigrants; these immigrants were
invited to settle in the Southwest and Texas to help Mexico defend their northern borderlands
from Indigenous groups who were defending their ancestral lands (Massey, 2016; Menchaca,
2001). In 1829, during the presidency of Vicente Guerrero, Mexico’s first and only afromestizo
president, slavery was abolished (Díaz-Sánchez & Hernández, 2013; Fornoff, 2022). However,
the Anglo immigrant settlers whom Mexico invited to settle in Texas were slave owners, and
conflict between Mexico and the Texas settlers quickly escalated (Menchaca, 2001). Texas
became independent from Mexico via rebellion in 1836, and nearly a decade later, Mexico
declared war to defend this territory that was being encroached upon by the United States
(Massey, 2016; Menchaca, 2001).
The signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 ended the Mexico–United States
War, the outcome of which was the ceding of Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah,
and Colorado—including small sections of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming—from Mexico to
the United States. Another outcome was the radical transformation of life for the Spanish
speaking Mexican settlers who now found themselves on the United States side of the border
(Massey, 2016; Menchaca, 1993, as cited in Menchaca, 2001; Ruiz, 2006; Sánchez & Pita,
2014). The annexation of Mexican lands to the United States effectively reversed the more
liberal racial policies Mexico had established prior to the war within these newly annexed lands
(Menchaca, 2001). This reversal “transformed” the Mexicans that had settled California for
generations into a “foreign minority in the land of their birth” (González, 2022, p. 33) and into
second class citizens (Ruiz, 2006). These events resulted in the recreating of a racial hierarchy
reminiscent of the Spanish casta system, as well as in the confiscation of the racially diverse
Californios’ properties, subjecting them to exclusion and discrimination (Massey, 2006;

41
Menchaca, 2001; Ruiz, 2006; Sánchez & Pita, 2014). Although the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
indicated that the rights of former Mexican citizens would be protected, the United States
government ignored this provision (Menchaca, 2001). Of the heterogenous group of Mexican
settlers that were now United States citizens, only White Mexicans possessed the same rights as
Anglo-Americans (Menchaca, 2001).
What followed the Mexico–United States War was not only the beginnings of the border
that still exists today (Massey, 2016), but also a solidifying of a racial hierarchy that continues to
impact the lives of Indigenous, Black, and Latine people in the United States and Mexico. In the
mid–19th century, non-White people were at times forced to disassociate with their Black and
Indigenous ancestry and move toward Whiteness out of a need for survival, due to the basic
human rights that were afforded to White people and not to people of color (DeGuzmán, 2005;
Menchaca, 2001; Ruiz, 2006). Consequences for being Black, Indigenous, or mixed race during
this time ranged in the scope of violence and oppression (Menchaca, 2001). Scholars largely
agree that due to the legal abolition of the casta system, there is an absence of data regarding the
history of afromestizos and Afro Mexicans (Díaz-Sánchez & Hernández, 2013; Hernández &
López, 2004; Menchaca, 2001). Menchaca (2001) described the difficulty historians faced in
understanding what happened to afromestizos following the Mexico–United States War, offering
the possibility that some may have been enslaved, some may have remained in Mexico, and
others may have migrated as free people to states such as California where they had some rights.
This absence of data has led to the silencing, erasing, and ignoring of afromestizo and Afro
Mexican history in the United States–Mexico borderlands (Hernández & López, 2004;
Menchaca, 2001). What is known is that Black people of all nationalities continued to face
antiBlackness, violence, and oppression (Menchaca, 2001; Fornoff, 2022). However, more

42
scholars are naming the fact that Black heritage is an integral part of Latine heritage and is a
legacy that needs to be integrated into Latine self-conceptualization through the dismantling of
antiBlackness (Díaz-Sánchez & Hernández, 2013; Fornoff, 2022; Hernández & López, 2004;
Menchaca, 2001).
Non-Christian Indigenous people continued to face violence in California (Menchaca,
2001). The Indian Intercourse Act of 1834 was part of a series of acts that sought to move all
nomadic Indigenous people to reservations and came with severe punishment, including death,
for leaving the reservation (Menchaca, 2001). For survival, some Indigenous people who knew
the mestizo or Mexican customs began identifying as mestizo or Mexican to escape violence and
harsh laws (Menchaca, 2001).
Because of the Gold Rush, California was inundated with settlers searching for gold.
González (2022) wrote that Mexicans had initial success in gold and silver mining due to
traditional techniques, which angered White people. This led to violence against Mexicans, and
eventually to the creation of the “foreign” miners’ tax that gave the White settlers a greater
advantage in gold mining. Following the Gold Rush, González described how the settlers
transitioned from wanting gold to wanting farmland, writing that “thousands seized or squatted
on the large estates of the Californios” (p. 50). Within 20 years, most Californian Mexicans were
removed from their land (González, 2022).
These events set the stage for what Ruiz (2006) called a pigmentocracy, or a racial
hierarchy in the United States reminiscent of the casta system that valued Whiteness and that
impacted the economic opportunities of people of color in the United States. During the last 2
decades of the 19th century, 70% of Mexican families in California became “laborers” (Haas,
1995, as cited in Menchaca, 2001) due to the decline of the ranching industry, mass migration to

43
California, and a demand for their land by Anglo immigrant settlers (Menchaca, 2001). The loss
of ranches meant the loss of livelihood and a decline in socioeconomic status; by 1911, Mexicans
were paid the lowest wages out of any other ethnic group (Menchaca, 2001). The socioeconomic
decline of Mexicans meant that they would have to join a labor system that was highly
discriminatory against them and other people of color (Menchaca, 2001).
However, certain White Mexicans who were successful businesspeople were able to
retain their land and wealth toward the end of the 19th century. DeGuzmán (2005), Menchaca
(2001), and Ruiz (2006) asserted that this was possible due to a “Whitening” process. This
process simultaneously involved White Mexicans building alliances and business partnerships
with the Anglo-American elites and distancing themselves from any heritage that was nonWhite. This at times involved actions of revisionist history that reconstituted Mexican elites as
pureblood Spanish, referring to themselves as hispanos (DeGuzmán, 2005) or españoles (Ruiz,
2006). This alignment with Whiteness has been described as assimilation, acculturation, and
passing, and can be viewed as byproducts of White supremacy and hegemony (DeGuzmán,
2005; Menchaca, 2001; Ruiz, 2006). These examples demonstrate how the ability to align with
Whiteness represented both a privileged and marginalized identity; the need for Californios to
align with Whiteness to survive exemplifies their oppressed status, while the ability to align with
Whiteness or pass as White represented an element of privilege that other darker skinned or
Indigenous people did not have. As in the case with the Californios, when an opportunity for
economic mobility is added into this equation, alignment with Whiteness becomes incentivized.
This is phenomenon that has endured throughout the centuries and informs the understanding of
Latine IRO.

44
The early history of Latine people is a necessary foundation for understanding how IRO
evolved within the Latine community. The casta system and subsequent iterations of the racial
hierarchy led to quests for survival which often resulted in the internalization of the racial
oppression enacted upon early Latine people. Similar patterns of IRO, aligning with Whiteness,
and distancing from Blackness continue to appear in the 20th century.
The 20th Century
The Latine racial experience in the 20th century can be characterized by the emergence of
a Brown identity that represents the survival of Latine people, a limited embracing of
Indigeneity, and the ways in which the Brown identity can be a rejection of Blackness. Latine
history in the 20th century can also be viewed through various instances of Latine people
rejecting and embracing Whiteness and having Whiteness imposed upon them, both of which
had economic consequences for Latine people. This negotiation of the Latine identity continues
into the present day.
By the late 19th century, many Mexican families in California began to economically
decline due to the bankruptcy of the ranching industry and mass migrations to California that
caused a surplus of labor (Menchaca, 2001). While the most desirable jobs were given to White
people, the most exploitative labor was given to Mexicans and other people of color (Escobar,
1993; Gonzalez, 1990, Menchaca, 1995, and Reisler, 1967, as cited in Menchaca, 2001). Over
the following 2 decades, exploitative labor would continue to be taken on by Mexican Americans
and Mexican immigrants, sparking the “official” beginning of the era of Mexican immigration
into the United States (Escobar, 1993; Massey, 2016). Scholars agree that the large flow of
immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was sparked by those seeking to escape a
poor Mexican economy, as well as escaping from the Mexican Revolution of 1910 (González,

45
2022; Menchaca, 2001; Ruiz, 2006). The period following the Civil War saw the push and pull
between the fight for racial equality and racist backlashes against progress, as is exemplified
through the abolition of slavery and the introduction of Jim Crow laws and segregation
(Menchaca, 2001).
During this time, there was some dispute regarding the classification of Mexicans in the
United States, mostly due to their perceived White and Indigenous ancestry (Menchaca, 2001).
History shows that Mexicans, especially those with darker skin, were viewed as people of color
and thus were subjected to segregation in public facilities, employment, housing, and schools, as
allowed for by the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling (Menchaca, 2001; Ruiz, 2006). In California,
legislation was passed that segregated Mexican students with known or visible Indigenous
ancestry, while White or White passing Mexican students were allowed to integrate (Menchaca,
2001). History also shows that by the 1920s, Latine people—particularly Mexican Americans—
began to organize and fight for their rights, creating organizations such as the League of United
Latin American Citizens (LULAC; Escobar, 1993; González, 2022; Ruiz, 2006). Assimilationist
ideology characterized this period of Mexican American organizing, with many Mexican
Americans promoting the notion that they were White (López, 2001). The primary philosophy
was that Mexican American and Latine people could gain equal rights in Anglo America through
education, economic mobility, assimilation, and emphasizing their European ancestry (Escobar,
1993; González, 2022; Ruiz, 2006). Escobar (1993) added that this generation believed the
mythology of a multicultural American society would allow them to “acculturate,” “integrate,”
and achieve “individual mobility” while retaining some of their Mexican culture (p. 1490). This
alignment with Whiteness caused some Latine people to view immigration as a threat to their
supposed White status, also causing some in the community to reject any equating of their plight

46
to the struggles of Black people (Escobar, 1993). This distancing from Blackness persisted well
into the 1960s and beyond, exemplified by the fact that in 1964, Mexican voters helped pass
California Proposition 14, which allowed discrimination in the housing market (López, 2001).
This push toward Whiteness and blatant demonstration of antiBlackness obscured the reality of
Proposition 14 for Mexican voters, which was that it allowed for discrimination against them as
well (Peñalosa, 1973, as cited in López, 2001). This self-constitution as sort-of-White-butdefinitely-not-Black effectively isolated Mexican Americans from becoming entirely integrated
in the civil rights movement while still not being fully accepted by White society (Escobar,
1993).
The 1930s and 1940s saw monumental shifts in American life and life for Latine people
in America, beginning with the Great Depression and continuing into World War II. At the onset
of the Great Depression, Mexican laborers that had been all but invited to work in the United
States were suddenly viewed as underserving usurpers of jobs that could be filled by “true”
Americans (Massey, 2016; Ruiz, 2006). This resulted in the deportation of nearly 500,000 Latine
people, many of whom were United States citizens or were legally residing in the United States
(Escobar, 1993; González, 2022; Massey, 2016; Ruiz, 2006). During World War II, this antiimmigrant mentality was seemingly ignored in favor of again recruiting Mexican people to
provide much-needed labor to support the war effort. Known as the Bracero Accord or Program,
the United States and Mexico negotiated a relationship in which many Mexican laborers per year
could legally gain seasonal employment (González, 2022; Massey, 2016). Furthermore, even
though nearly 500,000 Mexican Americans fought in World War II, they had to return to an
America where they did not possess equal rights and faced discrimination, segregation, and
police brutality (Escobar, 1993; González, 2022; Ruiz, 2006).

47
Two court cases in California involving Latine people—Méndez v. Westminster (1947)
and Pérez v. Sharp (1948)—preceded two landmark civil rights cases: Brown v. Board of
Education (1954) and Loving v. Virginia (1967; Menchaca, 2001; Ruiz, 2006). Méndez v.
Westminster ended segregation in California for students of Mexican/Latine descent, who prior to
the ruling, had been segregated based on appearance (Menchaca, 2001; Ruiz, 2006). Because it
had not been proven nor codified in the law that all Mexicans had Indigenous ancestry, the ruling
concluded that Mexican/Latine students could not lawfully be segregated (Menchaca, 2001).
Pérez v. Sharp was the first instance of a court revoking a law that outlawed interracial marriage,
with the case resting on the fact that anti-miscegenation laws did not take mixed-race ancestry
into consideration, meaning that a mixed person’s “degree of Whiteness” could not be
consistently determined (Ruiz, 2006, p. 670). Both cases demonstrate the existence of a
hierarchy based on race, with Latine people being perceived as nearer to White, and therefore
receiving more rights and privileges sooner than Black people. Although both cases paved the
way for greater rights for Black people, they also exemplify how antiBlackness and Indigenous
erasure have manifested because Latine people can at times benefit from a proximity to
Whiteness while at the same time being oppressed due to their status as people of color.
If the 1920s through 1950s represented Latine people moving toward Whiteness, the
1960s and 1970s represented Latine people moving away from Whiteness through the Chicano
Movement in California. However, it also represented a time of complex dynamics between the
Black and Brown communities. These complex dynamics helped create a unified American
Latine identity but were also instrumental in further perpetuating antiBlackness in the
construction of the American Latine identity.

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The Chicano Movement
The Latine fight for equality shifted during the 1960s and 1970s during a time known as
the Chicano Movement, with one of the epicenters of the movement being Los Angeles,
California. While previous generations of Latine leaders fought for equal rights on the basis that
Mexicans should be considered White, the Chicano movement sought to create a distinct and
unifying Latine identity based on cultural nationalism and empowerment (Delgado, 1995;
Escobar, 1993; López, 2001; Hernández & López, 2004). This cultural nationalism, modeled
upon the Black Power movement’s idea of nationalism and racial pride (Escobar, 1993; López,
2001), sought to unify Latine people through their shared Indigeneity, which represented a
rejection of Whiteness and cultural hegemony (Delgado, 1995; Lopez, 2019). Chicanos did not
subscribe to the idea that they were White due to the oppression and legal violence they faced
(López, 2001). The Chicano Movement was characterized by notable figures such as César
Chávez, who fought for farmworkers’ rights and labor equality, and historical events, such as the
high school walkouts of 1968, all of which fought for Latine equality and opposed police
brutality, exploitative labor, inequitable public-school conditions (Escobar, 1993), and the
perceived monopoly of knowledge possessed by higher education institutions (Lopez, 2019).
Early Chicano Movement ideology sought to unify Chicanos with a call back to Latine
people’s shared Indigenous origins, a distinct reverse from previous Latine inclusion strategies
that sought to highlight a shared European ancestry. According to Haney-Lopez (2003), the
Chicano Movement was centered upon Latine/Mexican identity, political mobilization, land, and
labor. In early Chicano rhetoric, Aztlán yet again became an important symbol, this time
representing Chicano anticolonial mentality (Delgado, 1995; Lopez, 2019) and an ancestral
claim to the Southwest of the United States—also known as the lands that were lost to the United

49
States in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Delgado, 1995; González, 2022; Lopez, 2019). The
poet Alurista popularized Aztlán as a symbol of the Chicano movement, rallying Chicanos
around an entitlement to equal rights on what should be considered their land (Lopez, 2019). In
the Chicano Movement manifesto called El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán, Alurista (1969, as cited in
Lopez, 2019, pp. 77–78) wrote: “Aztlán belongs to those who plant the seeds, water the fields,
and gather the crops and not to the foreign Europeans. We do not recognize capricious frontiers
on the bronze continent.” With this sentence, Alurista alluded to the Latine field workers who
worked the land yet did not reap equality as the harvest of their work. Aztlán became an
important symbol that represented a non-White cultural nationalism defined by Indigenous pride
and a symbol of political organizing for equal rights (Delgado, 1995; Lopez, 2019).
Chicanismo, however, cannot be understood as a monolithic identity (Escobar, 1993).
Despite attempts to rally Latine people under a unifying Chicano identity, the Chicano
Movement was also characterized by factions that desired different outcomes (Escobar, 1993;
González, 2022). While a central goal of the movement was Latine equality, some Chicano
groups advocated for a militant approach, and others desired to operate within the existing
political structures (Escobar, 1993; González, 2022). Chicanos who desired to make change
within the system through integration were opposed by Chicanos who believed the existing
system had failed them and greatly opposed assimilationist ideology (Escobar, 1993; González,
2022). Chicanos who desired revolution via militant action—albeit a small faction—were
opposed by Chicanos who believed violence would harm the movement (Escobar, 1993;
González, 2022). Escobar (1993) pointed out that those who stood to gain the most from the
Movement—the blue-collar Latine community—were mostly occupied with surviving from day
to day rather than with the movement’s ideology. Escobar (1993) wrote that the Chicano

50
Movement was a reformist rather than revolutionary movement that successfully achieved the
political organization of the Latine community under a culturally Brown, non-White minority
identity (Delgado, 1995; López, 2001), with gains being made in the universities via the creation
of ethnic and Chicano studies courses (Lopez, 2019). The space between revolution and reform
comprises a spectrum of beliefs within the Latine community and has implications for the
understanding of IRO. Neither end of the spectrum holds the “true” Latine belief on the right
way to pursue change. However, there are individuals on each side of the spectrum who would
criticize individuals on the opposite side of the spectrum, as seen in the Chicano movement.
While a movement toward reclaiming Indigenous roots characterized the Chicano
Movement, it was also characterized by a complex dynamic of embracing, erasing, and rejecting
Blackness. Scholars agree that the Chicano Movement was modeled after the Black Power
movement (Escobar, 1993; González, 2022; López, 2001), and describe an evolution in the fight
for Chicano civil rights that moved to highlight similarities between the Black and Brown
communities (Escobar, 1993; López, 2001). This period in history also saw the forging of Black–
Brown solidarity, with both Black people and Chicanos supporting antiwar, LGBTQ+, and
feminist efforts (Escobar, 1993). Haney-López (2003) discussed how some young Chicanos
“embraced not only Black [people], but also Blackness” (p. 164).
However, it is noted by López (2001) and Hernández and López (2004) that Chicano
alignment with Indigeneity also meant an intentional distinguishing of Chicanos and Latine
people from Black people. Haney-López (2003) asserted that Indigeneity and Indigenous erasure
were largely ideological and rhetorical devices that placed the plight of Chicanos above the
plight of Black people, because Black people could not claim the United States as their ancestral
home. Even though solidarity and “synergy” existed between Chicanos and Black people

51
fighting for equality (López, 2001, p. 224), Afro Latine people—and Afro Mexicans in
particular—have largely been erased from or ignored by the Chicano movement, continuing the
legacy of erasure of Black and African identity from Latine identity (Hernández & López; 2004).
Hernández and López (2004) described the dilemma of Afro Latine people in the United States,
who, by owning their Black identity, are met with ostracization and discrimination from both
Anglo and Latine society. As will be explored in later sections, the distancing of the Latine
community from the Black and Afro Latine communities represents two iterations of internalized
racial oppression, both centered around antiBlackness and the legacy of settler colonialism.
Black–Brown Dynamics
Adding to the complex Black–Brown dynamics was the pitting of these communities
against each other. Escobar (1993) and González (2022) described the 1949 election of Edward
Roybal, who was the first Mexican American person elected to the Los Angeles City Council, as
a momentous occasion which for many signaled the beginning of Latine representation in
California politics. However, in 1962, when Roybal was elected to congress, his district was
gerrymandered by “liberals” (Escobar, 1993, p. 1490) to create three new seats for Black city
council members. It was not until 1986 that Latine people again saw representation on the Los
Angeles City Council (Escobar, 1993). While this was a gain for the Black community, many in
the Latine community viewed it as a furthering of Latine oppression (Escobar, 1993)
Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition, as written about by González (2022), was another
example of the complex environment in which Black and Latine people existed. According to
González (2022), Jackson launched a presidential campaign in 1984, which turned out a
substantial number of Black and Latine voters. Jackson capitalized on this momentum for a
second presidential run in 1988, harnessing even more support from Black and Latine people.

52
The Rainbow Coalition is credited for driving millions of voters to the polls, many of whom
were first time voters and had historically been disenfranchised (González, 2022). While this
coalition exemplified great solidarity between the Black and Brown communities, it also
demonstrated how the political climate did not nurture this relationship; González (2022)
partially attributed the unfortunate downfall of the Rainbow Coalition to internal competition and
tense racial relations between Black and Brown members fueled by differing views on race in
America and perceptions of disproportionate political and economic gains made by either race.
Latine history within the 20th century, including the Chicano Movement and BlackBrown dynamics, demonstrates the complexity of being Latine within the larger racial landscape
of the United States. While there was much solidarity building, there were also instances of
Latine people perpetuating antiBlackness. In certain contexts, Indigeneity was embraced; in
others, it was appropriated to serve a larger narrative. Further, these situations occurred within
the context of Latine people being racialized in the United States and experiencing oppression.
These historical events have built upon one another to inform the ways Latine IRO occurs today.
Immigration and Current Latine Issues
Latine people have the distinction of being one of the oldest and newest groups (via
immigration) in the United States (González, 2022). González (2022) posited that the very
existence of Mexican people in the United States causes the White hegemony to have to confront
the Indigenous, African, and Spanish origins of the United States, explaining that immigration is
a constant reminder that Mexicans and Latine people constitute both the past and future of the
United States. Latine people have contributed and continue to contribute greatly to American
society, while still being subjected to racism, hostility, and violence. The ancient ancestry of
Latine people, much of which occurred in the United States and the Americas, has left an

53
indelible legacy on world and United States history. Latine people have shaped everything from
pop culture to politics, literature, art, theater, music, the entertainment industry, and the economy
(González, 2022). However, the Latine community in California and the United States often has
to contend with structural racism that manifests as deficit educational narratives (Howard et al.
2016), segregated schools (Fahle et al., 2020, Ladson Billings & Tate, 1995; Menchaca, 2001),
the largest wage gap of any racial group (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023), the lowest
representation of corporate board members (Roosevelt, 2023), negative media stereotypes
(Roosevelt, 2023), and severe underrepresentation in corporate leadership (Agovino, 2022).
Of the myths and deficit narratives that plague the Latine community, the national
discourse surrounding Latine American immigration is among the most harmful. Narratives
persist that characterize Latine people as lazy, drains on the economy, usurpers of jobs, criminals,
and aliens (DeGuzmán, 2005; Horowitz, 2006). DeGuzmán (2005) and Horowitz (2006)
connected this anti-immigrant rhetoric back to the Black Legend, which was responsible for
erasing much of the Spanish history of the United States and categorizing Latine people as
“other.” The ideas which originated with the Black Legend have resurfaced in American political
discourse surrounding Latine people throughout history. Most recently, the consequences of antiimmigrant rhetoric have led to mass deportations, as well as a fresh wave of Trumpian antiLatine-immigrant rhetoric, which resulted in border violence and the inhumane caging of
immigrant children at the United States–Mexico border (González, 2022). However, these antiimmigrant tropes could not be further from the truth. Statistics show that Latine immigrants have
a higher labor force participation rate than not only any other immigrant group, but native-born
Americans as well (González, 2022). Further, many immigrants who left desperate situations in
their country are more likely to work for lower wages; while this has meant a boon for capitalism

54
and profitability, it has meant the continued exploitation of Latine immigrants (González, 2022).
A positive consequence has been the historical wave of Latine political organizing and voting,
despite the increasing number of voter suppression laws (González, 2022). However, it is
becoming increasingly clear that the Latine vote is not monolithic (González, 2022; Haywood,
2017a).
Conclusion to Racial History of Latine People in California and Mexico
The creation of Latine identity has been shaped by Latine ancestry and the racialization
of Latine people in the United States. Latine people have survived, persisted, and contributed
greatly to the United States despite much oppression. However, surviving oppression and White
supremacy have not come without consequences. The casta system and its enduring legacy
created a racial context for the Latine identity that informs many aspects of the racial
conversations surrounding the Latine community. History shows how the pursuit of Whiteness
symbolized security and privilege. But history also shows how the counterpart to the pursuit of
Whiteness manifested as antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure. Further, while the Brown
identity has historically been a powerful unifier for Latine people, it has also positioned Latine
people as specifically not Black and not Indigenous. The implications of settler colonialism
within the history of Latine people set a context for which to understand the modern-day Latine
community and IRO.
Implications of History: An Anti-Essentialist Understanding of the Modern Latine
Community
Latine people’s history and racial construction in California, Mexico, and the United
States is a complex story of colonization, domination, oppression, resilience, and survival. This
history has created a heterogenous group of people who are diverse in almost every way, from

55
race, skin tone, political beliefs, and degrees of privilege in society. As history shows, the
colonial legacies of Spain and subsequent racialization of Latine people in the United States
created opportunities for dominant beliefs about race to become internalized and perpetuated.
This history has created a “complex reality” (Haywood, 2017b, p. 959) surrounding the Latine
community. This section will explore the diversity of the Latine community and the ways in
which the Latine community is structured to uphold antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and
White supremacy. This discussion is complex because Latine people still endure oppression and
discrimination in the United States. However, scholars agree about the necessity of exploring the
ways in which non-Black people of color uphold settler colonialism, antiBlackness, antiIndigeneity and perpetuate societal inequalities (Abrica et al., 2020; Bañales & Rivas-Drake,
2022; Haywood, 2017a; Haywood, 2017b; Ray et al., 2017; Urrieta & Calderón, 2019). This
section, within the context of the colonial history of Latine people in California, Mexico, and the
United States, contributes to the foundation for understanding IRO and the ways in which it
manifests today. As Haywood (2017b) explained, to realize the liberation of all marginalized
individuals, there must be a realization that all oppressions are “entangled and interlocked” (p.
958). This section of the literature review provides an anti-essentialist analysis of the Latine
community and examines how the colonial legacies of antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure
have evolved into modern times. This section also serves as the foundation for a later exploration
of how these legacies are built into the IRO of Latine people.
Diversity in the Latine Community
Today, Latine people comprise nearly 19% of the United States population and 40% of
the population in California (United States Census Bureau, 2020). Further, there are six states
that when their populations are combined, possess a Latine population greater than 35%

56
(González, 2022). These states are California, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and
Texas, all of which once belonged to Mexico (González, 2022) and first belonged to Indigenous
people. In 2019, about one third of all Latine people in the United States were immigrants, a
number which is declining, while about 67% of all Latine people currently in the United States
were born in the United States, a number which is increasing (Funk & Lopez, 2022). The Latine
community comprises a nonhomogeneous group of people who are non-monolithic and whose
rich culture must be understood through a lens of nuance (González, 2022).
More than ever, researchers acknowledge that the Latine community is diverse. While the
historical section of this literature review focused on experiences of Latine people in Mexico and
California, many other stories and experiences of groups that identify as Latine exist. Although
Mexicans are still the largest Latine group in the United States at 62% of all Latine people, that
number is declining (Noe-Bustamante, 2019). Since 2010, Dominicans, Guatemalans, and
Venezuelans have seen the fastest population growth in the United States (Noe-Bustamante,
2019). Further, there are many different racial and group identifications within the Latine
community. While most Latinos historically (and currently) have identified as White (BonillaSilva, 2004; Haywood, 2017a), White identification varies significantly among Latine groups
and countries of origin (Bonilla-Silva, 2004). Additionally, as of 2015, approximately 3% of
Latine people identified as Black, while 25% identified as Indigenous (Parker et al., 2015).
Importantly, this racial diversity comes with a range of physical characteristics which impact the
racial experiences of Latine people in the United States (Bañales & Rivas-Drake, 2022;
Haywood, 2017a).
Bañales and Rivas-Drake (2022), citing the work of Flores-González (2017), explained
the quandary that younger Latine people may face when identifying their race. They explained

57
that although White self-identification is more controversial among younger Latine people, it
may be the only option that fits, even though they do not feel connected to nor receive the
“benefits of Whiteness” (p. 12). Younger Latine people may also be more conscious of not
wanting to appropriate Black or Indigenous identities even though they may have Black and
Indigenous ancestry, causing a dilemma (Bañales & Rivas-Drake, 2022).
There also exist significant ideological and political differences among Latine groups.
González (2022) discussed recent conversations around the “Latino vote” and the surprise caused
by the fact that there were Latine people who voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020
presidential elections. While González expressed that the Latine community has a history of
supporting Republican and Democratic candidates, Haywood (2017b) explained that this election
revealed how deep IRO and antiBlackness run in the Latine community, particularly among the
Cubans, Mexicans, and Latine males who voted for Trump.
Pan Ethnic Labelling and the Racial Hierarchy
The complexity of the race and ethnicity of Latine people is encapsulated by everevolving labels, categories, and identifiers that attempt to capture what it means to be a Latine
person in the United States. Thusly, over time, different pan ethnic terms have emerged that
became problematic when trying to group a community as diverse as Latine people. Between the
1930s and the 1970s, the federal government attempted to classify Latine people through the
inclusion of labels such as Mexican, Spanish language users, and people with a Spanish surname
(Hayes-Bautista & Chapa, 1987; Winne, 1960, as cited in Martínez and Gonzalez, 2021). In
1977, the term Hispanic emerged as an pan ethnic classification (not a racial classification) that
came to be defined as a person who is from, or whose ancestors or family are from, Mexico,
Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central, or South America who is of any race (Hayes-Bautista & Chapa,

58
1987, as cited in Martínez & Gonzalez, 2021; Humes et al., 2011, as cited in Haywood, 2017a).
In the 1990s, activists promoted a new pan ethnic term—Latino—which became popular
precisely because it did not hearken to the colonial roots of Latine people as the term Hispanic
did (Alcoff, 2005, Esquivel, 2012, and Gracia, 2000, as cited in Martínez & Gonzalez, 2021). As
of today, the official default term is Hispanic/Latino (Martínez & Gonzalez, 2021). However, De
Genova and Ramos-Zayas (2003) argued that pan ethnic labels such as Hispanic, Latino, and
Latine effectively racialize Latine people while simultaneously obscuring the variety of races
that Latine people could be. As mentioned in Chapter One, this dissertation uses Latine as a
gender-neutral form of Latino or Latina (Call Me Latine, n.d.).
Some scholars have noted the use of pan ethnic labels by Latine people as racial
identifiers; for example, on official forms and documents, many Latine people will indicate that
they are “some other race” and then write in their ethnicity to describe their race (such as
Mexican, Guatemalan, etc.; Haywood, 2017a; Flores-González et al., 2014, Hitlin et al., 2007, as
cited in Bañales & Rivas-Drake, 2022). Haywood (2017a) reported that in the 2000 census,
nearly 37% of Latine people identified as “some other race,” making this the second largest
group next to Latine people who identified as White. Haywood (2017a) stressed the importance
of understanding the nuances of Latinidad that are experienced differently on an intersectional
basis, such as through the different lived realities informed by race, sexuality, and gender. Pan
ethnic labels, such as Latine, Latina/o, Latinx, and Hispanic, all attempt to homogenize a group
that is inherently heterogenous (Haywood, 2017a). Bañales and Rivas-Drake (2022) explored
how pan ethnic labels are typically rooted in essentialist and stereotypical ideas of what it means
to be a Latine person, which can lead to the exclusion of Afro Latine and Indigenous Latine
people.

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Scholars and scientists have come to agree that race is a socially constructed phenomenon
that has material consequences for people who have been racialized (Bonilla-Silva, 2015;
Delgado & Stefancic, 2017). The settler colonial triad of White supremacy–antiBlackness–
Indigenous erasure, which can also be viewed as the racial domination project from which the
concept and ideology of race emerged, has become the foundation of a modern racial hierarchy
that has perpetuated the settler colonial state (Tuck & Gaztambide-Fernandez, 2013) and
systemic racism (Bonilla-Silva, 2015). As was explored in the historical section of this literature
review, the formation of racial categories can be seen as a project of groups moving (or being
moved) away from Blackness and toward Whiteness (Bell et al. 2014; Bonilla-Silva, 2004).
Above all, this project benefits White supremacy and works to maintain White privilege, often
serving as a covert vehicle for continued White-normative hegemony (Bell et al., 2014; BonillaSilva, 2004). Bell et al. (2014, p. 289) adapted the following conceptualization of the modern
American racial hierarchy from Bonilla-Silva (2004, p. 933):
• Whites: White people of European descent; New Whites (Caucasian immigrants);
Assimilated White Latinos (such as Argentinians and Cubans); Invisible or passing
Multi-racials.
• Non-White Non-Blacks (Honorary Whites): Light-skinned Latinos; Visible NonBlack Multi-racials; Asian Americans; Native Americans; All other identifiable nonBlacks and non-Whites.
• Collective Blacks: Multi-racials with visible Black ancestry; New West Indian and
Black African immigrants; Medium and dark-skinned Latinos of African descent;
American Blacks.

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This racial hierarchy is similar to the casta system implemented during Spanish colonization, as
well as the hierarchy that currently exists in Latin America: White people at the top, mestizos or
mixed-race Brown people in the middle, and Black and Indigenous people at the bottom (Allen,
2006, as cited in Lynn et al., 2013; Bonilla-Silva, 2004; Busey & Silva, 2020). This
conceptualization of the racial hierarchy accounts for the different experiences of being
racialized that can occur within the Latine community based on skin color, highlighting the
disconnect between the lived experiences of Latine people and the monolithic conceptualizations
of Brownness often ascribed to the community.
While this conceptualization of the racial hierarchy allows for an expanded understanding
of the ways in which Latine people of different skin tones and races are treated, Ray et al. (2017)
discussed how the tri-racial hierarchy can obscure the specific and unique experience of being a
Black person or a person of African descent. The racial hierarchy is useful in understanding how
people are racialized but does not highlight how non-Black minorities reproduce antiBlackness
(Ray et al., 2017) via internalized racial oppression. This highlights the importance of centering
and unpacking antiBlackness not only in discussions of race, but also in the discussion of the
experiences of non-Black people of color.
Mestizaje
Mestizaje has been described as a critical component in forming the Latine identity.
Mestizaje is generally defined as an ideology that positions Latin American countries with mixed
race people as racial paradises in which racism is not a problem (Busey & Silva, 2020;
Hernández, 2016; Sue, 2023). Haywood (2017a) defined mestizaje as the perceived “harmonious
mixing” (p. 762) of European Whites, Black Africans, and Indigenous people, the races that
comprise the ancestry of many people from Latin America. Adding to the historical context of

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this definition, Urrieta and Calderón (2019) explained that mestizaje represents the
“accumulation of wealth” via the exploitation and dispossession of Indigenous people (p. 152).
Criticism of mestizaje ideology stems from the idea that the perceived harmony of racial mixing
obscures racial inequalities, has roots in colonial ideologies, and positions mixed-race Latine
people as closer to Whiteness (Busey & Silva, 2020; Haywood, 2017a; Hernández, 2016). In
Mexico, the idea of mestizaje was pioneered by Jose Vasconcelos in his work La Raza Cosmica
(1925), in which he described the mestizos of Mexico as a superior race of Indigenous and White
ancestry; however, this narrative further entrenched antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure by
obscuring the Black ancestry of Mexicans and positioning Black and Indigenous ancestry as
components of inferiority (Busey & Silva, 2020; Haywood, 2017a; Sue, 2023). This led to the
notion that Mexican people were uniformly Brown due to racial mixing, a notion that began with
Vasconcelos in post-revolution Mexico and then traveled northward to the United States,
informing the creation of a Brown Latine American national identity, as evidenced in the
Chicano Movement (Busey & Silva, 2020). Haywood (2017a) also highlighted how mestizaje
minimizes the hierarchy of skin color that began in colonial times and is still used to uphold
White supremacy. An example of this is blanqueamiento, or the idea that marrying a White
person will result in the literal Whitening of the Latine race in an effort to position Latine people
closer to Whiteness in the racial hierarchy (Bonilla-Silva, 2010, as cited in Haywood, 2017a).
While not all ideologies tied to mestizaje are negative (Anzaldúa, 1987; Hernandez,
2016), antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and colonial legacies are often inseparable from the
origins of mestizaje ideology (Busey & Silva, 2020; Hernández, 2016; Sue, 2023). The
obscuring of African ancestry and the “hypervisibility” of Indigenous ancestry only when mixed
with Whiteness (Sue, 2023, p. 48) has positioned the Latine community closer to Whiteness,

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amplifying a historic prejudice within the community towards individuals who look Indigenous
or Black (Martínez, 1993, as cited in Bell et al., 2014). A study conducted by Dávila et al. (2011)
demonstrated that mestizaje ideologies in Mexico had implications in the United States: their
study of 736 Mexican immigrants residing in the United States revealed significant economic
stratification by skin shade. Immigrants with a darker skin shade were revealed to have lower
rates of homeownership and banking and were more likely to have blue-collar occupations.
Other studies also confirmed that skin shade and perceived visible proximity/distance to
Blackness or Whiteness impacted economic opportunities for Latine people, as well as Black,
Indigenous, and other people of color (Bell et al., 2014; Hernández, 2016).
Due to the perceived and actual benefits associated with Whiteness, and the perceived
and actual benefits associated with not being Black, the White supremacy project incentivizes
non-White people to perform Whiteness by conforming to White norms, ideas, and beliefs (Bell
et al., 2014; Haywood, 2017a). Mestizaje and a homogenous Brown identity are tools that at
times continue this project by informing a monolithically Brown view of Latinidad in the United
States, excluding Afro Latine and Indigenous people from past and current conceptualizations of
what it means to be Latine in the United States (Torres, 2022). The obscuring of Black and
Indigenous identities in the Latine community reifies settler colonialism by continuing
antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure into modern times via IRO, as will be explored in a later
section.
Indigenous Erasure and AntiBlackness in the Latine Community
Given the colonial legacies of the Latine community, Latine oppression must be viewed
as interlocked with antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and White supremacy (Haywood, 2017a).
Haywood (2017a) explained that part of colonial history is the construction of “master

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narratives,” or majoritarian narratives that are based on deficit narratives of minoritized groups
that uphold White supremacy. Sampson (1993), cited in Villenas and Dehyle (1999) and
Haywood (2017a), explained that domination is achieved not only through violence, but through
the “construction of the world” that informs how one sees and understands themselves and others
(p. 765). This concept is supported by Tuck and Gaztambide-Fernandez (2013), who quoted
Wolfe (2006), explaining that in the context of settler colonialism, “invasion is a structure, not an
event” (p. 73). The extent to which Latine people internalize this structure accounts for how they
contribute to the reproduction of oppression.
Bañales and Rivas-Drake (2022) provided an exploration of Latine identity situated
within the context of White supremacy, antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure. They provide the
following expanded and modern definitions for each component of the settler colonial triad:
• White supremacy: “a political, economic, and cultural system in which White people
overwhelmingly control power and material resources, as well as conscious and
unconscious ideas of White superiority and entitlement. Relations of White
dominance and non-White subordination are daily reenacted across a broad array of
institutional and social settings” (Ansley, 1997, p. 592, as cited in Bañales & RivasDrake, 2022, p. 5). Includes “racialization processes” that “aim to serve the interests
of White people” (Bañales & Rivas-Drake, 2022, p. 5).
• antiBlackness: a legacy of “colonial oppression that includes practices, policies, and
ideologies that uniquely harm, disregard, reject, and devalue the lives and
contributions of Black people” (Adames et al., 2021, p. 29, as cited in Bañales &
Rivas-Drake 2022, p. 5). AntiBlackness is intertwined with but distinct from White
supremacy (Ray et al., 2017).

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• Indigenous erasure (anti-Indigeneity): the “systematic political and economic
disenfranchisement of Indigenous people and devaluation of their appearance,
languages, and cultural ways” (Bañales & Rivas-Drake, 2022, p. 5).
Bañales and Rivas-Drake (2022) argued that mestizaje ideologies operate within the settler
colonial triad. Further, they indicated that mestizaje ideologies can “minimize or deny the racial
privilege” that may be afforded to White Latine people, and Latine people who uphold White
norms and/or aspire to Whiteness (Chavez-Dueñas et al., 2014, as cited in Bañales & RivasDrake, 2022, p. 8).
Indigenous erasure remains a continuing problem within the Latine community. While
Indigeneity was instrumental in the creation of mestizaje, it was both romanticized and viewed as
the opposite of progress and modernity (Sue, 2023), and still carries negative connotations in
Latine and Mexican culture (Urrieta & Calderón, 2019). According to Urrieta and Calderón
(2019), Latine and Mexican people have been subjected to and participated in “multiple and
intersecting forms of colonialism” (p. 156) that position them to be complicit in settler futurity
even though they have been impacted negatively by this colonialism. In their seminal work on
Critical Latinx Indigeneities, Urrieta and Calderón (2019) unpacked the concerns and injustices
associated with Indigenous erasure. Identified within the work as “Latinized entanglements,”
they problematize the monolithic Latine identity and mestizaje as projects that ensure settler
futurity and erase the lived realities and histories of Indigenous people.
For example, some Indigenous people from Latin America do not identify with the
colonial national identity of their countries. Urrieta and Calderón cited an example of an
Indigenous person who resided in Mexico but chose to be identified by their tribal lineage versus
being identified as Mexican. Another example provided told of the bullying of Indigenous

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Oaxacan school children by their Latine peers, demonstrating the anti-Indigenous racism that
exists within the community (Urrieta & Calderón, 2019). Further, Indigenous Latine children that
migrate to the United States are often multiply marginalized since their first language is an
Indigenous language; upon arrival to the United States, these children “will likely be learning in
their second language (Spanish), while learning English, their third language” (Urrieta &
Calderón, 2019, p. 165). Urrieta and Calderón highlighted that both English and Spanish are
colonial languages. Lastly, Urrieta and Calderón argued that pan ethnic labels such as Latina/o/e
obscured the diversity of the community to fit it into the settler colonial racial order.
Many non-Indigenous Latine people in the United States, including immigrants, could be
constituted as Brown settlers (Tuck & Yang, 2012), echoing the history of the diverse group of
settlers that came from Mexico to California (as explored in the historical section of this
literature review). Tuck and Yang (2012) and Urrieta and Calderón (2019) called for Brown
settlers to examine the ways they are complicit in upholding settler colonialism. Complicity can
take many forms, but Tuck and Yang (2012) highlighted an idea called settler moves to
innocence, which occur when settlers try to deny the ways in which they benefit from Indigenous
erasure and assimilation due to the uncomfortable self-reflection required to sit with that idea.
While many Latine people are descended from Indigenous people, they are also descended from
Spaniards, Africans, mestizos, and afromestizos who (at times) violently contributed to the
erasure and assimilation of their Indigenous ancestors. While this complex legacy provides much
for Latine people to grapple with, it also provides space for Latine people to move forward
differently than their ancestors.
Similar to Indigenous erasure, notions of Brownness, Latinidad, and mestizaje are rooted
in and obscure antiBlackness within the community. Haywood (2017a) conducted a study that

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examined the lived experiences of Afro Latine students and found that antiBlackness materializes
in the Latine community in the following ways: colorism perpetuated within Latine families,
social exclusion from Latine spaces, and through questioning the authenticity of the Latinidad of
Afro Latine people. Haywood (2017a) also examined how the Afro Latine identity challenges
racial categorizations in the United States, master narratives of the mutual exclusivity of
Blackness and Brownness, and how skin tone variations within pan ethnic groups produce
different levels of marginalization and lived realities. AntiBlackness perpetuated toward nonLatine Black people also occurs within the Latine community. A study of Black male experiences
at Hispanic serving community colleges within the context of settler colonialism by Abrica et al.
(2020) revealed that antiBlackness manifests as rejection/appropriation of Black intellect,
invisibility/hypervisibility of Black students, and the perceived omnipresent threat of antiBlack
violence. Because of racism and antiBlackness within and between communities of color, Abrica
et al. (2020), Ray et al., (2017), and Soto Vega and Chávez (2018), call for the examination of
what Sexton (2010) identified as people-of-color-blindness, which is defined as the
overemphasis of shared suffering between communities of color that obscures and reproduces
antiBlackness. Ray et al. (2020) explained that the plight of non-Black people in the United
States cannot be compared to the legacy of racial slavery; therefore, Black people have a
significantly different racial “ontology” than do other groups of color (p. 150). Modern notions
of interracial coalition building often fail to specifically target antiBlackness (Ray et al., 2017).
Examples of Latine–Black coalition building obscuring antiBlackness can be viewed within the
Chicano Movement (as explored in an earlier section) and, more recently, in the George Floyd
Movement of 2020.

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While it cannot and should not be ignored that Latine people experience systemic racism,
there is agreement that Latine people can also perpetuate antiBlackness and uphold White
supremacy (Acevedo, 2020; Busey & Silva, 2020; Haywood, 2017a; Soto Vega & Chávez, 2018;
Ray et al., 2017; Urrieta & Calderón, 2019). In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, some
individuals used the opportunity to draw attention to systemic inequality and police brutality
within the Latine community (Koran, 2020; Busey & Silva, 2020); while valid, using a moment
of specific antiBlack violence to draw attention to issues within the Latine community misses the
point. In situations like the murder of George Floyd, antiBlackness is often perpetuated when
non-Black communities of color overlook the antiBlackness at the heart of the issue and equate it
to the oppression of all communities of color.
Soto Vega and Chávez (2018) explained that a significant difference between Black and
Latine communities lies in the different relationship that the Latine community has to Whiteness,
as exemplified through the colonial history of Latine people and the racial hierarchy. Ray et al.
(2017) furthered this idea by explaining that non-Black communities of color “often co-opt the
tactics” (p. 150) of the civil rights movement by abandoning Black people to “gain rights from
the state” (p. 150). This thought shows how necessary it is to not only dismantle White
supremacy, but to specifically dismantle antiBlackness as well. Notably, during the murder of
George Floyd, there were and still are people in the Latine community who emphasized the need
for Latine people to examine their beliefs about racism, White supremacy, and antiBlackness
(Acevedo, 2020; Haywood, 2017a; Haywood, 2017b, Torres, 2022).
An incident that occurred in 2022 involving Latine political leaders in Los Angeles,
California, demonstrates a real-time culmination of the legacies of antiBlackness and Indigenous
erasure within the Latine community. In October of 2022, a recording was released in which the

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Latino president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, the Latina Los Angeles City
Council President, and two Latino Los Angeles City Council Members blatantly discussed the
idea of redistricting council seats to consolidate their power (Paz, 2022) while espousing
antiBlack and anti-Indigenous language and ideology (Torres, 2022). Torres (2022) explained
that this situation should erase any notions of racial harmony in Latin America (mestizaje) and
reveal how White supremacy, antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure are rampant due to the
colonial histories of the Americas. Further, since this situation physically occurred in the offices
of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and involved its president, it reveals the reality
of how IRO, antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure occur not only in within organizations, but
within the highest offices that are supposed to be on behalf of the workforce.
Conclusion to Implications of History
As explored in this section, settler colonialism is a structure that shapes the lived realities
of Latine people. These lived realities include both the experience of oppression and the
perpetuation of systems of oppression due to the diversity of beliefs, values, and physical
characteristics within the Latine community. These lived realities have largely been shaped by
mestizaje ideology, White supremacy, antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure. While this section
explored the way these ideologies have evolved from colonial times and manifested in the
modern day, the following section will explore how these colonial ideologies are internalized to
create the specific mechanism that is IRO, which scholars describe as necessary for
understanding and dismantling the complexities of oppression (Abrica et al., 2020; Bañales &
Rivas-Drake, 2022; Haywood, 2017a; Haywood, 2017b; Ray et al., 2017; Urrieta & Calderón,
2019). Notably, many of the calls for research that link IRO to these colonial ideologies come

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from within the Latine community (Abrica et al., 2020; Bañales & Rivas-Drake, 2022;
Haywood, 2017a; Haywood, 2017b; Urrieta & Calderón, 2019).
Internalized Racial Oppression
This examination of the history of Latine people and their unique position in society
culminates in the examination of internalized racial oppression (IRO). IRO is often considered a
taboo topic since it examines how people of color can perpetuate discrimination and reproduce
oppression (Pyke, 2010). IRO is as multifaceted and complex as oppression itself, challenging to
study, and comes with an added “insidiousness” (David et al., 2019) that involves the automation
of oppression and White supremacy. This section seeks to continue the examination of the
historical legacies of the Latine community by exposing the systems of power that cause people
of color to perpetuate inequality. To be clear, this dissertation does not blame Latine people for
harboring or suffering from IRO. This dissertation seeks to understand how the history of the
United States has ingrained certain harmful ideologies within the fabric of society which
ultimately work to continue the oppression of people of color. This examination of Latine IRO
promotes understanding as a tool that could ultimately disrupt IRO. This section explores the
general components of IRO, specific manifestations of IRO in the Latine community, and the
manifestation of IRO in the workplace. It concludes with an exploration of gaps in the current
literature.
Overview
IRO is defined by Pyke (2010) as “the individual inculcation of the racist stereotypes,
values, images, and ideologies perpetuated by the White dominant society about one’s racial
group, leading to feelings of self-doubt, disgust, and disrespect for one’s race and/or oneself” (p.
553). Expanding upon this definition, David et al. (2019) cited Lipsky (1987), who defined IRO

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as the “turning upon ourselves, upon our families, and upon our own people the distress patterns
that result from the oppression of the dominant society” (p. 6). An additional definition describes
IRO as “the ‘subjection’ of the victims of racism to the mystifications of the very racist ideology
which imprison and define them” (Hall, 1986, p. 26, as cited in Pyke, 2010, p. 552). Scholars of
IRO agree that IRO in the United States results from White supremacy, and that the dominant
society is White (Banks & Stephens, 2018; David et al., 2019; Pyke, 2010). Bailey et al. (2011)
explained that in order to maintain a system that operates on racial oppression, there must be a
psychological element of the oppression that is “self-perpetuating and internalized” (p. 481).
Because of this system of oppression within which IRO occurs, there is less of a need to
explicitly oppress racial groups because oppressed groups may begin participating in their
oppression (Bailey et al., 2011). David et al. (2019) theorized that due to structures of
dominance, people with IRO can participate in their oppression, may rationalize racism, and may
also perpetuate racism. Banks and Stephens (2018) characterized people who are oppressed as
having a relationship with oppression that may cause them to believe they deserve the
oppression, or that oppression is inevitable. Additionally, Banks and Stephens (2018) expressed
that a person’s relationship with oppression can vary based on various other “constructs such as
racial identity, stigma consciousness, belief in a just world, and the idea of a Protestant work
ethic” (p. 94).
IRO is a complex phenomenon, largely because it is an “insidious” consequence of
racism (David et al., 2019, p. 1057) and understudied (David et al., 2019; Pyke, 2010). Because
of this, there are other names for IRO, including appropriated racial oppression (David et al.,
2019; Tappan, 2006, as cited in Banks & Stephens, 2018), internalized racism, internalized White
supremacy, internalized Whiteness, and racial self-hatred, which is much criticized and

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inaccurate (Pyke, 2010). Scholars note that IRO is not a cultural or biological characteristic of
oppressed people, as was believed in the past; it is a consequence of colonialism, racism, and
oppression (David et al., 2019; Pyke, 2010).
W.E.B Du Bois is thought to be an early conceptualizer of IRO, writing that Black
Americans possess a double consciousness, existing within a “world which yields him no true
self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world” (Du
Bois, 1903, as cited in Pyke, 2010, and Gonzalez et al., 2014). The study of IRO emerged from
postcolonial theory, which is a critical theory that seeks to understand the current reality of life in
the context of the past by critiquing culture, society, and politics that were/are normalized by
colonialism (Rukundwa & Van Aarde, 2007). Frantz Fanon (Banks & Stephens, 2018; David et
al., 2019; Haywood 2017b; Rukundwa & Van Aarde, 2007), Paulo Freire (David et al., 2019;
Gonzalez et al., 2014; Pyke, 2010), Albert Memmi (David et al., 2019; Pyke, 2010), and bell
hooks (Cheng, 1997; Haywood, 2017b; Pyke, 2010) are widely regarded as seminal scholars who
created the foundation for studying IRO. Fanon, Freire, and Memmi believed that IRO was a
prominent psychological consequence of experiencing racism (David et al., 2019) and
colonialism (David & Derthick, 2014), while bell hooks was one of the pioneers of the idea of
mental colonization, a similar conceptualization of IRO (Cheng, 1997; Haywood, 2017b; Pyke,
2010). Freire argued that oppressed people, despite fighting for liberation, may have internalized
an image of themselves that was created through the process of colonization by the oppressor
(Gonzalez et al., 2014). This internalization results from the belief that one must perform ideas of
freedom and power that have been modeled by the oppressor, which results in the continued
subjugation of oppressed people (Gonzalez et al., 2014).

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Fanon is known for describing colonial societies as Manichean, and scholars have used
this term to conceptualize American society as constructed through opposites (David & Derthick,
2014). DeGuzmán (2005) described Manichaeism as an “allegorical structure of good and evil”
(p. 2), and a paradigm that was potentially inherited from early world religions. Manichaeism
also includes paradigms of opposites such as “light versus dark” and “white versus black”
(Harrell, 1999, as cited in David & Derthick, 2014, p. 12). Applying a Manichean view to
colonialism and American society would constitute any attribute of the dominant group as
superior and anything of the dominated group as inferior (Harrell, 1999, as cited in David &
Derthick, 2014). Therefore, a Manichean society creates a negative context for which oppressed
people understand themselves concerning the dominant society (Harrell, 1999, as cited in David
& Derthick, 2014). An example of Manichean mythology having real consequences is the Black
Legend; DeGuzmán (2015) cited a Manichean paradigm as a critical framework for
understanding the Black Legend—or the “blackening” characterization of the Spaniards as dark
and evil—as discussed in the historical section of this literature review. A Manichean paradigm
situates Latine people between the duality of Black and White and oppression and privilege, with
IRO propelling the community toward Whiteness.
David and Derthick (2014) cited Frantz Fanon’s four-phase colonial model (pp. 7–8) as a
framework for understanding oppression and IRO. The first phase of the colonial model involves
a foreign group entering a land by force and appropriating its resources via slavery. The second
phase occurs when the colonizer designates their culture as the true indigenous culture of the
land, erasing the actual Indigenous culture; this step includes creating paradigms about the
colonizer as the purveyor of civility and constituting the Indigenous people of the land as
“savages.” This constitution of civil versus savage sets up the third step, the civilizing of the

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colonized. The fourth step is creating a society in which institutions maintain the superiority and
best interests of the colonizer while institutionalizing the oppression of the colonized. David and
Derthick also noted that a characteristic of colonial institutions is that those who assimilate are
rewarded and those who do not are punished. Fanon’s colonial model is similar to what Tuck and
Gaztambide-Fernandez (2013) identified as the mythology of the fort in settler colonial
narratives. They cited the work of Dwayne Donald (2012), who discussed the colonial structure
of the fort as a symbolic image that calls for those who remain outside the colonial fort (i.e.,
Indigenous inhabitants and othered people) to assimilate to the new order or remain excluded.
Moving toward Whiteness—or trying to enter the fort—can also be viewed as othered or
racialized people performing Whiteness to gain the benefits and privileges only afforded to
White people to improve their life chances (Bell, 1995; Bell et al., 2014; Tuck & GaztambideFernandez; 2013). Derrick Bell (1995) conceptualized this idea of assimilation as increasing “the
possibility of controlling critical aspects of one’s life rather than being the object of others’
domination” (p. 906). The fort represents aspects of modern society that exclude people of color
unless they assimilate.
David and Derthick (2014) pointed to the United States as a place where internal
colonialism exists and is responsible for modern-day oppression. They described internal
colonialism as the existence and imposition of colonial institutions and worldviews even though
there has not been a recent invasion or colonization event. The idea of internal colonialism
agrees with Tuck and Gaztambide-Fernandez’s (2013) conceptualization of settler colonialism,
which describes colonization not as a singular moment of invasion, but as an ongoing structure
that constitutes reality and upholds the idea that non-White people are inferior to White people.

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Sociologist and IRO scholar Karen D. Pyke (2010) further conceptualized IRO through a
Gramscian and Foucauldian theoretical framework, which explains that ideological hegemony
occurs when the dominant group in society controls how reality is perceived and experienced,
such as through social norms, “commonsense” knowledge, and organizational practices (p. 556).
When this occurs, the oppressed group can potentially accept the dominant group’s interests as
theirs due to the false presentation of the oppressor’s and oppressed group’s interests as aligned
(Pyke, 2010). In a racially oppressive society, there no longer needs to be blatant instances of
discrimination (even though there are); ideological hegemony occurs through the unconscious
“inculcation” of racial deficit narratives and ideologies that come to be considered commonsense
knowledge (Pyke, 2010, p. 556).
The Clark and Clark doll study in 1947 is often thought of as the first example of a
psychological study on IRO (David et al., 2019; Pyke, 2010). In the study, Black children were
asked about their preferences for Black or White dolls, with a small percentage of children
expressing “negative attitudes” toward the Black dolls (Banks & Stephens, 2018, p. 98). While
this study contributed to understanding IRO, it also led to a narrow conceptualization of IRO as
racial self-hatred. Banks and Stephens (2018) posited that researchers perceived a Black child
preferring a White doll was evidence of self-hate, rather than evidence of existing in a racist
society. Pyke (2010) further elaborated on problems with the doll study, explaining that it
resulted in an “invalid quantitative measure of racial self-esteem” (p. 555) and led to deficit
narratives about inherent Black self-hatred. While self-hatred is a manifestation of IRO, it is only
one aspect of the complex phenomenon of IRO (Banks & Stephens, 2018).
Banks and Stephens (2018) provided a comprehensive and nuanced overview of IRO and
its manifestations. They conceptualized IRO as the ways in which individuals interact with the

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tools of oppression, which includes learning how to “use, relate to, and buy into the tools” used
to enact racial oppression (p. 95). Much like Fanon’s earlier theory stating that colonialism
affects a person’s consciousness, Banks and Stephens posited that the tools of racial oppression
are “omnipresent” (p. 96), and that no person of color can exist without a relationship to IRO, no
matter how minimal the manifestations. Because of the pervasiveness of IRO, Banks and
Stephens argued that solely understanding IRO as the internalization of negative stereotypes or
low self-esteem completely eclipses the insidious mechanism that is IRO. Further, Banks and
Stephens (2018) explained that the term “internalized oppression” may be misleading in the
sense that it emphasizes the individual’s role in their oppression rather than examining how a
systemically racist society has “intractable forces” (p. 100) that result in the inevitable,
unavoidable, and unconscious internalization of racial oppression within people of color. Pyke
(2010), citing the work of Osajima (1993), supported this idea, writing that mental colonization
is the process of White racism “infiltrating the world view of those who are racially oppressed
without their conscious consent” (p. 556). Pyke (2010) also cited the work of Sander Gilman
(1986) who studied Jewish IRO, which he conceptualized as “self-hatred.” Pyke explained how
Gilman wrote about a “double bind situation” in which othered people reject their otherness by
trying to act like and “abide by the rules” of the dominant group to be accepted into the group (p.
557). The myth is that the others will never be accepted into the dominant group, no matter how
closely they abide by the rules of the dominant group (Pyke, 2010).
Mechanisms and Manifestations of Internalized Racial Oppression
David et al. (2018) proposed a conceptual framework through which IRO could be
understood, as cited in David et al. (2019). They wrote that IRO could be expressed
intrapersonally (weaponizing IRO against oneself), interpersonally (occurring between people of

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the same race or different races), or institutionally (when people of color perpetuate racist
ideologies through institutional norms or policies). David and Derthick (2014), citing theirs as
well as other research, described IRO as a cause of intragroup conflict, which is caused by the
choice of some group members to identify with and perform the norms of the oppressor (the
dominant group). This can result in the internalization of deficit narratives about their race,
sometimes causing a rejection of their culture (David & Derthick, 2014). Further, IRO can be
understood as a distorted view of the self and others based on race resulting from a person’s
environmental experience (David & Derthick, 2014). In other words, the prolonged experience
of racial oppression and exposure to “inferiorizing” messages has led to the internalization of
racial oppression that is self-perpetuated, in subtle and blatant ways (David & Derthick, 2014, p.
14). The manifestations of IRO include the following:
• People of color “minimizing, tolerating, denying, and even justifying racism” (David
et al., 2019, p. 1068).
• Feelings of inferiority, shame, or embarrassment about one’s racial/ethnic identity
(David et al., 2019).
• Holding Eurocentric/White ideals of beauty (Banks & Stephens, 2018; David et al.,
2019; Pyke, 2010).
• Altering one’s physical appearance to conform to Eurocentric beauty standards
(Bailey et al., 2011; Banks & Stephens; 2018; David, et al., 2019; Pyke, 2010).
• Low career aspirations (Brown & Segrist, 2016).
• Internalization of negative stereotypes (Bailey et al., 2011; David et al., 2019; Pyke,
2010).
• Self-harming/destructive behaviors (Bailey et al., 2011; Banks & Stephens, 2018).

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• Belief in the “biased representation of history” (Bailey et al., 2011, p. 482).
• Increased psychological distress, depression, and anxiety (Banks & Stephens; 2018;
David et al., 2019).
• Poor health and psychological outcomes (U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, 2001, as cited in Banks & Stephens, 2018, and David et al., 2019).
• Belief in or internalization of dominant ideology perpetuated by the media or family
members (Banks & Stephens, 2018; Carillo Rowe & Malhotra, 2006, as cited in
Alemán & Gaytán, 2017).
• Stigma consciousness and/or resistance of racist stereotypes (Banks & Stephens,
2018; Pyke, 2010).
• Defensive othering, defined as intragroup othering that allows a person of color to
present themselves as aligned with the oppressors (Pyke, 2010).
• Eating disorders (David & Derthick, 2014).
• Lower levels of self-esteem (David & Derthick, 2014).
• Depression (David & Derthick, 2014).
• In a study on students of color, Alemán and Gaytán (2017) linked IRO to the
resistance of critical race pedagogy and developed three causes/manifestations of this
resistance: “1) entrenchment in majoritarian or dominant ideologies, 2) a disavowal of
experiences with racialized oppression, and 3) a disinclination to scrutinize personal
experiences marred by race or other marginalized identities” (p. 129).
Pyke (2010) noted that skin tone bias, or colorism, is a predominant theme within the topic of
IRO. However, both Pyke (2010) and Haywood (2017b) noted that most of the literature stopped

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short of directly linking colorism to IRO and stated the need for research that explicitly catalogs
colorism as a component of IRO.
Bailey et al. (2011), Banks and Stephens (2018), and Haywood (2017b) called for a
conceptualization of IRO that extends beyond the internalization of negative stereotypes and the
presence of low self-esteem/self-hatred to uncover the systemic and often hidden ways in which
IRO operates. Banks and Stephens (2018) expressed that IRO may manifest in ways that might
not seem negative or result in negative consequences, but that are “rooted” in deficit racial
ideology that is perpetuated by dominant ideology (p. 95). IRO may be expressed or manifested
as the pursuit of “achievement, perfectionism, or assimilation;” “belief in a just world;” and
“belief in a Protestant work ethic” (Banks & Stephens, 2018, p. 96). These manifestations may
be a way to manage the stigma associated with a negative stereotype or may be rooted in an
actual deficit racial belief (Banks & Stephens, 2018). Pyke (2010) provided similar examples of
covert IRO as the indirect internalization of seemingly race-neutral cultural myths and
ideologies. An example provided by Pyke (2010) is meritocracy, which is the idea that
opportunities are available to people based on their “achievements and skills” (p. 556). However,
meritocracy perpetuates the myth that there are “objective standards applied equally” to everyone
and ignores the role that oppression and race play in the opportunities available to individuals
(Pyke, 2010, p. 556). Importantly, all manifestations of IRO occur due to racism and oppression,
and work to perpetuate inequality and uphold racism and White supremacy ideologies (David et
al., 2019; Pyke, 2010).

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Colonial Legacy of Internalized Racial Oppression and Latine Internalized Racial
Oppression
IRO is seen as a direct consequence of one group’s domination over another, resulting in
an imbalance of power and privilege between groups (David et al., 2019). Colonialism—
resulting in the institution of racism—is considered one of the structures responsible for IRO
(Carillo Rowe & Malhotra, 2006, as cited in Alemán & Gaytán, 2017; David et al., 2019;
Haywood, 2017b), as was described earlier through an examination of the beliefs of Fanon,
Freire, Memmi, and hooks. Writing about the experiences of Indigenous people, Gonzalez et al.
(2014) explained that understanding internalized oppression begins with understanding the
historical trauma associated with colonization. Similarly, Alleyne (2005) characterized IRO for
Black people as the result of a colonial “enmeshment” with White people in which the two
groups were assigned specific roles that continue to play out to this day (p. 296). Some scholars
emphasized a generational component of IRO, expressing that the transmission of IRO
throughout generations of a family can occur (Alleyne, 2005; David & Derthick, 2014; Gonzalez
et al., 2014; Pyke, 2010), and can also sometimes be seen as an adaptive response to racism and a
means of survival (Alleyne, 2005; Pyke, 2010). Alleyne (2005) conceptualized survival-based
IRO as the “transgenerational transmission of trauma” because of colonialism (p. 295), and Pyke
(2010) conceptualized it as a means of families preparing their children for the racism that they
will encounter in an effort to minimize its effects.
While there exists some scholarship on Latine IRO that focused on low self-esteem and
the internalization of negative stereotypes as manifestations of IRO (Hipolito-Delgado, 2016;
Padilla, 2001), there was much literature that focused on more subtle and nuanced manifestations
of IRO in the Latine community. Much of the literature described Latine IRO as resulting from

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their colonial history (Chavez-Dueñas et al., 2014; GóMez, 2000; Hall, 1994, as cited in David &
Derthick, 2014; Haywood, 2017a; Haywood, 2017b; Hipolito-Delgado et al., 2014; Padilla,
2001). Specifically, the legacy of the casta system—the hierarchy of race based on skin color that
was law during the Spanish colonial period—is seen as one of the primary mechanisms that
perpetuates IRO within Latine people (Chavez-Dueñas et al., 2014; Haywood, 2017a; HipolitoDelgado et al., 2014). Acuña (2014), as cited in Haywood (2017b), wrote that there is a desire
within Latine people to become like their oppressor, resulting from the legacy of skin color
hierarchies that inspired the pursuit of Whiteness. The literal pursuit of Whiteness as expressed
through colorism, the desire for White skin, and skin tone bias/prejudice are the most cited
manifestations of IRO in the Latine community (Chavez-Dueñas et al., 2014; GóMez, 2000;
Hall, 1994, as cited in David & Derthick, 2014; Haywood, 2017a; Haywood, 2017b; HipolitoDelgado et al., 2014; Padilla, 2001). Chavez-Dueñas et al. (2014) cited research that indicates
skin color prejudice has adverse effects on many aspects of life for Latine people, including
mental health, education, and income. Part of the worldview that informs skin tone bias in the
Latine community is mestizaje ideology (Chavez-Dueñas et al., 2014; Haywood, 2017a). As
discussed in an earlier section of this literature review, part of the goal of mestizaje ideology was
to intermix races to the extent that Indigenous and African cultures would be erased, or to the
extent that Indigenous and African people would assimilate into a “culturally homogenous”
society (Soler Castillo & Pardo Abril, 2009, as cited in Chavez-Dueñas et al., 2014, p. 9).
Chavez-Dueñas et al. (2014) provided a powerful example of how colorism,
antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and IRO manifest in Latine culture. They listed six phrases
commonly heard throughout the Latine community that display the value of White skin, and the
devaluing of Black/dark skin and Indigeneity, such as “Eres tan Indio (You are so Indian [meant

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derogatorily]),” and “Vete por la sombrita (Go into the shade [to avoid getting darker])” (p. 17).
Coexisting with these ideologies is the belief that race is not a problem in Latin America,
represented by common phrases such as “We are all mestizos (racially mixed),” and “There is no
racism in Latin America” (pp. 16–17). Chavez-Dueñas et al. (2014) noted that the expressions
valuing Whiteness directly contradict the expressions denying the existence of racism. They
analyzed this contradiction of beliefs by arguing that this is a strategy used to deflect the
uncomfortable work of grappling with privilege by revealing an understanding of the racial
hierarchy but simultaneously justifying it, and therefore justifying racism. They argued that this
ideology and unwillingness to reflect on colorism and IRO in the community mostly benefits
light skinned Latine people and upholds White supremacy (Chavez- Dueñas et al., 2014). Lastly,
Chavez-Dueñas et al. (2014) acknowledged that Latine people are both the targets and
perpetuators of colorism, and that both experiences should be understood in order to dismantle
IRO in the community. Other scholars make similar arguments that connect Latine IRO to a
legacy of antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and White supremacy (Haywood, 2017a; Haywood,
2017b; Hipolito-Delgado et al., 2014).
Hipolito-Delgado et al. (2014) correlated a high level of Latine IRO with a low level of
ethnic identity, evidenced by assimilation, denial of cultural heritage, and loss of Spanish
fluency. Additional manifestations of IRO discussed included the acceptance of social and
political positions (such as being anti-immigration) that are damaging to the Latine community
and the acceptance dominant/majoritarian narratives. Hipolito-Delgado et al. (2014) connected
the loss of ethnic identity to the desire to fit in with a Eurocentric and American ways of life.
While the experience of IRO is not unique to Latine people, there may be unique ways
that it manifests in the community. Many of these manifestations involve the perpetuation of

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colonial legacies such as colorism, antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure. This study seeks to
extend this work to further analyze how these manifestations of IRO function within Latine
professionals in an organizational context.
Internalized Racial Oppression and the Workplace
Despite widespread narratives of racial progress, the United States remains a society
where inequality is rampant. Organizations continue to value and center Whiteness and
reproduce the racial inequalities in society (Ray et al., 2017). While it is agreed upon that
discrimination and racism exist in the workplace (Bechard & Gragg, 2020; Bertrand &
Mullainathan, 2004; Cocchiara et al., 2016; Cruz, 2016; Damaske, 2009; Kennedy, 2021; Ray et
al., 2017; Segrest Purkiss et al., 2006), there is a paucity of research on IRO in the workplace,
and even more of a paucity on IRO and Latine professionals in the workplace. Understanding
how IRO factors into this inequality is important for understanding how racism and biases
operate on an internalized level in the workplace.
I identified seven articles and one book chapter in which the topic of focus was IRO in
the workplace. The terms used to conduct this search were “internalized racial oppression and
the workplace,” “internalized racial oppression and organizations,” “internalized whiteness and
the workplace,” and “internalized racism in the workplace.” I examined or read every article
within the first two to three pages of the search results to ensure that an article was not missed.
The results became less relevant past the second page of the search results. I repeated this
process for two databases.
The earliest article found via these search methods that discussed IRO in the workplace
was by Watts and Carter (1991). Their study interviewed 142 Black civil service employees to
understand how they perceived racism in organizations. Watts and Carter (1991) found that

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Black individuals who viewed being White as more favorable than being Black tended to view
the racial climate within the workplace as more positive than those who embraced their Black
identities. Further, those who viewed White as being more favorable justified the limited upward
mobility of Black people in the workplace. While this study was not about IRO, Watts and Carter
determined that IRO was a factor in perceptions of racial climate within the workplace.
The second and third articles discussed IRO within the context of Title VII. Schaerer
(2010) argued that Title VII, which prevents discrimination against certain groups, is unevenly
applied due to the lack of recognition of intragroup racial discrimination. Schaerer (2010) also
argued that intragroup discrimination occurred around assimilation or lack thereof; some
members of a racially oppressed group who have assimilated to the more privileged group
(White) may discriminate against those perceived as less assimilated. This discrimination was
based on conduct and skin color; those who perform assimilation less and who have darker skin
were discriminated against (Schaerer, 2010). Turner (1995) also examined intraracial
discrimination within the workplace. Similar to Schaerer (2010), this article questioned the equal
application of Title VII to intragroup racial discrimination. Published within a labor law journal,
this article discussed the implications of skin color prejudice among Black people in the
workplace. This skin color prejudice manifested in the different ways in which light- and darkskinned Black people were treated in the workplace by White people, as well has how light- and
dark-skinned Black people treated each other.
In the fourth article, Brown and Segrist (2016) found that internalized racism negatively
affected the career aspirations of African American adults, and that having a stronger ethnic
identity (specifically, a strong identity with an African-centered worldview) was positively
related to the pursuit of leadership roles and continued education. In the fifth article, Alleyne

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(2005) conducted a study in which Black people discussed their experiences in a therapeutic
setting. Alleyne wrote that, without being prompted, almost all her Black clientele pointed to
challenges in the workplace as part of their suffering. These workplace difficulties often
surrounded challenging Black/White work relationships, or Black/Black work relationships in
which a Black person in a position of power was seen as a sell out or aligned with the White
people in the workplace. Further, Alleyne conceptualized the idea of an internal oppressor, which
works in conjunction with workplace oppression, “invisible wounds”, unresolved personal
challenges with power/domination, and unresolved painful family dynamics to perpetuate
negative cycles within Black people (p. 12). When viewed in the context of slavery and
colonialism, the present situation of Black people in the workplace and the internal oppressor
comes into focus (Alleyne, 2005).
The sixth article, which discussed IRO and second-generation Vietnamese individuals,
used the workplace as a domain for exploring IRO. The study found that in White-dominant
workplaces, second-generation Vietnamese people experienced IRO in the forms of
Whitewashing names or identities, Whitewashing workspaces to appear more assimilated, being
subjected to the model minority myth and stereotype, and doubting their likeability or sociability
(Huynh, 2022, p. 132). The seventh item was a chapter in a book about the experiences of
Samoans in the New Zealand workplace. This chapter traced IRO in the workplace to a time
when New Zealand governed Samoa. IRO was seen to manifest as Samoans feeling the need to
act White, working extra hard, falling into negative stereotypes, and avoiding applying for highlevel managerial roles (Ofe-Grant, 2023).
Viewing institutions of higher education as a workplace, the eighth item was an article in
which the experiences of faculty of color were examined in relation to imposter syndrome and

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success (Dancy & Jean-Marie, 2014). It was found that faculty of color at primarily White
institutions (PWIs) experienced racial inequality which was internalized as imposter syndrome
(Dancy & Jean-Marie, 2014). This research linked imposter syndrome in the workplace to IRO.
When faculty experiencing imposter syndrome taught or mentored students, the imposter
syndrome was “passed on” to the students, which Dancy and Jean-Marie viewed as the
perpetuation of IRO. Notably, the information found on IRO in the workplace links IRO to
externally experienced racism, highlighting the importance of understanding the role of racism in
IRO.
Several articles about IRO briefly mentioned IRO in the workplace, while not specifically
centering the workplace as the study location. These articles discussed IRO in the workplace or
organizations as the belief in/internalization of dominant and/or race-neutral cultural narratives
by people of color. Hasford (2016) conducted a study on Black Canadian youth in the workplace
and found that internalized oppression manifested as the “internalization of the White gaze” (p.
169). In other words, persistent and dominant cultural narratives about Black youth produced a
sense of racial awareness that led to feelings of being constantly watched, judged, and influenced
their “embodied sense of self” (Hasford, 2016, p. 168). Banks and Stephens (2018) argued that
belief in meritocracy and in a “Protestant work ethic” held by people of color suggested an
overreliance on the individual’s perseverance without acknowledging the existing systemic
barriers to economic success. Alemán and Gaytán (2017), in their study of students who were
resistant to critical race pedagogy, noted that students of color could be susceptible to narratives
of familial/professional success and “bootstrap” mentality fueled by ideals of the American
Dream and meritocracy. Gonzalez et al. (2014) conceptualized IRO as the “blind acceptance of
the White world” (p. 47) and identified this as problematic when individuals use these ideologies

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to discriminate against others. Given the centrality of Whiteness in the workplace, evidenced in
everything from diversity initiatives to organizational culture (Ray et al., 2017), the blind
acceptance of the White world can be seen as a way that IRO could be perpetuated in the
workplace.
Several articles about IRO cited in this literature review relied upon Eduardo BonillaSilva’s work on color-blind racism (Alemán & Gaytán, 2017; Chavez-Dueñas et al., 2014;
Haywood, 2017a; Ray et al., 2017). Color-blind racism is the idea that there is a “new racism”
that has largely replaced “Jim Crow-style” racism (Bonilla-Silva & Dietrich, 2011, p. 191). This
new racism is mostly “subtle,” superficially nonracial, “institutionalized,” and “rationalizes
racial inequality” as a product of the “markets,” as well as a “naturally occurring phenomenon”
due to the “cultural deficiencies” of people of color (Bonilla-Silva & Dietrich, 2011, p. 191).
“Color-blind frames” (p. 192) of the new dominant racial ideology include “abstract liberalism,”
“cultural racism,” and the “minimization of racism,” all of which create a positionality with
which White people (and non-White people) use to explain racial inequality (Bonilla-Silva &
Dietrich, 2011, pp. 192–194). Many of these color-blind frames center dominant ideology
(myths) about equal opportunity and the existence of a meritocracy, indicating that a strong work
ethic is all that is necessary to “make it” (Bonilla-Silva & Dietrich, 2011). Without naming IRO
outright, Bonilla-Silva & Dietrich (2011) discussed the color-blind rhetoric and ideology of
President Barack Obama as a mechanism that perpetuated color-blind racism in society; they
wrote that as the first Black president, Obama was careful not to alienate White people by
attempting to be race-neutral.
Other work by Bonilla-Silva (2004) asserted that the United States was becoming a trilevel racial hierarchy (as discussed earlier in this literature review). Bonilla-Silva (2002) likened

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this tri-level hierarchy to mestizaje hierarchies in Latin America, and explained that the three
levels comprise Whites, Honorary Whites, and Collective Blacks. Assimilated White Latinos and
light-skinned Latinos occupy the White and Honorary White categories, respectively. BonillaSilva stopped short of naming IRO but explained that people in the White and Honorary White
categories may classify themselves as White, adopt White-like racial attitudes, and distance
themselves from the Collective Blacks category. Further, he explained that the ideology of colorblind racism was more widespread among Whites and Honorary Whites and would continue to
negatively impact Black people and those in the Collective Black category. Bonilla-Silva (2002)
cautioned that the racial hierarchy, as well as color-blind racism (Bonilla-Silva & Dietrich,
2011), would continue to be effective in maintaining White supremacy, arguing that non-White
people would remain in the Honorary White category as long as it remained in the interest of
White people. Further, he claimed that Honorary Whites must be made aware of the “honorary”
part of their status in order to reject that status and build coalitions for equity (Bonilla-Silva,
2002). While this study is concerned with all manifestations of IRO in Latine professionals,
color-blind and seemingly race-neutral ideology is of the utmost interest due to the subtle and
covert ways this ideology allows for the perpetuation of racism and White supremacy within
organizations. Understanding how these ideologies operate at the internalized level could support
the creation of a framework for unlearning these ideologies.
It is notable that within the literature found on IRO in the workplace, differences in the
IRO experiences between people in professional or white-collar jobs and individuals in bluecollar jobs are not discussed. Blue-collar occupations are traditionally considered to be jobs that
are labor or skilled trade roles (Lips-Wiersma et al., 2016). Because this dissertation is focused
on Latine professionals, and specifically, the professional identity, Blue-collar Latine people

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represent an important population impacted by this study. While people who work in blue-collar
jobs are not considered to experience less meaningfulness in their work, blue-collar jobs are
generally associated with a less privileged status, lower wages, and lower “prestige” (LipsWiersma et al., 2016, p. 3).
In the United States, Latine people are disproportionately represented in blue-collar jobs
(Dubina, 2021). Farming, fishing, and forestry is the industry with the highest representation of
Latine workers at 43%, followed by building, grounds cleaning, and maintenance at 37.9%,
construction and extraction at 35.7%, food preparation/serving at 27.3%, and
transportation/material moving at 23.9% (Dubina, 2021). While Latine employment in these jobs
is positive, research suggests that blue-collar workers experience “social stigma” (Lucas, 2011,
p. 356). This social stigma is exacerbated for historically oppressed groups or “subordinated”
groups within organizations (Lucas, 2011, p. 355). Even though Latine white-collar professionals
are racialized under the Latine identity, job stigma is likely not an aspect of marginalization they
face. This juxtaposition between the professional and blue-color Latine community could have
implications for understanding IRO. For example, skin color stratification and discrimination
have implications for income and class stratification amongst Latine people in the workforce;
evidence shows that Latine social structures in the United States and Latin America are still
impacted by colonial legacies that cause blue-collar jobs to be disproportionately occupied by
darker-skinned Latine people (Dávila et al., 2011). To understand the IRO of Latine
professionals, it will be important to understand their relationships to the blue-collar Latine
community and the implications those relationships have for understanding IRO.

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Gaps in and Importance of the Study of Internalized Racial Oppression
As has been argued in this section, IRO is essential to study. IRO has negative mental and
physical health implications and is argued to be the “most psychologically damaging”
consequence of racial oppression (Speight, 2007, as cited in Bailey et al., 2011, p. 481). Further,
any understanding of the effects of racism would be “incomplete” without unpacking the
internalized component of racism (Speight, 2007, as cited in Bailey et al., 2011, p. 481). Several
authors cited in this literature review highlighted many opportunities for research in the field of
IRO (Alleyne, 2005; Banks & Stephens, 2018; David et al., 2019; Haywood, 2017b; Pyke,
2010). David et al. (2019) called for IRO studies that use qualitative methods, connect IRO with
other intersecting phenomena, and incorporate a social justice framework for proposed
solutions/interventions. Additionally, David et al. (2019) indicated that although many
phenomena seem to have connections to IRO, the literature does not explicitly connect the
phenomena to IRO. David et al. (2019), Haywood (2017b), and Pyke (2010) called for research
that explicitly connects IRO to colorism. Pyke (2010) identified the need for research on IRO
and immigration, specifically the extent to which immigrants arrive to the United States already
idealizing White/Western culture, as well as the mechanisms through which White/Western
ideals are absorbed during the assimilation process. Alleyne (2005) and David et al. (2019) called
for specific research that studies the unique manifestations of IRO in different racial groups, with
Alleyne calling for specific research of groups that have survived historical oppression. David et
al. (2019) also indicated that a large number (41%) of IRO studies were about the experience of
Black people given their unique history of oppression but identified the need to understand the
experiences of IRO within other groups. Banks and Stephens (2018) indicated that more work
needed to be done which not only identifies the manifestations of IRO, but which supports

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people in unlearning the ideologies that perpetuate IRO. Lastly, Haywood (2017b) is one of the
only authors who explicitly named the importance of dismantling antiBlackness in the Latine
community.
Conclusion to Internalized Racial Oppression
IRO is an understudied but insidious phenomenon that is a product of racism, and for
certain racial groups, a product of colonization and historical racial oppression. IRO has many
manifestations, but many scholars have called for the continued study of IRO to understand how
it operates within specific communities, especially within non-Black communities and within the
workplace. IRO is the last missing link for understanding the way colonization, mestizaje,
antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives come together to reproduce
inequality within the context of the Latine community. These phenomena shape the beliefs of
some in the Latine community, upholding the same ideology that produces systemic racism.
Possibilities for Justice
A significant challenge of studying IRO is examining complicity and oppression. As
discussed in previous sections, many IRO scholars have made it clear that IRO is a consequence
of White supremacy, and that the perpetuation of IRO does not position people of color as
blameworthy. However, an examination of how IRO contributes to systemic racism and how
people of color can perpetuate it is necessary in the pursuit of transformative justice. Pyke (2010)
explained that understanding how IRO functions and is reproduced is essential for developing
tools of resistance. Given that this study aims to dismantle IRO and antiBlackness, and work
toward liberation for all people of color, a necessary component of the literature review is the
exploration of strategies to achieve these goals without replicating the status quo of settler
colonial ontologies or reproducing inequality by exchanging the domination or superiority of one

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group for another. This commitment is reflected in offering different ways of knowing (David et
al., 2019) as pathways to accomplishing the goals of this study. This study draws upon the work
of various scholars, specifically Indigenous scholars and scholars of color, to inform the research
process, the context in which the data is collected, and the proposed solutions to the problem.
To conceptualize calls for systemic and societal change, this study draws upon
Indigenous theories of change as conceptualized by Tuck (2009) and Alfred (2005) as cited in
Tuck (2009). Resting upon four pillars (sovereignty, contention, balance, and relationship),
Indigenous theories of change provides an alternative worldview to Western ideologies for
activists and changemakers caught between accepting incremental change and calling for
revolution. Tuck writes that the pillar of contention teaches us how to ethically battle the systems
and structures that harm Indigenous people and people of color. The methodology of this study
uses testimonio to contend with majoritarian narratives that contribute to IRO, antiBlackness, and
Indigenous erasure in the Latine community. Testimonio is an epistemology that is deeply rooted
in Latin American tradition, was shaped by Latina feminists, and involves the telling of one’s
lived experience within the societal, political, and colonial realities that exist (Delgado Bernal et
al., 2012). Specifically, testimonio is a way to give voice to marginalized people whose
experiences are silenced or untold and reveals how one has learned to understand the truth of
their reality (Delgado Bernal et al., 2012). This study will collect data centered around truths and
lived experiences and rely on the expertise and knowledge of the participants. Testimonio will
create space for future researchers to look at the words and knowledge of people within specific
communities, not external or majoritarian narratives.
The community cultural wealth (CCW) framework (Yosso, 2005) also provides an
alternative epistemology for conceptualizing the rich assets of the Latine community outside of

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colonial values. CCW challenges the idea that the only knowledge is valuable is that of the
middle and upper classes of the White-dominant culture in society. Further, CCW provides an
alternative to mainstream deficit narratives about communities of color and replaces them with
six forms of capital that can and should be valued as social capital: aspirational, navigational,
social, linguistic, familial, and resistant capital. Paired with the methodology of testimonio, this
study will frame participants’ lived experiences from a worldview that critically examines IRO
and biases in the Latine community but looks to CCW as a framework to empower Latine
professionals as they dismantle their IRO.
As Tuck (2009) wrote, conceptualizing change requires grappling with multiple
paradoxes: reform versus revolution, incremental versus abrupt change, research versus action.
The idea of liminal space, or the space between these dichotomies, could be helpful for
changemakers to fight for change while existing within and accepting the world as it is. This
study looks at two iterations of liminality as conceptualized by Du Bois (1948) and Anzaldúa
(1987) and written about by Martinez (2002). As mentioned previously, Du Bois wrote of a
double consciousness present within Black Americans, an oppositional ideology that comprises
the awareness of the self as an oppressed being and how this state of being positions one
uniquely to pursue liberation (Martinez, 2002). Similarly, Anzaldúa (1987) conceptualized this
liminal space of being as a borderland. Given the history of Latine people, Mexico, and the
United States, this borderland could be viewed literally as the border between the United States
and Mexico, but also as a hybrid state of being and knowing that is a space for “both/and,” not
either/or (Martinez, 2002, p. 172). These concepts provide a helpful framework for examining
harms both experienced and perpetuated by the Latine community as they are situated within the
settler colonial state. With the double consciousness/borderland framework, Latine liberation can

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be viewed as a pursuit that is not mutually exclusive, and in which can exist justice and liberation
for Black people, Indigenous people, and all people of color.
Lastly, this study draws upon visionary fiction and rejecting certainty in pursuit of
transformative justice solutions to Latine IRO. Ben-Moshe (2018) discussed how in prison
abolition work, there are often calls for abolitionists to provide a specific, proven pathway
forward when answering the question of what will replace the current prison system. However,
Ben-Moshe (2018) contended that uncertainty is a strength in the prison abolition movement:
abolition both cannot wait for a time when society agrees on appropriate alternatives, but also
cannot come from ways of knowing that exist within the current societal order. Therefore,
abolition is a process of understanding that periods of uncertainty and “disorientation” during
transformation are “generative” while new pathways are being created (Ben-Moshe 2018, p.
348).
For envisioning realities that cannot exist within the current settler structure and
ontologies, this study looks to visionary fiction. In discussing their book Octavia’s Brood (2015),
Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown describe the necessity of visionary fiction as a tool
to fight oppression:
Whenever we try to envision a world without war, without violence, without prisons,
without capitalism, we are engaging in an exercise of speculative fiction. Organizers and
activists struggle tirelessly to create and envision another world, or many other worlds,
just as science fiction does …We believe that radical science fiction is actually better
termed visionary fiction because it pulls from real life experience, inequalities and
movement building to create innovative ways of understanding the world around us, paint
visions of new worlds that could be, and teach us new ways of interacting with one

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another. Visionary fiction engages our imaginations and hearts, and guides our hands as
organizers. (Geek Feminism Blog, n.d., para. 1–3)
While this study will not make claims of certainty in offering solutions to the problem of Latine
IRO, it will look to visionary fiction as a way of understanding the realities for the world as it is
and as it could be.
Lastly, this study aims to be a step toward decolonization, beginning with the
decolonization of minds and spirits. However, some aspects of this study are incommensurable
with decolonization (Tuck & Yang, 2012). Incommensurability is defined as the
acknowledgement that the goals of critical theories, social justice, and civil rights work often do
not agree with the goals of decolonization (Tuck & Yang, 2012). Decolonization is not related or
equal to other anticolonial struggles, such as this study; decolonization and breaking the settler
colonial triad means “repatriating the land to sovereign Native tribes and nations, abolition of
slavery in its contemporary forms, and the dismantling of the imperial metropole” (Tuck & Yang,
2012, p. 31). The empowerment of a community that has largely evolved to become Brown
settlers (Tuck & Yang, 2012) due to Indigenous erasure could be viewed as calling for the
empowerment of individuals who benefit from the legacy of settler colonialism on land that is
not theirs (ours). Within settler colonialism and decolonization, land and land back are the
primary concerns (Tuck & Yang, 2012). While aspects of this study may be incommensurable
with the ultimate goal of decolonization, the goal of this study is to begin moving away from
actions that reify settler innocence by inextricably linking Latine empowerment to the disruption
of IRO, antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure.

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Conceptual Framework
This study approaches the problem of Latine IRO from a critical/transformative
worldview with a commitment to not reproducing inequality through the perpetuation of deficit
narratives and settler ontologies. This study also rejects the idea that liberation for one race can
only be achieved by excluding, ignoring, or further oppressing other races. Instead, this study
aims to open pathways of justice and liberation for all people of color through examining and
understanding the experiences of Latine professionals with IRO through a conceptual framework
that holds the complexity of what it means to be a Latine person in the United States.
The conceptual framework for this study is grounded in critical race theory/methodology
(CRT/M) and exposes settler colonialism as a system of power in the pursuit of understanding
the experiences of Latine professionals with IRO. IRO is a phenomenon in which racist ideology
perpetuated by the White dominant culture leads to feelings of inferiority about oneself, one’s
racial group, and/or other racial groups (Pyke, 2010). To deepen this definition, Alleyne (2005)
described internalized oppression as the “primary means by which all of us hold on to, ‘agree’
and re-enact our unresolved and repressed difficulties” (p. 283). CRT/M and a focus on settler
colonialism support examining this problem both as an individual, internal problem, and as part
of a greater system of endemic racism and White supremacy. CRT/M constitutes racism not as
isolated instances of overt racism, but as “larger, systemic, structural, and cultural” and as
“deeply psychologically and socially ingrained” (Matsuda, Lawrence, Delgado, & Crenshaw,
1993, p. 5, as cited in Tuck & Gaztambide-Fernandez, 2013, p. 82). Scholars agree that systemic
racism is constituted by the codification and endemic nature of racism in society, from
institutions, policies, politics, laws, and programs, to beliefs, values, norms, and education
(Banaji et al., 2021; Bonilla-Silva, 2015). Further, systemic racism is created and reproduced at

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the conscious and unconscious levels, can be perpetuated by “nonracist” people, and is based on
a racial hierarchy that determines the opportunities, outcomes, and life chances of people of color
(Banaji et al., 2021; Bonilla-Silva, 2015). Systemic racism reflects the beliefs of the group in
power, which in American society is White people and White-dominant culture (Banaji et al.,
2021). As described in Banaji et al. (2012) and Bonilla-Silva (2015), the state of systemic racism
today can be explained by examining the history of race in the United States, from settler
colonialism and slavery to the civil war, to Jim Crow laws, to segregation, redlining, and housing
discrimination. Even though overt displays of racism and segregation have seemingly declined,
systemic racism continues to persist through implicit bias, or systemically racist ideologies and
practices that are seemingly invisible and nonracial (Banaji et al., 2021; Bonilla-Silva, 2015).
These more subtle and implicit versions of racism deeply affect the experiences of people
of color in the workplace. Specifically, examples can be found that display racial biases in hiring.
Bertrand and Mullainathan (2004) produced a seminal study that found that individuals with
“Black-sounding” names are less likely to receive a call back for a job than individuals with
“White-sounding” names. Cocchiara et al. (2014) found that individuals with accents that could
be detected in a telephone interview were less likely to move forward in the interview process.
Bonilla-Silva (2015) added to these examples by citing data showing significant disparities in
employment and income between White and Black people, further exacerbated by high
unemployment rates in the Black community, sham employment tests that disproportionately
screen out Black people, and exclusion from informal networks.
These ideas constitute the worldview that American society functions as intended:
beneficial toward people who are White and oppressive toward people who are not White
(Banaji et al., 2021; Bonilla-Silva, 2015). As described by David, et al. (2019) oppression occurs

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when there are power and privilege inequalities between groups of people. As a result of the
lived experience of racial oppression, racialized groups may develop and harbor a distorted view
of their own and other races as inferior and White people as superior. What often occurs because
of IRO is that oppressed groups begin to align and identify with Whiteness and White people in
beliefs, norms, and behaviors (David et al., 2019). Figure 1 illustrates this conceptual framework
by detailing the ontologies that factor into the study of the organizational experiences of Latine
professionals with IRO.
Figure 1
Conceptual Framework
Exposing
Settler Colonialism
Disrupting Indigenous erasure and
antiBlackness
Examining Oppression and
Complicity in the Latine
Community
Critical Race Theory
Centering the Voices of Latine
Professionals
Testimonio Methodology
Community Cultural Wealth
Possibilities for Transformative
Justice
Latine
Professionals’
Experiences with
Internalized Racial
Oppression

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Summary
This literature review examined the colonial legacies of the Latine community, how those
legacies influenced the modern Latine community and IRO within the Latine community, and the
possibilities for justice. Additionally, this literature review situated the study of the history and
positionality of the Latine community within the context of settler colonialism, with the goal of
understanding how antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure characterize expressions of IRO within
the Latine community. The literature highlighted the colonial history of the Latine community as
the arbiter of modern expressions of IRO within the Latine community and within organizations,
which include the belief in color-blind ideology, seemingly race-neutral myths of the American
Dream, and colorism. However, several ontologies—all of which center Indigenous, Black,
and/or Latine voices—could support the empowerment of the Latine community while
dismantling IRO, antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure. These ontologies support the
commitment to empowering all communities of color.

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Chapter Three: Methodology
The purpose of this study was to center the lived experiences of Latine professionals and
understand their experiences with IRO. Within the context of understanding the IRO of Latine
professionals, this study aimed to understand how majoritarian narratives, antiBlackness, and
Indigenous erasure are perpetuated. Chapter Three provides an overview of the research
questions, the research study’s design, and a description of the selected study participants. My
positionality and ethical considerations as the researcher, as well as a discussion of the credibility
and trustworthiness of the data, are also provided.
Research Questions
To understand how IRO has shaped the experiences of Latine professionals and to
understand antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives within this context, the
following research questions guided the study:
1. How do Latine professionals conceptualize internalized racial oppression?
2. How do Latine professionals conceptualize the dismantling of internalized racial
oppression?
3. From the perspectives of Latine professionals, how has internalized racial oppression
affected their organizational experiences?
4. From the perspectives of Latine professionals, how does internalized racial
oppression perpetuate majoritarian narratives, antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure?
5. From the perspectives of Latine professionals, how can we build solidarity with the
Black, Afro Latine, blue-collar Latine, and Indigenous communities?

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Overview of Design
This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach to understand how IRO
informed the experiences of Latine professionals (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). This study used
testimonio as the data collection method for exploring the five research questions. Testimonio is
a form of phenomenological inquiry originating in Latin America in which experiences with
oppression and marginalization are recorded in an effort to bring about social change (Delgado
Bernal et al., 2012). As described by Delgado Bernal et al. (2012), testimonio is a process and a
product that asks a participant (interviewee) to engage in a “critical reflection of their personal
experiences within particular sociopolitical realities” (p. 364). Using testimonio as methodology,
a testimonialista (interviewer) listens to the lived experiences of her participants in an interview
setting, and then “records, transcribes, edits, and prepares” a document that is intended for
sharing (Delgado Bernal et al., 2012, p. 365). For this study, I was the testimonialista. This study
asked 11 Latine professionals who resided in California to share their testimonios regarding their
experiences with IRO, as well as how they viewed antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and
majoritarian narratives perpetuated within the Latine community.
Research Setting
This phenomenological study sought to understand the impacts of IRO on Latine
professionals who resided and/or maintained professional careers in California by learning about
their lived experiences. This study did not have criteria limiting the type of career, organization,
or industry of employment for the study participants. The participants could also be of any race,
but they were required to identify as Latine or use any related Latine pan ethnic term (i.e.,
Latina/o, Chicana/o, Hispanic, Mexican, etc.). The setting of California was selected due to the
unique history of Latine people in the territory that once belonged to Indigenous people, was

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then colonized by Spain, then became part of Mexico, and then was annexed by the United
States. As explored in the literature review, this unique shift in “ownership” of the land also
shifted the way Latine people were and are perceived. This study examined how the history and
current “ownership” of the land dictates Latine professionals’ experience with majoritarian
narratives, IRO, antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure, as well as their experiences in
California. For this study, a Latine professional was defined as an individual of any race
subscribing to the Latine identity, with at least a bachelor’s degree and working in a professional
industry. A “professional” is a “practitioner who works in a knowledge-based service
occupation” (Evetts, 2006, as cited in Scanlon, 2011, p. 17). Although there is a lack of universal
criteria dictating who is definitively a professional, they are usually considered “knowledge
workers” and obtain postsecondary education that may be followed by “formal credentialing” in
a certain occupation (Scanlon, 2011, p. 17). However, through a CRT lens, “professional” and
“professionalism” are constructs that reveal certain “explicit and implicit assumptions grounded
in certain worldviews” (Marom, 2019, p. 7) and connote a certain adherence to the White
normativity that characterizes organizations (Marom, 2019; Ray et al., 2017). Thusly, the
identity of professional was chosen as an intentional dynamic of exploration for this study to
understand how systems of privilege and marginalization are interlocked within the identity of
Latine professional, and how these systems work to characterize IRO affecting Latine
professionals.
The Researcher: My Testimonio
As the researcher, I am honored to be able to exist in the present moment as the product
of the survival of my ancestors. I am a Latina, born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and of
Mexican heritage. My Mexican heritage comprises Indigenous, African, and European

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ancestries. I own my status as a Brown settler, and at the same time acknowledge that my nonIndigenous ancestors immigrated here in search of a better life. I have the privilege of being the
fourth generation within my father’s family to live in Los Angeles, and I also have the privilege
of having a mother who immigrated to the United States from Mexico. My lineage comprises
many generations of faith-based people who worked hard to provide better lives for their
families. Because of this hard work, I had a privileged upbringing that was more on the
“Americanized” side of the Latine experience. I grew up in a predominantly White neighborhood
and went to predominantly White schools, and I am not fluent in Spanish, though I have a
moderate understanding of the language. Despite this, my parents always ensured that I was
rooted in my Mexican heritage. Their desire was for me to know that I had a rich Mexican
heritage but that I was fully, 100%, American. However, these two sides of my upbringing
created a tension between my Mexican heritage and the American culture in which I grew up.
Even though I was deeply connected to my Mexican roots, I profoundly desired to fit in with the
White American culture that surrounded me. Because of this, IRO has manifested in my life,
with many of the manifestations being consistent with the literature on IRO. The past several
years have been a journey of discovering who I am, and this has meant working to dismantle the
IRO that exists within me. This study is deeply tied to my journey of understanding how the
history of the Latine community, as well as the history of my family, is tied to the greater history
of the United States and Mexico.
Because I am a Latina who is working through her IRO, I monitored my IRO by
mitigating assumptions and biases throughout the research process. Throughout the study, I was
vigilant about not falling into essentialist and deficit narratives about the Latine community.
Conversely, I also was vigilant about not being overly critical of my study participants as they

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discussed how they have internalized and perpetuated racial oppression. Both pitfalls would be
consistent with IRO. My goal was to hold space for Latine professionals who worked to change
the world from within “the system,” as well as for those who wanted to dismantle the system.
Lastly, I was aware that I could not project any of my experiences or beliefs about IRO onto my
study participants.
Merriam and Tisdell (2016) described the importance of researcher reflexivity in
understanding their status as an insider or outsider in the eyes of their participants. To avoid
essentialist thinking, I approached the interviews with the understanding that I would likely have
insider status with some of my participants and outsider status with others. While my Latinidad
did not really come up during the interviews, I got a sense that the study participants included me
in their conceptualizations of Latinidad. Understanding that there were similarities and
differences within each of our experiences of being Latine supported me in holding my insider
status while still acknowledging differences within our lived experiences. This approach
supported me in not making assumptions about my participants or their lived experiences.
Additionally, the methodology and the conceptual and theoretical frameworks for this study
created an accountability standard for ensuring that the data was collected and analyzed from an
anti-essentialist and strengths-based perspective of Latine professionals, while still being able to
characterize shared experiences within a community (Delgado Bernal, 2012). In testimonio
methodology, there is precedent for a Latina researcher having insider and outsider
positionalities (Delgado Bernal, 2012). These insiders/outsiders who record the testimonios are
from the community but are also activists and allies who center the voices of other Latine people
while addressing the concerns of their own positionality (Delgado Bernal, 2012). This
framework supported me in honoring my roles of researcher and ally while still feeling a sense of

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belonging within the Latine community. Lastly, while it was an immense privilege to study at
USC, I was aware that higher education institutions are often perpetuators of inequality in
society (Abrica et al., 2020). This study sought to avoid reproducing inequality by providing the
space for Latine people to examine how they (we) experience oppression and reproduce
oppression.
Data Sources
The research conducted for this study was collected through the testimonios of 11 Latine
professionals who resided and maintained professional careers in California. Their testimonios
recorded their organizational experiences with IRO as well as their experiences with
antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives in the Latine community. The
participants had to meet specific criteria to participate in the study to ensure the research
questions were answered.
Testimonio
The method for data collection for this phenomenological study was testimonio, a form of
interviewing in which participants share the truths of their lived experiences and how they have
“come to understand” those truths (Delgado Bernal et al., 2012, p. 364). Merriam and Tisdell
(2016) explained that interviewing is the best data collection method to understand an experience
and the meaning made of the experience. Study participants provided their testimonios about
how IRO has shaped their careers and organizational experiences, as well as their personal truths
regarding antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives in the Latine
community. The interviews were conducted via computer in which both audio and video were
recorded with the explicit consent of the participants.

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Participants
This study obtained the testimonios of 11 Latine professionals from California via
testimonio interviews. A purposeful sampling approach was used to recruit participants for this
study. According to Haywood (2017a), purposeful sampling “involves the conscious selection of
a small array of data sources that meet particular criteria” (p. 767). Specifically, a strategy of
network sampling was employed in which participants were identified through my network
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The participants were personally known to me or introduced through
individuals in my network.
To ensure prospective study participants met the study criteria, they received a screening
questionnaire. This questionnaire served to confirm that they identified as Latine (or used a
similar pan ethnic identifier), were 18 years of age or older, met the qualifications of professional
worker, and resided in and/or maintained a professional career in California. They were provided
definitions for each of these criteria. The information collected in the screening questionnaire
was not considered data for analysis; rather, it was used to mitigate assumptions on my end. For
example, it would have been easy for me to assume that a person identified as Latine due to their
last name, or because I had previously known that they were Latine through personal experience.
The screening questionnaire allowed the potential study participants to self-identify and provide
consent to being contacted for participation.
Throughout the recruitment process, I made sure that there were no unequal power
dynamics between the study participants and me. Participants were recruited via personal
invitation through email. All participants identified as Latine or used a similar pan ethnic Latine
identifier. All participants were over the age of 18 years old. All participants met the criteria of a
professional worker with at least one postsecondary degree and currently worked or had worked

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within an organization. Lastly, the participants all resided and maintained professional careers in
California. Specifically, they either resided and worked in California or spent most of their
professional careers in California. Participants could have been of any race and gender and
worked in any industry. Ten out of the 11 participants identified as Mexican, and one out of the
11 participants identified as Guatemalan. Nine out of the eleven participants identified as
women, and two out of the eleven participants identified as men.
Instrumentation
The data was gathered through semi-structured interviews. Because this study sought to
learn from participants’ lived experiences, semi-structured interviews were the most appropriate
approach since they honor the fact that each participant constructs their world in a unique way
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The semi-structured interview protocol consisted of 37 open-ended
foundational questions and corresponding probes, all of which were flexible and not standardized
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Prior to the interview, participants were provided the interview
questions and a study information sheet that provided an overview of IRO, antiBlackness, and
Indigenous erasure, as well as the purpose of the study. The interview protocol contained an
introduction that reiterated the purpose of the study and asked for the participants’ consent to
participate in the interview and to be recorded. The interview protocol comprised various
question types, including experiential/behavioral, opinions/values, and background/demographic
questions (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Probes for all questions were predetermined but flexible
when clarity or more specific information was needed (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The goal of
these interview questions, as guided by the research questions, was to investigate the
organizational experiences of the study participants with IRO, how IRO affected their careers,
their experiences with antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure in the Latine community, and ways

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in which they envisioned building solidarity between communities. The interview protocol was
informed by the conceptual framework, which, under the theoretical framework of CRT/M, and
with the goal of exposing settler colonialism, examined facets of IRO.
The interview questions went through one evolution in which I decided to ask the
participants about IRO more directly than in the first iteration of interview questions. This
evolution occurred following the first two interviews, when one participant expressed confusion
regarding how to know if one was exhibiting IRO or not. The purpose of the study was not to
“catch” participants exhibiting IRO, but to work with them on a metacognitive level to think
through how and why IRO occurs within themselves, their families, and the Latine community. I
was able to clarify the intent of the study with the participant who expressed confusion and
collected updated interview question responses for several questions from the first two
participants. The remaining nine interview participants were interviewed using the second
iteration of interview questions.
The final component of the conceptual framework which informed the interview protocol
was Community Cultural Wealth (CCW; Yosso, 2005). CCW ensured that the interview protocol
created an asset- and strengths-based approach to inquiry so that deficit ideologies about the
Latine community were not perpetuated. The interview protocol for the study, as well as the
interview questions, are included in Appendix A.
Data Collection Procedures
The collection of testimonios from the 11 study participants began in October of 2023
and concluded in December of 2023. The collection of testimonios lasted between 1 hour and 1
hour and 30 minutes for each participant and took place via Zoom conferencing software. Data
was captured via a verbatim transcript generated by a transcription software, and the testimonio

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was video recorded following the provision of explicit consent from the study participant. The
verbatim transcript and video recording ensured the data was preserved for analysis (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). If anything said by the participant was unclear, clarification was sought via
probes (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). I also took notes to record immediate impressions of the
testimonios to support the subsequent data analysis.
Data Analysis
Critical race methodology (CRM), which is based on critical race theory (CRT), was used
as an analytical framework in this dissertation. CRT/M are epistemologies that share similar
tenets, which, according to Solórzano and Yosso (2002, pp. 25–27) include: acknowledgement of
the intercentricity of race and racism to the lives of people of color, acknowledgement of the
intersectionality of different forms of oppression, challenging the dominant ideology,
commitment to social justice, centering experiential knowledge, and the implementation of a
transdisciplinary perspective to contextualize experiences of racism. Additionally, this
dissertation aimed to expose and disrupt settler colonialism as a system of power that continues
to inform the lives of people of color. Settler colonialism operates through a triadic relationship
of White supremacy–antiBlackness–Indigenous erasure (Rowe & Tuck, 2017; Tuck &
Gaztambide-Fernandez, 2013), the legacies of which persist into modern times despite any recent
colonial events (such as foreign invasion). CRM as a theoretical framework, as well as the
commitment to exposing settler colonialism as a system of oppression, informed the analytical
framework for which the impacts of IRO on Latine professionals were understood.
Following the data collection, and using the CRM framework, I used the constant
comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) to analyze the data. The constant comparative
method involved coding procedures described in Strauss and Corbin (1990), which included

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open coding, axial coding, and selective coding based on themes recognized from the analytical
framework of CRM and settler colonialism. Specifically, the testimonio of each interview
participant was analyzed looking for examples of IRO, IRO in the workplace, antiBlackness,
anti-Indigeneity/Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives. A priori codes I identified were
IRO, stereotype management, color-blind/race-neutral ideology, deficit narrative
internalization/avoidance, shame, imposter syndrome, high/low ethnic identity, internalization of
White norms, antiBlackness, anti-Indigeneity/Indigenous erasure, and solidarity. Emergent
codes/themes were recorded as the data was analyzed and are discussed in Chapter Four.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
To ensure the trustworthiness and credibility of the study, researcher reflexivity, member
checking, and thick descriptions were implemented (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). I engaged in
reflexivity practices to unpack and mitigate any biases that came up for me and explored how my
interpretations of the data were shaped by my positionality (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).
Member checking was also used to ensure credibility and trustworthiness. Study participants
were emailed their verbatim transcripts, my syntheses of their transcripts, as well as the video
and audio recordings of their interviews. Several participants responded providing clarity to their
testimonios, and in turn, I updated the syntheses. Other participants responded acknowledging
that their words were captured accurately.
I utilized thick descriptions in Chapter Four to characterize the themes revealed
throughout the study to ensure that the detail and nuance of each testimonio was accurately
captured and described (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). These thick descriptions helped
contextualize the quotes and were used to examine how the study participants viewed the topics
being discussed in relation to the larger racial conversation within the United States. The thick

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descriptions supported the accurate reporting and interpretation of what was shared in the
testimonios.
Ethics
This dissertation study ensured that its ethical responsibilities to participants were
fulfilled throughout the research process. Merriam and Tisdell (2016) explained that
characterizing humans involved in the study as participants implies willingness and cooperation.
Thus, all study participants provided explicit consent that demonstrated their willingness to
participate in the study. Further, the purpose of the study was provided upfront to participants
before they agreed to participate (Creswell & Creswell, 2018) so they specifically knew that they
were going to be discussing uncomfortable topics such as IRO, antiBlackness, and Indigenous
erasure. Following the provision of explicit consent to participate, all participants provided their
explicit consent to be recorded via video conferencing. To protect participant privacy, a
pseudonym was attributed to them anytime I shared their testimonio within the dissertation.
Extensive efforts were made to deidentify the information that was shared; the participants were
told this prior to the interview. The transcripts of the testimonios, as well as the video recordings
and all other personally identifiable information, were stored on a password protected computer
and will be destroyed 3 years after the completion of the study. Lastly, due to the nature of the
topic and the difficulty that arises from the discussion of IRO, antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure,
oppression, and racism, I was sensitive to any verbal or nonverbal cues that the subject matter
was triggering for the participants. They were informed that if they were triggered or
uncomfortable, they could ask to pause or stop the interview. No participants asked to pause or
conclude the interview due to being triggered.

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Chapter Four: Findings
The purpose of this chapter is to center the voices of the 11 study participants who gave
their testimonios regarding their experiences with IRO, racism, antiBlackness, Indigenous
erasure, and majoritarian narratives via semi-structured interviews. Interview questions were
created that aimed to answer five research questions from the perspectives of the study
participants about IRO, antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives within the
Latine community. This chapter begins with an overview of study participant demographics.
Two key findings emerged from the discussion and examination of participant demographics
which greatly impacted the context for which IRO was discussed with each participant. The
discussion moves on to an examination of the findings generated by each Research Question.
Major findings from this study include a list of 29 manifestations of IRO within the Latine
community, a list of 18 IRO-dismantling concepts, an examination of the ways in which IRO
affects the organizational experiences of Latine professionals, and a discussion of the ways in
which majoritarian narratives work in conjunction with IRO to perpetuate oppression,
antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure. Overall, the study participants demonstrated a
willingness to expose, examine, and dismantle complex ideas to combat oppression. Direct
quotes from the study participants’ testimonios are used throughout this chapter; the quotes have
been edited for length and clarity while remaining true to what was expressed by the study
participants.
Demographic Findings
The seemingly simple process of collecting demographic information was revealed to be
a microcosm of the issues surrounding race and ethnicity in the Latine community. In this
section, the demographics of the study participants are analyzed and connected to the larger

112
complex conversations surrounding race and ethnicity within the Latine community. Two major
findings emerged through the analysis of the study participants’ demographics. The complexity
revealed through the demographic findings is deeply connected the complexity that emerged
throughout the study. The first finding is that current racial categories and pan ethnic identifiers
are insufficient to capture the vastness of the study participants’ Latine experiences. The second
finding is that the ancestral information and family histories of each study participant impacted
their unique conceptualization of IRO.
This section also highlights other notable themes that emerged from the collection of this
information. Table 1 details the demographic information for each study participant, including
pseudonym, pronouns, chosen Latine pan ethnic identifier, self-identified race, career, family’s
country or countries of origin, and any other known ancestral information. This information was
collected at the beginning of each testimonio.
Study Participants
A purposeful sampling approach was used to obtain the testimonios of 11 Latine
professionals from California via semi-structured interviews. Network sampling was used to
identify Latine professionals who were either known to me or introduced to me through
individuals in my network. All participants used a Latine pan ethnic or similar identifier, resided
in, or maintained a professional career in California, and met the criteria of a professional
worker.

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Table 1
Demographics of Study Participants
Pseudonym,
age, and
pronouns
Chosen pan
ethnic Latine
identifier
Self-identified race Career Family’s countries
of origin
Other known ancestral
information
Camila, 35
She/Her
Latina White
Chooses this when she must
identify her race, but does not
feel like it fits.
Attorney who does
policy work
Mexico; Camila
was born in
Mexico
Indigenous and Spanish ancestry;
possible Purépecha Indigenous
ancestry.
Isabela, 25
She/Her
Latina Other; Hispanic/Latino Philanthropy
program
manager
Mexico None
Jessica, 44
She/Her/Ella
Latina White
Chooses this when she can only
pick one box (as in a census or
survey form). If she could pick
many boxes, she would pick
multiple other races.
Executive director
of a Latine
alumni
association at a
university
Guatemala Indigenous and Spanish ancestry;
Jewish ancestry.
Karina, 41
She/Her/Ella
Mexican
American
Latine Research
operations
manager
Mexico; Karina
grew up in
Mexico but was
born in the
United States
Indigenous and Spanish ancestry;
possible Purépecha Indigenous
ancestry; possible Basque and
Jewish ancestry.
Cristina, 37
She/Her/Ella
Mexican
American,
Latina
Latino; Mexican Higher education
administrator
Mexico; Cristina
was born in
Mexico
Possible Indigenous and Spanish
ancestry.
Gabriela, 44
She/Her/Ella
Indigenous
Chicana
Indigenous Nonprofit
executive
leadership
Mexico Ancestry is from the Cora and
Huichol Tribes, which are
Indigenous Tribes in Mexico.

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Pseudonym,
age, and
pronouns
Chosen pan
ethnic Latine
identifier
Self-identified race Career Family’s countries
of origin
Other known ancestral
information
Michael, 32
He/Him
Latino Mestizo
Mix of Spanish and Indigenous
ancestry
Policy advocate Mexico Indigenous and Spanish ancestry;
additional ancestry from the
Netherlands and Middle East.
Olivia, 32
She/Her
Latina Other; Mexican American Consultant Mexico Third generation born in the U.S.
on her mother’s side and fifth
generation born in the U.S. on
her father’s side.
Sofia, 35
She/Her
Latina Mixed; Mexican and Native
American
11–year educator
and business
owner for
supplemental
educational
supports
Mexico Multi-generational Mexican
American; family has been in
the U.S. for more than 6
generations. Native American
ancestors were from Arizona
and are of the Taos Pueblo and
Apache tribes; maternal family
were Spaniards from New
Mexico.
Alejandro, 32
He/Him
Latino Hispanic; Mexican American Educator, access
champion, and
college
admissions
expert
Mexico Known Indigenous ancestry; Has
a family legend that his greatgreat-grandfather was African.
Lorena, 38
She/Her
Woman of
color with
Mexican
ancestry,
Chicana, or
Brown
woman
Other; Brown; Woman of color Consultant with a
background in
non-profit
leadership and
education
Mexico Indigenous and Spanish ancestry;
third generation U.S.–born
Mexican American.

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Current Racial Categories and Pan Ethnic Identifiers Are Insufficient to Capture the
Vastness of the Study Participants’ Latine Experiences
When asked to name their race, nearly every study participant expressed that identifying
their race was challenging. Two participants identified as White, while others identified as mixed
or other. Many participants chose to list their ethnicity, such as Latina/o, or a hybrid national
identifier, such as Mexican American, as their race. As explored in Chapter Two, listing ethnicity
or a hybrid national identifier is a common choice for Latine people when confronted with
labeling their race; while the labels Latine and Mexican American are technically not “official”
racial identifiers, some participants felt that it was the only identifier that fit. When asked to
name her race, Isabela stated, “Oh, that’s a hard question. Um, I always put ‘other,’ then I just
put Hispanic or Latino. It’s not a race, but I don’t identify with any of the other options.” Lorena
and Camila discussed how the lack of a racial category that captures “Brown” as an option often
erases or obscures the presence of Latinos in society. Camila explained:
I think we’re still not accounted for in a lot of spaces because the data isn’t collected,
because you continue to think about race in such a Black and White dichotomy … we’re
assumed to not be either of those races, which we are. I just don’t think people really
understand the complexity of the Latinx community.
For Gabriela, indicating her race was slightly more straightforward, given that she has done
much work to reconnect to her Indigenous ancestry; Gabriela listed Indigenous as her race, but
she was the only participant who identified her race as solely Indigenous.
While naming their preferred pan ethnic identifiers was a bit more straightforward than
naming their race, the experiences of the participants encapsulated the insufficiency of the
widely accepted pan ethnic identifiers for Latine people. Most participants chose Latina/o as

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their preferred pan-ethnic identifier, while others felt that Brown or Chicana best described their
experiences.
Out of those who did not choose Latina/o as their pan ethnic identifier, two participants,
one who was born in Mexico and one who grew up in Mexico, described their pan ethnic
identifiers as Mexican American. Coming from another perspective, Lorena, who was born in the
United States, specifically expressed not feeling connected to the term Latina, explaining that she
uses the identifiers woman of color with Mexican ancestry, Chicana, or Brown woman. Lorena
shared that while identifiers like Latina have been beneficial when organizing in the political
sense, she felt that the term Latina did not capture the diversity in the community. She explained:
The term has really decentered and excluded Blackness and Indigeneity … I’ve felt more
and more that it centers Whiteness, especially when I’ve gone to spaces where Latino,
Latina, or Latinx is used to identify who the space is for … it feels like it doesn’t leave a
lot of space for additional expression or identities.
No participants used Hispanic as their pan ethnic identifier, aligning with the trend discussed in
Chapter Two. However, one individual used Hispanic as their primary racial identifier, most
likely reflecting the choices that are available when identifying race and ethnicity. These findings
reveal the complexities that arise when attempting to use one pan ethnic label to capture the
experiences of a group as diverse as the Latine community. Adding to this complexity is the
ambiguity surrounding race for Latine people who are racialized in the United States yet may not
feel that they do not fit into any of the accepted racial categories.
Ancestral Information and Family Histories Impact the Conceptualization of IRO
The ancestral backgrounds of the study participants, also included in Table 1, adds
additional context for understanding the complexity of race and ethnicity in the Latine

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community. The discussion of the participants’ ancestral backgrounds and family histories
revealed insights about how their families thought about their lineages, including which family
“mythologies” persisted and what they highlighted or obscured. Within this finding, three themes
emerged; the first theme was that much of the study participants’ ancestral information has been
lost or erased; the second theme is that while participants were not ashamed of their Indigenous
ancestry, many participants spoke of Spanish/European family histories persisting within their
families; the third theme is that narratives about Black or African ancestry were completely nonexistent, except for one study participant.
Eight out of the 11 participants indicated that they had possible or known
Spanish/European and Indigenous (mixed) ancestry, which in the Spanish casta system was
referred to as mestizo (Menchaca, 2001). Two participants were able to name the specific
Indigenous tribes or Indigenous lineages in their ancestry, while two other participants provided
possibilities for what their Indigenous lineages might be. Several participants shared other
known ancestries within their lines, including Jewish, Middle Eastern, or Scandinavian ancestry.
Three participants discussed being multigenerational Mexican Americans, which captured the
fact that earlier generations of their family were born in the United States.
Most participants shared that much of their ancestral information beyond the basic
information was unknown to them or had been lost or erased. Seven out of 11 participants named
the fact no stories or specifics were known beyond their parents’ and grandparents’ generations.
One participant named challenges with record keeping in Mexico as a possible reason for the
loss of information; another participant named assimilation as another possible reason due to the
pressure of adopting American culture. Olivia, whose family has been in the United States for

118
many generations, expressed that the need to survive potentially made the discussion of ancestry
irrelevant for her family.
Participants discussed their Indigenous ancestry with a mixture of pride, neutrality, and
ambiguity. It was not apparent that any participant attempted to hide or was ashamed by their
Indigenous ancestry; however, several participants named the fact that their Indigenous ancestry
was often not talked about by their families, even indicating that individuals in the family
actively distanced themselves from their Indigeneity. While two participants knew specifics
about their Indigenous ancestral lineage, most participants did not know any specifics about their
Indigenous lineages. Three participants linked the knowledge of their Indigenous ancestries to
phenotype; Cristina expressed her belief in her Indigenous ancestry due to certain members of
her family having darker skin and Indigenous features. Olivia and Gabriela expressed potential
connections to their Indigenous ancestries via stories of relatives engaging in certain practices
that are associated with Indigeneity, such as curandería and other herbal or spiritual practices.
Contrastingly, participants shared how family narratives of Spanish or European ancestry
not only persisted but were promoted within their families. Persistence of Spanish/European
family histories included stories of specific ancestors, traditions, and origins of family names.
Two participants had family mythologies of French relatives which, although they were
unverified, persisted within the family. Karina shared that there was a great sense of pride within
her family of even the possibility of French ancestry. Participants were largely aware of how
Indigenous erasure was evident via the persistence of Spanish/European family narratives and
the lack of Indigenous family narratives and information.
Notably, Alejandro was the only participant with a family mythology/narrative of an
African ancestor. While he did not have any information other than that this ancestor may have

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been his great-great-grandfather, he discussed that this ancestry is mentioned in more of a
“joking” way, versus with pride. Like the narratives of Indigenous ancestry, narratives of African
ancestry were mostly non-existent for the participants.
While these common themes were present within the study participants’ discussion of
their family histories, each story and situation shared was unique to the lived experience of each
study participant. Discussions about the study participants’ race and ethnicity set the stage for the
way IRO would be understood and discussed by the study participants throughout the study.
Understanding the uniqueness within each lived experience highlights the importance of
subjectivity in understanding IRO and the ways in which it manifests.
Conclusion to Demographic Findings
The demographic information of the study participants contained implications for the
ways in which IRO was discussed and understood. The first finding revealed through the
demographic information was that current racial and pan ethnic identifiers are largely insufficient
for capturing the different lived experiences within the Latine experience. The second finding
was that the study participants’ ancestral information and family histories set an important
context for understanding their experiences with IRO. These two findings set a helpful context
for answering the research questions and understanding the additional findings that emerged
from the study participants’ testimonios.
Research Question 1: How Do Latine Professionals Conceptualize Internalized Racial
Oppression?
The purpose of this research question was to create the context in which I could partner
with study participants to explore how they understood and thought about IRO. The testimonios
in which study participants shared their conceptualizations of IRO were metacognitive

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conversations, meaning that participants were asked to discuss how they thought about an
internally occurring and sometimes unconscious phenomenon. The ways in which the study
participants conceptualized IRO are expressed in three findings. The first finding revealed that
participants defined IRO in various ways, all of which reflected specific components of IRO. The
second finding concerned the role of IRO manifestations within the conceptualization of IRO.
The study participants’ conceptualizations of IRO produced a list of 29 IRO manifestations, all
of which represent the ways in which the study participants observed IRO occurring within their
own experiences and within the Latine community. Within these 29 manifestations, the third
finding emerged, which consisted of important themes gleaned from the 29 manifestations,
which had implications for the study participants’ conceptualizations of IRO.
The Definitions of IRO Varied for Each Study Participant
To begin understanding how study participants conceptualized IRO, they were asked to
define it in their own words. All study participants shared thoughtful definitions which conveyed
a deep understanding of IRO; however, each definition varied and highlighted different aspects
of the IRO phenomenon. All study participants communicated their awareness of IRO prior to
participating in this study, even though this was not a criterion for participation. While these
themes revealed an awareness and depth of understanding of IRO within the study participants,
they also revealed that IRO is understood subjectively. I compiled the following list of
definitions of IRO shared by the study participants. All participants’ thoughts and contributions
regarding their definitions of IRO are represented in this list. Ideas that were similar or repeated
were combined and/or edited for clarity:

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• Believing the negative stereotypes about one’s racial or ethnic identity to the extent
that they influence how you interact with the world, and how you perceive others or
are perceived.
• The actions taken to avoid falling into the negative stereotypes about your race.
• Internal biases that people of color have against themselves due to Western society.
• Having ideas that align with White people and what is valuable to them.
• When subconscious beliefs become triggered and acted upon outwardly.
• Having a negative perspective or attitude about one’s own race based on accumulated
personal or secondhand experiences perpetuated by the dominant racial group that
amounts to sympathy for the dominant racial group.
• Trying to assimilate to the dominant culture and feeling like one’s own culture is not
something that should be embraced.
• Ideas, mindsets, feelings, or perceptions adopted from the dominant systems about
one’s race.
• The internalization of White supremacy culture, norms, and beliefs about racialized
people.
• Beliefs that disconnect someone from loving themselves just as they are and knowing
that their full worthiness is inherent.
• A mechanism to process the negative perceptions or actions of others towards oneself
because of one’s race.
• Acting upon the roles that one is supposed to play, specifically at the intersections of
Latinidad, womanhood, and motherhood, without realizing it.

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These definitions reflect various components of IRO. Notably, the study participants did not
conceptualize IRO as self-hating ideologies; the definitions provided offered nuanced and
insightful conceptualizations beyond self-hate. These nuanced conceptualizations reveal a deeper
understanding of IRO and show that the study participants did not reduce the conversation of
IRO to self-hatred. This is notable because conceptualizing IRO as self-hatred can often provide
a deficit-oriented and limited understanding of IRO.
As detailed in Chapter Two, there is a discussion within IRO research regarding the
appropriateness of the term IRO and if it rightly captures the phenomenon. Particularly, some
believe that the internalized part of the term wrongly places the blame on the individual
experiencing IRO rather than the systems that cause IRO. There were differing feelings about the
term IRO amongst the study participants. While most agreed that the term adequately captured
the experience of IRO, five participants mentioned specific considerations for the term. Gabriela
said that while she understood why someone may question the internalized part of the term, she
was open to the fact that the term may rightly identify the individual’s role in the phenomenon of
IRO: “I think in some ways it does start with you as an individual. If the change doesn’t start
within you, at what point does the change occur?” Thinking about IRO within this context may
highlight the process of reclaiming one’s agency through the work of dismantling one’s IRO.
Lorena suggested that more specificity might be needed in the term and suggested that it
should potentially name the fact that Whiteness is being internalized as the dominant culture.
Karina stated that she viewed the term neutrally, sharing that she considers IRO to be a normal
result of growing up in this society. Lastly, both Camila and Isabela mentioned that the term may
be more accurate if the name reflected the unconscious component of IRO.

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Understanding how the study participants defined IRO and how they viewed the term
IRO set an important context for understanding how they conceptualized IRO. While the
conceptualizations and thoughts on the term were varied and subjective, they all spoke to the vast
and varied aspects of IRO. Information generated on how people of color—and for the purpose
of this study, Latine people—understand IRO can expand the ways in which IRO is currently
conceptualized.
The Manifestations of IRO Are Complex and Nuanced
The study participants’ conceptualizations of IRO included experiences of how IRO has
manifested within their lives and within the Latine community. I coded and compiled these
experiences into a list of 29 complex and nuanced manifestations of IRO, listed in Table 2. Each
manifestation listed in Table 2 is accompanied by a sample quote from a study participant who
mentioned the manifestation, along with the number of times it was mentioned and the number
of participants who mentioned it. In some instances, a known manifestation (i.e., colorism) was
named directly by the participant, meaning that the participant was aware of the phenomenon in
which they were describing. In other instances, I coded the manifestations based on existing IRO
research and common themes I identified and then created a name for the manifestation (i.e.
gatekeeping Latine culture and/or Latinidad).
The process of identifying, coding, and listing the manifestations revealed several
challenges that impact the conceptualization of IRO. It was nearly impossible to assign only one
code to any single quote since many of the experiences and manifestations of IRO shared in the
interviews intersected and overlapped with instances of externally experienced racism and
oppression, as well as other forms of internalized oppression. For example, Gabriela shared how
a family member grew up being called el ocho, which translates to eight ball. He was called this

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because of his dark skin and because the eight ball is the all-black billiard ball. Gabriela’s family
member said that he viewed this nickname as a term of endearment.
This one situation could be connected to three different aspects of a racialized
experience: the first is externally experienced racism because he was being othered for his skin
color; the second is antiBlackness, not only because all forms of colorism could potentially be
linked to antiBlackness, but specifically because he was being othered for the darkness of his
skin color; and the third is internalized racial oppression because he walked away from the
experience seeing the nickname as an endearment (potentially a coping mechanism). In another
example, Camila discussed how in her experience, women in the Latine culture are expected to
present as feminine. Being queer and in a queer relationship, Camila has experienced individuals
in the Latine community imposing their gendered expectations on how she presents and on her
relationship with her partner. Camila does not impose these stereotypes on her own relationship
but discusses how they are norms in the Latine community. In this example, the IRO is not
occurring within Camila; the IRO is occurring within the greater Latine community toward one
community member (Camila) for not aligning to the majoritarian expectations within the
community. Additionally, this situation is connected to Camila’s experience of marginalization
because of her queer identity and because of her gender.
It was also revealed that any single manifestation could present in different, and
sometimes opposite, ways. One manifestation of IRO listed in Table 2 is Assumptions of
Homogeneity in the Latine Community. As shown in Table 2, this manifestation is exemplified
through two different quotes. The first quote reflects how some Latinos would assume that
Lorena had a backstory that was considered “typical” of the Latine experience: coming from an
immigrant family, being a first-generation college student, and speaking Spanish as a first

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language. Lorena did not have what would be considered the “typical” Latine experience; her
family had been in the United States for generations, Spanish was not her first language, and she
was not a first-generation college student. Lorena experienced exclusion from Latine people who
did not think she was Latina enough. This example shows how IRO manifests due to
assumptions of a homogenous Latine experience and because of the exclusion that occurs toward
another person within that same community who does not fit into the homogenous experience
(Lorena). The second quote representing Assumptions of Homogeneity in the Latine Community
reflects how Olivia, who grew up in a predominantly Mexican community, at a young age would
assume that any Latine person she met was Mexican. This was because she was not aware of
other Latine identities that existed outside of her homogenous environment. Assumptions that all
Latine people are Mexican erase the diversity within the Latine community. While Olivia
eventually dismantled this paradigm, assumptions of homogeneity can evolve into larger
assumptions that could potentially lead to exclusion of Latine people by other Latine people.
The complexity of these situations, and the subsequent analysis challenges they
presented, have several implications for the findings of this study. The first is that IRO cannot
and should not be disconnected from the experience of racism; the understanding of IRO
manifestations should include an understanding of the root racism that produces that
manifestation. The second is that it is imperative to understand how antiBlackness, Indigenous
erasure, and other majoritarian narratives influence the manifestations of IRO, specifically within
the Latine community. The third implication is that a single manifestation of IRO can manifest in
different and even opposite ways, demonstrating how the experience of IRO is uniquely shaped
by the individuals who experience it.

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Table 2
Manifestations of Internalized Racial Oppression
Manifestation Sample quote reflecting manifestation Times
mentioned
Number of study
participants who
mentioned
Colorism “One of my cousins in Mexico had twin girls about 2 years ago. One of them is güera, blonde
with green eyes … and then the other girl is morena. I remember when they were born, my
mom and cousin would send pictures. The only pictures we were getting were pictures of la
güera. It was all about la güera. So, I was there this summer and the moment I got there,
they were like, ‘Here, carga a la güera.’ And I was like, ‘No, I want to cargar a la morena.
Where is she?’ Then we went into a conversation that was like, ‘Why are y’all only talking
about la güera? Why don’t you talk about both of them?” – Alejandro
18 7
Gatekeeping Latine
Culture and/or
Latinidad
“This happened to me in college, there was this group of girls who were toxic in college. It
was very interesting because they set the norms of what it meant to be Latino. So, they
would size you up and be like, ‘She’s not Latina enough.’ They’d be like, ‘Latinos do this,’
like these normative beliefs.” – Olivia
12 4
Assimilation “I tried to be super assimilated. So, when I was growing up, I was like, only English music. I
only watched the White shows and all this stuff, right? And as I grew up, I realized, why
was I hiding away so much of my identity? And I feel it’s because I have internalized all
those negative things about what it meant to be Latina.” – Camila
10 7
Culturally Inherited
Beliefs
Note: This quote also
reflects colorism, but
demonstrates how it
is engrained in
cultural experiences
“You grew up with like, you know, hearing comments about staying out of the sun, ‘You don’t
want to get dark,’ and you don’t think about those things as being anything other than like
innocent comments I guess, like your parents watching out for you, then you realize there
was something more than that.” – Cristina
9 7
Pursuing White Beauty
Standards
“I remember being on my college campus and feeling so ugly. I graduated high school feeling
pretty confident about my aesthetic, and would have been considered pretty by most
people, but after a year in college feeling like the darkest person on campus. I felt like I was
being treated badly because of my skin color.” – Sofia
8 5
Assumptions of
Homogeneity in the
Latine Community
“There were instances where, especially in college, and in my work supporting first generation
students of color, there was always an automatic assumption that I was a first-generation
college student, that I grew up speaking Spanish, that I grew up low income. So, I would
try to connect myself more than I actually was to those experiences because I felt like I had
to fit a certain way of being to be considered Latina or even Chicana.” – Lorena
8 4

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Manifestation Sample quote reflecting manifestation Times
mentioned
Number of study
participants who
mentioned
Note: This
manifestation
includes two quotes
because I observed
two different types
of experiences that
reflected this
manifestation
“I grew up in a predominantly Latino neighborhood. It’s like, almost 100% Latino, specifically
Mexican. So, when I encountered other groups of Latinos, I didn’t know how to interact
with them. And I innocently assume they’re Mexican, not to be insensitive, but I genuinely
had not met another group.” – Olivia
Impostor Syndrome “I feel like my IRO comes up most commonly when I’m managing forms of impostor
syndrome. For me, a lot of that stemmed from my own understanding of what I’m capable
of doing.” – Michael
7 7
Distancing from Other
Latine People
Note: This quote is also
an example of antiIndigeneity because
Oaxaca is a state in
Mexico known for
its Indigenous
population.
“I always wondered why other Mexicans thought they were superior to my dad, who is from
Oaxaca, if they were all from Mexico. It felt like they spoke from a place of ‘Oh my god,
I’m so grateful I’m not from Oaxaca because then we would be like you,’ and they felt like
they could speak down to him because they were from another area.” –Isabela
6 3
IRO as Survival “Some Latinos were here in the U.S., the border crossed them, they didn’t cross the border,
and they had to deal with a lot of anti-Latino and Mexican stuff, so White passing was like
survival. I have sometimes had those interactions where I’m like, OK, I see why you don’t
identify as Latino, because you could get deported.” –Camila
5 3
Being Perceived as Too
White to be Latine
“It’s unfortunate for Latinos because I almost feel like it’s a no-win situation. Even if you are
fair-skinned or caramel-y, if you overcome your internalized racial oppression, you still
experience prejudice from those who believe you still have internalized racial oppression,
because you are light skinned. Like, ‘Oh, well, you’re fair-skinned, you wouldn’t
understand.’ It’s a little frustrating because some of the experiences I’ve had that are not
the most positive are from darker-skinned Latinos.’ –Sofia
5 2
Feeling like an Outsider “I do struggle because if I am in a place where people are very American, I don’t fit in very
well, and I feel like I am an outsider, even though I was born here and I’ve been in the U.S.,
like 23 years, I still feel like I’m not from here.” –Karina
4 2
Traditional Gender
Roles
“I think culturally, the expectations that our own culture puts on us as women to be mothers
and to be present, and the guilt that’s instilled in us like by religion, all of those things I
think internally impact what that means.” –Jessica
4 2

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Manifestation Sample quote reflecting manifestation Times
mentioned
Number of study
participants who
mentioned
Blanqueamiento “I think Indigenous erasure happens in this idea of people in your family telling you earlier on
to marry someone with lighter skin. I’ve heard it so many times in Mexican culture, ‘mejor
a la raza,’ so this idea that you want to better everything in your family and in your
children’s future by erasing that part of yourself.” –Gabriela
4 4
Being Perceived as Not
Latine Enough
“I didn’t fit neatly into the Mexican category. There was a lot of like, ‘Well, you’re not really
Mexican.’ There was this stereotype of what it meant to be Mexican, but I wasn’t really
allowed to ever be American because I wasn’t White.” –Lorena
4 3
Older People Reflecting
IRO in their Views
“I consciously try to work on some of the ideologies I was raised with, to challenge them. It’s
funny, because your grandparents are older, but they’re not that far removed for how
different we see things. My grandpa was very prejudiced, even though he was a darkerskinned person.” –Sofia
3 2
Religious Beliefs “I’m thinking about traditions. I have a lot of conflict with traditions and how they might be
related to religion. And religion is related, in my opinion, to oppression.” –Karina
3 3
Family Members
Reflecting IRO in
their Views
“I started recognizing my Indigenous background because I do not look like my mom’s
family. And part of my family has verbalized that. I think it was kind of a way for me to
deal with that rejection of being Indigenous from my European family, or at least in their
minds they’re European.” –Karina
3 3
Disagreeing on What it
Means to be Latine
“Identity is so complex and complicated and being Latino is not a monolith. I remember being
part of the Latino club on campus and it was so Mexico-centered, and I’m like, ‘Well, not
everybody in the club is from Mexico.’ Even within our club, you are fighting to define
Latinidad. We’re not agreeing on what is Latino, so I guess within your own people you’re
fighting about that.” –Camila
3 2
Latine People Speaking
English Only
“In my family, there’s a lot of conversation around knowing English, and what does it mean
when Latinos are here for so long and don’t know English. My parents were not taught
because of some policies in schools, or they would get whipped for speaking Spanish.
When my grandparents fully learned English, they didn’t teach my mom and dad [Spanish]
because they wanted them to assimilate and be more American.” –Olivia
3 3
Stereotype Avoidance “I had a lot of family members who have been incarcerated, and I would be like, what does
that mean for me? In elementary school, I did a lot of work around being exceptional, like I
was very and undeniably smart. My family has been here for a long time, so I know English
really well. I had a lot of internalized oppression being like, I want to prove that I’m
different. At the same time, like the White people around me are telling me that I’m very
exceptional and that Latinos don’t do this.” –Olivia
2 2
Being Conscious of
One’s Accent
“I felt embarrassed of my Spanish accent, my first language was Spanish at home, and I didn’t
start learning English till I got to elementary school, and I remember having such a fear of
being called to read out loud. I think that was pretty consistent throughout my high school
2 2

129
Manifestation Sample quote reflecting manifestation Times
mentioned
Number of study
participants who
mentioned
and college years, and even a few years into my professional career, it was very much, ‘OK,
you have to sound proper,’ because that’s how you get respect.” –Alejandro
Anticipation of Racism “I think on one side, being aware of these stereotypes or expectations has really brought the
responsibility to light for me of having these opportunities. I think the other piece is to undo
some of the emotions and things that may arise because of how I expect people to treat me
or react based on my previous experiences.” –Jessica
1 1
Choosing to “Hang
Out” with Similar
People
“The people that are my friends, I tend to hand out with people that have a very similar
background. A similar level of education. Similar ways of being. I think that would be one
thing in my life that may reflect internalized racial oppression.” –Karina
1 1
Political Beliefs “My dad is a Republican now. Like, he voted for Trump. I know this was a trend for Latino
families who have been here for a long time. There are many people in my family who are
Republican. Like, we’re not all Democrat. I think for me, that’s the surest sign of someone’s
internalized racial oppression because they truly believe that the platforms of the
Republican party, even if it’s fiscally, are good for them or good for the community as a
whole.” – Olivia
1 1
Avoidance of
Discussion of Race
“I’ve been around Latine folks who just feel like they’re absolved from talking about race
because they are not White American. I don’t know if it’s a fear or avoidance of really
discussing race and nuances and how they might be perpetuating the same things as the
dominant culture.” –Lorena
1 1
Dual Identity as a
Latine Person in the
U.S.
“I developed this dual identity at work and school, I would act a certain way and speak a
certain way and then at home I would be a completely different person. I started to create
two personas that were always at conflict with each other.” –Alejandro
1 1
Feelings of Guilt due to
Being Successful
“As you advance in your career, you also can then face the guilt of success, like having to
minimize your success so that your other family members or other people don’t feel like
you’re boasting.” –Jessica
1 1
White Privilege in the
Latine Community
“I’ve tried to have conversations with White Latinos, for them to acknowledge their White
privilege, and it’s gotten really bad. They say, ‘Well, I’m just as Latino as you’ and I’m
like, it’s not about that. It’s about holding them accountable and having them acknowledge
their Whiteness and the privilege that comes with that.” –Camila
1 1
Policing the Behavior
of Other Latinos
“I really hate it when Latinos tell other Latinos how to behave. Like saying, ‘You’re not acting
Latino enough’, I feel like a lot of that is internalized racism, especially when you feel like
people are acting in a way that is not OK. So, I feel like we within minority or marginalized
communities check each other in a negative way.” –Camila
1 1

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Themes Identified Within the Manifestations of IRO
Several IRO manifestations discussed by the study participants revealed important
themes that emerged within the discussions of IRO. The themes produced insights which
contribute to understanding how the study participants conceptualize IRO. These themes are
discussed as findings in this section.
Colorism Was the Most Frequently Mentioned Manifestation of IRO
Colorism was the most mentioned manifestation of IRO observed by the study
participants within the Latine community; it was discussed 18 times by seven participants. Many
of the participants discussed colorism showing up within their families. Colorism was observed
to manifest in nicknames or comments toward the person with skin that was perceived to be
dark. In six out of the 18 times colorism was discussed, the study participants directly connected
colorism to the way antiBlackness manifests in the Latine community. From the perspectives of
the study participants, colorism is a way in which to actively distance oneself from Blackness
and the negativity associated with Blackness and dark skin. It is notable that the most frequently
cited manifestation of IRO is linked to antiBlackness, demonstrating how antiBlackness and
Latine IRO are inextricably linked. AntiBlackness will be discussed more fully in response to
Research Question 4.
Culturally Inherited Beliefs as a Manifestation of IRO
Culturally Inherited Beliefs was a manifestation of IRO that emerged throughout the
testimonios, mentioned nine times by seven study participants. Culturally inherited beliefs are
ideologies that are seen as prevalent in the Latine community and “passed down” in the family
environment. Study participants discussed growing up with certain ideas that, when closely
examined, reveal IRO. As quoted in Table 2, Cristina shared how certain ideas like “staying out

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of the sun,” although seemingly innocent, reveal ideologies rooted in IRO. Several participants
discussed how family members who perpetuated these beliefs at times didn’t know any better or
said certain things to “protect” their children. Some study participants connected certain
culturally inherited beliefs directly to Spanish colonization and colonial structure, such as the
casta system, while others attributed the beliefs to tradition or the Latine culture in general. This
specific manifestation of IRO suggests a further need examine the historical roots of IRO to
support the unlearning and dismantling of IRO.
IRO as Survival
IRO as survival was mentioned five times by three study participants. This manifestation
was discussed in the context of Latine people adopting certain dominant-culture ideologies or
perpetuating certain beliefs, which some study participants viewed as mechanisms of protection
and survival as their family attempted to endure a racialized experience in the United States.
While not an excuse for IRO, understanding IRO as survival could support in further expanding
the conceptualization of IRO and the ways in which it manifests. Additionally, linking survival
to the conceptualization of IRO could ensure that the root racism within the IRO is exposed.
Gatekeeping the Latine Experience and Multi-Generation Latine People
Much discussion emerged surrounding the manifestation of Gatekeeping Latine Culture
and Latinidad, which was the second most discussed IRO manifestation mentioned 12 times by
four participants. The experiences shared by the study participants that were identified as
Gatekeeping Latine Culture and Latinidad were also connected to other IRO manifestations, all
of which are listed in Table 2. Connected manifestations included Assumptions of Homogeneity
within the Latine Community (mentioned eight times by four participants), Being Perceived as
Too White to be Latine (mentioned five times by two participants), Being Perceived as Not

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Latine Enough (mentioned four times by three participants) and Disagreeing on What it Means to
be Latine (mentioned three times by two participants). Collectively, five participants (Gabriela,
Sofia, Olivia, Lorena, and Camila) generated the discussion on these five themes.
Sofia, Olivia, and Lorena are all Latina/Chicana identifying women with Mexican
ancestry whose families have been in the United States for many generations. For this reason,
Sofia used the term multi-generation Latina to name her positionality as a non-first-generation
Latina in the United States. This term will be used throughout this section to describe the
experiences of the three study participants whose families have been in the United States for
multiple generations.
Latine-Latine exclusion is the common theme that links Gatekeeping Latine Culture and
Latinidad and the connected manifestations. Gatekeeping Latine Culture and Latinidad and the
connected manifestations revolve around individuals from the Latine community excluding other
Latine people from the Latine identity or devaluing their status as Latine. The experiences of
being on the receiving end of the gatekeeping were shared by Sofia, Olivia, and Lorena, the three
multi-generation study participants. This is notable because exclusion is often conceptualized as
the exclusion of individuals who experience less privilege and more marginalization, such as the
Latine community within the White-dominant culture or Afro Latine people within the greater
Latine culture. While these exclusions definitely occur (and will be discussed in subsequent
sections of this chapter), the multi-generation study participants brought up their experiences of
exclusion from the Latine community by other Latine people because of their positionality.
Olivia spoke about being third generation U.S.-born on her mom’s side and fifth
generation U.S.-born on her dad’s side, with some of her family having been in the United States
for over 100 years. Olivia described not fitting into the “typical” Latine immigration or first-

133
generation narrative and feeling excluded by some people in the Latine community (she is
quoted in Table 2 about her experience in college). Despite this exclusion, Olivia shared that she
felt connected to her Latine identity, but viewed it as different from other Latine stories:
I think there are a lot of things that were part of my identity that I thought were Mexican,
but they’re actually Mexican American. Some of my friends, their families weren’t from
California, so their family stories have more cultural components versus mine have more
like, big moments that are Latino history in America, and also American history. There
are things like growing up watching 12 Corazones with my great-grandparents and when
my Nana would come, we’d always watch Univision and like, those are things that I
have, even if I didn’t speak the language or I don’t fully have an immigrant identity.
Similarly, Lorena discussed being a third-generation Chicana woman of color born in the United
States. She discussed being of Mexican ancestry and having traditions that were rooted in this
heritage. Lorena is also quoted in Table 2 under Assumptions of Homogeneity in the Latine
Community and discussed not fitting into the “typical” Latine narrative of being first-generation
and speaking Spanish, and dealing with assumptions that were made about her backstory. She
shares, “I didn’t fit neatly into the Mexican category. People would say, ‘Well, you’re not really
Mexican.’ There was this stereotype of what it meant to be Mexican, but I wasn’t really allowed
to be American because I wasn’t White.”
Sofia, whose family has been in the United States for more than six generations,
discussed being connected to her Mexican and Native American roots. Sofia shared that she
experienced similar marginalization within the Latine community due to her not speaking
Spanish or having the “typical” Latine backstory. Part of Sofia’s testimonio entailed the skin
color marginalization she experienced from both inside and outside the Latine community; in

134
college, she felt “ugly” due to being perceived as dark skinned, but when she was among other
Latine people, she often felt ostracized for not being dark enough and having too much privilege.
Sofia shared how she was bullied by other Latina teachers throughout her career:
When there were other teachers who were also Latina, but darker skinned and Spanishspeaking, they have typically ganged up and bullied me for not being Latina enough. Not
being dark enough. Not being Spanish speaking. I had privilege, and they were going to
be mean about it. And there comes a point where like, I have to check my own privilege.
I don’t see myself as very privileged, but I guess I am to them. If that’s how you see me,
and you’re going to say I am privileged in most things, which maybe I am in comparison,
what can I do? I can’t change my skin color.
Olivia, Lorena, and Sofia shared that they did not grow up speaking Spanish. During their
testimonios, as well as in the testimonios of several other study participants, discussion about the
No Sabo movement emerged. The movement involves those in the Latine community, mostly
younger people, who do not speak Spanish. The name of the movement is a grammatically
incorrect play on words meaning “I don’t know;” in Spanish, the correct way to say, “I don’t
know” is “No sé,” not “No sabo.” The “joke” is that the Latine kids, when asked if they know
Spanish, would answer in a grammatically incorrect way, cementing their incompetence with the
language. While some No Sabo kids, as they are called, have claimed this as a label worn with
pride, the label can also be used to shame Latine kids who do not speak Spanish. Callesano
(2023) wrote that “the everyday lived experiences of U.S. Latinx bilinguals can be described as
facing an ideological double bind—racialized as low proficiency English speakers (e.g., Flores
and Rosa 2015) and judged as not proficient enough in Spanish” (p. 2). When discussing the No
Sabo movement, the study participants and I were previously aware of the movement and its

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functions as a label of pride and incompetence. Some Latine people are currently discussing if
No Sabo kids can or should even consider themselves Latine, believing that language is
inseparable from ethnic identity. All participants who discussed the No Sabo movement in their
testimonios agreed that it could potentially be harmful to gatekeep the Latine identity based on
language alone. Gabriela, who is not one of the multi-generation study participants, explained:
I’m not a fan of anybody gatekeeping because when does it end? In these last few years,
I’ve seen folks question Latinidad based on language and geopolitical ideologies. I’ve
seen it questioned even in terms of racial structures. Like I remember this meeting, and
these young, I think they identified as Latine people, they said, ‘if you’re not Black,
you’re White.’ Like those are the only racial categories that exist now. The first thing that
comes to mind is the construction of race and class in this country, and I’m like, ‘You’re
using the same arguments that folks have used against us.’ So, when you ask me about
the No Sabo movement, I’m very firmly in the gray. And if anything, I’m more
concerned with how polarized we’re all getting, and we just end up shooting ourselves in
the foot.
Gabriela’s quote demonstrates how the nuance of identity can sometimes be lost when the
richness of ethnicity and culture is characterized as a one-size-fits-all. Similarly, Sofia detailed
the pain that gatekeeping has caused her throughout her life:
As someone who doesn’t speak Spanish, who has tried to take Spanish like 3 times as an
English teacher, and speaks English very well, it’s very frustrating to not speak the
language. I’ve made peace with it pretty much in the same way that I’ve made peace with
a lot of these other things, like where I am in my cultural connection. I know that the
majority of my life I have spent working for and with my community, and whether or not

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I speak the language shouldn’t impact that. But it has taken me years to get to this point.
If you want to hurt me, what you can do is make a face after I introduce myself to you
and you find out I don’t speak Spanish.
Several interesting questions have emerged based on these findings and experiences. From one
perspective, what has been deemed as Gatekeeping Latine Culture and Latinidad could be seen
as trying to preserve the Latine culture through language and reclaim power that has been denied
through systemic racism. For example, a recent article in the New York Times chronicled the
journey of an Argentinian man who is thought to be the only person who speaks the Indigenous
language Chaná, long thought to be a dead language (Alcoba, 2024). This man, named Blas
Omar Jaime, said, “Language is what gives you identity. If someone doesn’t have their language,
they are not a people.” The kernel of truth in Mr. Jaime’s words could be applied to the Spanish
language and Latine culture when assimilation ideology (named as a manifestation of IRO in
Table 2) has pushed some Latine people to distance themselves from their heritage. Additionally,
as discussed in the literature review, darker-skinned Latine people experience more
marginalization than lighter-skinned Latine people; although ostracizing lighter skinned people
causes harm, this exclusion could be viewed in one context as more highly marginalized
individuals (darker-skinned Latine people) attempting to retain or regain power through the
protection of a specific identity. From this perspective, the push for inclusion of Latine
individuals with seemingly higher privilege (speaking English, being lighter skinned, being
multi-generation) could be viewed as relatively privileged people centering themselves in
conversations about inclusion.
However, from another perspective, Gatekeeping Latine Culture and Latinidad may
wrongly place blame for any perceived disconnections from Latine culture on individuals rather

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than systems. All three multi-generation study participants shared that their family members
grew up in the United States at a time when Latine people would be punished for speaking
Spanish. Distancing themselves from the language could be seen as a tool of survival (named as
a manifestation of IRO in Table 2). While multi-generation Latine people and Latine nonSpanish speakers could be viewed as having more privilege, they still exist as people of color in
the United States and have a racialized experience. Lorena shared her thoughts on this idea:
If folks feel like they have like a very real connection to the identity of being Latino, but
they lost speaking Spanish for whatever reason, namely colonization and assimilation,
then I think it’s okay to claim the Latine identity because there still may be a certain
racialized experience that they’re having, especially within the U.S. context. There are
still maybe some traditions or things that they do connect to their family. Whether it was
music or food or dance or stories. I think there are many ways. Yes, language is really
important, but there are other ways to connect to culture.
It will be important to have nuanced, thoughtful, and inclusive discussions within the Latine
community about the costs and benefits of the inclusion or exclusion of any identity within the
expansiveness that is Latinidad. Sitting in that gray area, as Gabriela mentioned, will be essential
to understanding how to unify Latine people at a time where a singular pan ethnic identifier or a
common backstory is no longer (and maybe never was) sufficient for encompassing the Latine
community. Further, the multi-generation individuals who participated in this study are deeply
committed to dismantling IRO, antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and pursuing equity for
Latine people and all people of color (as were all the study participants). Following their
examples of having difficult discussions about IRO while still using their privilege for the pursuit

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of equity could be one step in opening the door to deeper conversations about privilege and
marginalization in the Latine community.
IRO, Externally Experienced Racism, and Intersectional Experiences
Any conversation about IRO would be incomplete without a discussion about the “RO,”
which is the part where racial oppression is experienced. As mentioned previously, through the
coding process, many manifestations of IRO were also connected to instances of externally
experienced racism and intersected with other marginalized identities. Several participants, when
asked how IRO manifested in their lives, would respond with stories of externally experienced
racism, despite demonstrating an understanding of IRO. I would guide the conversation back to
IRO, but these situations exemplify the intertwined relationship between externally experienced
racism and IRO. Deficit narratives were the most common form of externally experienced racism
that emerged in the testimonios; it was mentioned nine times by seven study participants.
Some participants were aware of how externally experienced racism was either a catalyst
for or reinforced their IRO. For example, Michael recalled an experience in college during a
course in which the Latine community was being discussed from a deficit perspective. During
this discussion, Michael remembers realizing, “Oh, my experience is part of this case study, and
my family’s experience, and my neighbors’ experiences are all being discussed amongst my
peers who come from the dominant culture.” Michael shared that this experience was a catalyst
for his IRO because it caused him to question his own worth and legitimacy to engage in those
types of conversations in an academic setting.
Many study participants discussed how externally experienced racism and IRO are often
experienced at the intersections of other oppressions. The most mentioned intersection was that
of gender, and specifically, the female identity, which was mentioned seven times by four

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participants. Other intersections mentioned were class/financial, LGBTQ+, and immigration
status. The emergence of these intersections within the study of IRO demonstrates that the Latine
identity is not a monolith; there are many different identities, experiences, oppressions, and
privileges that exist within Latinidad. Further, it highlights need to examine how the roots of
oppression intersect and work together to uphold systemic oppression.
Human Nature’s Influence on IRO
When conceptualizing IRO, several participants expressed that the nature of human
beings is to dominate others and gain proximity to power in order to avoid being dominated.
Isabela expressed that there is a desire for humans to “want to do and be better. It’s in our
biology to be alphas.” Alejandro shared the experience of a close family member who does not
speak English. When this family member is in the United States, they feel ostracized for being
Latine and not speaking English. However, when they go to Mexico, they thrive because they do
not feel marginalized. Alejandro shared that, despite understanding how it feels to be considered
less-than, this family member ironically holds strongly antiBlack views. Alejandro believes this
exemplifies how humans act when they feel oppressed; they in turn dominate and oppress others.
The fact that some study participants linked IRO to human nature speaks to the depth at which
they have reflected on the phenomenon. Including an analysis of human nature within the
conceptualization of IRO could open other possibilities for understanding and dismantling IRO.
Challenges in Naming IRO
Although the study participants had a clear understanding of IRO and were able to define
it, nearly half of the study participants expressed challenges either identifying what in their
experiences could be demonstrative of IRO or not knowing how to name those experiences.

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When speaking of IRO, Camila said, “You kind of already knew it was a thing, I just didn’t
know how to put words to it.” Similarly, Karina expressed:
It’s not easy. I’m pretty aware of internalized racism, I think. And it feels much harder
than I thought it would feel just kind of expressing it. And maybe I’m not trying to look
back on past experiences. I’m trying to be very honest.
Cristina also expressed challenges, saying, “I don’t think I’m fighting internalized oppression or
have had those experiences, but they could come out in other ways that I’m not even
recognizing, right?” Camila, Karina, and Cristina’s experiences reflect the challenges of
discussing IRO, which include the difficulty in recognizing IRO within past experiences and
beliefs, the challenge in naming IRO, and the emotional pain that reliving these experiences can
generate. These challenges highlight the potential need for external support in learning about and
dismantling IRO, even for those who are familiar with the phenomenon.
Visual Conceptualizations of IRO
In response to my sharing that I conceptualize IRO as a spectrum, Olivia shared that she
visualized IRO an emotion or feelings wheel, a common tool used in mental health practices.
Olivia shared that the imagery of the emotion wheel could help demonstrate how individuals
experiencing IRO attempt to reclaim and use power. While two individuals may have opposing
expressions of IRO, the driving force behind those expressions is trying to reclaim power, which
would be represented by them being on the opposite sides of the wheel but connected by a core
motivation. This visual conceptualization could be helpful in further understanding the extent to
which manifestations are connected by some sort of root—be it an experience of racism or
another source of IRO.

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Media as a Source of IRO
Three participants mentioned the media and telenovelas as promoting deficit narratives,
antiBlackness, and colorism within the Latine community. These media were cited as sources of
IRO within the Latine community. Alejandro explained, “Even in las novelas from Mexico,
who’s always the protagonist? La güera bonita. Who’s always the bad one? It’s the morena. In
every place you’re getting those messages that you cannot get away from.” Alejandro’s example
speaks to the linking of light skin to positive character traits and dark skin to negative character
traits. Examining the media’s role in perpetuating IRO within the Latine community could
further support the examining of the structures that uphold and reinforce IRO.
Potentially Unconscious IRO
While all participants approached the conversation about IRO with openness and
willingness to engage, one participant shared certain views about the Latine community that
could be seen as an unconscious expression of IRO, specifically through a belief in certain deficit
narratives. Because the purpose of this study does not include “catching people” expressing IRO,
this participant will not be named. Additionally, my role was to create a space for study
participants to share their experiences, not necessarily to facilitate the dismantling of the study
participants’ IRO. However, this experience demonstrates how a person can be aware of IRO and
work to dismantle IRO while still harboring certain beliefs that reflect IRO, speaking to the
complex and insidious nature of the phenomenon.
Research Question 1 Conclusion
This research question revealed that the study participants conceptualized IRO in many
different ways. Twelve different definitions of IRO were provided, all of which captured
different aspects and components of IRO. Additionally, I compiled a list of 29 IRO

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manifestations based on the lived experiences of the study participants, adding to the ways in
which IRO could be understood within Latine professionals. Within the 29 IRO manifestations, I
identified certain themes that further explored how study participants conceptualized IRO.
Understanding how Latine professionals think about IRO could support the way IRO is currently
understood for this population and for the greater Latine community.
Research Question 2: How Do Latine Professionals Conceptualize the Dismantling of
Internalized Racial Oppression?
Important to the study of IRO is the conceptualization of how to work through and
dismantle IRO on the individual and community levels. Study participants were asked how they
conceptualized dismantling IRO from their unique positionalities as Latine professionals. The
study participants spoke from their own experiences working through racism and IRO and
observing how IRO manifests within the Latine community. I organized the findings of this
research question into two categories representing the ways in which the study participants
conceptualized dismantling IRO: dismantling IRO within the self and dismantling IRO within
others. In addition to these two categories, I analyzed the experiences shared by the study
participants and coded and compiled a list of 18 IRO-dismantling concepts. These findings are
discussed in the following section.
Table 3 displays the 18 IRO-dismantling concepts. Each of these 18 IRO-dismantling
concepts can be classified as either dismantling IRO within the self or within others. Also
included in the table is the number of times each dismantling concept was mentioned, as well as
how many study participants mentioned the concept.

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Table 3
Internalized Racial Oppression Dismantling Concepts
Dismantling concept Sample quote Times mentioned Number of study
participants who
mentioned concept
Having difficult
conversations about
race with those
around you
“Someone in my family uses the word indios to refer to someone who is
ignorant. I fight that every single time and it has created problems with us …
I don’t know if we’re able to change it and other people without creating
friction or conflict.” –Karina
19 9
Dismantling IRO
within oneself
“[Dismantling IRO] takes a lot of time and practice to one build awareness and
knowledge of how this is showing up for you and how it manifests in your
workspace, in your relationships, maybe with a partner, close friends or
family, [understanding how IRO] has influenced all types of decisions that
people have made around how they show up, how they present themselves.
What spaces they decided to be a part of, or not be a part of. So, it takes a lot
of self-reflection.” –Lorena
17 9
Acknowledging the
diversity within the
Latine community
“I think being Latino is not a race, it’s more of an ethnic identity or a cultural
identity. But I feel like just showing the expansiveness of it, I think will stop
people from putting us in a monolith and actually investing in trying to see
who we truly are.” –Camila
9 6
Helping others work
through their IRO
I started really looking into our history … and asking questions of my elders.
That’s where I think I started really formalizing who I am as a as a person in
terms of my identity. What’s been interesting is now my parents have joined.
So, in my own process of healing and reclaiming, I started taking my parents
to ceremony [as part of reclaiming our Indigenous heritage], and now my
parents have an altar and have gone to ceremony and have reclaimed it in
their own way. Which I think is amazing.” –Gabriela
8 5
Managing/Working
Through one’s IRO
“Whenever I‘m making big life decisions, I always think about it in the sense of
like, am I approaching a situation or making a decision based on like what I
truly want or am I letting things such as [IRO] affect my decisions?” –Camila
8 6
Reclaiming pride in
culture/Latinidad
“More in these last few years, I’ve embraced talking in Spanish and in English,
in spaces of work, and talking about my heritage. I’m not ashamed to tell
people that I grew up in Mexico, I mean, that I was born in Mexico and grew
up undocumented.” –Cristina
8 4

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Dismantling concept Sample quote Times mentioned Number of study
participants who
mentioned concept
Indigenous heritage
reclamation
“At some point in my life, I was also very proud of the European descent. And I
think it was the worst when I was starting college. [But then] I started
learning a little bit more and I started rejecting that idea and I became much
more proud of my Indigenous [heritage]. But it was a change that took some
time.” –Karina
8 6
Resisting IRO “We either perpetuate it or we fight it. And I think for me fighting it doesn’t
look like [being] an angry activist … It just looks like how I exercise
humanity in my day-to-day life and kindness and empathy. And I think our
communities come from survival. Like we’re trying to survive for so long
that you just kind of have to like, go with the punches. And we’re taught to
do that, and we don’t really have a chance to breathe and challenge things.”
–Isabela
7 4
Self-reflection “I often take time just to pause and reflect and remind myself that I am worthy
of being in spaces that historically many people from my background have
not had the chance to be a part of. I often try to remind myself that my
presence and my participation in these professional settings is an act of
justice and an act towards dismantling racial oppression.” –Michael
7 5
George Floyd/Black
Lives Matter
Movement
“I think the most recent would be with the George Floyd situation and the Black
Lives Matter Movement … there was a moment where I called in some of the
other Latinx family members because I think it’s really easy sometimes to
hide behind the color of our skin … it’s … something that we definitely still
need to speak about within our community.” –Gabriela
6 4
Continuing Education “I think of becoming conscious of one’s bias, and really educating yourself and
becoming educated on what biases you have. Are you willing to be reflective
enough to own up to it? Because sometimes, you know, that’s the ugly part
… I sought it out. I looked up books, I read books, I watched videos, I
followed accounts, because I wanted to be as aware as I possibly could be.”
– Sofia
5 4
Moderate Approach to
Activism
“I … want to put like an asterisk on that I’ve also seen amongst the people who
are willing to do the work, a sect of extremists who are very quick to cancel
people. And that’s a problem too. I consider myself to be more centrist in my
thinking. I do want to create safe spaces … I’m also willing to give people
the chance … I think if you can’t give people some grace as they’re going
through it, you’re going to scare them away. They’re not going to want to do
that work, because who wants to touch that if all of a sudden, I’m going to
3 3

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Dismantling concept Sample quote Times mentioned Number of study
participants who
mentioned concept
get called a racist … so I feel like there could be a good way to go about it.”
–Sofia
Acknowledgement of
African and
Indigenous heritage
“I feel like acceptance of our Indigenous roots and our Black roots [are part of
dismantling IRO] and [the acknowledgement that] the slave trade was
happening.” –Camila
1 2
Not Assimilating “Not assimilating. I think that’s the big one for me. And that’s what I’ve learned
working where I am now. It’s like, I don’t have to pretend to be somebody
that I’m not. I could show up as myself. And when I leave my job, or when I
go to a conference, I’m the same person. So that’s really freeing …” –Isabela
2 1
Questioning Beliefs “I think there’s a whole family and authority component of our communities.
Like we’re brought up to be obedient and quiet and respectful to our elders.
And I think when an elder or a parent is saying something that you challenge
and you actually say it out loud, you’re disrespectful … so a lot of people
don’t speak up. So, like I’m the family rebel because of my crazy ideas of
like, not going against Black people and not being colorist but I think that
was a choice for me. I think I chose to be just like fighting the authority
because I didn’t understand it … But I think that’s part of what pushes so
many people to just kind of like, follow what they’re told.” –Isabela
2 2
Questioning Content
Consumption
“I’ve made this commitment in the past few years to pick my reading for
pleasure from a woman of color. I feel like I’ve read enough from White men
in my life … I’m being intentional about reading what women of color have
to say … if I’m going to spend money on a book, I’m going to spend it on a
book that was written by a woman of color.” –Karina
2 2
Self-Acceptance and
Therapy/Counseling
“In college I learned … a lot … in therapy and honestly, being gay saved my
life. I think once I realized I was queer and came out … I feel like that took a
long journey for me to realize who I was, and I feel like accepting that part of
me, it’s just so much easier to be stronger in like all my identities, so I feel
like because I had to do that inner self learning and self-acceptance in terms
of that, I feel like it just helped me cement who I was. And, and I recommend
therapy.” –Camila
Self-acceptance (2)
Therapy/Counseling
(3)
Self-acceptance (2)
Therapy/Counseling
(3)
Learning the real
history
“I think knowledge is power, too. I have to seek [knowledge] on my own and
learn about it through social media or the internet because they definitely did
not teach me that in my public school in LAUSD … so, a lot of it had to be
done on my own. But I think just knowing the true history, which is hard
because whoever controls the power controls the narrative and what gets
taught.” –Camila
1 1

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As in Research Question 1, in some instances, the dismantling concept (i.e., having
difficult conversations about race) was named directly by the participant, meaning that the
participant was describing a specific concept related to dismantling. In other instances,
participants were describing the ways in which they have worked to dismantle IRO in their lives
without specifically naming the action, practice, or dismantling concept. In these situations, I
coded the dismantling concept based on existing IRO research and common themes I identified
and then created a name for the dismantling concept (i.e. resisting IRO). Dismantling IRO within
the self included concepts such as self-education, therapy, and reclaiming cultural and racial
pride. Dismantling IRO within others mostly centered engaging in difficult conversations about
race and IRO with others, a moderate approach to activism, and questioning cultural beliefs.
Conceptualizing the Dismantling of IRO Within the Self
Dismantling IRO within the self was a primary way in which study participants
conceptualized dismantling IRO. When discussing dismantling IRO within the self, study
participants shared insights about their journeys dealing with IRO and racism. Since all study
participants were able to discuss IRO on a metacognitive level, all study participants had
valuable observations to share regarding IRO-dismantling within the self.
Many participants discussed the importance of noticing one’s IRO as a starting point in
the dismantling process. As stated by Karina, “The point of knowing is that you can recognize
the things you do that are internalized racism; I don’t reject that. I know I have IRO; it’s about
catching myself when I see something I’m doing or thinking.”
Similar to Karina’s thought, Lorena shared how dismantling IRO begins with practice in
building awareness and understanding how IRO shows up specific to a single person, “in your
workspace, in your relationships, maybe with a partner, close friends, or family. It takes a lot of

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self-reflection.” Beyond noticing how IRO shows up, study participants discussed managing
one’s IRO. Managing IRO seemed to entail a component of noticing and then an aspect of
choice; when the IRO is noticed, there is a point where an individual must decide how to move
forward. As Camila shared:
Whenever I’m making big life decisions, I always think about it in the sense of like, am I
approaching a situation or making a decision based on like what I truly want or am I
letting things such as internalized racial oppression affect my decisions?
The study participants spoke about dismantling IRO as an ongoing journey and as a seemingly
non-linear process; the quotes shared within this section reflect present-tense wording and
sentiments. Most study participants communicated that dismantling IRO was an ongoing process
that they were currently undergoing. Because of this, study participants offered several selfdismantling concepts that supported them in the ongoing unlearning of IRO.
Reclaiming and/or retaining pride in their culture and Latinidad was a prominent way in
which study participants conceptualized dismantling their IRO; this concept was mentioned eight
times by four participants. Isabela shared that her current workplace has supported her in feeling
comfortable showing up authentically in her Latinidad. At her current organization, which is a
predominantly Latine organization, Isabela shared that there is space for the full expression of
Latinidad, whether it’s celebrating cultural food, music, and dress, or speaking Spanish. Isabela
emphasized that this experience is drastically different from feeling like she had to minimize her
Mexican heritage in non-Latine spaces. For Isabela, this support from her workplace has helped
her see that she can choose not to assimilate—another dismantling concept that was shared—and
show up as her authentic self in all spaces.

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While several study participants shared that their looks were a source of IRO for them,
Cristina communicated a sense of pride about her looks, sharing that she is proud of the color of
her skin, eyes, and hair, all of which are visibly Latine. Cristina retained this pride about her
looks, culture, and heritage that was instilled in her from a young age by her family. Camila
discussed how from her perspective, much of this reclamation of cultural pride involves seeing
Latinidad as positive and not negative, which is how Latinidad is predominantly portrayed in
society. Camila emphasized that IRO in which a Latine person sees Latinidad as negative results
from experiences of racism.
Another notable IRO-dismantling concept that straddles both the “self” and “others”
categories is Acknowledging the Diversity within the Latine Community. Six study participants
shared how acknowledging the diversity within the community was important not only for Latine
people but for those outside the community. Some study participants highlighted the need to
acknowledge the diversity of races and phenotypes within the Latine community. Other study
participants emphasized that it is important to understand the diversity within the community so
that Latine-empowerment efforts could be more successful. Jessica shared her thoughts on this
concept:
I think one of the things that is important when you’re talking about Latino advancement
and equity is ensuring that you’re taking into account all the different identities within the
Latino community. There has to be economic empowerment, there has to be political
empowerment, there has to be educational empowerment. Which is difficult, right? But
you have to look at the community as a whole and then determine almost like a whole
political agenda of how you’re going to support the advancement of different people,
taking into account all the different backgrounds, which I don’t think we do.

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In highlighting the need to acknowledge diversity within the Latine community as a tool for
organizing, Jessica also highlights the insufficiency of the Latine pan ethnic identifier to reflect
the diversity of experiences that exist within the community. Sofia also highlighted the different
intersections that shape how Latinidad is experienced:
Your color has a lot to do with it. Economic status. I think it’s so complex, and it depends
on where you fall on the scales. The language scale, the color scale, the income scale, the
location scale. I think that is why we’re not a monolith. It’s very dependent on all of
those things.
Study participants also mentioned reclamation of their Indigenous heritage as a way in which
they dismantled IRO within themselves. Karina shared how her dismantling journey evolved; she
was prouder of her European ancestry when she was younger and then shifted that pride toward
her Indigenous heritage. Other study participants discussed how owning and learning more about
their Indigenous roots supported them in combating the erasure of and distancing from
Indigeneity that occurred within their families.
Some study participants believed that unlearning and dismantling IRO involves
relearning other perspectives through self-education. Sofia conceptualized this IRO-dismantling
concept as learning what biases one has. She described wanting to be as aware of her biases as
possible, and thusly, she sought out different resources through which she educated herself.
Karina highlighted her commitment to only reading (for pleasure) books authored by women of
color; Karina viewed this as a way to use her money to support those voices and perspectives.
Camila highlighted that the need to self-educate is imperative because the “real history” is not
often taught in schools; she said, “whoever has the power controls the narrative and what gets
taught.”

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Lastly, several study participants shared the positive impact that therapy has had in their
dismantling journey, specifically in the area of self-acceptance. Camila detailed how realizing
she was queer and owning her sexuality helped her accept all of her identities, including her
Latinidad. Working through these aspects in therapy helped her learn about herself and accept
who she was. Overall, study participants emphasized the importance of alignment within the self
as imperative to IRO dismantling. They discussed a process of noticing, unlearning, and
relearning as part of the dismantling process, which was conceptualized as a life-long journey.
Conceptualizing the Dismantling of IRO in Others
Dismantling IRO within others was the other finding that emerged through the
testimonios. The concepts classified under this category (listed in Table 3) involved processes of
making others aware of IRO, supporting others in unlearning their IRO, and questioning
commonly held beliefs within the community. Study participants discussed these concepts, as
well as the challenges that emerge when calling out IRO.
Study participants shared that IRO-dismantling within others involves having difficult
conversations about race. This concept was mentioned 19 times by 9 study participants. Many of
these difficult conversations occurred within their families and included “calling out” comments
or beliefs that displayed IRO or racist beliefs. Almost every participant highlighted the difficult
or challenging aspects of these conversations, demonstrating how calling out IRO has caused
conflict within their circles.
A common theme that emerged within these conversations was the idea that people who
say unknowingly racist things do not know any better. Some study participants believed that IRO
and racism were so engrained in the community that some people do not even consider that their
language is racist. Other study participants expressed anger and disappointment at those in the

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Latine community who exhibited IRO or racist beliefs. When discussing IRO dismantling and
having these difficult conversations with others, Alejandro shared:
I’m going to speak about my family because I think they’re not doing anything to
dismantle it. It’s the opposite. They’re making it worse with their very traditional views,
values, habits. And so, I think at that level for me, it’s disappointing that even after
conversations and calling them out, they just brush it off. Like it’s not a big deal.
Alejandro also shared the quandary he is faced with when having difficult conversations with his
family:
At times, like I go hard on them and really argue and then there’s times where I’m like,
yo, let it go because they don’t know any better, right? And so, it’s a constant struggle of
like, how much should I expect from them? But then, should I take it upon myself to
educate them? And that is also a lot in a mental and emotional journey that will be
probably taxing and can also fracture relationships. And so, it’s a very difficult thing.
Many participants were aligned in discussing the challenges that arise when navigating these
difficult conversations; the burden of educating others was also discussed as a challenge.
However, many participants expressed the desire and need to call people out and have these
difficult conversations, despite the difficulty and regardless of whether they would be effective
or not. Jessica shared her view on this dismantling concept:
I think it has to start with conversation. I think you have to start with the trust building.
Because, I have a lot of conversations like with my parents or my grandmother and tell
her, ‘Oh, you can’t say that.’ But that’s what she’s grown up with. So, I think it’s like
providing that safe space. And finding that community where you can have that dialogue.
And I think modeling that behavior, too.

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While some of the study participants shared that these conversations have not been successful,
Gabriela shared that she was able to make a difference with her family throughout her
dismantling process. Gabriela worked to reclaim her Indigenous culture and shared that journey
with her family; they chose to join her on that journey of dismantling. Her parents now attend
Ceremony with her and have an altar—two large steps toward reclaiming their Indigenous
identities.
Related to this concept of having difficult conversations, several study participants were
interested in more relational or moderate activism. This moderate activism was contrasted with
more combative forms of activism. Sofia observed how confrontational conversations and cancel
culture have deterred some people from doing the work to dismantle racism and IRO; Sofia
wants to create safe spaces for people to dismantle some of those ideologies. Isabela summed up
this sentiment when she shared:
We either perpetuate internalized racial oppression or we fight it. And I think for me,
fighting it doesn’t look like I’m an angry activist. It just looks like how I exercise
humanity in my day-to-day life and kindness and empathy.
While much-needed change is spurred by more radical forms of activism, the study participants’
perspectives signal an alternative approach to creating change within communities, which is that
of building interpersonal relationships.
Several study participants shared that their awareness of IRO stemmed from their ability
to questions certain things within the Latine community. Isabela and Sofia questioned certain
beliefs that their elders had. Isabela observed that there is a culture of authority within the Latine
community; within this culture of authority, challenging the beliefs of elders or those with
authority is seen as disrespectful. Isabela discussed how this idea of not questioning authority

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may motivate people to “just do as their told.” While certain aspects of Latine culture should be
celebrated, the study participants raised the idea that some oppressive beliefs should be
questioned and discussed within the greater community.
Within the context of dismantling IRO within the greater Latine community, two study
participants expressed doubts that IRO could ever be dismantled on large scale. While Alejandro
expressed belief in dismantling IRO at the individual and small group level, he expressed doubt
that humanity as a whole could ever get to the point of eradicating IRO because of the racism
and oppression that exist. Similarly, Gabriela expressed that while there are some policies that
are heading in the right direction for fighting oppression, there are a lot of efforts happening on a
global level that reinforce oppression and that are eroding the power of education, such as the
movement against CRT. While these study participants did not speak from a place of despair or
hopelessness, their perspectives anchor the fact that dismantling IRO may never be
accomplished; as long as oppressive systems exist, a certain amount of dismantling will need to
occur. Nonetheless, it would be interesting to explore how the idea that IRO can never be
dismantled is related to IRO.
Overall, study participants shared the difficulty they experienced working with others to
dismantle IRO. They highlighted that difficult conversations about race often produce conflict
within relationships. Some study participants mentioned the hope they have within the relational
activism approach in making a difference with others, while others expressed concern that
dismantling IRO may never come to pass.
Other Thoughts Shared Regarding the Dismantling of IRO
Two participants discussed the cost of IRO, both expressing grief at all that has been and
could be lost because of IRO. Camila expressed how detrimental IRO was to her wellbeing; she

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remembered being at a crossroads when she was in law school. To survive law school, she had to
let go of her IRO and the voice telling her she was less-than. When discussing this decision, she
pondered:
If you’ve spent so much time fighting internalized racial oppression you don’t realize the
emotional, physical, and mental toll that it takes on us fighting it, and that’s another
invisibleness that happens … I wonder what number, what value it has and how much it
has cost our community in growth and expansion.
Like Camila, Sofia discussed being at a crossroads with her IRO when she was entering graduate
school. Because she had already begun working through her IRO when she entered graduate
school, she was able to embark on her graduate school journey as her authentic self. Sofia
reflected on how much it could have cost her had she not worked through her limiting beliefs
prior to entering graduate school. Camila and Sofia highlighted the negative consequences of
IRO. Highlighting the negative consequences does not place blame on Latine people for
experiencing IRO, but it emphasizes the true effect that IRO has on the lived experiences of
people of color.
Lastly, Isabela brought up how dismantling one’s IRO could be a double-edged sword.
Isabela has worked through much of her IRO and is currently at an organization where she is free
to fully express her Latinidad. However, she also shared that she is worried about future spaces
she will occupy that may not be as accepting of her Latinidad:
I want to go to law school and I’m like, what is going to happen? I’m probably going to
be one of like, five other Latinas, if that, because I know that it’s going to be harder to
exercise that freedom of just being myself and fighting against that internalized
oppression. And like, will I give into it? I don’t know.

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Isabela’s observation highlights even further how dismantling IRO is not something that is
achieved but is an ongoing process. Despite all the work she has done to show up authentically in
her Latinidad, she is anticipating other scenarios in which she may not be fully accepted.
Research Question 2 Conclusion
The dismantling concepts shared demonstrate the both/and world in which the
dismantling of IRO takes place. The study participants discussed navigating dismantling IRO
within themselves and within their community, leading to the two findings regarding the
conceptualization of IRO dismantling discussed in this section. While dismantling IRO was seen
as a necessary process, the study participants were honest about the challenges and the
sometimes painful experiences that emerge from the dismantling process. The study participants
reflected upon these experiences with a mix of hope and wariness within the dismantling
process.
Research Question 3: From the Perspectives of Latine Professionals, How Has Internalized
Racial Oppression Affected Their Organizational Experiences?
As discussed in Research Question 1, IRO is inherently connected to externally
experienced racism and the oppressive structures that exist within institutions in American
society. The modern-day workplace is known to be a structure through which systemic
oppression is produced and reproduced. Less often studied are the ways in which IRO functions
within organizations and the workplace. Of the six findings that emerged from this research
question, five detail the ways in which the study participants observe IRO occurring within
organizations. The five findings—which capture the ways in which IRO was observed to
manifest in the workplace—are Impostor Syndrome, Stereotype Avoidance and Code Switching,
The Myth of Meritocracy and Career Barriers, Tokenism and Representing the Latine

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Community in the Workplace, and Minimizing Latinidad and Climbing the Corporate Ladder. A
common theme found to run through each of these themes are the deficit narratives that shape the
experiences of Latine people in the workplace. The sixth finding within this section discusses
how the study participants think about dismantling IRO within organizations, which was a topic
that emerged throughout the discussion of IRO in the workplace.
Impostor Syndrome
Study participants shared that their IRO manifested in the workplace mostly as impostor
syndrome, which was mentioned seven times by seven participants. Alejandro shared how,
despite embracing his Latinidad in his personal life, he still experienced impostor syndrome in
his professional life due to being Latino. This led to Alejandro questioning his abilities in the
workplace:
I felt like I had to work 300 times more than my White counterparts. It’s a constant
journey of having to remind myself and reinforce that I’ve gotten this far because I am
good enough. In my personal life, I am at a point where I feel very free. I’m Latino, I’m
Mexicano, I’m gay, and I don’t give a damn who agrees or doesn’t. But professionally,
that imposter syndrome has been challenging.
Alejandro’s experience captured how some participants felt that impostor syndrome led to a
questioning of their abilities. Sofia also described a similar experience with impostor syndrome:
Part of working through that internalized racial oppression was also imposter
phenomenon [syndrome]. I think those went hand in hand. I had to overcome impostor
phenomenon while also reckoning with those oppressive ideologies, beliefs, whatever,
that I was holding on to, to free myself of that. I do think that they very much played off
each other. If I was feeling like, oh, it’s because I’m too dark or I can’t speak well

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enough, the imposter syndrome got even heightened like, well, it’s because you don’t
belong here. You’re a fraud. This isn’t a space you’re supposed to be occupying.
Camila found herself in a similar situation when she found herself questioning her ability to get
into law school. The lack of Latine people, as well as deficit narratives about low Latine success
rates of passing the bar, caused her to question if she would be able to succeed in law school. She
saw her experience as an example of how IRO can cause Latine people to question what jobs or
education they are qualified to pursue.
Lorena confirmed this vicious cycle of impostor syndrome leading to the questioning of
one’s abilities, adding that some Latine people she works with who deal with impostor syndrome
also lack confidence despite their qualifications. Lorena and Michael observed that this vicious
cycle has another consequence, which is the idea that Latine people must wait patiently for “their
turn” to be successful, and in the process of waiting for this success, they must also be grateful
for whatever they are given in the meantime. Michael shared the following about this
phenomenon:
I think there are many White dominant spaces and organizations that only touch the
surface of what it means to have diverse, equitable and inclusive spaces. But from my
own experience trying to diversify the workplace, that diverse representation often is
limited to entry level or mid-level roles, and not senior-level roles. So, through those
experiences, my internalized racial oppression is perpetuated saying, okay, Latinos are
limited to these types of roles, as opposed to more senior-level roles. Or we have to wait
a certain number of years to have the privilege of even being considered for those types
of opportunities. But in the end, it only limits career advancement opportunities.

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On this topic, Lorena added that there seems to be an expectation within organizations that
Latine people should just be grateful for the roles they have because, as Lorena shared, people
think it’s “a great place for a Latina or Chicana to be.”
These examples show how deficit narratives about Latine people feed into the impostor
syndrome that can cause the questioning of abilities observed and experienced by the study
participants in the workplace. Imposter syndrome represents how IRO can become automated
within people of color or people with marginalized identities; there no longer needs to be overt
racism (even though there still is) for people to feel less-than. Impostor syndrome “connects the
dots” between external oppressive messaging and IRO and can negatively impact a person’s
belief in themself, as exemplified through the study participants’ experiences.
Stereotype Avoidance and Code Switching
Stereotype avoidance was another prominent manifestation of IRO within the workplace.
Stereotype avoidance was mentioned seven times by three study participants, all of whom were
women. Camila discussed that for her, stereotype avoidance manifested as feeling the need to
present herself as a “neutral vessel” in her career as an attorney. She would think a lot about
what she was wearing and how that could impact the way people perceived her; she did not want
that perception to get in the way of her ability to do her job. This involved her managing the
colors that she wore, avoiding playing into the stereotype that Latine people wear bright colors,
in the effort to appear more professional. Additionally, this idea of neutrality also extended to the
way she communicated in her professional life: “People are not going to listen to your message
unless it’s conveyed in a way that doesn’t feel threatening to their status quo.” Camila also
shared how people would assume that she was an immigration attorney, speaking to the
stereotype that Latine attorneys lean heavily toward being immigration attorneys. Camila shared

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that while there are many Latine people who do become immigration attorneys, she wondered if
this was a self-fulfilling prophecy. Camila expressed, “I wonder how much of that is like, you’re
just following the path that’s been laid out for you,” speaking to the possibility that Latine people
feel limited by the expectation of being immigration attorneys. Although Camila considered
immigration law, she ultimately did not choose to be an immigration attorney.
Several participants discussed the intersection of stereotype avoidance with the female
identity. Jessica discussed the stereotype of being a “spicy Latina,” and how she navigated her
identity based on the stereotypes that exist in “spaces that were not created for you, or where you
may be the only woman or person of color in those rooms.” Jessica shared that this caused her to
have to code switch in these situations so that she could be taken seriously.
In addition to Jessica’s experience, Cristina remembered having to code switch in the
early stages of her career, which manifested as her not sharing with many people that she was
born in Mexico and grew up undocumented. Stereotype avoidance and code switching represent
two ways in which Latine professionals must navigate the pitfalls of stereotypes and expectations
in the workplace, often having to compromise their Latinidad and not being able to show up as
their authentic selves to fit into organizational culture.
However, Camila’s experience with the immigration attorney stereotype demonstrates
how stereotype avoidance functions as a barrier to inclusion within the workplace; Latine people
may opt in or out of certain opportunities or career paths based on both the expectation of what
they should do or the desire to avoid confirming a stereotype. For Latine people, stereotype
avoidance can turn a seemingly straightforward decision such as career choice into a complex
decision tree riddled with hidden perceptions and expectations. Further, it could also limit their
freedom to dream and explore the possibilities that exist within the career space.

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Myth of Meritocracy and Career Barriers
The idea of meritocracy has largely affected the lived experiences of the study
participants. They shared that while early in their careers they believed in meritocracy, they have
now mostly concluded it is a myth. Jessica shared that the idea of meritocracy and hard work
were inherited beliefs that defined the beginning of her career:
It was something that was instilled in me, like you work really hard in school and then
you can get into college. My dad worked for the same company for 30 years, right? And
you work really hard in one company or like you find a trade and you stay there for 30
years. I think that’s what I knew.
Jessica has come to believe there are many other aspects besides hard work that influence a
person’s success or failure at a company, such as having political savvy and knowing how to
navigate different spaces. Today, instead of being ruled by the idea of hard work and
meritocracy, Jessica works to build and preserve her professional integrity and live up to her own
standards. Cristina shared the disparity that exists within the idea of meritocracy in relation to the
blue-collar community:
Hard work can be found everywhere, in a board room, and also in the agricultural fields.
And if all of us were judged by how hard we worked, you wouldn’t see the inequities that
we see today. My dad has been a gardener for almost 40 years. He’s one of the hardest
working people I know. And yet, it took him 20 years to be able to afford a down
payment for a house. And there are people who work very, very hard now and can’t
afford a house. Is that them not working hard? I don’t think so.

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Cristina’s thoughts show how meritocracy can be used to explain people’s perceived lack of
success; it becomes easy to say that someone was not successful because they did not work hard
enough.
Generally, study participants believed that career success was more difficult to achieve
for Latine people than White people. They shared challenges such as having to prove one’s
worth as a Latine person in the workplace, facing circumstances that inhibited the pursuit of
education, and, for women, facing cultural expectations about being a working mother. Other
study participants believed these barriers were due to the deficit narratives that plague the Latine
community; Karina shared:
I don’t think people think that we’re smart right away. I think a lot of people think less of
us, so we’re not given as many opportunities. For some people it might be, like in my
case, having language issues. My English was pretty broken. It still is broken but I’m still
learning and improving. I did feel like people thought I was less smart because of that.
And it might be the same case when you hear someone with like, a Mexican American
accent, and people make assumptions.
To take control of his career path, Michael conducted a test regarding whether being Latino put
him at an advantage or disadvantage when applying to jobs:
My last name is spelled with an accent over one of the letters. It’s the true way of spelling
my name and honoring my family history. So, I put an accent on my last name for half of
the resumes that I submitted and removed the accent on my last name for the other half.
And I heard from far less organizations who received a resume with the accent on my last
name versus organizations who received a resume without the accent on my last name. I
decided to pursue only the opportunities where the accent was accepted.

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Because of the barriers and deficit narratives that exist for Latine people, which permeate the
workplace, five participants shared how they often overcompensate in the workplace to prove
themselves. Overcompensation was discussed as a way of “earning trust” with clients and
colleagues, and as a way to prove worth in the workplace. They characterized the need to
overcompensate as an undue burden faced by Latine people that White people, and specifically,
White men, may not often encounter in the workplace.
When discussing the barriers that Latine people face in the workplace, Cristina discussed
her perception that there is not a strong or supportive network of Latine professionals. She
juxtaposed this perception with the commonly accepted idea that White people have stronger
networks they can call upon when looking for career opportunities. While there are Latine people
who would both agree and disagree with Cristina’s perception, her perception is valid in the
sense that even a perceived barrier can hider racial equity in the workplace; this perception
warrants an exploration as to why Latine professionals may not be able to build strong networks,
as well as an exploration of how the successful networks of Latine professionals that do exist
were established.
The study participants reflected on these experiences on a metacognitive level. For
example, Michael’s experiment shows how he minimized his Latinidad by removing the accent
from his name to reclaim his agency in the job search process. However, there may be some
Latine people who are not aware of IRO, who may minimize their Latinidad because they feel
it’s their best chance of attaining employment. When the myth of meritocracy is examined
through the lens of IRO, the situation becomes more dire because some Latine people may not be
aware of the larger systems barring them from career success.

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These experiences show how the myth of meritocracy and racial deficit narratives can
shape the career trajectory of Latine professionals. Latine people are told that all they need to do
is work hard to succeed, while at the same time receiving messaging that they are not good
enough. When combined with IRO manifestations such as impostor syndrome, the myth of
meritocracy and resulting career barriers can severely limit the career opportunities available to
Latine people, as well as the opportunities that Latine people may envision for themselves. In
addition to hindering racial equity, limiting the number of Latine people who enter and succeed
in the workforce contributes to a homogenous organizational culture that will continue to
exclude those who do not conform.
Tokenism and Representing the Latine Community in the Workplace
Four study participants discussed dealing with tokenism in the workplace. Tokenism
occurred when a study participant was the only Latine person or one of a few Latine people in
the workplace. Jessica unpacked the quandary that emerged from tokenism:
I think there are situations where you realize, oh, I’m the token person in this room, and
processing those feelings, but also then turning it around to, great, I’m your token but
now that I’m here, I can use this opportunity to teach you and others about my abilities
and our community. So, it’s complicated because it can be both. But I think it’s a very
difficult journey to get through that, like that awareness that you’re a token here and
feeling like you’re not capable, but also knowing that you were obviously selected
because you’re able to perform.
Jessica saw tokenism as a burden, but also as an opportunity to display her skills and knowledge,
and to possibly reframe the expectations placed on her. In Michael’s experience, being the only

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Latino in the room has put an undue burden on him to represent the entire Latine community. He
shared:
I’ve had experiences or moments where I feel like I am speaking on behalf of the Latino
community when in reality, like, my own experiences and my own privileges do not
reflect the experiences of all Latinos, and it makes me question whether or not I am
worthy of even talking about Latino experiences.
Michael’s experience highlights the inherent problem with tokenism, which is that one person is
not sufficiently able to represent an entire race or community. As Michael explained, the lived
experiences within communities vary greatly, thereby proving that tokensim incorrectly signals
that one person could represent all the experiences within a community. Even under the burden
of tokenism and representing the Latine community, both Jessica and Michael discussed the
privilege and responsibility of being in this position. Jessica felt that these moments were
opportunities to fight the stereotypes that plague the Latine community. Michael shared that
while this responsibility is not a bad thing, it is also not a good thing since marginalized people
are disproportionately in the position of being tokenized and having to represent a whole
community.
Michael and Jessica’s experiences are reflective of the alchemy that occurs when an
individual is confronted with their IRO. Michael and Jessica chose to alchemize the experience
of being tokenized into an opportunity to further the cause of racial justice. As Michael shared, “I
often try to remind myself that my presence and my participation in these professional settings is
an act of justice and an act towards dismantling racial oppression.” Jessica shared a similar
thought:

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I think there’s a reconciliation that the process has to happen internally. But for a long
time, I couldn’t reconcile tokenization with representation. I think it came with
experience and working on it. But it’s almost like great, is this what we’re going to do?
Well then let me flip that switch on you too. Now that you put me in this space, let’s do
the work that I know I can do here.
Jessica and Michael demonstrate how profound levels of awareness, emotional intelligence, and
patience are needed to succeed as a Latine person in the workplace. However, Alejandro shared
the dark side of trying to succeed as a Latine person in the workplace, being tokenized, and
shattering the proverbial glass ceiling in that process:
Once you shatter the glass ceiling, they leave your ass hanging. Yeah, there’s nothing.
Then who’s picking up those broken pieces? Because to break that ceiling, you broke
yourself. I’ve come to this conclusion of like, I’m not here to pave the path for anybody.
There’s also that added pressure that if I don’t do it, then someone else cannot do it.
That’s not my responsibility. Whomever put those barriers there, that’s their
responsibility, because it’s not on me, right?
Alejandro’s experience demonstrates the unfairness caused by tokenization, exemplified through
the expectation that once a Latine person breaks a glass ceiling, often at the cost of their own
wellbeing, they are expected to work toward removing those barriers.
Jessica, Michael, and Alejandro outline two different responses to tokenization. Neither
of these responses demonstrate IRO in and of themselves; however, IRO can emerge in the
discussion of which approach is “right” and which approach is “wrong,” which is an ongoing
discussion in the Latine community. Some may view Jessica and Michael’s response to
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that created these problems in the first place. On the other hand, there are some who would view
Alejandro’s response reflective of IRO—too radical and not helpful in promoting Latine
representation within the workplace. Within the context of this study, both responses to
tokenization are valid; they are both responses to externally experienced racism and represent the
ways in which some Latine professionals choose to cope with these issues in the workplace.
Creating understanding that both responses exist within the Latine experience in the workplace
could support in creating more cohesion and understanding within the Latine professional
community.
Minimizing Latinidad and Climbing the Corporate Ladder
Several participants discussed how climbing the corporate ladder, or advancing in their
careers, often entailed the sacrificing of their Latinidad. Isabela experienced what she called an
“unspoken rule” in which one must minimize one’s Latinidad to advance in an organization.
Because of this unspoken rule, she felt that she could not authentically express her culture and
needed to hide this side of her. Gabriela conceptualized this as a push toward assimilation in the
workplace, expressing that the farther one advances up the corporate ladder, the more one must
let go of their Latinidad and Indigeneity to continue that upward mobility. Cristina felt she had to
sacrifice parts of her culture in order to break through institutional norms that favored the White
dominant culture. Five participants shared that the sacrificing of their Latinidad occurred via the
requirement to look professional, with some mentioning the additional requirement of sounding
professional in their speaking. Camila conceptualized this as the need to align with Whiteness to
succeed in the workplace, and added the intersection of class to her observation:
We do live in societies where the norm tends to be more like what’s accepted as
Whiteness. I think you have to add class to that, because there’s folks who support

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dressing or acting a certain way, but it’s always trying to assimilate or emulate middleclass or upper-class professionalism, because that’s what tends to prevail within those
spheres.
Professionalism that is shaped by Whiteness has implications for IRO and speaks to the
intractable problem faced by Latine professionals of being authentic but also seeking career
success. These experiences highlight the binaries into which Latine professionals are often
forced into, such as the idea that one must sacrifice their Latinidad to be successful. The study
participants did not wish this was the case, but they expressed it as a reality they faced. These
experiences also demonstrate how IRO-dismantling is not incentivized due to the idea that
showing up in one’s full Latinidad could result in less career success. The dismantling of IRO is
often at odds with organizational culture that is dominated by White normative standards.
IRO and Academia
A theme that emerged because of the testimonios was IRO in academic settings. Three
participants shared experiences with IRO in academic settings and indicated how they were
similar to the IRO they experienced in the workplace. Most of these examples have been
discussed in other sections of this chapter. While IRO within academia is outside the scope of
this dissertation study, these experiences are relevant to the study of IRO in the sense that they
can further reveal how IRO operates within academic organizations and should be marked for
future study.
Dismantling IRO within Organizations
A theme that emerged from this discussion was dismantling IRO within organizations
and within the professional identity. The hardships that the study participants faced, as explored
in this section, have resulted in insights about how IRO could be dismantled within Latine

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professionals, potentially resulting in more equitable organizations. Isabela and Gabriela
emphasized the importance of a work-life balance. Isabela shared that while she is happy to
move up in her career if it happens organically, she is not going to burn herself out just to attain
something “material.” She shared, “We’re sold this idea that happiness comes from success in an
organization, but we don’t really focus, at least here in America, on life and family and
community.” This philosophy was somewhat at odds with her parents’ and mentors’ approach to
life, which was to work hard and go as far as possible at any cost. Gabriela, who lives by the
Indigenous philosophy of looking seven generations to the past and seven generations to the
future, shared that she lost many jobs because of her commitment to prioritizing motherhood.
However, this commitment to motherhood and her family shapes the way she leads her
organization today. Gabriela felt strongly that those wishing to dismantle their IRO in the
workplace must examine their work-life balance:
It’d be really important to speak with folks who are trying to get that work-life balance,
because I think in a lot of ways it is very indicative of how that internalized work still
needs to get included in workspaces. Everybody talks about family values and respect for
la madre and all these other concepts within our community, but when it comes to work,
it’s not embraced. People aren’t always understanding of the needs that you have as a
mother, as a parent, as somebody who wants to make sure that they’re present for their
children. And so, when you think about that nine to five or you think about the structures
that exist, that are very much about the American work hours, they do not mesh well with
the ideology of Indigeneity and the Chicano concepts of family. So, I would say that’s a
great place to really start kind of fleshing out like where the most obvious opposition
exists between these concepts.

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Gabriela and Isabela highlighted how commitment to a work-life balance, while challenging and
not necessarily the norm, could dismantle IRO concepts such as having to overperform and the
myth of meritocracy by redefining success.
Camila discussed the need to make space for underrepresented Latine people in the
workplace, such as Afro Latine people and the blue-collar Latine community. This included
Latine professionals “passing the mic” to center the voices of underrepresented Latine people.
She said:
I definitely try to point out what books are missing from spaces that claim to be diverse.
Also, every time I see a Latino panel, and it’s all White Latinos, I’m like, where are the
Black Latinos? Just because we made it doesn’t mean that should be the end of it. We
should also be looking at who’s missing.
Camila’s example highlights the way Latine people could use their privilege to make space in the
workplace for those who are underrepresented within the community.
Three study participants discussed the benefit of Latine-Latine support in the workplace.
Cristina shared that being mentored by Latine people throughout her career was very impactful.
For Cristina, seeing Latine people in higher-level positions signaled that it was possible for her to
succeed in those positions. Gabriela shared that mentoring in the professional community could
undo some of the competitiveness and cliquishness that exists among Latine professionals in the
workforce; she believes in focusing more on consortium-building and coming together to create
change. Michael shared that not all Latine professionals may see the benefit of disrupting deficit
narratives about the Latine community because of the real and perceived scarcity of
opportunities for Latine professionals. However, he shared that he has much optimism for Latine
people supporting each other in the workplace:

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I believe every Latino professional in settings in which they weren’t before, they have the
ability to open doors for many more Latinos, many more people of color. The existence
of Latino professionals in these different settings, regardless of sector, is an act of
defiance and an act of dismantling the racial oppression that has been internalized, and
that has been perpetuated by White normative standards and in the settings that exist in
these professional workplaces.
Promoting Latine-Latine support in the workplace could dismantle IRO within Latine
professionals as well as contribute to the creation of more equitable organizations.
Lastly, the majority of study participants discussed the unique position that Latine
professionals are in that could contribute to the dismantling of IRO within the workplace and
within the Latine community. Participants discussed the many assets that come with being a
Latine professional that could be used to benefit the entire Latine community. Jessica discussed
the ability that Latine professionals have to navigate different spaces and the tools they may have
to organically build allyship. As shared previously, Michael perceived Latine professionals as
representative of racial justice because they have entered a space where few Latine people have
been able to enter, and because of this, they are uniquely positioned to continue building upon
that racial justice to create space for other Latine people. Lorena viewed Latine professionals as
potentially having access to a “certain level of information” that could be passed on to others
within their spheres of influence, such as family members. Latine professionals could potentially
create positive change by taking certain actions toward justice that are within their control.
Research Question 3 Conclusion
The five findings that emerged from this research question exemplify how IRO and
externally experienced racism manifest and shape the organizational experiences of Latine

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professionals. Deficit narratives were found to be prominent in affecting the organizational
experiences of Latine professionals, often dictating how they navigate the workplace and how
they are perceived. These experiences demonstrate how Latine people must confront their IRO
and externally experienced racism in the workplace, all with the undue burdens of impostor
syndrome, stereotype avoidance, and having to represent their community. Despite this, the study
participants discussed the hope and passion with which they pursue racial equity in the
workplace. These findings exemplify how Latine professionals not only have to work through
racism and IRO but are also tasked with solving problems of racial equity caused by systemic
racism.
Research Question 4: From the Perspectives of Latine Professionals, How Does
Internalized Racial Oppression Perpetuate Majoritarian Narratives, Antiblackness, and
Indigenous Erasure?
As explored in previous research questions, IRO was found to be harmful at the
individual level, causing suffering and disrupting the wellbeing of the study participants. This
question sought to understand how IRO can affect communities and society at the macro level.
The study participants were asked to share their thoughts on how IRO in the Latine community
could perpetuate majoritarian narratives, antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure. The findings in
this section reveal four majoritarian narratives influenced by IRO within the Latine community,
and two counter-majoritarian narratives being championed by the study participants.
Additionally, study participants deeply linked antiBlackness and Indigenous Erasure to IRO
within the Latine community and share how they manifest.

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Majoritarian Narratives
As described in Chapter One, majoritarian narratives are cultural stories that “privilege”
White people, men, individuals in the middle or upper class, and people with the heterosexual
orientation” (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002, p. 28). The privilege occurs when these positionalities
are deemed the natural or default way of being for humans (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002).
Majoritarian narratives can be believed and perpetuated by people of color (Solórzano & Yosso,
2002). Based on the data collected from the study participants through their testimonios,
majoritarian narratives are connected to the manifestations of IRO (listed in Table 2). Minimally,
they are linked and have some sort of symbiotic relationship in which one perpetuates the other.
However, based on the findings from this study, an argument may be constructed in which IRO
manifestations could be viewed as the mechanisms by which majoritarian narratives are
perpetuated. The following sections discuss six predominant ways in which the study
participants observed IRO perpetuating majoritarian narratives.
IRO and the Desire to Align With Whiteness
The desire to align with Whiteness and valuing White norms over cultural norms were
mentioned as ways in which IRO advances the majoritarian narrative that the White dominant
culture is superior. Some study participants observed that to align with Whiteness, one must
distance themselves from Blackness and Indigeneity. From Camila’s perspective, the desire to
align with Whiteness comes from the fact that Whiteness is so overtly privileged in society over
Blackness, thusly incentivizing alignment with Whiteness and distancing from Blackness. Sofia
witnessed the desire to align with Whiteness through the IRO manifestation of Eurocentric
beauty standards (shown in Table 2, mentioned eight times by five study participants). She was
on the receiving end of strong messaging within her family about the values of fair skin and light

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hair. Sofia echoed Camila’s thought that society is structured in such a way that aligning with
Whiteness includes an inherent distancing from Blackness. Several study participants explored
how aligning with Whiteness or being in proximity to Whiteness could allow Latine people to
gain privilege and in turn avoid being marginalized. Olivia observed that aligning with
Whiteness is about both power and survival:
The closer you are to dominant language or the dominant identity, the closer you are to
Whiteness, the more power you have. And there’s no better way, at least, policy- and
campaign-wise, to give yourself more power than to put somebody else down. I think it’s
about giving ourselves more legitimacy to the White gaze.
Sofia witnessed her fair-skinned family members “blend and pretend” that they were White, and
as a result, they were able to gain access to certain privileges such as education. This desire to
align with Whiteness even extended to certain family members marrying fair-skinned people,
also known as blanqueamiento (listed in Table 2), which is the commonly held idea that one
should marry someone light-skinned to ensure one’s descendants are light-skinned.
Lorena emphasized the importance of exposing the desire to align with Whiteness in the
Latine community. Lorena observed that the desire to align with Whiteness was a product of the
colonization of Latin American and the resulting “White supremacist view of the world and a
way of relating and being in relationship with people.” Lorena shared her belief that Latine
people are not “absolved from White supremacy culture,” and has observed certain Latine people
avoiding discussing race and failing to examine how they may perpetuate the same oppressions
as the dominant culture. This observation is perhaps one of the most important to emerge in the
understanding of IRO and in response to this research question. Examining one’s IRO and how

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one may replicate oppression is the key to not only understanding IRO, but also to dismantling
IRO.
Nine out of 29 IRO manifestations listed in Table 2 concerned the desire to align with,
uphold, or pursue Whiteness. In addition to the previously mentioned IRO manifestations of
upholding Eurocentric beauty standards and blanqueamiento, these manifestations include
colorism, assimilation, IRO as a form of survival, valuing speaking English over speaking
Spanish, avoiding the discussion of race, White privilege within the Latine community, and
policing the behavior of other Latine people, all of which are listed in Table 2. These
manifestations were identified as perpetuating the desire to align with Whiteness based on the
experiences shared by the study participants. As mentioned previously, the other side of aligning
with Whiteness is distancing from Blackness, or antiBlackness, which is discussed subsequently.
IRO and the American Dream
Study participants were asked to share their thoughts on the idea of the American Dream
and if they thought it was connected to IRO. Participants largely agreed that there was a
connection between the American Dream and IRO, mostly in the sense that the pursuit of the
American Dream entailed aligning with Whiteness. Gabriela observed that assimilation was the
link between IRO and the American Dream, based on the idea that in order to achieve the
American Dream, one has to become Americanized. Assimilation was identified and listed in
Table 2 as a manifestation of IRO by the study participants in their conceptualizations of IRO.
Camila and Karina observed IRO manifesting within the American Dream via the desire to
emulate White people based on the perception of what they have—a job, a home, a family, and
stability. Jessica viewed the pursuit of the American Dream as a deep-set belief for some Latine
people:

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There’s a belief that you come here, and you work hard, and you’re going to be fine. And
then I think people come here and they realize it’s not just about hard work. You need to
be politically savvy; you need to have access to education.
Cristina shared that this concept of working hard could potentially be detrimental to the Latine
community. Latine people who do achieve success or the so-called American Dream and
attribute it to hard work alone could look at other “non-successful” Latine people and think that
they did not work hard enough. Lorena shared that this belief and the pursuit of the American
Dream places the responsibility for success or failure on individuals and not on systems,
potentially detracting from impacting systemic racism. These examples demonstrate how IRO
can uphold certain deficit narratives that perpetuate majoritarian narratives.
A notable theme that emerged within this finding was that several study participants
deeply related the idea of the American Dream to homeownership, often citing homeownership
as the ultimate aspiration expressed in the pursuit of the American Dream. Alejandro shared how
his family’s pursuit of owning a home epitomized success, and that there were no further
aspirations within his family beyond home ownership. In this sense, Alejandro viewed the
pursuit of the American Dream and homeownership as limiting and expressed that his aspirations
extend beyond that of the American Dream and homeownership. The connection between
homeownership and the American Dream was notable because of the history of property
ownership in the United States—namely the valuing of property over humanity as exemplified in
various iterations of U.S. racism (slavery, segregation, redlining, etc.). The conceptualization of
property ownership as the epitome of the American Dream echoes the colonial ideals upon which
the United States was founded.

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While many of the study participants who spoke of the American Dream believed it to be
a false narrative and out of reach for most people, several participants spoke about their earnest
belief in aspects of the American Dream. Cristina discussed how her family came to the United
States so that she could pursue an education, and shared how education has been instrumental in
shaping who she is as a Latina. Sofia shared that she has achieved her own version of the
American Dream; while she recognizes her privilege, she also does feel like the American
Dream exists and can be attainable for some who are “lucky enough to have the opportunity to
access it.” Cristina’s and Sofia’s experiences exemplify how the American Dream represents the
pursuit of a better life for some Latine people, and it also represents stories of resilience,
perseverance, and hope within the Latine community.
This dual understanding of the American Dream—both as farce and aspiration—speaks
to a potential need to redefine and reclaim the American Dream, not as an unattainable fantasy
nor to rewrite history, but as an encompassment of stories of Latine success, empowerment, and
resilience. Further, the fact that some study participants connected the American Dream to IRO
highlights the need to decouple the American Dream from the pursuit of Whiteness. A starting
point in this decoupling process could be for Latine people to explore how antiBlackness and
Indigenous erasure factor into the American Dream.
IRO and Deficit Storytelling
Deficit storytelling was conceptualized as the forced victimization of an individual
through the retelling of their story for the purposes of marketing or fundraising. While some
study participants experienced the deficit storytelling for themselves, others discussed deficit
storytelling surrounding Latine students. Gabriela described her experience with deficit
storytelling and its connection to IRO and philanthropy:

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I worked for a foundation as a director, and the foundation was run by very wealthy
benefactors who tasked me with building this program, and when I was interviewing,
they asked about my first-generation experience. Fast forward 2 years, we were at a
cocktail party, and they said to me, ‘Gabriela, can you please share that one story you
told us from that one incident when you first went to college?’ Because the story did
relate to the fact that I didn’t have enough winter clothes when I first went to college, and
that I was struggling, and they wanted me to share that as an anecdote for their cocktail
party. So yes, there is a lot of unresolved internal racialized oppression, within the
nonprofit sector, a lot of it, because the framework it’s been built on is othering. Who are
we helping? This idea that estamos ayudando a sus pobrecitos.
Gabriela and Jessica—who shared an experience similar to Gabriela’s—explained that these
experiences have led them to be more reserved and private in sharing their stories in the
workplace. Jessica explained, “I don’t need anybody’s pity. I need everybody to just see me as a
person.” Gabriela and Jessica highlighted a dark side of the philanthropic world that dictates how
the beneficiaries are portrayed. IRO becomes a factor in these situations when Latine people—
such as Gabriela and Jessica—work in non-profit or philanthropic-adjacent organizations and
grapple with how to portray Latine students in the philanthropic context. Jessica, who works at a
university, shared that she struggles with how to talk about Latine students and their backstories
while also needing to raise funds to support these students:
There was a student we highlighted who was formerly incarcerated, formerly in foster
care, and a victim of all sorts of abuse and the way that story was told, I’m like, that’s
going to sell. But that’s not the story I want to tell because she now is graduating with a
master’s degree as a single mother, who was formerly homeless, and she’s advocating for

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other former foster youth. But it doesn’t have to be so heavy on, let’s pull at your
heartstrings. Let’s also celebrate this person and tell this other narrative. It’s almost like
they tell the narrative to a certain point.
Jessica emphasized her desire to focus more on the achievements of the students and celebrate
where they are now without having to re-victimize them. Alejandro shared a similar story about
how deficit storytelling affected his journey managing his IRO. Alejandro was part of a middle
school program that changed his life for the better; when he went to college, he became a
counselor for that program to give back. He recalled the following experience:
They started inviting me to fundraisers. I was going to Bel Air to people’s homes, these
beautiful places that I was like, I don’t fit in here. This was happening as I’m trying to
work out, you know, if I am good enough. I didn’t want to be Latino. But now I have to
like, perform my story. That victimization of having to always tell my story had such a
huge impact. But then we had our galas, and I remember being invited as an alumnus,
and we weren’t allowed to sit at the tables, like the other guests who were paying. We
would go around to say, ‘Hey, do you want to donate?’ And of course, it was for a
positive thing. At one point I was a keynote speaker at one of the galas and I was that
token student who had made it, who had gone to the White House to intern under Obama.
It became so toxic because every time I talked to anybody in the program, I had to
victimize myself. And the expectation was, when we need you, you come and you
perform, because of what we’ve done for you.
Several majoritarian narratives intersect within these experiences, despite the intention of most
philanthropic organizations, which is to create a positive impact. The first majoritarian narrative
is that all the outcomes of philanthropy are positive; these experiences reveal certain unintended

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consequences that result from philanthropic relationships. The second majoritarian narrative is
that philanthropy must be deserved; these stories highlight a need to portray beneficiaries as
underserved and “needy,” likely so that benefactors can see the positive impact their dollars are
making. While highlighting the positive impact made by philanthropic dollars is understandable
and necessary, it seems to perpetuate the third majoritarian narrative at play here, which is that
Black and Brown people desperately need philanthropic support. This idea of underserved
communities often perpetuates deficit narratives about Black and Brown people while obscuring
the systemic reasons for the disparities. The fourth majoritarian narrative is the idea that the
beneficiaries “owe” the benefactors or the organization which supported them; while there is a
place for gratitude, the experience of the study participants demonstrate how the expectation of
gratitude obscures certain injustices. Lastly, when Brown people run philanthropic organizations,
they are tasked with navigating the quandary of how to responsibly report the impact of
philanthropic dollars while not revictimizing the beneficiaries or perpetuating deficit narratives;
this choice essentially forces the Black or Brown person to confront their IRO.
IRO and Pitting Races Against Each Other
Study participants were asked their views on how the Latine community was situated
within the context of the Black and White racial dichotomy that exists in the United States. Study
participants largely felt that the Black and White racial dichotomy was a majoritarian narrative
that erased the needs of the Latine community while also pitting races against each other.
Michael discussed how the majoritarian narrative of Latine interests being at odds with those of
the Black community unnecessarily pits races against each other:
Oftentimes, politicians, those in power, use that to their advantage, right? They want
division, they want Black people to be divided amongst their Latino brothers and sisters

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and same thing with our Asian brothers and sisters and with our Native brothers and
sisters. Achieving Latino equity is both beneficial for the Black community and also for
all other communities. The same thing when it comes to the Black community achieving
equity for their own pursuit of justice. But it’s hard because not everyone thinks of it that
way. It shouldn’t be seen as a zero-sum game. But politicians and those in power often
view access for one group as failure for the other, when in reality, that’s not the case.
While study participants largely agreed with the concept that Michael verbalized, some also
shared that the majoritarian narrative of the Black-White racial dichotomy obscured the plight of
the Latine community. Alejandro shared that from his perspective, there is not much literature on
the history of the Latine experience in the United States, and that most of the information on the
Latine community is dominated by the immigration narrative. Cristina highlighted the fact that
the Latine community also experienced segregation and other injustices before the civil rights era
but agreed that these stories are largely ignored.
Camila linked the concept of pitting races against each other to identity politics, or the
perception that “you have to vote for people who look like you for you to be helped … you’re
sold this idea that because they share this identity with you, things are going to get better for
you.” She brought up the Los Angeles City Council situation, discussed in Chapter Two, as an
example of how politicians of color may not always prioritize the interests of people of color, or
people from their same racial group due to IRO. This situation exposed that myth and reinforced
the majoritarian narrative that political gains for one group mean losses for another group.
Even though these thoughts regarding Brown erasure were verbalized, most study
participants were able to hold the complex idea that pushing for Latine equality was not
necessarily at odds with their desire to also dismantle antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure. For

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the study participants, the idea that these concepts were intractable or at odds with each other
was representative of White supremacy culture and how it forces binary thinking. Lorena and
Gabriela shared the perspective that White supremacy culture obscures the nuance that is
necessary in conversations surrounding race and equity by forcing people to align with
Blackness or Whiteness or fit themselves into certain checkboxes. Gabriela took this idea a step
further and acknowledged that Latine people need to be involved in these conversations about
race:
I feel like some Latino activists that I’ve worked with, or Chicano activists, have been
wary of saying out loud, ‘No, we need a seat at the table,’ because they don’t want to be
perceived as antiBlack. That goes back to this idea that continues to polarize the country.
You need to be able to have these like really tough conversations in a safe environment
where we can call people in.
As shared by the study participants, majoritarian narratives serve to further pit races against each
other instead of creating space for different races and identities to support each other. IRO
reinforces the idea that different identities and pursuits for equity operate in silos.
Counter-Majoritarian Narrative: Latine Professionals and the Blue-Collar Latine
Community
An essential component of examining IRO and the Latine professional identity includes
understanding Latine professionals’ perceptions of the blue-collar Latine community. Almost
every study participant shared that their parents or other close family members were part of the
blue-collar Latine community. Further, almost every study participant shared that they viewed
the blue-collar Latine community with immense respect and shared that they were largely

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undervalued by society. While these findings were not unexpected, it is important to understand
how, for the study participants, blue-collar-white-collar stratifications were not sources of IRO.
Study participants viewed the blue-collar Latine community from a perspective of
support and solidarity. Lorena used language to describe the blue-collar Latine community that
was echoed across study participants: “I view the blue-collar Latine community with great
respect, and the word that’s coming to mind is reverence. I feel like they are underappreciated,
undervalued for their contributions and for their skills and knowledge.” Cristina shared that her
identity as a Latina professional has not shaped the way she sees blue-collar Latine people, but
that her identity as a professional has been shaped by the legacy of her blue-collar parents.
However, study participants discussed how there are prevalent deficit/majoritarian
narratives that affect the perceptions of the blue-collar Latine community amongst the larger
Latine community. Isabela discussed her brother, whose job is driving a bus:
My parents were always pushing him to do more, but he likes his job. I think there’s an
idea in the Latino community that you have to like, go to an office and that’s how you are
successful, but he actually makes more money than me. And they just kind of see him as
like, oh, well, he didn’t go to college. There’s nothing that takes away from him just
because he doesn’t work in an office. And he’s proud to do what he does. He serves his
community.
Camila shared a similar majoritarian narrative circulating through the Latine community that
people in blue-collar jobs are unintelligent or that blue-collar jobs are not prestigious. However,
she points out that Latine people in blue-collar jobs, many of whom are immigrants, are
subjected to systemic racism that denies them certain access and opportunities.

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Despite blue-collar deficit narratives within the Latine community, the respect with
which the study participants viewed the blue-collar Latine community shows how majoritarian
narratives can be disrupted through the dismantling of IRO. The study participants have
dismantled majoritarian class narratives to the extent that they can relate to the blue-collar Latine
community from a place of solidarity. Further solidarity building with the blue-collar Latine
community will be explored in the next research question.
Counter-Majoritarian Narrative: Foreign Country Experiences
Two study participants discussed a perspective shift that occurred for them while
traveling outside of the United States. Alejandro shared his experience working as an educator in
Ethiopia. Even though he is a Brown man, Alejandro explained that his Ethiopian colleagues
perceived him as White, and because of this, he was afforded many privileges that his Ethiopian
colleagues were not. Alejandro shared his experience of being perceived as White and having
more privilege:
So, here in Ethiopia, if you’re not Black, you’re White. I remember the first couple of
months I really struggled with it and realized that the way I see White people in the U.S.
is how Ethiopians see me. And so, I remember the first couple of months it felt really
good. I was like, wow, if it feels this good to have this much privilege and to be
comfortable, I can understand why somebody wouldn’t step out of that comfort to fight
for somebody else with less privilege. And so here, Ethiopian faculty compared to
international faculty are treated very differently. I get a washer in my apartment; I get a
microwave. I get dishes and glasses for wine; they get nothing. I knew this and I allowed
my privilege as an international person, who here is considered White, to just let it
happen. It took me a couple of months to say to myself, ‘What the hell are you doing?

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What you’re literally allowing to happen is why you’ve had so many fucked up
experiences, because no one has ever cared to do anything about it because of keeping
that privilege.’ And so, then I started to speak up about the disparities and inequalities
faced by my Ethiopian colleagues; I started to talk to administration. I’m the only
international person who speaks up and fights for the Ethiopian faculty.
Alejandro actively disrupted his IRO and the majoritarian narratives—such as antiBlackness—at
play in this situation by using his privilege to advocate for others.
Olivia discussed traveling to Mexico and realizing that she was perceived similarly to the
way that upper class and light-skinned Mexicans were perceived in Mexico. She discussed
having certain “markers of Whiteness” that allowed her to be perceived as privileged. Olivia
shared, “It was a great opportunity for me to view myself because I didn’t realize, I guess how
far I’ve come and how much I do have markers of the dominant culture.”
These experiences in foreign countries gave Alejandro and Oliva the opportunity to view
themselves with privilege as opposed to viewing themselves from the perspective of a society in
which they were “othered.” These perspectives potentially show that being American and from
the United States is an intersection of privilege within the Latine experience and could reinforce
how imperative it is to factor in nuances of privilege when understanding the Latine community.
Further, these perspectives may support Latine people in understanding how any intersection of
privilege could be used to support others, such as in Alejandro’s experience. Understanding the
feelings that come with privilege could also support Latine people in having conversations and
building relationships with those who have privilege with the goal of promoting allyship. Finally,
Alejandro’s experience shows the prevalence of antiBlackness at a global scale and reinforces
the importance of dismantling antiBlackness at all levels of society.

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The study participants’ experiences demonstrate how the manifestations of IRO operate
within and perpetuate majoritarian narratives. However, their experiences also show that
majoritarian narratives can be disrupted through the dismantling of IRO. These experiences also
demonstrate how privilege can be used to fight systemic oppression.
AntiBlackness and Indigenous Erasure
A goal of this dissertation is to expose antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure by
understanding how they inform the history of Latine people, as well as how they shape Latine
IRO. All study participants were open to exploring the ways antiBlackness and Indigenous
erasure manifest in the Latine community. The findings in this section report how the study
participants view the linkage between antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and Latine IRO.
AntiBlackness
All study participants believed that antiBlackness was a problem in the Latine
community, and the vast majority viewed antiBlackness as connected to IRO in the Latine
community. Further, many of the study participants directly linked antiBlackness in the Latine
community to Spanish colonial structures. The findings discussed in this section include how
antiBlackness manifests within the Latine community, how antiBlackness is connected to IRO,
and how these two aspects inform the perceptions of Afro Latine people.
AntiBlackness in the Latine Community and IRO
Study participants shared their conceptualizations of antiBlackness, all of which spoke to
the idea that Blackness is undesirable. These definitions shared the common thread that involved
the of devaluing Black people and Black culture as a whole. In her conceptualization of
antiBlackness, Isabela included policies, systems, and organizations that perpetuate

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antiBlackness. This alignment in conceptualization demonstrates that the study participants were
familiar with commonly held conceptualizations of antiBlackness.
The study participants were aware of antiBlackness perpetuated at the societal level
toward Black people in general, but they were also aware of how it manifested within the Latine
community. They observed that it manifested as racism toward non-Latine Black people,
marginalization of Afro Latine people, and racism towards darker-skinned Latine people
(colorism), whether they identified as Black or not. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, giving
nicknames based on skin color was identified by study participants as a way that colorism and
antiBlackness are perpetuated within the Latine community.
In addition to Gabriela’s story about a family member nicknamed el ocho (eight ball),
Isabela discussed being called negra (black girl) and Camila shared that she was called la
morena (brown girl); all of these nicknames were given because of the perception of dark skin.
Camila believed her nickname stemmed purely from antiBlackness: “I feel like the darker
skinned you are, the closer you are to what was perceived to be Black, the more oppressed you
are.” Camila’s quote identifies how antiBlackness is perpetuated through and reinforces IRO; a
nickname rooted in antiBlackness shows how Blackness in general is devalued within the
community while actively marginalizing the person with darker skin by associating them with
Blackness. These examples show how antiBlackness within and outside of the Latine
community work together.
In relation to Black people outside of the Latine culture, study participants shared that
Black culture or being associated with Blackness/Black people was looked down upon. Multiple
participants shared stories of how they or their family members were not allowed to have Black
friends or associate with Black people. In Sofia’s experience, she shared that more progressive

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Latine families would allow their children to be friends with Black people, but they were still
forbidden to marry Black people. Alejandro discussed that media consumed by Latine people in
his family greatly reinforced negative Black stereotypes. All study participants discussed the
legacy of antiBlackness in the Latine community as a terrible but culturally engrained belief.
Several study participants cited negative Black-Brown relations in the United States as further
entrenching antiBlack ideologies within Latine people.
Nearly all study participants viewed antiBlackness as connected to IRO in the Latine
community (for one study participant, the question was not directly asked). The study
participants had different perceptions regarding how and why Latine IRO is connected to
antiBlackness. Isabela believed Latine IRO was connect to antiBlackness by the innate human
desire to see others as less-than. Jessica believed they were connected due to deep-set beliefs
entrenched in the community. Some study participants connected antiBlackness to the IRO that
resulted from Spanish colonization. Three out of the four participants who mentioned Spanish
colonization in connection to IRO mentioned the casta system. The direct naming of colonization
was somewhat unexpected based on the literature review and my perceptions of the Latine
community. However, the fact that some study participants observed the link between
antiBlackness and Spanish colonization signals a shift within the Latine community in which
certain individuals, such as the study participants, are open to exposing the complex history of
antiBlackness in the Latine community.
Afro Latine People
While study participants were largely aware of the negative consequences of
antiBlackness in the Latine community, they were also upfront about their lack of awareness of
Afro Latine people. When discussing Afro Latine people in the Latine community, five study

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participants mentioned not knowing that Afro Latine people existed until later in their lives.
Further, several study participants shared that they did not know or interact with any Black or
Afro Latine people until adulthood. This finding speaks to the complex racial structures that
confront Afro Latine people, which include antiBlackness due to systemic racism in the United
States, and mestizaje, which is the erasure of African and Indigenous roots in Latin America and
in Latine communities. Study participants mostly discussed this lack of awareness with dismay at
not having known about the existence and plight of Afro Latine people. Further, study
participants were aware of how their lack of awareness of Afro Latine people was due to systems
and structures of racism that perpetuate erasure. The study participants also were sympathetic to
the struggles faced by Afro Latine people due to systemic racism in both the United States and in
the Latine/Latin American community.
Study participants were aware of antiBlackness within the Latine community and viewed
it as connected to IRO. Participants discussed antiBlackness from the perspective that it was
widespread in the Latine community, but also from the perspective that it needed to be eradicated
from the community. While this section specifically examined antiBlackness, antiBlackness was
a running theme through the other sections within this chapter due to its link to Latine IRO.
Indigenous Erasure
While antiBlackness was something that the study participants learned through
observation, Indigenous erasure was understood innately through direct experiences. Study
participants were able to identify and share experiences within their families that spoke to
Indigenous erasure, communicating the ways in which Indigenous erasure seems to be built into
the Latine community. The majority of study participants saw these manifestations of Indigenous

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erasure as connected to IRO. The findings discussed in this section include how Indigenous
erasure manifests within the Latine community and how Indigenous erasure is connected to IRO.
All study participants who discussed Indigenous erasure viewed it as connected to IRO
within the Latine community. Study participants defined Indigenous erasure as ignoring,
distancing, and removing Indigenous experience and history from the Latine experience. The
study participants shared how Indigenous erasure occurred throughout their lives and within the
Latine community. As discussed in the demographics section of this chapter, many participants
experienced Indigenous erasure as a loss of connection to their Indigenous ancestry and as an
active distancing from their Indigenous heritage. The ways in which the study participants and
their families distanced themselves from their Indigenous ancestry were the upholding/pursuing
of Eurocentric beauty standards, denying or minimizing their Indigenous heritage, and
blanqueamiento.
Lorena perceived her Brown skin as her connection to her Indigeneity; not knowing
much about her Indigenous ancestry, she made the connection that her grandmother looked
similar to other Indigenous women that she had encountered. Lorena’s experience shows how
Indigenous heritage has been erased to the extent that people have to make certain assumptions
and connections for themselves. While Sofia did not have issues identifying her Indigenous
ancestry, she encountered issues trying to officially register her Apache ancestry. Sofia shared
that the Apache registry center was moved from Arizona to Oklahoma, making it inaccessible for
her family to register as part of the tribe. Sofia perceived this inaccessibility as perpetuating
Indigenous erasure:
It’s harder to track down because there’s so many tribes. How do you know which one is
yours? And I feel like as an educated person who is a researcher, for me to have a hard

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time getting in contact with somebody, the people who are in the general public are not
going to be able to access that because I can’t even do it. The way to register and do all
those things, it’s meant to be hard. It’s meant to be tricky. The registries themselves are
housed by the Native people or the councils, and they’re so understaffed and
underfunded. It would take a lot of time, money, and resources. So, I feel like that’s a
conscientious way to erase Native identity, at least within the United States.
Sofia’s experience shows how even if a family does have specific knowledge about their
Indigenous ancestry, there are further obstacles that prevent them from official recognition as
Indigenous.
Some study participants perceived that distancing from Indigenous ancestry occurred
because of the negative stereotypes associated with Indigeneity. Two participants mentioned La
India Maria, a fictional Indigenous comedic character, as representative of a negative Indigenous
stereotype. Camila said, “You definitely didn’t want to appear Indigenous. Like India Maria was
a joke, right? You didn’t want to be a joke.” Gabriela and Karina shared that Indigeneity was
often associated with ignorance and was something to be avoided. Similarly, Isabela shared how
a close family member, who was born in Oaxaca but is not Indigenous, was looked down upon
by other Mexicans. This family member would actively highlight that they were not Indigenous
despite being from Oaxaca.
Based on the experiences of the study participants, Indigenous distancing and erasure
could be seen to have a perpetual relationship. While Indigenous erasure occurred and occurs at
the macrolevel through settler colonialism, it also occurs at the microlevel through seemingly
small, everyday instances in which individuals are distanced or distance themselves from
Indigeneity. As discussed in Chapter Two, colonialism no longer needs to occur through an

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invasion; IRO is an automatic mechanism through which the ideals of settler colonialism are
advanced. Several participants cited the Los Angeles City Council incident, as discussed in
Chapter Two, as proof that Indigenous erasure and antiBlackness not only exist within the Latine
community, but as proof that they are actively perpetuated. Participants discussed the incident
with disappointment and outrage, especially because it occurred at the political level.
Similarly to antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure was a thread that emerged through many
other topics within the conversations about IRO. The study participants demonstrated awareness
and willingness to explore and expose Indigenous erasure. Building upon this willingness could
support further efforts to reverse Indigenous erasure within the Latine community.
Research Question 4 Conclusion
Study participants discussed how IRO in the Latine community perpetuates
antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives. Four majoritarian narratives were
found to be connected to IRO. Two counter-majoritarian narratives also emerged as part of the
findings, signaling ways in which Latine people are dismantling IRO. Study participants were
aware of how antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure are perpetuated within the Latine
community; the findings explore how antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure manifest within the
community. Michael’s words served as an eloquent summation of how IRO, antiBlackness,
Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives work to reproduce oppression:
I think internalized racial oppression in the Latino community definitely influences
notions of antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure because there’s sympathy towards the
dominant racial group of White people. So, there is a benefit to not only be anti-Latino,
but also to be antiBlack and erasing the Indigenous backgrounds and people, because of
how internalized racial oppression works. When someone truly believes that their own

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racial group is not worthy, their view of Black people or Indigenous people will probably
be far worse.
The study participants represent a group of Latine people who are willing to hold the complexity
of the Latine identity, sit with uncomfortable conversations, and ultimately unlearn engrained
IRO to pursue equity for all people of color.
Research Question 5: From the Perspectives of Latine Professionals, How Can We Build
Solidarity With the Black, Afro Latine, Blue-Collar Latine, and Indigenous Communities?
The study participants demonstrated a willingness and desire to build solidarity with the
Black, Afro Latine, blue-collar Latine, and Indigenous communities. Throughout the testimonio
interviews, study participants discussed the ways in which they already build solidarity with
these communities, and the ways in which they want to build solidarity. Additionally, many
participants were honest in examining the ways in which they have lacked awareness about
building solidarity with these communities.
Building Coalitions Between Races
Throughout the testimonios, some study participants shared that they envisioned
solidarity being built through interracial coalitions. Building these coalitions would involve
unlearning the majoritarian narratives that pit races against one another. Most participants
discussed focusing on supporting each other on a community level by focusing on common goals
and uniting against systemic oppression. Jessica observed that many similar disparities are faced
in the Black and Latine communities, such as in the education and health care spaces, and
explained that uniting on these causes could be a tool to organically create interracial coalitions.
Several study participants acknowledged the need for interracial coalitions but cautioned against
unilaterally proclaiming similarities between the communities. Lorena shared:

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The pathways to get to that for each person or each group are really different and what
needs to happen might be different, but I feel like the pursuit of racial equity to me is
really about like, what do we need to support people to live dignified lives full of joy and
success and things that feel good to them? I want that for people of all racial
backgrounds.
Participants were firmly rooted in both/and ideology, blatantly rejecting the majoritarian
narrative that success for one racial group takes away from the pursuit of equity for another
group.
Solidarity Building With the Black Community
All study participants expressed the need and desire to build solidarity with the Black
community. While the intent and desire to build solidarity was present, solidarity building
actions ranged from generic to concrete. While it is overall positive that the intent and desire to
build solidarity was present, it is worth noting that there is room for growth within the Latine
community in understanding specifically and concretely how to build solidarity and support the
Black community.
Several participants discussed the centering of Black voices in various spaces. Lorena
viewed this as understanding the “real” history of the United States and doing her part to
“understand the historical context and current challenges, following and connecting with Black
thought leaders, and being in community with Black folks.” She also named supporting policies
at the organizational, state, and federal levels that uplift and support the Black community as
critical to solidarity building. Karina observed the paucity of Black people in the spaces in which
she occupies, and because of this, believes that an increase in access to certain spaces is needed
within the Black community. She would pursue allyship by making space for Black people to

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communicate what they need to thrive in those spaces. Sofia shared that she observes many
similarities between the educated Latine community and the educated Black community.
Additionally, Sofia highlighted that there is some commonality between her experience as an
“Americanized” multi-generation Latina who pursued higher education and that of Black
Americans who pursued higher education. Given that Sofia has at times felt excluded by the
Latine community, exploring how multi-generation Latine people and Black people may unite
over shared experiences could support deeper coalition building between communities.
Several participants expressed how the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and the Black
Lives Matter (BLM) movement impacted their views on building solidarity with the Black
community. Isabela and Michael shared how the Latine organizations they are a part of actively
decided to financially support Black organizations. Michael viewed this as a way to support both
Latine and Black organizations in addressing racial disparities in their own ways; he went further
and acknowledged that often, the Black community faces worse racial disparities and Latine
people can utilize their privilege within these shared spaces. Isabela shared, “there is an erasure
of the intersections of our cultures that we need to be conscious of in order to build this
solidarity,” echoing earlier sentiments of both/and mentality.
Gabriela and Alejandro shared stories of engaging critically with the Latine community
and with themselves during the BLM movement. Gabriela discussed “calling in” privileged
Latine people within her circle around this time, encouraging them to examine their privilege and
dismantle antiBlackness. Alejandro shared that he attended BLM marches and supported activist
efforts in person and on social media. Alejandro expressed his opinion that these actions were
not and are not enough to combat the injustices faced by the Black community. Alejandro

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conveyed that he will be holding himself accountable to lean into the discomfort of standing up
for others and continuing to outwardly combat injustice in solidarity with the Black community.
Solidarity With the Afro Latine Community
As with the Black community, the study participants desired to build solidarity and
explore the ways in which they could ally with the Afro Latine community. While some study
participants had clear ideas about building solidarity with the Afro Latine community, other
study participants were open about the fact that they were not sure how to concretely pursue
allyship with the Afro Latine community. Those who expressed uncertainty about how to ally
with the Afro Latine community shared that they did not know any Afro Latine people, had not
built relationships with Afro Latine people, and that Afro Latine people were physically not
present in the spaces in which the study participants occupied. Most study participants shared
these observations with disappointment and concern that they were so disconnected from the
Afro Latine community.
Camila perceived that advocating for diverse representation within the Latine community
could lead to more inclusion for Afro Latine people; she emphasized that it is important for nonBlack Latine people to speak up when they notice only one type of Latine person being
represented and when Afro Latine people are missing from certain spaces. Isabela shared that
more widespread exposure to Afro Latine culture could support solidarity building efforts, and
Lorena expressed a desire to understand their values, thoughts, and beliefs so that she could
better understand how to be an effective ally. Karina and Gabriela observed the need to make the
names of certain Latine organizations inclusive of the diversity within the Latine community; as
an example, Karina shared that one of her colleagues from the Dominican Republic felt excluded

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from a Chicano affinity group due to its name. The Chicano Movement is heavily associated
with the Mexican identity, rather than other Latine identities.
These ideas represent effective starting points for solidarity building with the Afro Latine
community and demonstrate the desire of study participants to create allyship. However, a
takeaway from the study participants’ testimonios is that education about and exposure to the
Afro Latine community is greatly needed. The uncertainty about building solidarity with the
Afro Latine community also demonstrates the great need for Latine spaces to be more inclusive
of Black Latine people.
Solidarity With the Blue-Collar Latine Community
As discussed, all study participants expressed tremendous respect for the blue collar
Latine community, with many sharing that their families were part of the blue-collar Latine
community. Several additional ideas emerged from the testimonios about how to build solidarity
with the blue-collar Latine community. Camila emphasized the need for Latine professionals to
allow the blue-collar Latine community to speak for themselves; she shared that “no one is
voiceless, we are not letting them speak,” emphasizing the need for Latine professionals to share
their privilege by “passing the mic.” Isabela stated that she is intentional about including her
blue-collar friends and family in professional networking events in an effort to unite all working
Latine people under the “professional” umbrella. She sees this inclusion as an important part of
engaging and organizing the Latine community. Karina discussed the need to present blue-collar
career paths as viable and worthy alternatives to white-collar career paths; while she does not
wish to deter any Latine people from going to college, she hopes that Latine people could have
the opportunity to weigh each option neutrally without feeling like a blue-collar job is less
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While relatively few ideas were shared about how to build solidarity with the blue-collar
Latine community, many of the ideas shared were tangible, practical, and achievable. This
demonstrates the solidarity already present for the study participants with the blue-collar Latine
community and the effectiveness of dismantling certain class structures within the community.
While this is very positive, when juxtaposed with some of the challenges expressed for building
solidarity along racial lines, it potentially shows just how entrenched certain racial paradigms are
within the Latine community; class seems to be a more accessible point of solidarity than race.
Understanding this could support the further unlearning of ideologies that exist to exclude and
support the creation of solidarity strategies that transcend class structures. This also speaks to the
earlier concept of building racial equity by uniting around non-racial causes that are shared by
multiple groups.
Solidarity With the Indigenous Community
All study participants expressed the need and desire to build solidarity with the
Indigenous community. While the intent and desire to build solidarity was present, solidarity
building actions ranged from generic to concrete. While it is overall positive that the intent and
desire to build solidarity was present, it is worth noting that there is room for growth within the
Latine community in understanding specifically and concretely how to build solidarity and
support the Indigenous community.
Isabela discussed that her organization is actively funding Indigenous organizations and
that there is a desire at an organizational level to continue funding Indigenous organizations.
Karina discussed the need to value and center Indigenous cultures and voices and keep
Indigenous perspectives alive and relevant through exposure and education. Several participants
highlighted the need for Latine people to actively acknowledge their Indigenous ancestry and to

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unlearn the ideologies that perpetuate Indigenous erasure. Camila, however, brought up how this
can sometimes be challenging:
I think that’s really tricky too, because of misappropriation. You have to be careful
because you don’t want to appropriate being Indigenous when you really aren’t part of
the culture. Maybe I’ll mark off that I’m indigenous to the Americas because I feel like
that could be true, but I don’t know because of the erasure part of it.
Camila highlighted the insidiousness of Indigenous erasure; even if someone wants to reconnect
with their Indigenous roots, so much has already been lost that the desire is sometimes negated
by the obstacles and resources it would take to reconnect.
Several study participants discussed the benefit of land acknowledgements, but also
expressed frustration that solidarity building often ends there. Alejandro expressed that land
acknowledgements should be supported by allocating resources to Indigenous communities.
Sofia engaged in solidarity building by teaching her students Indigenous creation stories.
Similarly, Gabriela shared that those who wish to build solidarity with the Indigenous
community should focus on education and embracing Indigenous philosophy and community
practices.
As discussed in Chapter One, this dissertation seeks to expose settler colonialism as a
system of power which enables the reproduction of inequality. Exposing settler colonialism is
inseparable from decolonization. Even though this dissertation sought to understand how to build
solidarity with the Indigenous community, it is incommensurable (Tuck & Yang, 2012) with
decolonization. Several questions have emerged from the exploration of solidarity building with
the Indigenous community. How can one be both colonized and colonizer? How can one be a
Brown settler but still oppressed in the land in which they settled? How can one reclaim their

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Indigenous roots when so much has been erased? Even though these questions may not yet be
answerable, the experiences of the study participants show that there are individuals willing to
grapple with incommensurability.
Research Question 5 Conclusion
The findings of Research Question 5 revealed that many study participants were already
taking steps to build solidarity with the Black, Afro Latine, blue-collar Latine, and Indigenous
communities. Further, the findings revealed that the study participants who were not already
working to build solidarity with these communities desired to do more in this effort. Study
participants provided ideas and actions for solidarity building specific to each community,
including for building interracial coalitions, and they were honest when they were uncertain of
how to do so. The findings suggest that more exposure, education, and interaction with some of
these communities could support Latine people in leveraging their privilege to promote equity
amongst these communities.
Summary of Findings
The findings of this dissertation study centered different aspects and manifestations of
IRO and its connection to antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives. The
findings from the demographic section highlight the insufficiency of racial categories and pan
ethnic identifiers within the Latine community, as well as the influence ancestral information and
family histories have on the conceptualization of IRO. The findings from Research Question 1
revealed how the study participants conceptualized and defined IRO. Included in the findings
from this research question is a list of 29 manifestations directly linked to IRO. The findings
from Research Question 2 centered 18 IRO-dismantling concepts. Research Question 3 revealed
the ways in which IRO manifests within the study participants’ organizational experiences. The

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findings from Research Question 4 outlined several majoritarian narratives prevalent within the
Latine community, as well as two counter-majoritarian narratives conceptualized by the study
participants. Lastly, Research Question 5 revealed how the study participants envisioned
solidarity building with other communities, as well as areas of growth within the context of
solidarity building.

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Chapter Five: Recommendations
The purpose of this dissertation study was to focus on the problem of IRO within Latine
professionals, how IRO affects Latine professionals within organizations, and how IRO
perpetuates antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives. The findings
addressed the problem of practice by generating information on how Latine professionals view
these issues, as well as how they envision disrupting and dismantling these issues. The findings
of the study echoed the non-monolithic nature of the Latine community; the Latine community is
not a monolith, and therefore, the way the participants of this study thought about and
experienced IRO was also non-monolithic. This section discusses the complexity and nuance of
the findings, as well as how the findings aligned with or diverged from the literature. Following
this discussion, recommendations for practice are provided, as well as recommendations for
future study. The section ends with a conclusion to the dissertation study.
Discussion of Findings
The literature review of this dissertation (Chapter Two) provided a historical framework
with which to view the findings of this study while also allowing for complexity and nuance to
shape the emerging themes. The findings of this study align with the current understanding of the
history of the Latine community and also have the potential to advance of-the-moment
conversations about the modern day Latine community. This discussion explores five major
intersections of the study findings and the literature with a focus on areas where the findings
align with and diverge from the literature discussed in Chapter Two. The intersections explored
in this section are overall takeaways from the study, alignment with the conceptual framework,
IRO within the Latine community, IRO within the workplace, and diversity within the Latine
community. Table 4 outlines the findings of the research study for reference.

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Table 4
Findings
Demographic Findings
Current Racial Categories and Pan Ethnic Identifiers are Insufficient to Capture the Vastness
of the Study Participants’ Latine Experiences
Ancestral Information and Family Histories Impact the Conceptualization of IRO
RQ1 Findings: How Do Latine Professionals Conceptualize Internalized Racial
Oppression?
The Definitions of IRO Varied for Each Study Participant
The Manifestations of IRO are Complex and Nuanced
29 Manifestations of IRO were Identified
Nine Themes Were Identified within the Manifestations of IRO
Colorism
Culturally Inherited Beliefs
Gatekeeping the Latine Experience and Multi-Generation Latine People
Externally Experienced Racism and Intersectional Experiences
Human Nature and IRO
Challenges in Naming IRO
Visual Conceptualizations of IRO
Media as a Source of IRO
Potentially Unconscious IRO
RQ2 Findings: How Do Latine Professionals Conceptualize the Dismantling of
Internalized Racial Oppression?
Conceptualizations of Dismantling IRO Varied for Each Study Participant
18 IRO dismantling concepts were identified
Participant Conceptualizations Regarding the Dismantling of IRO within the Self
Reclaiming/Retaining Cultural Pride
Acknowledging Diversity within the Latine Community
Reclamation of Indigenous Heritage
Self-Education
Therapy
Participant Conceptualizations Regarding the Dismantling of IRO within Others
Difficult Conversations About Race with Others
Relational/Moderate Conceptualizations of Activism
Questioning Beliefs within the Latine Community
Thoughts About Dismantling IRO at the Community Level

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RQ3 Findings: From the Perspectives of Latine Professionals, How Has
Internalized Racial Oppression Affected Their Organizational Experiences?
Five IRO Manifestations within the Workplace were Identified
Impostor Syndrome
Stereotype Avoidance and Code Switching
The Myth of Meritocracy and Career Barriers
Tokenism and Representing the Latine Community in the Workplace
Minimizing Latinidad and Climbing the Corporate Ladder
Study Participants Discussed Methods of Dismantling IRO within Organizations
RQ4 Findings: From the Perspectives of Latine Professionals, How Does
Internalized Racial Oppression Perpetuate Majoritarian Narratives, Antiblackness,
and Indigenous Erasure?
Four Majoritarian Narratives Linked to IRO were Identified
IRO and the Desire to Align with Whiteness
IRO and the American Dream
IRO and Deficit Storytelling
IRO and Pitting Races Against Each Other
Two Counter-Majoritarian Narratives were Identified
Latine Professionals Respect the Blue-Collar Latine Community
Foreign Country Experiences Affected Two Study Participants’ Perceptions of Themselves
Study Participants’ Shared Their Perspectives on antiBlackness within the Latine
Community
Conceptualized Latine IRO as Connected to antiBlackness
Colorism Identified as IRO Manifestation that Perpetuates antiBlackness
Spanish Colonization Responsible for antiBlackness in Latine Community
Study Participants’ Shared Their Perspectives on Indigenous Erasure within the Latine
Community
Conceptualized Latine IRO as Connected to Indigenous Erasure
Indigenous Erasure Manifests as a Loss of Connection to Indigenous Ancestry
Obstacles Exist within Indigenous Reclamation
Indigenous Erasure Occurs on the Micro and Macro Levels
RQ5 Findings: From the Perspectives of Latine Professionals, How Can We
Build Solidarity With the Black, Afro Latine, Blue-Collar Latine, and Indigenous
Communities?
Study Participants Shared Perspectives on Solidarity Building with the Black, Afro-Latine,
blue-collar Latine, and Indigenous Communities
Building Interracial Coalitions & Solidarity Actions
Room for Growth

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Overall Takeaways From the Findings
The primary takeaway from this research study is that each of the study participants was
willing to explore IRO and supported the idea that it could reproduce oppression and perpetuate
antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives. This takeaway represents the
immense work that the study participants have done to unlearn and dismantle IRO. Further,
many study participants communicated their belief that this was an important topic to discuss
within the Latine community. The study participants’ willingness to explore these ideas, and
their belief that it was important to do so, may signal a greater trend within the Latine
community to examine oppression and complicity.
Secondly, it is important to note that all study participants were able to hold the
complexity of IRO. All study participants were willing to examine the ways IRO presented in
their lived experiences. In other words, the study participants were able to exist within a
metaphorical borderland, as conceptualized by Anzaldúa (1987) and discussed in the conceptual
framework of this study. This borderland is viewed as a liminal space in which both/and can
exist, where a choice is not required between either/or (Martinez, 2002). The study participants
existed at this borderland while giving their testimonios in which they shared the oppressions
they faced as well as the injustices they witnessed. The metacognitive discussion of IRO was a
borderland, a space in which the study participants had to examine themselves and their
community externally while inhabiting the very identities in which they examined. The study
participants further embodied this liminal space through their rejection of binary thinking. This
mentality signals a nuanced perspective which will be invaluable to the Latine community
moving forward as the community continues grappling with issues such as essentialism, racism,
IRO, antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and solidarity building. Championing nuance could

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contribute to repairing the polarization that exists within the Latine community, as discussed in
Chapter Four.
Findings and Alignment With the Conceptual Framework
The first component of the conceptual framework was critical race methodology (CRM),
as conceptualized by Solórzano and Yosso (2002). The tenets of CRM all came through strongly
in the findings. The five tenets of CRM, which are based on the five tenets of critical race theory
(CRT), are: the intercentricity of race and racism with other forms of subordination, challenging
the dominant ideology, commitment to social justice, the centrality of experiential knowledge,
and applying a transdisciplinary perspective to understanding race and racism (Solórzano &
Yosso, 2002, pp. 25–27). The findings were rooted in a social justice paradigm; study
participants explored IRO, antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives within
the context of creating a more equitable world for Latine people and people of color. This social
justice context supported study participants in not only naming IRO and other sources of
oppression, but also in naming concepts for unlearning and dismantling these sources of
oppression.
All findings were based on the thoughts and lived experiences of the study participants;
not only was their knowledge centered within the findings, but their knowledge helped coconstruct (Pérez Huber, 2009) the findings. This co-construction of knowledge was critical to the
ethics of this study; I felt unethical about trying to “catch” study participants exhibiting IRO, but
rather aimed to work with them to understand their thoughts and experiences. This framing
allowed for the centralizing of the study participants’ experiential knowledge throughout the
findings. In addition to being aligned with CRM, the idea of co-constructing knowledge with

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study participants was also aligned with Pérez Huber’s conceptualization of testimonio, which
was the methodology for this study.
A transdisciplinary perspective of race and racism emerged within the findings, mostly
through the study participants’ intuitive abilities to understand how their experiences with race,
racism, and IRO connected to other areas of their lives. When exploring these topics, study
participants would often examine their experiences from the multiple identities that existed
within them, such as from the female and queer/gay identities. This transdisciplinary perspective
demonstrated how their experiences were interconnected and interlocked with their IRO
experiences.
The intercentricity of race and racism was a common thread that emerged from the
experiences of the study participants. Through their testimonios, the study participants not only
explored IRO, but also explored how IRO is connected to experiences with racism,
antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure. This exploration revealed a high level of awareness
within the study participants of the intercentricity of race and racism with IRO. For example, the
findings revealed how colorism, a manifestation of IRO, was also connected to antiBlackness
and the majoritarian narrative “the desire to align with Whiteness.” All of these phenomena
champion the pursuit of Whiteness through the distancing of Blackness, perpetuated and
experienced by people of color. Centering race and racism within the discussions of IRO helped
ensure that systems were being examined as well as the beliefs and actions of individuals.
Discussions surrounding the majoritarian narratives that were identified, such as desire to
align with Whiteness, challenged dominant ideology by providing a space for study participants
to question certain norms or ideas that are considered normal, commonsense, or taken for
granted, which are characteristics of majoritarian narratives (Pyke, 2010; Solórzano & Yosso,

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2002). In addition to Solórzano and Yosso (2002), Alemán and Gaytán (2017) also discussed the
connection of majoritarian ideologies to IRO within people of color. Specifically, they discussed
“bootstrap” mentality perpetuated by ideals of the American Dream and meritocracy. The
findings revealed that most study participants also viewed American Dream-type ideologies as
connected to IRO. The study participants examined and explored the inequities at the core of the
majoritarian narratives discussed during the testimonios, further breaking down how IRO and
oppression are perpetuated via these narratives. CRM set the foundation for examining how IRO
is a product of racially inequitable systems as well as individual beliefs and behaviors. The
findings revealed that the study participants approached the topics with a deep level of nuanced
thinking that allowed for the examining of many interconnected facets of IRO, racism, and other
intersectional phenomena.
The second component of the conceptual framework used for this study was exposing
settler colonialism as a system of power through the disruption of antiBlackness, Indigenous
erasure, and oppression and complicity within the Latine community. Several of the findings
reveal themes and thought patterns that could disrupt the settler colonial triad, which was
conceptualized as White supremacy—Indigenous erasure—antiBlackness (Rowe & Tuck, 2017;
Tuck & Gaztambide-Fernandez, 2013).
Most study participants viewed antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure as connected to
Latine IRO, which were two of the major findings of this study. As discussed in Chapter Two,
some scholars have underscored the importance of examining Latine IRO within the framework
of colonization, antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure (Chavez-Dueñas et al., 2014; GóMez,
2000; Hall, 1994, as cited in David & Derthick, 2014; Haywood, 2017a; Haywood, 2017b;
Hipolito-Delgado et al., 2014; Padilla, 2001). Some scholars also do not believe there is

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widespread awareness of antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure within the Latine community
(Busey & Silva, 2020; Hernández, 2016; Sue, 2023).
The awareness demonstrated by the study participants confirms the presence of Latine
people willing to examine the intersections of complicity and oppression. This awareness is
critical to examining the ways in which people of color can not only uphold settler colonialism,
but disrupt it as well by questioning the ideologies, beliefs, and behaviors that have been
automated by IRO and reinforce settler ontologies. Further, study participants shared ideas for
building solidarity, which actively opposes settler ideals by overcoming hegemonic messages of
pitting people of color against each other. While discussing these topics and making these
connections is not enough to dismantle settler colonialism, awareness is an entry point to
disruption and dismantling. Awareness of the interconnectivity of IRO with settler colonialism
could potentially support some Latine people in reclaiming agency within their beliefs and
actions, essentially providing them with a choice in deciding what they believe about race and
oppression, whereas IRO often subconsciously informs certain beliefs based on majoritarian
narratives. The ability of some study participants to directly connect these issues to colonialism
demonstrates a critical level of awareness that could evolve into actions that disrupt IRO and
settler colonial ideologies.
The workforce was another area within the study findings which exposed settler
colonialism as a system of power. Many of the IRO manifestations within the workplace
exemplify the metaphor of the fort as conceptualized by Tuck and Gaztambide-Fernandez
(2013). “Minimizing one’s Latinidad to climb the corporate ladder,” identified as an IRO
manifestation within the workplace, represents the ideology of the fort. The fort, which
represents inclusion, requires those who wish to enter to conform; those who don’t conform risk

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exclusion and ostracism (Donald, 2012, as cited in Tuck & Gaztambide-Fernandez, 2013).
Minimizing one’s Latinidad within the workplace to climb the corporate ladder aligns with the
idea that one must conform to White normative standards to be accepted and succeed within the
workplace, which can be seen as a modern-day iteration of the fort. Further, study participants
were able to connect the act of conforming to survival, deepening the alignment with fort
ideology and providing further data on how IRO and survival are interconnected, especially
within the workplace.
A component of exposing settler colonialism was understanding the colonial history of
Latine people, outside of the often-romanticized conquistadores. Chapter Two comprised a
historically oriented exploration of Latine people in the land that first belonged to Indigenous
people, then was colonized by Spain and Mexico, then was annexed by the United States. Just as
the history of Latine people on that land shaped how IRO manifests in modern times, the family
histories of the study participants were found to shape how IRO manifested within their lived
experiences. For example, in Olivia’s lived experience, the racialized experiences of her family
members influenced their relationship with racism and IRO, which in turn affected Oliva’s
upbringing. As she shared, she was raised speaking English only in her household; she explained
that her parents also did not speak Spanish due to a push for assimilation and policies in schools
that would punish people for speaking Spanish. This developed into familial beliefs that placed a
high value on speaking English, which led to them criticizing other Latine people who only
spoke Spanish after living in the United States for many years. Olivia’s family history—shaped
by centuries of Latine and American history—shaped how Olivia would come to understand
IRO, demonstrating the importance of using a historical lens through which to not only
understand IRO, but also the experiences of each person.

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The final component of the conceptual framework was exploring possibilities for justice
and ensuring the study focused on justice and equity. While this was a theme throughout the
study, several findings require examination under this context. When conceptualizing solidarity
building and dismantling IRO, some study participants grappled with the fact that they did not
know where to start in certain situations when it came to solidarity building, as well as the belief
that IRO may not ever be fully dismantled at the community level. These represent two aspects
of reality within the lived experiences of study participants and speak to the need for generative
tools in the quest for solidarity building and dismantling.
The concepts of visionary fiction (Imarisha & brown, 2015) and rejecting certainty (BenMoshe, 2018) were discussed as tools that could support people to envision and create a new
reality of racial justice. Uncertainty about how to build solidarity communicated from a posture
of willingness to learn, as embodied by the study participants, may represent a beneficial
“starting point” for solidarity building. The honesty conveyed in the response of “I don’t know,
but I’m willing to learn” opens possibilities for authentic solidarity building actions, which is in
direct opposition to the majoritarian narrative that people of color should be all-knowing in
matters of racial justice. The study participants who communicated uncertainty regarding
solidarity actions did not feel the need to have to appear all-knowing, which is a healthy rejection
of societal pressures to have all the answers when pursuing transformation. Those who were
unsure if IRO could ever be dismantled within the Latine community signal a reality experienced
by many within the turbulent political times of the 21st century. This reality also potentially
signals a need for the incorporation of more visionary practices, such as visionary fiction, to
support Latine professionals in dreaming of a different future when they might feel limited by
the harsh reality of the present day.

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Findings and IRO Within the Latine Community
This dissertation study addressed many gaps within IRO research that were identified in
the literature review. Primarily, this study provided data for understanding how IRO affects the
Latine community, which aligns with the call in David et al. (2019) and Alleyne (2005) to study
how IRO manifests within specific racial groups. David et al. (2019) also called for IRO studies
using qualitative methods that connect IRO to other intersecting phenomena. The findings of this
study explore how IRO is shaped by experiences such as externally experienced racism, as well
as other intersecting identities, such as the female and LGBTQ+ identity. The 29 manifestations
of IRO within the Latine community identified by this study align with the perspective cited
within David et al. (2019) and Banks and Stephens (2018) that more data is needed to help
identify the manifestations of IRO.
The 29 manifestations identified in this study could further support the cataloguing of
IRO manifestations within the Latine community, provide launching points for understanding the
root causes of the manifestations, and could potentially provide more ways in which to
name/identify how IRO manifests. David et al. (2019), Haywood (2017b), and Pyke (2010)
called for research that explicitly connects IRO to colorism, and this study identified colorism as
the most frequently mentioned IRO manifestation within the lived experiences of the study
participants, as well as a major perpetuator of antiBlackness. The 18 IRO-dismantling concepts
identified within the findings answer Banks and Stephens’ (2018) call to understand how IRO
ideologies can be unlearned. Haywood (2017b) specifically called for an examining of
antiBlackness within the Latine community, which this study examined.
Additionally, many of the findings from this study aligned with the IRO manifestations
identified within the literature as occurring within the Latine community. Much of the literature

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described how IRO in the Latine community was linked to colonialism (Chavez-Dueñas et al.,
2014; GóMez, 2000; Hall, 1994, as cited in David & Derthick, 2014; Haywood, 2017a;
Haywood, 2017b; Hipolito-Delgado et al., 2014; Padilla, 2001). Explicit connections to
colonialism were made by some study participants when discussing skin color bias/colorism,
family histories, antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure. Some participants were aware of the
Spanish colonial casta system and named it as a source of IRO perpetuated by the desire to align
with Whiteness. Chavez-Dueñas et al. (2014), Haywood (2017a), and Hipolito-Delgado et al.
(2014) cited the legacy of the casta system as a primary mechanism that perpetuates IRO within
the Latine community. The fact that study participants connected certain aspects of IRO to
colonialism shows awareness and knowledge of the systems contributing to IRO, which is
positive for the continued discussion of IRO and for continued learning within the Latine
community.
As discussed previously, colorism emerged throughout many of the findings, which was
consistent with the literature. The literature connected colorism and Latine IRO to mestizaje
ideology (Chavez-Dueñas et al., 2014). The findings based on study participants’ lived
experiences show that mestizaje ideology is still prevalent within the Latine community and
connected to Latine IRO. Mestizaje represents the notion that racism does not exist in Latin
America due to the idea that all Latine people are mixed; however, this idea obscures Indigeneity
and Blackness by erasing those integral pieces of the Latine identity as well as Indigenous and
Black Latine individuals (Busey & Silva, 2020, Haywood, 2017a, Hernández, 2016).
Characteristics of mestizaje also include aligning with Whiteness (Haywood, 2017a) and
distancing from/prejudice toward Indigeneity and Blackness (Martínez, 1993, as cited in Bell et
al., 2014). While previously thought to be a phenomenon only existing in Latin America, Dávila

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et al. (2011) theorized that mestizaje ideology affects the lived experiences of Latine people in
the United States. The findings of this study revealed that IRO and mestizaje still manifest in
these ways within the U.S. Latine community; some study participants shared stories in which
their Indigenous ancestry was purposefully obscured or erased altogether. Colorism was the most
frequently mentioned manifestation of IRO for the study participants, which was conceptualized
as a clear distancing from Indigeneity, but especially from Blackness. Further, a trend emerged
from the discussion of Afro Latine people in which study participants shared that they were
unaware even of the existence of Afro Latine people for a large part of their lives. Prevalence of
mestizaje ideology also came through in some study participants’ self-admitted gaps in
understanding how to build solidarity with the Afro Latine community.
Other aspects of mestizaje discussed in the literature were also unpacked during the
testimonio interviews. Several study participants discussed how blanqueamiento—the idea that
one should marry a White person to position Latine people closer to Whiteness (Bonilla-Silva,
2010, as cited in Haywood, 2017a)—was still perpetuated within their family dynamic. In
addition to blanqueamiento, other mechanisms were shared in which Whiteness was promoted.
Two phrases identified by Chavez-Dueñas et al. (2014) as representative of antiBlackness and
Indigenous erasure surfaced in the interviews of two study participants. The first phrase “Vete
por la sombrita (Go into the shade [to avoid getting darker])” surfaced in Cristina’s recollection
of hearing a similar idea communicated by family members. “Eres tan Indio (You are so Indian
[meant derogatorily]),” was mentioned by Karina, who shared that one of her family members
uses the word indio to refer to someone who is perceived as being ignorant.
The idea of a monolithically Brown Latine identity (Busey & Silva, 2020), which is
championed by mestizaje ideology, was rejected by the majority of study participants who

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acknowledged the great diversity within the Latine community. However, some study
participants expressed pride in the Brown identity, with one study participant even using Brown
as part of her ethnic identifier. This speaks to the nuance required to understand the Latine
community and its issues; while Brown can be empowering, seeing the community as
monolithically Brown can obscure other identities within Latinidad and reproduce antiBlackness
and Indigenous erasure. The study participants were mostly able to hold this complexity, further
demonstrating both/and mentality.
Hipolito-Delgado et al. (2014) correlated a high level of Latine IRO with a low level of
ethnic identity, evidenced by assimilation and loss of Spanish fluency. The study participants
viewed assimilation as connected to IRO and discussed it as something that contributes to IRO
mostly due to systems within the United States that promote homogeneity. However, loss of
Spanish as a sign of IRO was discussed in a more nuanced way. When loss of Spanish fluency
was brought up by study participants, it was mostly in the context of speaking English as a form
of survival, emphasizing the role of assimilation within language practices. While these study
participants mostly viewed loss of Spanish as a symptom of IRO within their ancestral line, they
did not see language as the only way one could connect to their ethnic identity.
While study participants would comment on the perceived IRO of others, they did not
necessarily construct a profile of what a person with a high level of IRO looks like. Rather, the
study participants discussed the beliefs they feel are reflective of IRO. This idea may be
important in advancing the conversation of IRO; there may not be a specific profile of a person
who has high or low levels of IRO. Further, it is unclear as to how privilege correlates with an
individual’s levels of IRO. In terms of the study participants, their lived experiences, experiences
with privilege and marginalization, and phenotypes all ranged the spectrum of Latinidad. All

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study participants were also on different paths and journeys in dismantling their IRO. These
findings can potentially counter the instinct to say a person with much privilege has a high level
of IRO, or vice versa. It is possible that someone’s level of IRO has as much to do with their
lived experience as their awareness of history and how systems of privilege and oppression work
within the United States. IRO may have more to do with the beliefs that one holds versus one’s
identity.
Chapter Two listed and explored IRO manifestations that emerged within the literature.
The 29 IRO manifestations identified in this study mostly aligned with the literature’s
description of IRO manifestations. However, when viewed in the context of the literature,
additional complexities emerge that inform the ways in which IRO manifests.
For example, the internalization of negative stereotypes was listed as a manifestation of
IRO by Bailey et al. (2011), David et al. (2019), and Pyke (2010). Of the 29 IRO manifestations
identified in this study, colorism, impostor syndrome, feeling like an outsider, blanqueamiento,
stereotype avoidance, and being conscious of one’s accent could all be connected to the
internalization of negative stereotypes. As an example, individuals who perpetuate colorism,
which Haywood (2017a) defined as the systematic privileging of people who “most closely
resemble a White phenotype” (p. 761), could have internalized multiple negative stereotypes
about individuals with dark skin. If the individual perpetuating colorism internalized a stereotype
about Black people, their iteration of colorism would also be linked to and perpetuate
antiBlackness. Had the individual also internalized negative stereotypes about Indigenous
people, their iteration of colorism would also be connected to and perpetuate Indigenous erasure.
The individual’s expression of colorism and to whom it was perpetuated would likely be shaped
by their lived experience. Further, based on the testimonio interviews and the findings, the IRO

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manifestation of colorism could also be linked to other IRO manifestations cited within the
literature, such as the justification of racism (David et al., 2019), holding Eurocentric beauty
standards/White ideals of beauty (Bailey et al., 2011; Banks & Stephens; 2018; David, et al.,
2019; Pyke, 2010) and the belief in or internalization of dominant ideology perpetuated by the
media or family members (Banks & Stephens, 2018; Carillo Rowe & Malhotra, 2006, as cited in
Alemán & Gaytán, 2017). This discussion of colorism demonstrates the complexity that emerges
when studying IRO because of all the intersecting phenomena and shows how IRO
manifestations are contingent upon the lived experiences of each person. The list of IRO
manifestations explored in the literature review was not an all-inclusive list, nor was the list of
IRO manifestations generated by this study exhaustive; given this, there are potentially many
more manifestations of IRO that could be catalogued, explored, and interconnected with other
phenomena.
Several IRO manifestations discussed in the literature review did not emerge within the
findings of this dissertation study. For example, the study participants did not discuss selfharming or destructive behaviors (Bailey et al., 2011; Banks & Stephens, 2018), increased
psychological distress, depression, anxiety (Banks & Stephens; 2018; David et al., 2019), or
eating disorders (David & Derthick, 2014). Connections between these and the IRO
manifestations from the findings were not immediately clear within the study participants, nor
did the study participants name these manifestations as part of their IRO experiences. It should
be noted that the iterations listed above center more clinical manifestations and consequences of
IRO, which I was not qualified to diagnose. For example, Sofia shared how her IRO manifested
through the pursuit/upholding of White beauty standards and feeling like she looked out of place
on her college campus. This manifestation of IRO (the upholding of White beauty standards)

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may have contributed to anxiety and depression within her life; however, Sofia did not explicitly
share that it did, nor did she in any way name that anxiety or depression were linked to the
perception of herself. Further work by mental health professionals in the IRO space could be
supportive in continuing to understand the links between these clinical IRO manifestations and
the subtler IRO manifestations.
Many of the IRO manifestations and majoritarian narratives identified through this study
represent less-obvious—but no less harmful—manifestations of IRO. Subtler manifestations of
IRO were discussed within the literature by Banks and Stephens (2018) and David and Derthick
(2014). This subtlety within the manifestations could be aligned with what Bonilla-Silva and
Dietrich (2011) described as the “new racism” that has largely replaced “Jim Crow-style” racism
(Bonilla-Silva & Dietrich, 2011, p. 191). This new racism is mostly “subtle,” superficially
nonracial, “institutionalized,” and “rationalizes racial inequality” as a product of the “markets,”
as well as a “naturally occurring phenomenon” due to the “cultural deficiencies” of people of
color (Bonilla-Silva & Dietrich, 2011, p. 191).
An example of this that emerged within the findings was through the discussion of
majoritarian narratives such as the myth of meritocracy and the American Dream. While these
ideals may not be inherently negative, they reproduce oppression when someone’s lack of
success is placed solely on their work ethic and not on the systems that may block them from
success. When viewed in relation to each other, the myth of meritocracy and the American
Dream could perpetuate the idea that hard work is all it takes to succeed in the United States,
which is largely viewed as false (Banks & Stephens, 2018; Pyke, 2010). The study participants
viewed these color-blind majoritarian narratives as connected to IRO, as did the literature
(Alemán & Gaytán, 2017; Banks & Stephens, 2018; Pyke, 2010). This example from the

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findings illustrates that as racism evolves, expressions of IRO may also evolve; the more blatant
racism prevalent within the past may have produced more blatant expressions of IRO, while the
more subtle iteration of racism of today that has emerged alongside blatant racism may produce
more subtler and harder-to-identify IRO manifestations.
It is unclear whether any of the 29 IRO manifestations listed were specific or exclusive to
the Latine community. All the manifestations listed could be considered specific to the Latine
community because Latine people experienced them. Further, the extent to which some of the
manifestations are connected to colonialism or Latine culture could determine their connection to
the Latine community. For example, the IRO manifestation identified through this study called
“gatekeeping Latine culture and/or Latinidad” could be seen as a Latine-specific manifestation of
IRO because it specifically has to do with Latinidad. However, gatekeeping identity as a
manifestation of IRO could be a manifestation that affects other racial groups/identities. In the
context of colonialism, gatekeeping could be connected to fort-like ideology (i.e., how is it
determined and who determines who comes into or is excluded from the fort, what are the
implications when these decision-makers are people of color). Gatekeeping did not explicitly
emerge as a manifestation of IRO in the literature review, so further investigation is needed to
better understand how gatekeeping is connected to colonialism and IRO. Further research is also
needed to better understand how IRO manifests within different racial groups, and then should be
compared across racial groups to identify commonalities and differences. Additionally, further
research is needed to understand how IRO manifestations differ along the expanse of identities
within Latinidad.

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Findings, Latine IRO, and the Workplace
Chapter Two discussed the paucity of research within IRO and the workplace and
highlighted the need to understand how IRO affected Latine people in the workplace. The limited
articles about IRO in the workplace discussed low career aspirations due to IRO (Brown &
Segrist, 2016), people of color discriminating against other people of color who are less
assimilated or have darker skin (Schaerer, 2010; Turner, 1995), seeing White norms as being
more favorable (Watts & Carter, 1991), and belief in/internalization of dominant and/or raceneutral cultural narratives by people of color (Alemán & Gaytán, 2017; Banks & Stephens, 2018;
Bonilla-Silva & Dietrich, 201; Gonzalez et al., 2014; Hasford, 2016). While some of these
themes emerged throughout the study, the study findings were most similar to what was
described in Huynh (2022) regarding Whitewashing identity in the workplace, Ofe-Grant (2023)
regarding overcompensating and stereotype avoidance in the workplace, and Dancy and JeanMarie (2014) regarding impostor syndrome. The findings of this study also add additional
considerations for how IRO is conceptualized within the workplace.
Participants’ conceptualizations of IRO in the workplace largely reflected experiences
with racism. For example, when study participants shared their observations about the
workplace, they at times were able to name the manifestation of IRO as well as the unjust
systems that produced that manifestation. Some study participants who discussed having to
minimize their Latinidad to climb the corporate ladder saw that they were being asked to
sacrifice their Latinidad to succeed within their organization. Even if a study participant did
sacrifice their Latinidad, the conceptualization that this was a sacrifice was important in naming
the racism at the heart of the IRO manifestation. There was a clear understanding that there was a
White normative culture to which they were being asked to align. This demonstrates more

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awareness in comparison to an individual who sacrificed their Latinidad while believing that the
White dominant culture was superior to Latinidad (similar to what was discussed in Watts and
Carter, 1991, regarding Black people in the workplace), a trait that is potentially more likely to
be present in someone who is not aware of IRO.
While these findings aren’t in any way contrary to what was outlined in the literature,
they highlight several important considerations when trying to understand IRO within the
workplace. Firstly, they highlight the importance of considering the positionality of the
individuals when attempting to understand IRO. Some study participants believed that their
positionalities as Latine professionals uniquely influenced their perspectives about IRO; access
to information and ability to navigate different spaces were offered as layers of privilege within
the professional identity. Positionality must be considered when understanding not only the
Latine community and IRO, but the unique experiences of individuals within the workforce.
Secondly, they highlight the need to name the “root” racism within the understanding of
IRO. Ensuring that the specific racist experience or belief is named will, as study participant
Lorena expressed, place the focus on systems and not solely on the individuals experiencing
IRO. Much of the root racism cited within the study participants’ work experiences was linked to
White-centered workforce culture and how Latine people exist within that culture. Some study
participants offered ideas for how to make the workplace more equitable for Latine people,
which ranged from centering the voices of Afro Latine people to allowing for the full expression
of Latinidad, from dress, to food, to language. Thirdly, these findings validate the fact that Latine
people are still experiencing discrimination in the workplace. While understanding IRO is one
facet of impacting this issue, more work needs to be done surrounding equity for people of color
in the workplace.

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Findings and Diversity Within the Latine Community
The findings of this study echo the literature’s calls to move away from a monolithic
view of the Latine community. Many study participants called for an acknowledgement of
diversity within the Latine community from inside and outside the community, also reinforced
by the literature (González, 2022). The benefit of moving away from a monolithic view of the
Latine community is not just about breaking stereotypes, but also about understanding how
privilege and oppression manifest differently based on the vastly different experiences within the
Latine community. Haywood (2017a) highlighted the importance of understanding the
intersectional qualities that affect different individuals within the Latine community, which is a
notion that was also highlighted by the study participants. First and foremost, acknowledging
diversity within the Latine community may begin to undo some of the erasure faced by Afro
Latine and Indigenous Latine people.
Secondly, acknowledging the diversity within the Latine community, as well as the
complexity of Latinidad, can inform the current conversation about how to understand the
modern-day Latine community. Many stereotypes exist about the Latine community that have
evolved into majoritarian narratives about the community, not the least of which is the idea that
all Latine people are immigrants and/or first-generation individuals. It should not be ignored that
many Latine people did immigrate to the United States and are first-generation individuals.
Further, it should not be ignored that Latine people who have recently immigrated to the United
States, who do not speak English, or who are first-generation often experience more
marginalization within this country. It is also important to understand that these stories do not in
any way represent a “deficit” aspect of Latinidad, contrary to the majoritarian narratives that
exist about the immigrant and first-generation Latine community.

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However, it is also important to recognize that these don’t represent all the stories within
Latinidad. The study participants’ experiences ranged the spectrum of Latine “origin stories:”
Three study participants shared their lived experiences as Latine people whose families have
been in the United States for generations; several study participants discussed being born or
growing up in Mexico; other study participants were first-generation U.S.-born given that their
parents immigrated to the Unites States. These profiles of the study participants embody
González’s (2022) conceptualization of Latine people simultaneously being one of the oldest and
newest groups in the United States. This idea alone already shatters certain majoritarian beliefs
about the Latine community.
The diversity within the lived experiences of the study participants also shows differences
in the way oppression, privilege, and power are experienced within the Latine community. For
example, the study participants who had darker skin shared experiences of colorism and explored
how their experiences were reflective of antiBlackness within the Latine community.
Conversely, the multi-generation participants shared how they felt excluded from the Latine
community for not fitting into the typical Latine mold. However, a commonality between all
study participants was the experience of racism in the United States. While all these situations
occur within the Latine community, they are occurring to people with vastly different lived
experiences.
Zooming out even further, diversity within the Latine community also has implications
for the greater conversation of racial dynamics within the United States. The literature reinforces
this through the discussion of how the Brown and Latine identities have resulted in the
oppression of Latine people, but also in the ability for Latine people to have a flexible
relationship with race that sometimes reproduces oppression (Bañales & Rivas-Drake, 2022;

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Menchaca, 2001). As discussed in Bonilla-Silva (2004), Latine people can fall in any of the three
categories of the tri-racial hierarchy, depending on their levels of assimilation and phenotype. As
exemplified within the study findings, these aspects of lived experience affect the type of Latine
experience a person will have. The study participants highlighted the importance of also naming
and impacting antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure within Latinidad in relation to the greater
conversation of race in the United States.
Lastly, the diversity of experiences within the Latine identity highlight the insufficiency
of certain terms commonly used to capture race and ethnicity within the Latine community
(Haywood, 2017a). Although Latine was the most frequently used pan ethnic identifier, it did not
resonate with some study participants. One study participant felt that it mostly centered White
Latinidad, echoing what was described in the literature by Bañales and Rivas-Drake (2022),
which was that the term Latine is sometimes rooted in an essentialist and stereotypical view of
what it means to be Latine. Further, the findings reveal that the question of race and Latinidad is
still very complex for many Latine people who consider themselves a mix of Indigenous,
European, and/or Black ancestry. The erasure of African and Indigenous roots, as shared by the
study participants, within the lived experiences of Latine people has led to a purgatorial state
where one is racialized but does not have a clear a clear set of options for which to indicate their
race.
The discussion of diversity within the Latine community raises an important question for
understanding, organizing, and empowering the Latine community: What is the use of a pan
ethnic identifier when the group it attempts to represent is so diverse? The findings reveal the
need to address this question in a way that empowers people within the vast spectrum of

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Latinidad. Addressing these inequities within Latinidad could also support the greater cause of
racial equity within the greater racial conversation in the United States.
Recommendations for Practice
Three recommendations emerged from the understanding of the literature and the study
findings. I created several visual tools to support the understanding of IRO and the connecting
phenomena. The recommendations are directed at various stakeholders within the Latine
community.
Recommendation 1: Create More Opportunities to Learn About IRO, antiBlackness,
Indigenous Erasure, and Majoritarian Narratives for the Latine Community
The first recommendation is to create more learning opportunities about IRO and its
connections to antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives within the Latine
community. The goal of this recommendation is to not only create awareness within the Latine
community about the history of Latine people, colonization, and systemic racism, but to give
people an opportunity to examine beliefs that often remain unquestioned and then give them the
opportunity to choose what to believe. This recommendation is directly connected to the
testimonios of the study participants, as well as the findings that emerged from the study,
primarily emerging from the observation that the study participants were willing to explore IRO
and the related topics from an open and nuanced perspective. Further, it was evident within the
findings that even though there was an awareness within study participants about IRO, there was
room for growth in understanding how to dismantle antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure. This
recommendation is rooted in the belief that people deserve the opportunity to learn and engage in
meaningful discussions about complex topics, and further, that they will be able to hold
complexity while engaging in the conversation.

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This recommendation stems from comments made by the study participants on the
importance of these topics and in unlearning ideologies that have previously been taken for
granted within the community. Jessica said it perfectly: “I almost feel like we as Latinos need to
have our own DEI training.” The history of Latine people, including their positioning in the
racial order, the legacy of mestizaje ideology, and their stories of oppression and resilience, has
perfectly positioned Latine people to explore the tension between oppression, complicity, and
privilege. There is power at the nexus of privilege and oppression. This recommendation asks
how Latine people can engage in the empowering dance of dismantling, unlearning, and
relearning in order to advance the cause of racial equity for all people of color. Lorena wisely
shared that people of color are not absolved from upholding White supremacy culture.
The dismantling concepts offered by the study participants center the need for more
awareness; the top three dismantling concepts, which are having difficult conversations about
race with others, dismantling IRO within oneself, and acknowledging diversity within the Latine
community all begin with awareness. Some study participants also shared that they had not
previously examined the relationship between IRO, antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and
majoritarian narratives. Participation in this study served as an opportunity for them to make
specific connections within the context of these topics.
This recommendation is an invitation for Latine people who see the connections between
Latine IRO, antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives to continue asking
questions and “calling people in” to talk about these issues. This can look like hosting
conversations in which people are invited to discuss their experiences with privilege and
oppression; it can also look like speaking up when they observe that Latine spaces are excluding
Afro Latine and Indigenous Latine people. These conversations and learning opportunities could

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take place as part of community, organizational, or higher education initiatives. Community
initiatives could involve Latine community workers and leaders introducing these topics through
coalition-building work and town-hall style forums. Within organizations, these learning
opportunities could take place through trainings or team-building style activities. Within higher
education, there could be many opportunities to create courses, electives, speaker series, art
installations, theatrical or musical pieces, all of which could spark conversations about what it
means to be Latine and grapple with these complex issues. The study participants prove that
these learning activities are already occurring within the Latine community. The key to this
recommendation is for Latine people to pass on the privilege of learning, of access to
information, to others within the community with the goal of creating space to dismantle and
unlearn IRO and related topics.
These learning opportunities should provide space for Latine people to sit in the
borderland (Anzaldúa, 1987) to grapple with difficult ideas from a generative perspective and
examine how various aspects of oppression and complicity are connected and interlocked with
the struggles of others. The goal is to center the lived experiences and experiential knowledge of
Latine people while undoing people-of-color-blindness (Sexton, 2010), which is the
overemphasis of shared suffering between communities of color that obscures and reproduces
antiBlackness. Further, these discussions should include nuanced discussions about what it
means to be a Brown settler to further discover how Latine people can navigate this identity.
A helpful model for conceptualizing this learning process could be the change as three
steps model, which is attributed to the work of Kurt Lewin (Cummings et al., 2016). This change
as three steps model is widely thought of as the unfreeze-change-refreeze approach to change.
The unfreeze-change-refreeze model is a simple conceptualization of change that employs a

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metaphor consisting of an ice cube representing an organization or entity. When change needs to
be created, the melting of the ice cube is initiated, then the desired change within the
organization or entity is created, and lastly, it is frozen again, symbolizing the completion of the
change.
While change is never this clear-cut, simple, or easy, there could be many applications
for this unfreeze-change-refreeze approach to learning within the Latine community. The entity
to be changed could be as broad as the greater Latine community, or as specific as a Latine
affinity group within an organization. This work could give those leading these learning
initiatives a model on which to conceptualize the unlearning of centuries of entrenched
ideologies within the Latine community, the new learning opportunities that could spark a shift
in beliefs and actions, and the solidification of the new learnings within the community. This
model could also be helpful when designing organizational or academic learning opportunities
that could initiate a shift in beliefs. Unlearning within the Latine community could potentially
require mental health support as individuals grapple with things that may come up through the
dismantling of IRO, such generational trauma, ancestral pain, anxiety, depression, and
conceptualization of self. These learning opportunities will require the support of IRO-informed
mental health professionals that could guide Latine people through this process.
To be clear, this recommendation does not apply to all Latine people. It is my belief that
Afro and Indigenous Latine people disproportionately bear the responsibility of dismantling and
educating others on issues of race and equity. While Afro and Indigenous Latine people may
have access to certain intersections of privilege and must be included in these conversations and
learning opportunities, it will be incumbent upon Latine people with other lived experiences to
shoulder the responsibility of initiating these conversations. Specifically, this recommendation is

228
an invitation for Latine people with skin color, class, and/or educational privilege to ally with
others in the Latine community to create these learning opportunities and create space for those
who are underrepresented within the community. This is based on the study participants’
observations that Latine professionals may be in a unique position to support the dismantling of
IRO due to certain privileges that come with the professional identity, such as access to
information.
This dissertation has explored how Latine people’s place in the racial order—as diverse
people of color—has uniquely positioned them to examine oppression and complicity. While this
position may come with conflict and responsibility, it also comes with hope and opportunity.
This unique position could empower Latine people to model what it looks like to exist at a
borderland of both/and in which oppression and complicity are not only examined but
alchemized into something new.
Recommendation 2: Create Organizing Systems for IRO, Its Manifestations, and
Intersections With Root Racism and Other Phenomena
The testimonios revealed the ways in which Latine IRO intersects with many other
phenomena. The study participants discussed not only the ways in which they experienced IRO,
but they explored how IRO was connected to their experiences of being female, LGBTQ+, dark
or light skinned, and Spanish- or English- speaking. The study participants named many ways in
which they defined and conceptualized IRO, which was compiled into a list of 29 complex and
nuanced IRO manifestations. Further, many study participants identified and named the racism at
the heart of many of their observations about IRO and experiences with IRO. These findings
revealed that there are endless ways in which IRO can manifest and be experienced, and endless
intersections with various identities and lived experiences—just within the Latine community

229
alone. These findings reinforce calls within the literature to connect IRO to different intersecting
phenomena (David et al., 2019), identities, and lived experiences (Alleyne, 2005; David et al.,
2019; Haywood; 2017b).
Recommendation 2 is for IRO scholars to create organizing systems for IRO, its
manifestations, and intersections with root racism and other phenomena. This recommendation
emerged based on the vast amount of information generated by the testimonios, as well as the
complex, nuanced, and interconnected ways in which IRO was found to manifest. Creating
Tables 2 and 3 for this dissertation study, which were the tables that listed the IRO
manifestations and dismantling concepts, proved to be an exercise for me in interpreting,
cataloguing, and organizing information about experiences with IRO. These tables came from a
need for a framework in which to understand how to make sense of these IRO experiences within
the greater conversation of race within the United States and the Latine community. The tables,
rather than revealing clean-cut IRO manifestations, further revealed the complexity and
interconnectivity of IRO and the intersecting phenomena. Attempting to view the IRO
manifestations as siloed, independently occurring phenomena, or forcing them to fit into neat
categories would reinforce what the study participants conceptualized as White supremacy
culture. Understanding that each of these experiences could be and are interconnected utilizes a
critical race paradigm to inform the understanding of IRO.
This recommendation includes a component of identifying the intersections of IRO with
what I call the root racism. Root racism is defined as the racist experience, belief, or action at the
core of the IRO experience. While Recommendation 1 focuses on the “I” of IRO,
Recommendation 2 partially focuses on the “RO” of IRO. The testimonios of the study
participants, and especially the ways in which they conceptualized IRO in the workplace,

230
highlight the need to name the root racism that informs the IRO manifestation. Exposing the
“RO” could ensure that IRO is studied responsibly, proportionately examining the “I” as well as
the “RO” and holding individuals and systems accountable without solely blaming individuals.
Just as Speight (2007) as cited in Bailey et al. (2011) stated that any understanding of the effects
of racism would be “incomplete” (p. 481) without unpacking the internalized component of
racism, this recommendation argues that any understanding of IRO would be incomplete without
naming the root racism at the core of the experience.
I created three visual tools that illustrate the potential benefits of systems of organization
for IRO, root racism, and intersecting phenomena. The idea to create a visual tool to understand
IRO came from Olivia’s testimonio, in which she envisioned the manifestations of IRO as
similar to the Feelings Wheel (also known as the emotions wheel), a common tool used in mental
health practices. A primary characteristic of the Feelings Wheel is that smaller, harder-to-name
emotions are connected to a commonly understood root emotion in a hierarchical way (Calm,
2023). For example, the emotions of “free” and “joyful” are two iterations of feeling “content”
which is classified under the root emotion of “happy” (Calm, 2023). Also classified under
“happy” is the feeling of being “optimistic,” under which the more nuanced and specific feelings
of “hopeful” and “inspired” also fit (Calm, 2023). I attempted to organize the IRO
manifestations discussed by the study participants into a feelings-wheel-like figure; however, the
interconnectivity of the manifestations proved too complex to fit into that type of template. The
result of this unsuccessful attempt was the creation of three separate visual tools that could
clarify different facets and aspects of IRO.

231
Figure 2
Latine Internalized Racial Oppression Relationship Map

232
Figure 2 is a visual representation I created of the interconnectivity of different
phenomena connected to Latine IRO; it is based on research in the literature review and
informed by the perspectives of the study participants and their conceptualizations of IRO. The
purpose of Figure 2 is to support the understanding of how IRO and its manifestations inform
and perpetuate one another. For example, as depicted in Figure 2, the understanding of colorism
and IRO becomes more complete and holistic when it is viewed in connection to both
antiBlackness and the pursuit of Whiteness. Colorism, when enacted as skin tone bias, informs
antiBlackness, which informs an aspect of mestizaje ideology (harmonious racial mixing) that
contributes to the erasure of Afro Latine people. Colorism, when enacted by distancing oneself
from Blackness, is also connected to the Pursuit of Whiteness. An IRO manifestation that
informs the Pursuit of Whiteness is the upholding or pursuing of Eurocentric beauty standards.
This depiction displays one way that antiBlackness is connected to the Pursuit of Whiteness
(through colorism). Further, this depiction shows how smaller expressions of IRO, such as the
upholding of Eurocentric beauty standards, inform the two larger topics of antiBlackness and the
Pursuit of Whiteness. At the center of Figure 2 connecting all the phenomena is Latine IRO, in
which Spanish colonization is named. Figure 2 is but a small excerpt of what could be a much
larger map of interconnected phenomena that could contribute to a greater understanding of IRO.
As mentioned previously, when the study participants discussed the ways in which they
observed IRO manifesting within the workplace, some were able to name certain racist
experiences or beliefs that were responsible for generating the IRO they experienced. Part of the
study participants’ conceptualizations of their experiences involved the White-dominant
workforce culture from which they felt excluded as a Latine person in the workforce. Taking the
findings from Research Question 3 surrounding how IRO manifests in the workplace, I created

233
Figure 3 in an attempt to show how the IRO manifestations named by the study participants are
informed by the White-Anglo hegemony of the United States, as well as the White-Anglo
hegemonic work culture. An understanding of the White-Anglo hegemony in the United States
must be informed by an understanding of the history of White-Anglo-Protestant colonization,
which was briefly discussed in Chapter Two. Namely, the Black Legend was used as a WhiteAnglo-Protestant narrative to demonize Spanish colonization of the United States (DeGuzmán,
2005; Horowitz, 2006). As a result, Spaniards were considered barbaric, violent, greedy, and
cruel. While this was all potentially true, the Black Legend was used to “other” the Spaniards to
create a White-Anglo-Protestant hegemonic colonial state (DeGuzmán, 2005; González, 2022;
Horowitz, 2006; Ruiz, 2006). Some scholars believe that the Black Legend has persisted into
modern times to highlight how Latine people are “othered” in the United States (DeGuzmán,
2005; Horowitz, 2006). Figure 3 illustrates how an IRO manifestation that has become as
normalized as a lack of confidence in the workplace could have roots in White-Anglo-Protestant
colonization, demonstrating how the status quo was created to make people of color “other” and
outsiders. Figure 3 addresses the aspect of Recommendation 2 that calls for the naming of root
racism when examining IRO.

234
Figure 3
Root Racism and Internalized Racial Oppression Origin Map
I created Figure 4 to address an idea from the findings that explores how certain IRO
manifestations could be expressed in different and sometimes opposite ways. Two manifestations
that emerged from the testimonios concerned how someone’s Latinidad is expressed. It was
mentioned that IRO could manifest both as a belief that people are “not Latino enough” and that
people can act “too Latino.” Certain study participants observed both of these ideas being
expressed within the Latine community. This recommendation proposes a framework in which
both ideas would be considered expressions of the same IRO manifestation, which is
Gatekeeping the Latine Identity/Latinidad. Figure 4 attempts to illustrate how Gatekeeping the
Latine Identity/Latinidad could be expressed through opposing ideas that come from a need to
reclaim or retain power. The connection between gatekeeping identity and reclaiming/retaining
Anglo/Protestant
Colonization
Impostor
Syndrome
Questioning
Abilities
Lack of
Confidence
Tokenisim
Representing
Entire Latine
Community
Increased
Pressure to
Perform
Minimizing
Latinidad
Code Switching
Stereotype
Avoidance
White Anglo
Hegemony
White Anglo
Hegemonic
Work Culture
Root Racism/Historical Event
Consequence of Root
Racism/Historical Event
Major IRO
Manifestations
Expressions
of IRO

235
power emerged through Olivia’s testimonio and her thoughts that gatekeeping the Latine identity
occurs out of the desire for proximity to power. Zooming out further, the need to reclaim/retain
power could be seen as a result of racial inequality; racial inequality disproportionately assigns
and removes power from different racial groups, thus framing power as a scarce and finite
resource.
It is important to note that not all IRO manifestations will occur on a spectrum. However,
the conceptualization of IRO as a spectrum could be a helpful tool. Understanding how one IRO
manifestation could have different and even opposite expressions could greatly inform attempts
to learn about how IRO functions. It could also greatly inform how to unlearn certain beliefs by
naming the root or cause of the beliefs, and thus also exposing which systems may need to be
examined or dismantled in the process of unlearning beliefs informed by IRO.
Figure 4
Spectrum of Internalized Racial Oppression
Racial Inequality
Reclaiming/Retaining Power
Gatekeeping the Latine Identity/Latinidad
Belief that certain
people are “not
Latino enough”
Belief that certain
people act “too
Latino”

236
Recommendation 2 of creating organizing systems for IRO, its manifestations, and
intersections with root racism and other phenomena could support the further study and
understanding of IRO. Visual tools, such as the ones proposed in this section, could be helpful in
documenting how history and the subsequent root racism have informed IRO and the way it
manifests today. These tools could further support the effort of creating awareness about IRO
and intersecting phenomena for others, and perhaps serve as initial building blocks upon which
more comprehensive conceptualizations of IRO could be created.
Recommendation 3: Expand the Conceptualization of Diversity and Privilege Within the
Latine Community
Recommendation 3 emerged from the recurring theme within the testimonio interviews,
as well as in the literature, regarding diversity and privilege within the Latine community. The
testimonios of the multi-generation study participants largely revolved around feeling excluded
from stereotypical conceptualizations of the Latine community because they did not display the
typical “hallmarks” of Latinidad, such as speaking Spanish, being first-generation and having the
“typical” immigration narrative, nor being darker skinned, qualities which signal a potentially
more privileged positionality within the Latine community. The multi-generation study
participants felt excluded by the Latine community while still having a racialized Latine
experience in the United States. However, their testimonios brought up a complex question of
how to discuss the stratification of privilege within a racialized experience.
I created Figure 5 as a visual framework that could support the understanding of
diversity, privilege, and lived experience within the Latine community. Much of the idea for this
visual was sparked by what Jessica shared about diversity within the Latine community outlined
in Research Question 2. The horizontal axis displays the spectrum of phenotype within the

237
Latine community on which privilege increases from left to right; the literature and lived
experience show that Latine people with darker skin often experience less privilege than those
with lighter skin. The vertical axis displays different lived experiences and intersectional
identities that increase in privilege from bottom to top.

238
Figure 5
Visual Framework Depicting Privilege and Diversity within the Latine Community
Other Factors Affecting Privilege and
Diversity
• Country of Origin/Familial Country of
Origin (i.e., how being from Mexico vs.
Argentina affects your lived
experience)
• Political Views
• History of Race in the State (i.e. living
in the Deep South vs. California)
• Religious Beliefs
• Lived Experience with Trauma and
Violence
Dark Skinned
Ethnic Features
Light Skinned
Eurocentric Features
Less Privilege
Lived Experience and Intersectional Identities
More Privilege
Phenotype
More Privilege
Male
Straight
High Income
White-Collar Job
College Educated
Fluent in English
Thin Body Type
Multi-Generation U.S. Born
First-Generation U.S. Born
Blue-Collar Job
Female
Limited Fluency in English
Fat or Plus Size
Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual
Gender Non-Binary
Low-Income
Spanish-Speaking Only
High School or Less Education
Immigrated to the U.S.
Transgender
Undocumented
Indigenous or Afro Latine
Community Cultural Wealth

239
For example, a Latine person who is undocumented in the United States will likely experience
not only less privilege but less access to rights than a Latine person whose family has been in the
United States for generations.
This visual tool is intended to be used to understand how lived experience and
intersectional identities combined with phenotype can affect the racialized experience that a
Latine person has within the United States. For example, a straight Latine male with a highpaying White-collar job would have many intersections of privilege within their lived
experience. However, if they are also darker skinned and/or ethnic presenting, their lived
experience would likely be impacted due to the way darker skinned individuals are treated in
American and Latin American society. Conversely, a straight Latine male who is light skinned or
White passing would likely not have a lived experience impacted by skin color discrimination.
However, if this White Latine male spoke Spanish-accented English, he may have a lived
experience in which he faces discrimination or marginalization due to his accent. The top right
corner of Figure 5 shows other considerations that could affect a Latine person’s lived
experience, including their country of origin/familial country of origin (i.e., how being from
Mexico versus Argentina affects one’s lived experience), political and religious beliefs, the
history of race in the state in which they live (i.e., do they live in the Deep South or California),
and their lived experience with trauma and racial violence.
Importantly, encompassing all these lived experiences is the framework of Community
Cultural Wealth (CCW; Yosso, 2005). CCW is a non-traditional conceptualization of cultural
capital, arguing that communities of color are wealthy in “an array of knowledge, skills, abilities,
and contacts” (p. 77). Yosso identified seven types of capital possessed in communities of Color:
cultural, aspirational, familial, social, navigational, resistant, and linguistic (p. 78). This

240
framework is essential to the conceptualization of Figure 5; it must be clear that the identities
with less privilege are not equated with deficit narratives or seen as lesser in any way. In fact, an
argument could be made that the less privilege one experiences, the more CCW they have
utilized and developed throughout their lived experience. This is not to say that more privileged
Latine people do not have CCW, it’s just that their lived experiences have likely been shaped by
privilege differently.
Figure 5 can be viewed as a companion to Bonilla-Silva’s (2004) tri-racial hierarchy, in
which it was conceptualized that Latine people could exist within any of the three levels: Whites,
which included assimilated White Latinos; Non-White Non-Blacks (Honorary Whites), which
included light-skinned Latinos; and Collective Blacks, which included medium and dark-skinned
Latinos. In addition to adding lived experience and intersectional identities to this
conceptualization, Figure 5 addresses a major criticism of the tri-racial hierarchy mentioned by
Ray et al. (2017), which is that the tri-racial hierarchy can obscure the specific experience of
being Black. Figure 5 addresses this by including Afro Latine as a facet of lived experience and
intersectional identity within the Latine community.
The goal of this visual framework is not to play the “oppression Olympics,” nor is the
goal to rank identities or reduce people to their identities. Further, there are certainly some lived
experiences or intersectional identities which are not reflected in this depiction. The goal of this
framework is to give visibility to the way phenotype and lived experience can impact the already
racialized experience that a Latine person is likely to have in the United States.
This tool could be used amongst various populations in different settings. Firstly, it could
be helpful as a tool within the Latine community across the spectrum of the way IRO is
experienced. Figure 4, shown in Recommendation 2, illustrated how the IRO manifestation of

241
Gatekeeping the Latine Identity/Latinidad could be expressed as the beliefs that certain people
are “not Latino enough” as well as the belief that people can act “too Latino.” Central to both
beliefs is that there is one way, or a right way, to be Latino. This tool could support a
conversation within the community to nurture understanding from both ends of the spectrum.
Those who believe that there are certain people who are “not Latino enough” could potentially
understand that the family history, country of origin, and lived experiences of certain Latine
people may have caused them or their families to assimilate out of survival. Those who believe
that certain people act “too Latino” could potentially see how their own lived experiences and
beliefs have caused them to experience more privilege than Latine people who cannot or choose
not to assimilate.
Secondly, this tool could support entities outside the Latine community to reverse their
beliefs about the Latine monolith by helping them identify who they’re talking about when they
say the “Latine community.” For someone who is trying to capture the “Latino vote,” this tool
could help them identify exactly who are they talking about. Do they want to capture the vote of
Immigrants? Educated Afro Latine people? White Latine people? Each of these groups will hold
different lived experiences and likely different values that cannot be captured under a monolithic
conceptualization of the “Latino vote.”
Lastly, this tool could be helpful in the continued conversation about racial and pan
ethnic identifiers within the Latine community. Currently, “Latine” is used to capture all the
individuals represented within Figure 5 as well as identities that are missing from the figure.
Further, all the individuals represented by those identities are racialized as Latine but fall within
several different racial categories. Regardless of if these identifiers evolve, expanding the

242
understanding of diversity and privilege within the Latine community could advance the cause of
a more inclusive Latine community.
Limitations and Delimitations
The testimonio interview methodology provided space for individuals who have
experienced oppression to share their truths and insights into how they understand their world.
One limitation of this study is that it approached IRO from a metacognitive perspective, meaning
that study participants were asked to discuss phenomena and beliefs that often occur
subconsciously or unconsciously. However, this limitation also presented the opportunity to
learn from those who dismantled or worked through IRO to a certain extent.
Delimitations include gender, geography, and the professional identity. While gender was
not a criterion to participate in this study, nine out of 11 participants identified as women. One
possible explanation for the majority of participants being women is that the identity of “woman”
is another intersection at which oppression is experienced. This could mean that women may be
uniquely open to or involved in exploring internalized oppression due to the intersection at which
they exist. That being said, certain identities were not captured within this study that could have
affected the responses.
This study was bounded by geography because participants either resided and worked in
California or spent the majority of their professional careers in California, meaning that the
findings may be specific to this geography. Latin American country of origin was also not a
criterion for participation in the study. However, 10 out of 11 participants were of Mexican
ancestry. This could be due to the proximity of California to Mexico, and/or because the land
that is now California has shifted between Indigenous, Spanish, and Mexican ownership, as
explored in the literature review. It is also notable that the lack of awareness about Afro Latine

243
people shared by the study participants may be a product of geography; for example, non-Black
Latine people in other parts of the United States and from other Latin American countries may
have a different relationship to and awareness about Afro Latine people.
It is notable that while many participants named and discussed their Indigenous ancestry,
only one participant (Gabriela) identified her race as Indigenous. Gabriela also discussed being
deeply connected to her Indigenous community and actively incorporates Indigenous
philosophies and practices in her life. No participants identified as Afro Latine.
While the criteria were intentionally non-specific about the race of participants, the racial
make-up of participants may reveal several findings about the study participants. Firstly, the
racial make-up of the study participants may be indicative of the erasure of Indigenous and
African ancestry within the Latine community, to the extent that Latine people may feel they are
not able to identify with either race even though they may have Indigenous and African ancestry.
Secondly, it could be indicative of the exclusion and continued marginalization of Indigenous
Latine and Afro Latine people within and by the professional community. Thirdly, since this
study used a purposeful/network sampling method, it could reveal the lack of Indigenous Latine
and Afro Latine people within my professional network.
The Latine professional study participants were revealed to have specific experiences that
may not be generalizable to the greater Latine community in all situations. The study participants
discussed how Latine professionals may have more access to information due to education, and
access to other capital gained through the navigation of the educational system and the
workplace. IRO will likely manifest and be expressed differently amongst other identities within
the Latine community.

244
Recommendations for Future Research
Future research on IRO within the Latine community should focus on exposing
antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives. Examining IRO within these
contexts will support the discussion of the oppression and complicity that occur within the
experiences of Latine people. Although it may be ethically challenging to do a nonmetacognitive study of IRO, doing so may be helpful to further understand how IRO operates on
the unconscious level. A non-metacognitive study would require the study participants to have
consciously or unconsciously not dismantled their IRO and would entail the discussion of the
oppressive beliefs they may hold. For example, certain study participants shared how their
families held certain discriminatory beliefs that reflected IRO; it could be helpful to the study of
IRO to interview individuals with similar beliefs to those of the families of the study participants.
Future IRO research should also explore how IRO occurs within the different identities of the
Latine community. While this dissertation did not explore IRO in academia, many study
participants mentioned how certain academic experiences affected their IRO. Future research
should address IRO and academia. Lastly, more research should be conducted on the
manifestations of IRO to create a more complete picture of how and why it manifests, as well as
how the manifestations are connected to each other and other phenomena. Continuing to add data
to how IRO manifests would help deepen the understanding of IRO within the Latine
community.
Conclusion
This dissertation study engaged in a historically rooted exploration of IRO within Latine
professionals, part of which involved exposing how antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and
majoritarian narratives operate within Latine IRO. Eleven Latine professionals were interviewed

245
to understand their thoughts about and experiences with IRO and the connected phenomena. The
study participants shared their testimonios in which they discussed their nuanced and complex
lived experiences. The study participants mostly believed that IRO within the Latine community
perpetuated antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives. Some of the major
findings included the insufficiency of current pan ethnic and racial identifiers within the Latine
community, understanding how ancestral information and family histories impacted the study
participants’ conceptualizations of IRO, new definitions of IRO, manifestations of IRO within
Latine professionals, and concepts for dismantling IRO. Additionally, the findings included
several conceptualizations of how IRO has affected the organizational experiences of Latine
professionals, exposing the root racism at the heart of many IRO experiences. Lastly, this study
provided several recommendations that expand the ways in the relationships between IRO,
racism, antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives are understood.
The goal of this dissertation study was to highlight the importance of understanding the
insidious ways in which oppression is replicated through IRO. Further, the purpose of this study
was to ensure that antiBlackness and Indigenous erasure were named and exposed as part of
Latine IRO. If oppression is intersectional (Frye, 2000, as cited in Banks & Stephens, 2018),
liberation must also be intersectional. The hope is to contribute to the creation of a more just
world for all through the work of dismantling of IRO, antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and
majoritarian narratives within the Latine community.

246
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Appendix A: Interview Protocol
Introduction to the Interview
Thank you for agreeing to provide your testimonio and participate in my dissertation
study. I appreciate the time and energy you are spending to think deeply about your experiences
with internalized racial oppression. I want to take a few minutes to revisit the context of this
study and walk you through the testimonio process. I am a doctoral student at USC and am
conducting a study on internalized racial oppression in the Latine community. As a note, I use
Latine as a gender-neutral term to talk about the collective Latine community. However, I am
interested in learning about how you identify yourself, and once you let me know, I will refer to
you as such throughout the interview process and in the study. Throughout this study, I will be
centering your voice as a Latine professional with the goal of understanding your organizational
experiences with internalized racial oppression. These experiences could have occurred
throughout your career or within specific organizations. Additionally, my goal is to work
together with you as a study participant to examine and disrupt antiBlackness, Indigenous
erasure, and majoritarian narratives in the Latine community. I will be asking you questions that
address these issues and will be speaking to multiple Latine professionals to learn more about
these issues from their perspectives. The goal of my study is to empower Latine people to
address internalized racial oppression, antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure in order to create a
more just and equitable society for all people of color.
I want to assure you that throughout this interview process, I will be interacting with you
from the perspective of a researcher. This means that I will not be making any judgements about
you as a person based on your responses. As a Latina professional, I am also confronting my
experiences with internalized racial oppression and the way antiBlackness and Indigenous

264
erasure have shown up in my life. I share this with you so that you may know that I am an ally to
you in this process and am doing this work myself. My goal is to understand your lived
experiences, which I am eager to hear in your own words. Some of these questions may be
difficult for you to respond to due to the subject matter of race, racism, complicity, and
oppression. You may feel uncomfortable or triggered. I welcome you to process these emotions
in any way that works for you, including out loud with me or on your own. Please let me know if
you need to take a break and we can do so at any time.
As stated in the Study Information Sheet I provided to you, the testimonio you provide
during this interview will be used to answer the research questions for my dissertation. However,
the specific and identifying information you provide will remain confidential. This means that
your name, place of work, or any other identifying information will NOT be shared with anyone
throughout my research process. I do plan on using direct quotes from the testimonio you share
with me today, but none of the data will be attributed directly to you. I will use a pseudonym for
you and will make every effort to deidentify data that you share with me. I would be happy to
provide you with a copy of my dissertation if you are interested. As a reminder, I will keep the
data in a password-protected computer and all data will be destroyed after three years. There is
no cost to you for taking part in this study. Lastly, I will be recording this conversation via Zoom
and will be generating a written transcript. This recording and the transcript will only be for the
purpose of accurately capturing what you share with me today. It will not be shared with anyone.
May I have your permission to record our conversation? Thank you.
The study’s interview protocol is presented in Table A1.

265
Table A1
Interview Protocol
Interview questions Potential probes Key concept
addressed
Research
question
addressed
How would you like me to
describe your career in my
dissertation?
Demographic Demographic
Can you please share your
age with me?
Demographic Demographic
If you feel comfortable, can
you please share your
pronouns with me?
Demographic Demographic
Can you please share with me
how you prefer to identify
yourself as a person with
Latino/Hispanic ethnicity?
(i.e., Latina/o/e/x;
Chicana/o/e/x; Hispanic)
Demographic Demographic
What is/are your family’s
country/countries of origin?
Demographic Demographic
How do you define your
race?
Demographic, ethnic
identity
Demographic
Can you share with me, to the
extent of your knowledge,
your ancestry? This can
include any information
you have about where your
family is from, their
journey in/to the U.S, and
your ethnic/racial make-up.
Demographic, ethnic
identity
Demographic
Can you share any family
mythologies that exist about
your ancestry?
Do any of these
mythologies highlight
one ancestry over
another?
Ethnic identity,
internalized racial
oppression,
antiBlackness,
Indigenous
erasure, White
supremacy
RQ 1

266
Interview questions Potential probes Key concept
addressed
Research
question
addressed
Prior to us being in
communication, had you
ever heard of internalized
racial oppression?
If so, when did you first
hear about internalized
racial oppression?
Internalized racial
oppression
RQ 1, RQ 4
How do you define
internalized racial
oppression?
Internalized racial
oppression
RQ 1, RQ 4
Based on what you shared
about the previous question,
how do you think about
internalized racial
oppression in your own life,
if at all?
If you do think about it,
what thoughts, or
feelings most come up
for you about it?
Internalized racial
oppression
RQ 1, RQ 4
How does the term
“internalized racial
oppression” sit with you?
Are there any other terms
or concepts that you feel
would better describe
your experiences?
Internalized racial
oppression
RQ 1, RQ 4
Have you noticed internalized
racial oppression showing
up in your life? If so, how?
If not, why do you think
that is?
Internalized racial
oppression
RQ 1, RQ 4
Have you noticed internalized
racial oppression showing
up in the Latine
community?
If yes, what are some of
the thoughts, beliefs, or
behaviors you would
name as internalized
racial oppression?
Internalized racial
oppression
RQ 1, RQ 4
Have you noticed internalized
racial oppression showing
up in your work or career?
If so, how?
How do you view yourself
as a Latine person within
an organizational
context?
Internalized racial
oppression in the
workplace
RQ 3, RQ 4
Have you had any
experiences throughout
your career in which you
have had to either perform
or minimize your identity
as a Latine person? If so,
can you please explain? If
not, why do you think that
is?
Do you think these
experiences are
reflective of internalized
racial oppression? If so,
how? If not, why?
Internalized racial
oppression in the
workplace
RQ 3, RQ 4

267
Interview questions Potential probes Key concept
addressed
Research
question
addressed
In your opinion, is achieving
career success as a Latine
person any more or less
difficult than it would be
for a non-Latine person?
Why or why not?
Internalized racial
oppression in the
workplace
RQ 3, RQ 4
How do you feel about the
concept of “the American
Dream?”
Is the idea of the American
Dream relevant to your
career as a Latine
professional? If so, how?
If not, why do you think
that is the case?
Internalized racial
oppression,
internalized racial
oppression in the
workplace,
majoritarian
narratives
RQ 3, RQ 4
Have you noticed any other
ideas like the American
Dream within
organizational culture? If
so, can you name them?
Have these ideas affected
you as a Latine
professional?
Internalized racial
oppression,
internalized racial
oppression in the
workplace,
majoritarian
narratives
RQ 3, RQ 4
Do you think there is a
relationship between
internalized racial
oppression and ideas like
the American Dream? If so,
please explain. If not, why?
Do you think these ideas
could be disrupted? If
so, how?
Internalized racial
oppression,
internalized racial
oppression in the
workplace,
majoritarian
narratives
RQ 3, RQ 4
What comes to mind when
you think about dismantling
internalized racial
oppression?
Do you feel like
internalized racial
oppression is something
that needs to be
dismantled within
yourself?
If so, how do you envision
yourself doing this?
If not, why not?
Dismantling
internalized racial
oppression
RQ 2
How do you see Latine
professionals fitting into the
dismantling of internalized
racial oppression within the
What about within
organizations?
Dismantling
internalized racial
oppression
RQ 2

268
Interview questions Potential probes Key concept
addressed
Research
question
addressed
greater Latine community,
if at all?
As a Latine professional, how
do you view the blue-collar
Latine community?
Internalized racial
oppression,
majoritarian
narratives
RQ 4
Do you think IRO within
Latine professionals affects
the blue-collar Latine
community? If so, why? If
not, why not?
Internalized racial
oppression,
majoritarian
narratives
RQ 4
Given the history of the
United States, race is often
conceptualized in the
context of Black and White
racial relations. How do
you observe that Latine
people fit into this context?
How do you view the
pursuit of equality for
Latine people in the
context of Black and
White racial relations?
How have your own
experiences shaped this
view?
Racial history of
U.S., history of
Latinos in the U.S.,
antiBlackness,
racial equity,
majoritarian
narratives,
internalized racial
oppression
RQ 4
How do you define
antiBlackness?
antiBlackness,
internalized racial
oppression
RQ 4
Have you seen examples of
antiBlackness in the Latine
community?
How do you see
antiBlackness
manifesting in the Latine
community?
Racial history of
U.S., history of
Latinos in the U.S.,
antiBlackness,
racial equity,
majoritarian
narratives,
internalized racial
oppression,
mestizaje,
colonization
RQ 4
(If yes to previous question)
Why do you think
antiBlackness manifests in
the Latine community?
Do you think
antiBlackness is related
to internalized racial
oppression?
Racial history of
U.S., history of
Latinos in the U.S.,
antiBlackness,
racial equity,
majoritarian
narratives,
internalized racial
RQ 1, RQ 4

269
Interview questions Potential probes Key concept
addressed
Research
question
addressed
oppression,
mestizaje,
colonization
What do you think of
antiBlackness in the context
of Afro-Latine, or Black
Latine people?
Do you think Afro-Latine
people face
discrimination within the
Latine community?
To what do you attribute
the discrimination of
Afro-Latine people
within the Latine
community?
Racial history of
U.S., history of
Latinos in the U.S.,
antiBlackness,
racial equity,
majoritarian
narratives,
internalized racial
oppression,
mestizaje,
colonization
RQ 1, RQ 4
How do you define
Indigenous erasure?
Indigenous erasure,
internalized racial
oppression,
colonization
RQ 4
Have you seen examples of
Indigenous erasure in the
Latine community?
How do you see
Indigenous erasure
manifesting in the Latine
community?
Racial history of
U.S., history of
Latinos in the U.S.,
indigenous erasure,
colonization, racial
equity, majoritarian
narratives,
internalized racial
oppression,
mestizaje,
colonization
RQ 4
(If yes to previous question):
Why do you think
Indigenous erasure
manifests in the Latine
community?
Do you think Indigenous
erasure is related to
internalized racial
oppression?
Racial history of
U.S., history of
Latinos in the U.S.,
indigenous erasure,
colonization, racial
equity, majoritarian
narratives,
internalized racial
oppression,
mestizaje,
colonization
RQ 1, RQ 4
As a Latine professional, can
you think of any actions
you could take to build
Solidarity building,
dismantling IRO
RQ 2, RQ 4

270
Interview questions Potential probes Key concept
addressed
Research
question
addressed
solidarity with the Black
community? Alternatively,
are there actions you are
already taking to build this
solidarity?
As a Latine professional, can
you think of any actions
you could take to build
solidarity with Afro-Latine
people? Alternatively, are
there actions you are
already taking to build this
solidarity?
Solidarity building,
dismantling IRO
RQ 2, RQ 4
As a Latine professional, can
you think of any actions
you could take to build
solidarity with the bluecollar Latine community?
Alternatively, are there
actions you are already
taking to build this
solidarity?
As a Latine professional, can
you think of any actions
you could take to build
solidarity with the
Indigenous community?
Alternatively, are there
actions you are already
taking to build this
solidarity?
Solidarity building,
dismantling IRO
RQ 2, RQ 4
I am asking all of these
questions with the goal of
trying to understand how
Latine people’s history of
colonization and oppression
continues to manifest today
through internalized racial
oppression. I also want to
understand how
internalized racial
oppression within Latine
people is connected to
Racial history of
U.S., history of
Latinos in the U.S.,
indigenous erasure,
colonization, racial
equity, majoritarian
narratives,
internalized racial
oppression,
mestizaje,
colonization
RQ 1, 2, 3, 4

271
Conclusion to the Interview
Thank you so much for your time and sharing your testimonio with me. Did you have any
questions for me?
Your responses are going to be very helpful to my study and will support us as a
community to develop tools to navigate and resist internalized racial oppression, antiBlackness,
and Indigenous erasure. Following our time together today, I will be reviewing the transcript of
your testimonio to synthesize what you shared with me. Part of the accountability process for my
study is ensuring that I accurately represent what you shared with me. If I have any questions, or
if I want to check something you shared for accuracy, may I contact you for follow-up? If so,
may I reach out via text and/or email? Once again, thank you for participating in my study, I
greatly appreciate it.
Interview questions Potential probes Key concept
addressed
Research
question
addressed
antiBlackness, Indigenous
erasure, and dominant
culture narratives, all of
which continue to oppress
people of color in the U.S.
Internalized racial
oppression is so fascinating
because it shows how
oppression can be
automated when we start to
believe, buy into, or
perpetuate beliefs or
messages that oppress
ourselves and others. As I
share this with you, do you
have any final thoughts that
could help me think this
through?

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This study applied critical race theory and critical race methodology to understand how internalized racial oppression (IRO) operates within Latine professionals. Within the context of IRO, this study also examined antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives within the Latine community. The purpose of this study was to center the voices of Latine professionals and understand their experiences with IRO and connected phenomena, as well as to expose settler colonialism as a system of power that continues to affect the racialized experiences of Latine people in the United States. Testimonio methodology was used to learn about the experiences of 11 study participants who identified as Latine professionals. This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach to understand how IRO informs the experiences of Latine professionals, and how IRO perpetuates antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives. A constant comparative method, which included open, axial, and selective coding, was used to analyze the data based on themes recognized from the theoretical framework. Findings from the study include discussions about the insufficiency of current pan ethnic and racial identifiers within the Latine community, new definitions of IRO, manifestations of IRO within Latine professionals and the workplace, and concepts for dismantling IRO. This study highlighted the importance of understanding the insidious ways in which oppression is replicated through IRO, and highlighted the importance of naming and exposing antiBlackness, Indigenous erasure, and majoritarian narratives as part of IRO within the Latine community.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Lizarraga Gray, Lauren Michelle (author)

Core Title When we have survived: understanding internalized racial oppression, antiBlackness, and Indigenous erasure in Latine professionals

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Degree Conferral Date 2024-05

Publication Date 05/01/2024

Defense Date 04/04/2024

Publisher Los Angeles, California (original), University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag antiblackness,Colonization,Indigenous erasure,internalized racial oppression,internalized racism,Latine,Latino,majoritarian narratives,OAI-PMH Harvest,professionals,settler colonialism,Workplace

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Hinga, Briana (committee chair), Hinojosa, Aaron (committee member), Robles, Darline (committee member)

Creator Email llizarra@usc.edu,llizarraga@telacu.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113920227

Unique identifier UC113920227

Identifier etd-LizarragaG-12885.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-LizarragaG-12885

Document Type Dissertation

Format theses (aat)

Rights Lizarraga Gray, Lauren Michelle

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