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

Abstract

Historical and contemporary political events underscore that Latinx people do not necessarily view race and racism in the United States through a shared lens with other Latinx people and other communities of color. Thus, it is critical to understand how Latinx youth develop attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that challenge white supremacy-or anti-racist identities and behaviors-that actively disrupt racial oppression communities of color face as well as their own communities. In this paper, we review theoretical mechanisms by which Latinx youth may develop anti-racist identities and actions on behalf of their own ethnic/racial communities and other communities oppressed by white supremacy. We conclude by offering suggestions for how institutions may support Latinx youth's anti-racist identities and actions.

Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble: Expanding Thinking and Research on Youth of Color’s Resistance to Oppression

“…As shown in Figure 1, this spike in interest is evident from trends in Google search history of anti‐racism from January 2004 to May 2022, with the peak occurring in late May and early June of 2020. Anti‐racism is broadly defined as “a continuous process of change to eradicate racism” (Aldana et al., 2019, p. 370), and anti‐racist actions are those that “youth take to actively challenge racism on the different levels through which racism permeates (e.g., individual, community, institutional, structural)” (Bañales & Rivas‐Drake, 2022, this volume, p. 1). Just as evident in the Google search history trend line is the relative drop in interest since summer 2020, indicating that for most, anti‐racism was a fleeting interest or idea worth learning about, and then many people moved on.…”

“…Yet, becoming anti‐racist is not a foregone conclusion for any young person regardless of race or ethnicity. In their pathbreaking model, Bañales and Rivas‐Drake (2022, this volume) put forth three key ingredients of anti‐racist identity and action, focusing on the unique contexts, histories, and experiences of Latinx youth: (1) politicized ethnic‐racial identity; (2) critical analysis of racism that locates root causes within systems; and (3) emancipatory agency and commitment to ending racism for one’s own and other racial and ethnic groups. The authors walked through how anti‐racist identity and action may develop differently depending on Latinx youth’s socialization contexts and opportunities as well as the ways they interface with and understand systems of white supremacy, anti‐Blackness, and anti‐Indigeneity.…”

When WE See Us: Commentary on Black Adolescent Research by Black Male Youth Activists

“…As Kevin has articulated, the research in this special section titled "Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble: Dismantling Oppression through Resistance and Activism" is largely focused on processesnamely, how do young people learn how to name and combat white supremacy, racism, and other forms of systemic oppression? For example, Lee et al (2022) and Bañales and Rivas-Drake (2022) highlight how youth of color develop political identities connected to their racial groups. Hipolito-Delgado et al ( 2022) and Karras et al (2022) highlighted the role of sociopolitical developmentspecifically the ways that youth's environments could either incubate or inspire political actions.…”

“…For example, Lee et al. (2022) and Bañales and Rivas‐Drake (2022) highlight how youth of color develop political identities connected to their racial groups. Hipolito‐Delgado et al.…”

From Truth‐Telling to Imagining New Possibilities: Listening to Youth, Families, and Communities of Color

“…One point of contention here is the idea that the work of dismantling oppression should fall only on the dominant group or the people who benefit from racist systems, for example. Here, I offer some thoughts that my colleague and I have articulated in a new model of anti‐racist identity and action among Latinx youth (Bañales & Rivas‐Drake, in press) for a different special section in this larger series that is focused on “good trouble, necessary trouble.” Specifically, we know that even as Latinx people in the United States are racialized and minoritized, their experiences vary—as we see, for instance, in Wang et al.’s (this issue) analysis of phenotype and White et al.’s (this issue) examination of exposure to neighborhood Whiteness among Latinx adolescents. We argue that we should not presume that by virtue of being racially minoritized Latinx youth, or really any youth of color, would automatically know what role they can have in dismantling oppression.…”