“We’re Expected to Be Homogenous”: Contesting Latinidad and the Myth of Panethnic Inclusion

Abstract

The construction of Latines as a racially homogenous group in the U.S. obscures the various contestations and negotiations that differently racialized Latines undergo as a result of the racial dynamics in place within Latinidad. Drawing on in-depth interviews with Latine students at Overton University, I show the kinds of ethnoracial contestations that occur among Latines as they negotiate what it means to take on that panethnic identity. I find that Latines construct Latine ethnoracial legitimacy around notions of racial “Brownness” and cultural “Mexicanness,” and argue that these constructions, which are rooted in anti-Blackness, lead to the exclusion of those on the racial margins of Latinidad. I also argue that the existence of these dynamics in settings that are meant to foster inclusivity and community building demonstrates the limitations of framing Latines as a panethnic and racially homogenous group and highlights the need to understand the hierarchies in place among Latines in the U.S.