The purpose of this analysis is to examine how the system of whiteness and the concepts of colorblindness and white privilege influence students of color, affecting their schooling experiences and sense of identity. Accordingly, it analyzes how factors such as race, class, gender, and citizenship converge and foster negative experiences, which systematically disadvantages students of diversity. First, this paper explains the concepts of the system of whiteness, white privilege, and the colorblind perspective. Next, it connects these concepts to the socialization of adolescent students as they navigate through their educational paths to adulthood. Last, it explores how socioeconomic circumstances systematically disadvantage students who
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In particular, symbolic ethnicity occurs when an individual voluntarily claims their identity through exhibiting another culture’s style as a means to “fit in”. To illustrate, Lee’s (2005) article, the second-generation Hmong American students embraced the hip hop style and referred to themselves as “Americanized”, yet they did not consider themselves to be “American”. On the contrary, ascriptive ethnicity is a result of being categorized by others and without choice (Nakagawa, 2017). An example of how ascriptive ethnicity influences a student’s self-identity can be found in the Independent Lens (2013) film, The Graduates. Specifically, the young man featured in the film named Gustavo, shares his struggles with his undocumented status. He expresses how this shaped his sense of self in feeling as though he was insignificant in the school system due to the stigma placed upon him by educators and his community (Ruiz, 2013). Gustavo became hopeless after meeting with a counselor to understand what his options were for applying to college, he broke down crying when the counselor asked him about his immigration status. Consequently, Gustavo became depressed and began to struggle academically – once Gustavo realized the challenges of being undocumented, he began to contemplate dropping out of high school
In particular, symbolic ethnicity occurs when an individual voluntarily claims their identity through exhibiting another culture’s style as a means to “fit in”. To illustrate, Lee’s (2005) article, the second-generation Hmong American students embraced the hip hop style and referred to themselves as “Americanized”, yet they did not consider themselves to be “American”. On the contrary, ascriptive ethnicity is a result of being categorized by others and without choice (Nakagawa, 2017). An example of how ascriptive ethnicity influences a student’s self-identity can be found in the Independent Lens (2013) film, The Graduates. Specifically, the young man featured in the film named Gustavo, shares his struggles with his undocumented status. He expresses how this shaped his sense of self in feeling as though he was insignificant in the school system due to the stigma placed upon him by educators and his community (Ruiz, 2013). Gustavo became hopeless after meeting with a counselor to understand what his options were for applying to college, he broke down crying when the counselor asked him about his immigration status. Consequently, Gustavo became depressed and began to struggle academically – once Gustavo realized the challenges of being undocumented, he began to contemplate dropping out of high school