Unpacking 'la mochila' of Latino white privilege : relationships among white privilege, color blind attitudes, and internalized racism among Latinos

By 2065 Latinos will approximately comprise 25% of the United States’ population (Pew Hispanic Center, 2015). Among this racially diverse ethnic group are increasing numbers of Latinos who identify as White. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 53% of Latinos identified as White alone. Yet little is known about White skin color among Latinos and whether McIntosh’s (1988) discussion of White privilege, including attitudes and beliefs, applies to Latinos. Through use of the Feminist Ecological Model (Ballou, Matsumoto, & Wagner, 2002), the sociocultural factors that impact the awareness of White privilege among Latinos were explored. A correlational research design was utilized to examine the existence of White privilege, colorblind attitudes, and internalized racism among Latinos. Results revealed that Latinos who identify as White and whose skin ranges from 1-3 on the NIS did not report benefiting from White Privilege. Additionally, results revealed that Latinos, irrespective of skin color or racial identification, endorse moderate colorblind racial attitudes (CoBRAS, 2000). High endorsement of colorblind racial attitudes related to higher rates of internalized racism. These findings suggest that there is an urgent need to further explore skin color and racial identity and its ramifications on mental health, educational attainment, and self-concept. Clinicians are encouraged to acknowledge within group differences among Latinos and provide clients with the tools needed to cope with discrimination. LATINOS AND WHITE PRIVILEGE vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF CONTENTSvi LIST OF TABLESx Chapter 1: Introduction1 Latinos and Race4 Racism9 White Privilege11 Latinos and White Privilege15 Theoretical Perspective19 Statement of the Problem23 Purpose of the Study23 Primary Research Questions24 Definition of Terms26 Summary29 Chapter 2: Literature Review30 Race in Latin America30 Latinos in the United States36 Latinos Racial Identification40 White Privilege43 Whiteness46 Racial Colorblindness48 Racism54 LATINOS AND WHITE PRIVILEGE vii Internalized Racism56 Colorism59 Gender60 Summary61 Chapter 3: Methodology63 Research Design63 Participants64 Procedure64 Instrumentation66 Demographics Questionnaire66 White Privilege Attitudes66 Colorblind Racial Attitudes68 Mouchihua Tepehuani Scale70 New Immigrant Survey70 Research Questions and Hypotheses71 Data Analysis72 Correlational Analysis64 Hypothesis 173 Hypothesis 273 Hypothesis 374 Hypothesis 474 Hypothesis 575 LATINOS AND WHITE PRIVILEGE viii Hypothesis 675 Summary77 Chapter 4: Results78 Demographics78 Participants78 Skin Color80 White Privilege Attitudes Scale81 Colorblind Racial Attitudes85 Mochihua Tepehuani Scale86 Hypothesis Testing86 Hypothesis 186 Hypothesis 287 Hypothesis 388 Hypothesis 490 Hypothesis 591 Hypothesis 693 Summary94 Chapter 5: Discussion96 White Privilege among lighter skinned or White identified Latinos97 Racial Identification of Latinos99 Skin Color, White Privilege Attitudes, Colorblind Racial Attitudes as predictive of Internalized Racism104 Racial Identification and Educational Level Predictive of Internalized Racism104 LATINOS AND WHITE PRIVILEGE ix Statistically Significant Findings of the Current Study106 Relationships among Internalized Racism, awareness of White privilege, and Colorblind Racial Attitudes106 Colorblind Racial Attitudes among Latinos, including Colorblind Racial Attitudes among foreign-born Latinos108 Contributions of the Current Study111 Future Studies112 Clinical Implications114 Limitations115 References119 Appendix A153 Appendix B 156 Appendix C 161 Appendix D 165 Appendix E 170 Appendix F 171 LATINOS AND WHITE PRIVILEGE x LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Participants’ age143 Table 2. Participants’ Hispanic/Latino Country of Origin144 Table 3. Participants’ Racial Identification145 Table 4. Parti