Racializing Discourse in Public and Private: Social Differentiation and the Question of Mexicanness at an Arizona High School
Author(s) -
O'Connor Brendan H.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
anthropology and education quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.531
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1548-1492
pISSN - 0161-7761
DOI - 10.1111/aeq.12145
Subject(s) - civility , sociology , race (biology) , socioeconomic status , gender studies , social class , sociology of education , social science , politics , political science , population , law , demography
Using discourse analysis, this article explores how Mexican‐American students at an Arizona high school exploited intersections of race, gender, and socioeconomic class to position themselves and their peers along a racial continuum from less to more Mexican. Thus, private social distinctions among students both mirrored and transformed publicly circulating discourses of belonging, foreignness, and civility. The findings inform understandings of the complex, day‐to‐day construction of race and other social categories among students in U.S. schools.