Myths and the “Politics of Exceptionality”: Interpreting Chicana/o Narratives of Achievement

Abstract

The author draws from select topical life histories conducted with individuals who enrolled in doctoral programs at UC Berkeley during a ten-year period beginning with 1968. She examines the myths surrounding academic achievement for people of Mexican descent and how these myths affected her initial interpretation of their childhood stories about their parents' relationship to their achievements. She considers the interpretation of these narratives from the perspectives of various schools of thought and argues that the issue of educational achievement by minority groups is subject to a “politics of exceptionality.” Hence, high academic achievement is not considered normative, and students who do achieve are treated as exceptions, not only to the presumed meritocracy, but as exceptions to their racial/ethnic group. By individualizing their achievements and focusing on their characteristics as individuals, the focus of social policies with respect to educational attainment remains focused on the individual achiever and not on the institutional processes and structural opportunities that maximize the possibilities for achievement.