Where Are You From and Why Are You Here? Microaggressions, Racialization, and Mexican College Students in a New Destination

Abstract

Previous sociological research on U.S. Mexicans has concentrated on their assimilation, especially educational patterns. While recent research has shifted focus to Mexicans settling in “new destinations” away from the Southwest, there have been few examinations of the microlevel dynamics through which this group's young people have been received in new destinations. Moreover, an emphasis remains on how well this group is assimilating. Using in‐depth interviews, sociology of race perspectives, and racial microaggressions, this article analyzes Mexican students’ treatment in a predominantly white university, town, and high schools in a northeastern state. While assimilation perspectives would view these students’ presence in college as an early indicator of structural assimilation into the dominant white middle class, interviews paint a more nuanced picture. Notably there is a pattern of racial microaggressions, or everyday slights, typically coming from white students and school officials. Through these microaggressions, respondents are racialized as nonwhite, juxtaposed as inferior to whites, and come to learn of their group's lower status. Nonetheless, respondents are advancing toward college graduation given the support and resources they use.