The borderlands of Black mixed-race women's identity: navigating hegemonic monoraciality in a white supremacist heteropatriarchal society
Date
2018
Authors
Evans, Corey Rae, author
Bubar, Roe, advisor
Souza, Caridad, advisor
Vigil, Patricia, committee member
Céspedes, Karina L., committee member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
This research study examines and deconstructs the identity formation and development of black mixed-race women and highlights the ways in which black mixed-race women have engaged in developing a "borderlands consciousness" that fosters a sense of positive identity as they navigate hegemonic monoraciality and white supremacist heteropatriarchy in the U.S. This qualitative research study analyzes data from three sources: one-on-one interviews; a focus group; and blog posts on the social media platforms Twitter and Facebook that discuss the identity development of black mixed-race women. In this study, grounded theory methodology is used to explore and theorize around the identity development of black mixed-race women and their potential to utilize a "borderlands consciousness" to embody a disidentified position in response to the dualistic stance and counterstance positions that reify monoraciality within the social and political context of the Midwestern state of Colorado. The following themes with incorporated sub-themes emerged from the three aforementioned data sources with an overarching theme of the borderlands: external oppression representative of a stance position; internal responses to oppression representative of a counterstance position; proximity to whiteness representative of both external oppression and internal responses to oppression; and creating a third space towards a position of disidentification.