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 CONTENTS.vi LIST OF TABLES.x Chapter 1: Introduction.1 Latinos and Race.4 Racism.9 White Privilege.11 Latinos and White Privilege.15 Theoretical Perspective.19 Statement of the Problem.23 Purpose of the Study.23 Primary Research Questions.24 Definition of Terms.26 Summary.29 Chapter 2: Literature Review.30 Race in Latin America.30 Latinos in the United States.36 Latinos Racial Identification.40 White Privilege.43 Whiteness.46 Racial Colorblindness.48 Racism.54 LATINOS AND WHITE PRIVILEGE vii Internalized Racism.56 Colorism.59 Gender.60 Summary.61 Chapter 3: Methodology.63 Research Design.63 Participants.64 Procedure.64 Instrumentation.66 Demographics Questionnaire.66 White Privilege Attitudes.66 Colorblind Racial Attitudes.68 Mouchihua Tepehuani Scale.70 New Immigrant Survey.70 Research Questions and Hypotheses.71 Data Analysis.72 Correlational Analysis.64 Hypothesis 1.73 Hypothesis 2.73 Hypothesis 3.74 Hypothesis 4.74 Hypothesis 5.75 LATINOS AND WHITE PRIVILEGE viii Hypothesis 6.75 Summary.77 Chapter 4: Results.78 Demographics.78 Participants.78 Skin Color.80 White Privilege Attitudes Scale.81 Colorblind Racial Attitudes.85 Mochihua Tepehuani Scale.86 Hypothesis Testing.86 Hypothesis 1.86 Hypothesis 2.87 Hypothesis 3.88 Hypothesis 4.90 Hypothesis 5.91 Hypothesis 6.93 Summary.94 Chapter 5: Discussion.96 White Privilege among lighter skinned or White identified Latinos.97 Racial Identification of Latinos.99 Skin Color, White Privilege Attitudes, Colorblind Racial Attitudes as predictive of Internalized Racism.104 Racial Identification and Educational Level Predictive of Internalized Racism.104 LATINOS AND WHITE PRIVILEGE ix Statistically Significant Findings of the Current Study.106 Relationships among Internalized Racism, awareness of White privilege, and Colorblind Racial Attitudes.106 Colorblind Racial Attitudes among Latinos, including Colorblind Racial Attitudes among foreign-born Latinos.108 Contributions of the Current Study.111 Future Studies.112 Clinical Implications.114 Limitations.115 References.119 Appendix A.153 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’ age.143 Table 2. Participants’ Hispanic/Latino Country of Origin.144 Table 3. Participants’ Racial Identification.145 Table 4. Parti