It was all black and white and there was nothing in between: Latin@ identity negotiation in the Midwest
Abstract
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The general purpose of this research is to shed light on the presence of Latino/a's who are middle-class, and are living in the Midwestern United States. Specifically, it examines how Latino/a's construct and maintain a Latino/a identity in a geographic region that requires them to constantly navigate a non-Latino/a culture. Often, for Latino/a's in other regions of the United States this construction and maintenance is able to occur in a different way, primarily because these individuals have access to a larger Latino/a culture. The lack of access experienced by Latino/as in this research creates feelings of isolation from other Latino/as who are not middle-class. This isolation often requires Latino/as to choose which identity is more important, middle-class or Latino/a. This choice is not always absolute and many of the individuals in this research utilized different strategies to balance these two competing identities. The strategies used enabled Latino/a's to construct, maintain and navigate their identities in the non-Latino/a space. Ultimately, we see that middle-class Latino/as in the Midwest must constantly negotiate a space that is often hostile and unforgiving and their competing identities are rarely given the room to coexist.
Degree
M.A.
Thesis Department
Rights
Access is limited to the campus of the University of Missouri--Columbia.