This dissertation examines the racial identities of middleclass Mexican Americans, and provides a focus on how racial oppression plays a significant role in the formation, negotiation, and organization of these identities. Providing theoretical, analytic, and conceptual balance between structure and agency, this dissertation addresses how these Mexican Americans continue to experience racism despite being middleclass and achieving socioeconomic parity with many middleclass whites. Drawing on 67 semistructured open ended interviews (1-3 hours each), 10 months of ethnography in Phoenix and San Antonio, as well as a descriptive analysis of the Alamo monument website and Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office 2011 press releases this dissertation examines how middleclass Latinos/as negotiate racialized identities and racial oppression. This research concludes that these respondents experience significant amounts of racism in the cities of Phoenix and San Antonio. The racial climates of these cities impose racist discourse about Latinos/as and ultimately reinforce and reinscribe existing racial hierarchies of the United States. Middleclass Mexican Americans utilize different identity practices to navigate the racism of these discourse by providing various negotiation, deflection, and resistance practices. Ultimately this dissertation recognizes that middleclass Mexican American identities are a constant negotiation of imposed racial identities and their own understandings of their racial self.

The present study explored private regard and public regard, two subcomponents of racial identity, as mediators of the association between critical consciousness and appropriated racial oppression. In a sample of 75 Black emerging adults, ages 18-25, the current study examined (1) the relationships between critical consciousness, racial identity, and appropriated racial oppression and (2) whether racial identity mediates the relationship between critical consciousness and appropriated racial oppression. Relationships in the expected direction were evident between private regard and both critical consciousness and appropriated racial oppression. Relationships in the expected direction were evident between public regard and critical consciousness. Further, mediation analyses indicated that the relationship between critical consciousness and appropriated racial oppression was mediated by private regard. These findings indicate how critical consciousness and private regard may play a significant role in influencing appropriated racial oppression in Black emerging adults.

Racism has been identified as a profoundly traumatic and a psychologically damaging experience affecting Black people (Harrell, 2000; White & Parham, 1990; Williams & Williams-Morris, 2000). It has been theorized that one of the most devastating effects racial oppression (i.e. racism and discrimination) is the internalization of that oppression (Bailey, Chung, Williams, & Singh, 2006; Speight, 2007). Speight (2007) argued that an understanding of racism would be incomplete without considering how it is internalized. Internalized racial oppression is the process through which Black people consciously and unconsciously internalize and accept the dominant White culture’s oppressive actions and beliefs towards Black people, while at the same time rejecting an African worldview and cultural motifs (Bailey, Chung, Williams, & Singh, 2006). Internalized racial oppression is believed to adversely affect the psychological health of Black people. This study examined the construct validity of the Internalized Racial Oppression Scale (IROS; Bailey et al., 2006) through the use of confirmatory factor analysis and social desirability. Additionally, this study investigated internalized racial oppression as a predictor of the endogenous factors of Psychological Distress, Psychological Well-Being, Personal Self-Esteem, Collective Self-esteem, and Life Satisfaction through the use of latent variable path analysis. It was hypothesized that, similar to racial oppression; greater levels of internalized racial oppression will predict greater psychological distress, lower psychological well-being, lower personal self-esteem, lower collective self-esteem, and lower satisfaction with life among Black college students. Three hundred seventy Black students (Cohort 1 = 102, Cohort 2 = 268) participated in this study. Cohort 1 consisted of students recruited from a predominately White university in the Southeastern region of the United States. Cohort 2 consisted of a national sample of students. Participants from Cohort 1 completed a pencil and paper survey, while the participants from Cohort 2 completed a survey via online. The results supported the factorial structure of the IROS. Further, the results found that the IROS was a predictor of psychological distress, psychological well-being, collective self-esteem, and satisfaction with life. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

In scholarship discussing Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie’s self-realization is central to her identity, and many scholars view and discuss her as a cultural hero. But her success is conditional on circumstance rather than composition of character, a fact this essay explores through a careful comparison between Janie and Tweet, a character from Ellen Douglas’ Can’t Quit You, Baby; specifically, while Janie ultimately succeeds in her world—even while confronting gender oppression—she improbably avoids the additional, crippling subjugation of racial prejudice that Tweet endures. Through this and a discussion of definitions and Hurston’s work as a folklorist/writer, I attempt to show that Janie can be more effectively described as a folk hero, a title that: (1) accurately identifies her functions in her fictional society and in literary fiction and (2) satisfies Hurston’s goals in the novel while also accurately reflecting Janie’s journey to self fulfillment.

abstract: Internalized racism is a destructive, yet insidious psychological effect of racism. Although it has garnered increased attention in the research and clinical community due to its pervasive impact in racial minority individuals, empirical research on this topic has been limited. At the time of this study, no existing scale captures the key dimensions of internalized racism of Asian Americans. This study attempted to fill this gap by developing a self-report instrument that identified the key dimensions of this psychological construct. Seven hundred and fourteen Asian Americans participated in this study, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to investigate the factor structure of the scale. Results indicated that the Internalized Racism Scale for Asian Americans (IRSAA) has five factors, which are Endorsement of Negative Stereotypes, Sense of Inferiority, Denial or Minimization of Racism, Emasculation of Asian American Men, and Within-group Discrimination. This dissertation also examines and discusses the evidence of convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity for the IRSAA subscales. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Counseling Psychology 2016

This thesis embarks on a profound exploration of Toni Morrison's, The Bluest Eye and Home, to grapple with the question of the significance of being black in an antagonistic society. I investigate how trauma manifests differently within these two novels, examining its impacts on individual psychological development and its far-reaching repercussions on both the self and society. To refine this inquiry, this thesis employs two critical frameworks: W.E.B. Du Bois's concept of double-consciousness and the notion of the alien gaze. This thesis unfolds across two meticulously crafted chapters. The first chapter unearths the role of society in shaping the traumas experienced by characters such as Pecola Breedlove, Pauline, and Cholly Breedlove in The Bluest Eye. This chapter masterfully dissects how societal factors—ranging from cultural norms to racial biases and systemic inequalities—have intricately woven the traumatic experiences of these characters. In the second chapter, the focus shifts to Home and the character of Frank Money, whose life is marred by racial violence, leaving indelible marks on his psyche. I explore the link between violence and masculinity, contextualizing his experiences in the Korean War and their haunting aftermath. The portrayal of Frank's return to Georgia becomes a microcosm of his internal conflict, depicting the tension between his yearning for home and the alienation inflicted by a racist society. I also examine the trauma faced by Ycidra and the interplay of suffering and resilience. Importantly, this thesis dissects themes of accountability, guilt, and redemption as pathways to healing. / Ce mémoire explore de manière approfondie The Bluest Eye et Home de Toni Morrison en abordant l'importance d'être noir dans une société antagoniste. Je démontre comment le traumatisme se manifeste différemment dans ces deux romans en examinant les impacts sur le développement psychologique individuel et les répercussions sur soi et sur la société. Pour affiner cette enquête, deux cadres critiques sont utilisés: le concept de double-conscience de W.E.B. Du Bois et le regard étranger. Le mémoire est divisé en deux chapitres méticuleusement rédigés. Le premier chapitre dévoile le rôle de la société dans la formation des traumatismes vécus par des personnages tels que Pecola Breedlove, Pauline et Cholly Breedlove dans The Bluest Eye. J’analyse comment les facteurs sociétaux – allant des normes culturelles aux préjugés raciaux et aux inégalités systémiques – ont tissé les expériences traumatisantes des personnages. Dans le deuxième chapitre, l'accent est mis sur Home et le personnage de Frank Money, dont la vie est marquée par la violence raciale, laissant des marques indélébiles sur son psychisme. J’explore le lien entre la violence et la masculinité, en contextualisant ses expériences pendant la guerre de Corée et les conséquences de celle-ci. Le retour de Frank en Géorgie devient un microcosme de son conflit interne, décrivant la tension entre son désir de rentrer chez lui et l'aliénation infligée par une société raciste. J’examine également le traumatisme subi par Ycidra et l’interaction entre la souffrance et la résilience. Ce mémoire analyse les thèmes de la responsabilité, de la culpabilité et de la rédemption en tant que voies vers la guérison.