This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Rodriguez, D. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Un/masking Identity

Healing Our Wounded Souls

Syracuse University

Using personal narrative, this article examines how masks function to subordinate African American and Latina women in the academy. The article uses Critical Race Theory and more specifically critical race gendered epistemologies, including Black feminist thought and Chicana feminist epistemology, to understand how females of color resist in the academy. Interweaving two narratives, the narrative of an African American woman and her experiences in the White academy with the author's personal narrative about resisting cultural and linguistic domination, this article seeks to understand the process of redefinition leading toward self empowerment. Critical in exposing hidden truths, the article unmasks racism in the White academy, challenging the dominant discourse.

Key Words: racism • Critical Race Theory • empowerment • storytelling • Chicana feminist epistemology • autoethnography • Black feminist thought • resistance

References

• Akom, A. A. (2000). The house that race built: Some observations on the use of the word nigga, popular culture, and urban adolescent behavior. In M. Fine & L. Weis (Eds.), Construction sites(pp. 140-157). New York: Teachers College Press.
• Anzaldua, G. (1987). Borderlands. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Foundation.
• Anzaldua, G. (Ed.). (1998). Making face, making soul. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Foundation.
• Anzaldua, G. (2003). Speaking in tongues: A letter to third world women writers. In C. Moraga & G. Anzaldua (Eds.), This bridge called my back(pp. 183-193). Berkeley: Third Woman Press.
• Aubert, S. (1997). Black students on White campuses: Overcoming the isolation. In K. Lomotey (Ed.), Sailing against the wind: African Americans and women in U.S. education(pp. 141-146). Albany: State University of New York Press.
• Bell, D. (1987). And we are not saved: The elusive quest for racial justice. New York: Basic Books.
• Bell, D. (1992). Faces at the bottom of the well: The permanence of racism. New York: Basic Books.
• Bell-Scott, P. (1998). Life-notes: Personal writings by contemporary Black women. New York: Norton.
• Butler, J. (2000). Reflections on borderlands and the color line. In S. Geok-Lin Lim & M. Herrera-Sobek (Eds.), Power, race, and gender in academe(pp. 8-31). New York: MLA.
• Carter, R., & Goodwin, L. (1994). Racial identity and education. In L. Darling-Hammond (Ed.), Review of research in education (Vol. 20, pp. 291-336). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
• Carty, L. (1991). Black women in academia: A statement from the periphery. In H. Bannerji, L. Carty, K. Dehli, et al. (Eds.), Unsettling relations: The university as a site of feminist struggles(pp. 13-43). Boston: South End Press.
• Collins, P. (1998). Fighting words: Black women & the search for justice. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minneapolis.
• Collins, P. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
• Cooper, J., & Stevens, D. (2002). Tenure in the sacred grove: Issues and strategies for women and minority faculty. Albany: State University of New York Press.
• Cordova, T. (1998). Power and knowledge: Colonialism in the academy. In C. Trujillo (Ed.), Living Chicana theory(pp. 17-45). Berkeley: Third Woman Press.
• Crenshaw, K., Gotanda, N., Peller, G., & Thomas, K. (Eds.). (1995). Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement. New York: New Press.
• de la Luz Reyes, M., & Halcon, J. (1988). Racism in academia: The old wolf revisited. Harvard Educational Review, 58(3), 299-314.[ISI]
• de la Torre, A., & Pesquera, B. (Eds.). (1993). Building with our hands: New directions in Chicana studies. Berkeley: University of California.
• Delgado, R. (1988/1989). Storytelling for oppositionists and others: A plea for narrative. Michigan Law Review, 87, 2411-2441.
• Delgado-Bernal, D. (1998). Critical race theory, Latino critical theory, and critical racedgendered epistemologies: Recognizing students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 105-126.
• Denzin, N. (1997). Interpretive ethnography. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Dillard, C. (2000). The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen: Examining an endarkened feminist epistemology in educational research and leadership. Qualitative Studies in Education, 13(6), 661-681.[CrossRef]
• Espinoza, L. G. (1989/1990). Masks and other disguises: Exposing legal academia. Harvard Law Review, 103, 1878-1886.
• Feagin, J., & Sikes, M. (1994). Living with racism: The Black middle-class experience. Boston: Beacon Press.
• Ferguson, A. (2001). Bad boys: Public schools in the making of Black masculinity. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
• Guy-Sheftall, B. (1995). Words of fire: An anthology of African American feminist thought. New York: New Press.
• hooks, b. (1989). Talking back: Thinking feminist, thinking Black. Boston: South End Press.
• hooks, b. (1990). Yearning: Race, gender, and cultural politics. Boston: South End Press.
• hooks, b. (2003). Rock my soul: Black people and self-esteem. New York: Washington Square Press.
• Ladson-Billings, G., & Tate, W. F. (1995). Toward a critical race theory of education. Teachers College Record, 97, 47-68.[ISI]
• Lomotey, K. (1997). Sailing against the wind: African Americans and women in U.S. education. Albany: State University of New York Press.
• Lorde, A. (1984). Sister outsider. Trumansberg, NY: Crossing Press.
• Margolis, E., & Romero, M. (1998). The department is very male, very White, very old, and very conservative: The functioning of the hidden curriculum in graduate sociology departments. Harvard Educational Review, 68(1), 1-32.[ISI]
• Miron, L. F. (1995). The social construction of urban schooling: Situating the crisis. Cresskill: Hampton.
• Montoya, M. E. (1994). Mascaras, trenzas, y grenas: Un/masking the self while un/braiding Latina stories and legal discourse. Harvard Women's Law Journal, 185(17), 185-220.
• Moraga, C., & Anzaldua, G. (2002). This bridge called my back: Writings by radical women of color. Berkeley: Third Woman Press.
• Noguera, P. (1997). Reconsidering the "crisis" of the Black male in America. Social Justice, 24(2), 147-164.
• Padilla, R. V., & Chavez, R. C. (Eds.). (1995). The leaning ivory tower: Latino professors in American universities. Albany: State University of New York Press.
• Parker, L., Deyhle, D., Villenas, S., & Nebeker, K. (1998). Guest editors' introduction: Critical race theory and qualitative studies in education. Qualitative Studies in Education, 11(1), 5-6.
• Parker, L., & Lynn, M. (2002). What's race got to do with it?: Critical race theory's conflicts with and connections to qualitative research methodology and epistemology. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 7-22.[Abstract]
• Pizzaro, M. (1998). "Chicana/o Power!": Epistemology and methodology for social justice and empowerment in Chicana/o communities. Qualitative Studies in Education, 11(1), 57-80.[CrossRef]
• Rendon, L. I. (1992). From the barrio to the academy: Revelations of a Mexican American "scholarship girl." In L. S. Zwerling & H. B. London (Eds.), First-generation students: Confronting the cultural issues, 80(pp. 54-64). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Rosaldo, R. (1989). Culture and truth. Boston: Beacon Press.
• Segura, D. (1993). Slipping through the cracks: Dilemmas in Chicana education. In A. de la Torre & B. M. Pesquera (Eds.), Building with our hands(pp. 47-65). Berkeley: University of California.
• Smith, B. (2000). The truth that never hurts: Writing on race, gender, and freedom. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
• Snearl, G. (1997). Sailing against the wind: African American women, higher education, and power. In K. Lomotey (Ed.), Sailing against the wind: African Americans and women in U.S. Education(pp. 123-132). Albany: State University of New York Press.
• Solorzano, D. (1998). Critical race theory, race and gender micro-aggressions, and the experience of Chicana and Chicano scholars. Qualitative Studies in Education, 11(1), 121-136.[CrossRef]
• Solorzano, D., & Villalpando, O. (1998). Critical race theory: Marginality and the experience of students of color in higher education. In C. A. Torres & T. R. Mitchell (Eds.), Sociology of education: Emerging perspectives(pp. 211-224). Albany: State University of New York Press.
• Solorzano, D., & Yosso, T. (2001). Critical race and LatCrit theory and method: Counterstorytelling. Qualitative Studies in Education, 14(4), 471-495.[CrossRef]
• Solorzano, D., & Yosso, T. (2002). Critical race methodology: Counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 23-44.[Abstract]
• St. Jean, Y., & Feagin, J. (1998). Double burden: Black women and everyday racism. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
• Tate, W. F. (1997). Critical race theory and education: History, theory, and implications. Review of Research in Education, 22, 195-247.[Free Full Text]
• Tijerina, A. (1989). Notes on oppression and violence. In G. Anzaldua (Ed.), Making face, making soul(pp. 170-173). San Francisco: Aunt Lute Foundation.
• Trueba, H. (1999). Latinos unidos: From cultural diversity to the politics of solidarity. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
• Trujillo, C. (Ed.). (1998). Living Chicana theory. Berkeley: Third Woman Press.
• Turner, C., & Myers, S. (2000). Faculty of color in academe: Bittersweet success. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
• Turner, C., Myers, S., & Creswell, J. (1999). Exploring underrepresentation: The case of faculty of color in the Midwest. Journal of Higher Education, 70(1), 27-59.
• Turner, C., & Thompson, J. (1993). Socializing women doctoral students: Minority and majority experiences. Review of Higher Education, 16, 355-370.
• Williams, P. (1991). The alchemy of race and rights. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Wing, A. (1997). Critical race feminism: A reader. New York: New York University Press.
• Woods, R. L. (2001). Invisible women: The experiences of Black female doctoral students at the University of Michigan. In R. O. Mabokela & A. L. Green (Eds.), Sisters of the academy(pp. 104-115). Sterling: Stylus.
• Yamada, M. (1990). Masks of a woman. In G. Anzaldua (Ed.), Making face, making soul (pp. 114-116). San Francisco: Aunt Lute Foundation.
• Yamato, G. (1990). Something about the subject makes it hard to name. In G. Anzaldua (Ed.), Making face, making soul(pp. 20-24). San Francisco: Aunt Lute Foundation.

CiteULike

Connotea

Del.icio.us

Digg

Reddit

Technorati

This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Rodriguez, D. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?