Critical race theory, racial microaggressions, and campus racial climate: The experiences of African American college students

Journal of Negro Education, The, Winter 2000 by Solorzano, Daniel, Ceja, Miguel, Yosso, Tara

The basic CRT model consists of five elements focusing on: (a) the centrality of race and racism and their intersectionality with other forms of subordination, (b) the challenge to dominant ideology, (c) the commitment to social justice, (d) the centrality of experiential knowledge, and (e) the transdisciplinary perspective (Sol6rzano, 1997, 1998; Sol6rzano & Delgado Bernal, in press; Sol6rzano & Yosso, 2000).3 Each of these five themes is not new in and of themselves, but collectively they represent a challenge to the existing modes of scholarship. The critical race theory framework for education is different from other CRT frameworks because it simultaneously attempts to foreground race and racism in the research as well as challenge the traditional paradigms, methods, texts, and separate discourse on race, gender, and class by showing how these social constructs intersect to impact on communities of color. Further, it focuses on the racialized, gendered, and classed experiences of communities of color and offers a liberatory and transformative method for examining racial/ethnic, gender, and class discrimination. It also utilizes transdisciplinary knowledge and the methodological base of ethnic studies, women's studies, sociology, history, and the law to forge better understandings of the various forms of discrimination. Indeed, critical race theory names racist injuries and identifies their origins. When the ideology of racism is examined and racist injuries are named, victims of racism can find their voice. Further, those injured by racism discover that they are not alone in their marginality. They become empowered participants, hearing their own stories and the stories of others, listening to how the arguments are framed, and learning to make the arguments themselves. In this article, we take each of these five themes and, where applicable, apply them to the study of racial microaggressions, collegiate racial climate, and the experiences of African American college students.

METHODOLOGY We used a qualitative, focus-group research design to illustrate in greater detail how African American students experience the racial climate of their college campuses. Focus groups are guided group discussions that allow the generation of a wealth of understanding about participants' experiences and beliefs about a particular topic of inquiry. Focus groups have four strengths that enrich the research process in that they provide a methodology to: (a) explore and discover concepts and themes about a phenomena about which more knowledge is needed, (b) add context and depth to the understanding of the phenomena, (c) provide an interpretation of the phenomena from the point of view of the participants in the group, and (d) observe the collective interaction of the participants. Qualitative focus-group analysis examines these students' lived experiences and shows how they can provide a depth of understanding, afford outsiders with greater insight, and be a guide to further research on collegiate racial climate and the impact of racial microaggressions on African American college students. Indeed, the purpose of a qualitative focus group methodology is to illustrate and elucidate the analytical categories of the relationship between racial microaggressions and campus racial climate.