Citation

Hurd CA. Anthropol. Educ. Q. 2008; 39(3): 293-313.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Council on Anthropology and Education, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1548-1492.2008.00023.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This case study is concerned with how institutional practices of normative whiteness can impede the school involvement of Mexican-descent students. It examines how damaging forms of white normativity can operate in school settings where one might least expect to find them: in commemorations of Mexican cultural holidays. The author shows how such commemorations can have the paradoxical effect of marginalizing Mexican-descent students and discouraging their involvement in a range of school activities. [Mexican American, whiteness, cultural conflict, cultural celebrations, belonging, identity formation]