Interviews reveal Latinx perception of BLM movement

When Natalia Parra ’21 decided to be a part of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in Atlanta after the death of George Floyd in 2020, she felt like she had to hide it from her parents because she wasn’t sure how they would react. Growing up in the U.S. after immigrating with her family from Colombia at age 7, she explained that in order to begin a new life in America her family, like many immigrant families, has always been careful about drawing too much attention to themselves, causing them to have limited experience and perspective on American society and especially other marginalized communities like the African American community. “For so long the Hispanic community has had a view of the African American community that is purely based on news media specifically Hispanic-oriented media. The African American community is seen with negative connotations such as criminality or inherent evil for example,” Parra said, explaining that she’s found many in the Latinx community don’t see the BLM movement as related to them.  

As a Spanish and communication studies major in her senior year at Wooster developing her Independent Study, Parra decided to examine the Latinx population’s perceptions of and attitudes toward the BLM movement and how they are influenced by Spanish-language news media through a series of qualitative interviews in Spanish with members of the Latinx community. As she interviewed Latinx Americans living in different parts of the country, she found that the movement led to a shift in understanding for some participants. She explained that for immigrant Latinx communities and Spanish-speaking media, “The African American community is completely outside of the narrative, and through this movement, people I talked with are finding out things about their culture and who they are as a society.”  

Parra’s first experience with using interview research to develop an understanding of human perception in the way she did for her I.S. began with an internship she had as a rising sophomore interviewing immigrant workers all over Ohio for a summer research project with Professors Michelle Leiby and Alvaro Corral in political science. “Being at Wooster in this space where your ideas are valued and they’re teaching you how to think critically has made me hyper aware of not just my race and ethnicity but how to interact with other communities,” she said. “It’s given me the skills to be able to take that experience and knowledge and apply it to these interviews and how participants view race and their identity.” 

In her analysis, Parra found participants struggled with “the binary nature of race in the United States, how race is perceived as either Black or white, no in between,” she explained. “The participants perceive themselves in the American context of race and ethnicity.” Through interviewing participants from different age groups, she found that younger participants felt the need to educate their parents regarding race and ethnicity in the U.S. because “They feel like they’re getting a perception that is not correct from Hispanic-oriented sources of news,” she said. While most of those she interviewed supported the BLM movement, what interested Parra was the way they separated it from themselves. “They did not feel that the Black Lives Matter movement would affect their daily lives, which is interesting, because they themselves are of a darker complexion,” she said, attributing the separation between these two communities to the media, but also to preconceived notions of race and the lack of inclusion of both of these communities in American society, history, and politics.  

Working closely on her I.S. with Rebecca Garonzik, assistant professor of Spanish, and with Rohini Singh, assistant professor of communication studies, Parra said they helped her to narrow her focus and broaden her perspective. “They helped me structure my writing to communicate in the best way possible to an audience who maybe hasn’t had any experience with the Hispanic or the African American community,” Parra said. “I was afraid of I.S. ever since I got to Wooster, but they made the process enjoyable and exciting. It was such a wonderful experience.” Singh and Garonzik commented that they shared Parra’s appreciation for the relationship they developed as they reviewed her work: “One of the great joys of this co-advised project was forming connections among the three of us. We would often refer to ourselves as a team I.S. and begin our sessions talking about how our weeks had gone and sharing stories about our families that really helped solidify our working relationship through the cultivation of a professional friendship.” 

Originally published in the summer 2021 issue of Wooster magazine.

Posted in Independent Study on June 21, 2021.