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Journal of Language, Identity & Education

ISSN: 1534-8458 (Print) 1532-7701 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hlie20

Race, Ethnicity, Class and Identity: Implications for Study Abroad

Federica Goldoni

To cite this article: Federica Goldoni (2017) Race, Ethnicity, Class and Identity: Implications for Study Abroad, Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 16:5, 328-341, DOI: 10.1080/15348458.2017.1350922

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2017.1350922

Published online: 27 Sep 2017.

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Race, Ethnicity, Class and Identity: Implications for Study Abroad Federica Goldoni

Georgia Gwinnett College

ABSTRACT This study addresses study abroad and second language acquisition. The number of U.S. students studying abroad is increasing. However, students’ cultural and linguistic immersion experiences abroad can be disconcerting, challenging their sociocultural identities, values, learning objectives, and expectations. This study employed critical race theory to explore how a Black male student’s race, ethnicity, and class affected his interactions with locals and his language and culture learning, and how his experiences had strong repercussions on his identity negotiation process. The results of this study had strong implications for this student’s full immersion and academic learning. This article concludes with considerations for study abroad pro- grams and how they should address discrimination, racial microaggressions, and racial battle fatigue.

KEYWORDS Critical race theory; foreign languages; identity; racial microaggressions; social class; study abroad

Tharps (2008) recalls her list of the things she could do to blend in and become Spanish, such as eating sunflower seeds, and wearing red jeans and neckerchiefs. However, the initial enthusiasm was short-lived when 1 day at the store she was recognized as not being Spanish:

“How do you know I’m not from Spain?” I answered back, teasing but kind of serious. He laughed then. A good-natured laugh, but a laugh just the same. “Chica, Spanish people don’t look like you,” he informed me. “What do you mean?” I demanded. Thinking of all the people I’d seen flaunting their red jeans. “Eres morena,” he said, as if that explained it. I was Black. Which meant there was no way I could be Spanish. Why had I even bothered? I untied my neckerchief then, since truth be told it was choking me. And I put my sunflower seeds back and bought a bag of potato chips instead. (p. 88)

Tharps raises questions about living abroad. How do students of color experience study abroad (SA) where they may feel conspicuous due to lack of diversity in the host society? Tharps narrates stories of racial microaggressions in Spain such as (sexual) prejudice and discrimination because of her skin color. It is not uncommon for Black students to develop frustration and anger and to perceive themselves as outsiders within a community.

The example of Albert in this study is significant in exploring these issues. Albert was an African American undergraduatestudying inSpain.I employ criticalracetheorytodiscusshisculturalandlinguistic immersion (CLI) abroad, including racial microaggressions, and how social dynamics shaped his identity and SA outcomes. This article shows how race, ethnicity, gender, and class affected Albert’s opportunities to develop an L2-mediated subject position in Spain, and to become engaged in the target culture.

Review of literature

Seventy-four percent of United States’ SA students are Caucasian (IIE, 2015) and foreign language education research focuses on the CLI of White undergraduates abroad (Engle & Engle, 1999; Isabelli-

CONTACT Federica Goldoni [email protected] School of Liberal Arts, Georgia Gwinnett College, 1000 University Center Lane, Lawrenceville, GA 30043. © 2017 Taylor & Francis

JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE, IDENTITY & EDUCATION 2017, VOL. 16, NO. 5, 328–341 https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2017.1350922

García, 2006; Jackson, 2006; Kinginger, 2008) showing how learners’ cultural experiences and social interactions, intercultural communication skills, personality traits, and motivation affect SA outcomes and integration into the host community. Instead, the SA experiences of students of color are under- researched. In Craig (2010), Malewski and Phillion (2009), Marx and Pray (2011), and Maundeni (2001), the Black SA participants living in a new culture experienced racism, discrimination, and discomfort due to their race or native origin/culture that identify them as outsiders. Additionally, they struggled with the cultural and linguistic dimensions of the SA journey. Some felt ignored and disrespected and found these experiences to be shocking and unfair. Research showed how non-White American females abroad can be subjected to humiliating sexual remarks and commentary on their race. Specifically, one student in Spain became the target of catcalling (Stephenson, 1999), two participants in Chile faced similar issues and felt extreme unease (Talburt & Stewart, 1999), while another sojourner in Italy dealt with the perception amongst some locals that she was a prostitute (Woodruff, 2005).

An important body of literature considers race, ethnicity, intergroup perception, stereotyping, the nature of prejudice, communicating racism, and interethnic conflict (Kim, 2005; Orbe & Spellers, 2005; Stephan & Stephan, 2001; Van Dijk, 1987). Cortes (1995), Guy (2007), and Orbe and Harris (2001) have discussed the role of media in the construct of race and ethnicity worldwide, while Krieger (1995) explored how stereotypes form and affect intergroup perceptions. Wright and Taylor (2007) investi- gated intergroup conflicts as products of prejudice. Individuals participating in SA programs in Europe enter a sociocultural context where powerful ideologies about color exist. These stereotypes about Blacks affect SA students’ perception of the host culture, and impact the nature of their journey.

Another body of literature investigates identity and second language acquisition. Identity, as the notion of the fixed, stable self-expressed in linguistic and physical acts, has been unraveled (Jackson, 2010; Kinginger, 2004, 2009; Norton, 1995, 1997, 2000; Pavlenko, 2006a, 2006b; Pavlenko & Blackledge, 2004; Pitts, 2009; Plews, Breckenridge, & Cambre, 2010, 2014; Trent, 2011; Watkins-Goffman, 2001, 2006), and re-inscribed as an ever-shifting amalgamation of performances and subjectivities. For Block (2007), identity (race/ethnicity, gender, social class, nationality, religious/political orientations) affects individuals’ second language learning process in various contexts. In Siegal’s (1996) case study of a White woman studying Japanese in Japan, the author defines the learner’s subjectivity as “the conscious and unconscious thoughts and emotions of the individual, her sense of herself and her ways of understanding her relation to the world” (p. 364). In this view, each learner co-constructs his/her identity and second language proficiency in a multilayered way within interactions. The subjects’ emotions, sense of themselves, and their relation to the world can vary a great deal. Such variations may depend on the shifting contexts of situations and social dynamics that individuals are exposed to in their enculturation process in a specific sociocultural, historical, and political setting.

Over 15,000 SA students (of the total 304,467 U.S. SA students) were Black in the 2013/2014 academic year (IIE, 2015), a number that has been increasing because of the diversity initiatives to encourage the participation of underrepresented students through targeted outreach, recruitment and funding (Table 1). SA programs are mostly designed for mainstream (Caucasian) students. Therefore, I am raising questions about what international experiences are like for students of color in programs that are not designed to meet their needs, in destinations where racial stereotypes may prevail. The emergence of the learner’s L2- mediated subject position abroad needs attention, particularly how identity affects experiences abroad. The following questions guided this study: (1) What is SA like for students of color in programs that are not

Table 1. U.S. SA student profile in 2013/14.

Race/ethnicity %

White 74.3 Hispanic/Latino(a) 8.3 Asian/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 7.7 Black/African American 5.6 Multiracial 3.6 American Indian/Alaska Native 0.5

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designed to meet their needs, and in destinations where racism may prevail?; (2)How does students’ race/ ethnicity impact their SA experiences?; and (3) What are the implications on students’ identity negotiation process?

Theoretical framework

Critical Race Theory (CRT), the theoretical framework of the study, applies the critical analysis of culture and society to the intersection of race, racism, law, and power. CRT contains an activist dimension. The key themes are (a) the centrality of race and racism, (b) the challenge to dominant ideology, (c) the commitment to social justice, (d) the centrality of experiential knowledge, (e) racism is endemic to American life, and (f) the interdisciplinary perspective. CRT is a useful construct as it focuses on how race, gender, and class intersect and affect people of color. It challenges notions of colorblindness, objectivity, and meritocracy; it counters the practice of referring to people of color as “victims” of racism; it recognizes their strength and agency; and it pushes for change and a redressing of problems. In this article, I bring together CRT and the notion of racial microaggressions as per the taxonomy developed by Sue and his colleagues (Sue, Capodilupo, Nadal, & Torino, 2008; Sue et al., 2007). Here microaggressions are defined as verbal, behavioral, and environmental indignities, both intentional and unintentional. This approach helps analyze powerful microaggressions as well as the hostile racial climate that students of color experience on/off campus. CRT also brings attention to the “needs of marginalized populations, which are often overlooked, as opposed to the agenda served by normative frameworks” (Teranishi, Behringer, Grey, & Parker, 2009, p. 59). As a White female researcher, I do not have experience of being the target of racism nor do I fully understand what it feels like to be a person of color. In fact, I found it challenging at times to analyze the experiences of underrepresented college students, portray them from a non-deficit perspective, and explore equity issues outside of the dominant paradigms. CRT helped me focus on Albert’s stories, validate his perspectives, and emphasize his voice as an expert source of knowledge. Finally, CRT “challenges notions of ‘neutral’ research that silences, ignores, and distorts epistemologies of People of Color” (Yosso, 2005, p. 73). Therefore, my comfortable relationship with Albert and other participants was at the core of this study. I knew and cared for Albert, which allowed for in-depth conversations about his/ their experiences and feelings.

Methods and findings

Participants and program of study

Albert was part of the larger study detailed in Goldoni (2013). He was one of 44 students who participated in this project out of the 160 total U.S. undergraduates enrolled in five academic semesters in Spain between 2007 and 2009. Students were from a large U.S. public university in the South East running semester-long SA programs in Cádiz (summers 2007, 2008), Valencia (fall 2007, spring 2008), and Seville (summer 2009), Spain. Albert participated in the Valencia program (spring 2008, 13 weeks). Valencia is the third largest city in Spain. It hosts a large university from the 15th century with over 45,000 Spanish, European, and international students. The U.S. SA students in this study lived in the historic district in the renovated 17th century residence hall owned by the University of Valencia. These students were required to take four courses and visit Madrid and Barcelona as part of the program. These courses included conversation and composition in Spanish, business Spanish, Spanish/Latin American literature and/or cinema, and modern history of Spain.

The U.S. SA student profile developed by the IIE (2015) indicated that the majority of the participants are female (65.3%), junior (33.9%), and Caucasian (74.3%). Albert was male, in his senior year, a person of color, had urban/working-class roots, and had a heritage language back- ground. He was the only male of the three Black students enrolled in the Valencia program. Although Albert’s experience may not be typical, he was chosen for this study because his story

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illustrates how challenging SA can be; how deeply students’ race, ethnicity, gender, and class can impact their international experiences; and what the implications are for the students’ identity negotiation process. Microaggressions in such educational contexts are seldom researched.

Besides SA students, data were collected from over 40 additional people in this program including faculty, staff, and administrators from host and home institutions, residence hall students. An additional group of 16 Spaniards participated in a survey conducted by email to collect opinions of the sociopolitical and racial landscape in Valencia. I acted as assistant coordinator of the Valencia program and lived in the residence hall affiliated with the program.

Data collection

Interviews, e-mails, observations, and written documents were collected during and after the Valencia program (January-April 2008). Albert was interviewed three times during the SA program (January and April, 2008) and after (November, 2008). These interviews (see Appendix A for all interview questions) were audio-recorded for a total of 5 hours. He was given latitude to share feelings and critical incidents. Email communications were also collected when he elaborated on specific accounts. The same approach was used for the other students from the Valencia SA cohort. Three course sections were observed (3 hours total), and notes were taken on class dynamics, instructor/student interactions, students’ participation, and course materials. Students’ interactions, attitudes, and daily activities outside of formal instructional hours and two weekends of field trips were also observed. Data for this study also included over 60 entries from students’ logs, journals, Facebook postings, students’ evaluations, class assignments, the SA daily journal and the magazine called VALE written by U.S. undergraduates studying in Valencia. Finally, a survey was conducted among a group of 16 female and male Spaniards between 24 and 40 years old residing in Spain and in the United States. They were students, faculty, staff, and administrators affiliated with the home and host institutions. This survey was conducted by email (see Appendix B for survey questions).

Data analysis

The data of this qualitative case study were analyzed inductively and recursively. The interview transcripts were coded along with the other data collected. More data from Albert and other participants were gathered about their experiences and perspectives to refine coding. Analytical memos were written throughout this process, and emerging themes and categories were identified. Specifically, I used CRT to identify in the data (a) episodes of subtle/overt racial aggressions and equity issues; (b) Albert’s feelings, reactions, and perspectives; (c) deficit notions of Albert and people of color; and (d) SA program features designed for mainstream students and lacking support for underrepresented participants. Representative data examples were cited to support emergent themes and categories.

Albert Albert was a double major in English and Spanish. He resided in the residence hall like his U.S. cohort and over 200 local/international students. He took home-university credit-bearing inter- mediate/advanced courses taught by professors from the University of Valencia. His language abilities in Spanish were high-intermediate. He was from New Jersey but moved to the South with his African American mother. His father was Dominican but did not live with them. Albert had visited the Dominican Republic (DR), but he had never been to Europe, did not know much about Spain, and wished to meet new people there. Valencia, Spain, was Albert’s first choice because of his good White friend Alejandro from Valencia. Alejandro encouraged Albert to go out with his Black friends in Valencia who shared similar musical interests. Furthermore, the language department of his home university only offered Spain as a destination during the spring semester.

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Albert identified with his African American heritage and also embraced his father’s Dominican background. He was proud to be the first in his family to earn a college degree; he gained much respect for working-class people and readily interacted with them in Spain. Albert also wanted to be seen abroad as a people person and therefore, he interacted with a lot of people. While socializing with the Spanish students in the dorms, Albert felt that they had an inaccurate image of Black Americans and Black cultures:

Everything that they know of Blacks comes from U.S. media. Although this may be positive, I know Europeans have negative conceptions about Blacks. They have to, because there aren’t many Blacks in Europe to deduce an accurate deduction, so everything they know about Blacks is from TV, and USA TV only represents Blacks as athletes, rappers, or degenerates. (Email, April, 2008)

People of color in Valencia and the United States

The collegiate racial climate in Valencia including the residence hall where Albert resided was not positive; students, staff, faculty and administrators of color were notably underrepresented. A survey conducted among Spaniards as part of this study suggested that xenophobia and racial stereotypes towards people of African descent prevailed in Spain, as suggested by a female faculty from the host institution:

I believe that there is some racist or xenophobic feeling in the Spanish society, although Spanish institutions and the government don’t foment any discrimination or prejudice towards people of other races (not only Africans but also Hispanic-Americans, Asians . . .). Though, I frankly do not think that such feeling is stronger here in Spain than in the U.S.1 (Email, October, 2008)

A male faculty from the home institution indicated that racist and xenophobic feelings among Spaniards seem to be intensified by the waves of immigrants from Northern Africa:

Racism in Spain is the result of the recent waves of immigrants from Northern Africa, both Black and mixed (such as many Arabs). These immigrants arrive to Spain in very bad conditions, without any money, with barely any clothes, and looking for any job to be able to make a living . . . . Some Spaniards blamed the numerous immigrants for taking their jobs (the same as with the Mexicans in the U.S.). To make a long story short, the ignorance of few people led Spaniards to generalize and discriminate against immigrants, who, in fact, simply try to make a living without causing any harm to anybody. (Email, October, 2008)

Discrimination and xenophobia are most apparent in Spain’s major cities like Valencia. However, a SA staff member stated that at times it is more Spaniards’ curiosity toward the Other than actual racism:

There is much racism in big cities such as Madrid and Barcelona. In Valencia as well, but oftentimes it is more curiosity than racism. What I mean is that in Spain people stare at you firmly, and most of the times it is curiosity to find out where you are from and what you are wearing more than anything. In other words, Spaniards fear what they don’t know. When Spaniards see a person of color, they immediately categorize him/ her as an African. (Email, October, 2008)

The reaction of Spaniards to a person of color can be innocent, investigatory, or prejudicial, as indicated by a male faculty from the home institution:

It is hard to tell how much racism there is in a place until one experiences it first hand, or through somebody else, in my case through my Black friends in Valencia and more recently through my wife. It can go from being stared at firmly to being followed in a supermarket to make sure that we were not stealing anything! (Email, October, 2008)

A student from the host institution compared Valencia to other cities in Southern Spain where she grew up. People from Valencia are more nationalist, which may intensify xenophobic feelings among the natives against immigrants:

Here in Valencia I have found people to be more nationalist . . . than in Andalucía [region in Southern Spain]. As a result, the percentage of people who reject foreigners in general, and Black people in particular, is higher. At least in Málaga [city in Southern Spain] multiculturalism has been a constant phenomenon that people typically view as a rich trait of the area. (Email, October, 2008)

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There are individuals who discriminate against people of African descent among Spaniards as well as Americans. In both locations, steps have been taken against racism and toward tolerance, acceptance, and integration. However, attitudes towards people of color differ. In the United States, there are more Black people than in Spain who have fought for their rights. In Spain, people of African descent are for the most part immigrants, some legal, others undocumented. The local population tends to hold them accountable for issues related to violence and criminality. Spaniards are becoming accustomed to living with people of color; they typically look at them with some reticence and reluctance, and as foreigners with limited education and low socioeconomic status. Some of the Spanish faculty and staff members interviewed in this survey reported that their country was not as politically correct as the United States. They were more straightforward than Americans in their language, and they typically did not receive any formal education on civil/human rights. In the United States there is much diversity, and a variety of multicultural/multiethnic looks, fashions, and styles; Spaniards tend to appear more homogenized regarding clothing and physical appearance. Albert did not feel comfortable in this environment.

Albert’s experiences in Spain: Racial microaggressions and discrimination

While in Spain and traveling within Europe, Albert perceived that he was discriminated against for his skin color, presumed socioeconomic class, and hip-hop/Black culture attire. He was the only male of the three students of color enrolled in the Valencia program, and nobody else was discriminated against:

My experience in Spain was so different than everyone else was because I was Black and a male. Some of the Black girls in the group couldn’t believe the stuff that happened to me in Spain, but it probably wouldn’t happen to them because the Black man equals a threat. (Email, April, 2008)

Albert was stopped twice by the local police for apparently no reason while he was sitting outside of a bar in Spain with his U.S. White friends:

I was in the corner with uhm my group and the cop drove by and he said come here and I went towards him and he said you know where’s your passport? . . . . Then the next night it was a different cop so I was walking I was with another student and I had my hat under my shirt. . . . The cop stopped me again and he said what’s under your shirt? What is that? What is that? (Interview, April, 2008)

Albert did not react on the spot nor express how hurt he was. He was emotionally and linguistically unprepared to face this situation, which aggravated his frustration and sense of powerlessness: “In the States . . . I would convey my emotions like, like you know why are you stopping me? Don’t stop me. Why didn’t you stop them [his group of White friends]?” (Interview, April, 2008). While travelling, Albert encountered blatant racism. One incident was when he was called “run-away slave” by a Russian in the train:

He was basically saying I was a slave and I was his [Albert’s friend’s] run-away slave. I was my friend’s property which was crazy you know cause I know in the States that would have never ever happened. . . . I was upset man I was irate at first like I can’t believe the guy had the audacity to you know he tried to belittle my race, belittle me as a person. (Interview, April, 2008)

Additionally, for Albert the Spanish and Latin American movies that he watched in his cinema course in Valencia exacerbated the idea of Blacks being on a lower socioeconomic level. Albert also felt undermined for not speaking Castilian Spanish but a supposedly less prestigious variety of Spanish spoken in the DR:

I feel Spaniards feel a sense of superiority over Dominicans. Especially, when it comes to socioeconomic levels, because they have the perception that everyone in the DR is poor. Also, they feel that they speak Spanish ‘raro’ (a weird Spanish). . . . I watched a movie “Princesas,” which was about prostitution and one of the characters was Dominican and the movie showed that the other characters did discriminate against her, even though everyone else were prostitutes. They had a lot of misconceptions. (Email, April, 2008)

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Finally, Albert thought Spaniards looked down upon him, and his hip-hop attire affected people’s perceptions:

I think at times like people would look at me in the same fashion as you know people selling stuff in the street . . . I feel they see people of color as lower on the socio economic scale because that is all they see here. . . . It was just tough like to assimilate to the European culture and like my attire and they just look at you like in a different fashion . . . I felt if my attire would have been totally different or even if I was dressed in the same attire and if I was White I doubt he would have he would have approached the same situation in the same way. (Interview, April, 2008)

Albert’s reactions

Disengagement with the host community, affinity with just a few Albert’s perception of being discriminated against for his race and social class curtailed his engage- ment with locals, and thereby reduced the breadth, depth, and length of his individual and collective interactions with locals. Concurrently, Albert developed a strong affiliation with his U.S. SA friends. He spent the majority of his time with them, and he became increasingly involved in L1-mediated activities and group trips to London, Paris, and Malta when English was the predominant language spoken within the group. Albert felt that his U.S. group showed empathy for issues related to discrimination and intolerance against Black people:

He [one of Albert’s White U.S. friends] was really affected by it [the “run-away slave” incident], which is I feel is a good thing because it shows how you know like even though people from different cultures are connected you know we are both American . . . he was affected by it just like I would be affected by it. (Interview, April, 2008)

Albert also connected with the residence hall staff, the Spanish Reggaeton friends that he met through Alejandro, and a group of Central American female students in the dorm. They shared a) working-class roots; b) interest in the Black culture and music, and a multicultural and multiracial background; and c) experiences of discrimination and feelings of otherness in Spain. Nevertheless, Albert’s interactions in Spanish with these individuals became sporadic, casual, and short. Albert did not find the network of Spanish friends that he had initially hoped.

Dissatisfaction for his language gains Albert’s practice in Spanish was limited, and his access to Spanish social networks was restricted to a few people. The interactional contexts he was involved in often did not go beyond the initial greeting level. One-time and occasional conversations became the norm, and Albert felt dissatisfied with his CLI experience. Albert’s language desire (Piller, 2008) remained unfulfilled, and he longed for a more intense CLI in Spain. He expressed ambivalent feelings about his progress in terms of language acquisition and culture learning:

I am not satisfied at all but uh . . . I feel I should be a lot better. It’s like I know that there are a lot of avenues where you can speak more Spanish. And I tried to capitalize every day . . . I feel I learnt a lot of Spanish but (.)2

not, not to the extent I really wanted to learn. And I felt I think I could have done more (.) but I did I did not make that that attempt. (Interview, April, 2008)

In Valencia, going to class was a waste of time for Albert. Spanish conversation was the only course out of the four mandatory classes in Valencia that Albert needed for his double major requirement because he already had enough credits to graduate: “I really don’t learn a lot in the classes. . . . I don’t have the motivation to learn a lot of the stuff in class” (Interview, April, 2008). Instead, he wanted to learn the street language and culture and the ‘invisible culture’ through interacting with natives:

I wanna speak Spanish, like a complete immersion like speaking in conversation just me and somebody or me and a family and that’s it where I can learn things . . . I feel that I don’t better myself in the language unless I’m speaking with somebody who’s better than me who knows more cause that’s their language. . . . I feel the best way to learn the language is to practice it orally with someone who can correct you. (Interview, April, 2008)

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Albert benefited from the three face-to-face tutorials he took with me in Valencia. We discussed the mistakes Albert made while conversing in Spanish and he tried to correct himself. It was obvious that he preferred to learn outside the traditional classroom, conversing extemporaneously in Spanish, and discussing his mistakes with a peer. Albert’s dissatisfaction was aggravated by his family’s economic investment to support his journey abroad:

I am down here spending money. It’s not even my own money. I am spending you know my family’s money. And I you know I feel that I should be a lot better than I am. And uhm, I feel that me staying and spending more money and not really learning. (Interview, April, 2008)

Albert felt that he was not acquiring the resources (language, education, friends, goods) that he had hoped for. His learning and SA outcomes did not meet his expectations. The return on the SA investment was not commensurate with the effort spent in financing the trip, and was not a fair return for the privilege that he had been granted by his family to go abroad.

Albert’s identity

Actor, spect-actor, and spectator Abroad Albert evolved from being an actor, to a spect-actor, to a spectator within the host community. The term spect-actor is proposed to designate a person who sometimes looks (spect- = to see) and other times acts. In the early part of his sojourn Albert invested in L2- mediated activities with locals, and was resourceful and agentive in creating learning oppor- tunities for himself. Albert volunteered as an English teaching assistant at a local nursery school and at a community service center where immigrants and local working-class families from Latin America would gather. He went out with Hispanic students from the residence hall, and with his Spanish Reggaeton friends. However, he progressively severed his connection from the locals and the Spanish/European culture, and he developed what he called a feeling of “alienation of the mind” (Email, November, 2008). He felt different from a racial, cultural, and socioeconomic standpoint. Albert expressed emotions of inadequacy: “It’s hard to experience a culture that is totally different when you see people that look nothing like you . . . I’m on the outside looking in” (Interview, April, 2008). After being an actor/protagonist, Albert progres- sively became a spect-actor abroad, and eventually a spectator minimally engaged within the host community. Albert’s attempts to identify himself with, and become immersed into, a community of people who did not fully embrace his Black culture were in vain: “Coming into an environment where people are totally different than you from the way they look, the way they dress uhm so sometimes that can be the hardest thing to overcome” (Interview, April, 2008). Albert never felt welcomed or comfortable among Spaniards. Albert’s feelings of marginalization intensified while interacting with students from the residence hall: “Things like . . . people who are economically privileged have. And they have their things to talk about. . . Boating like yachting yeah I dunno anything about that at all” (Interview, April, 2008). Albert felt that Spanish people could not relate to him and his life stories of prejudice:

You want other people to communicate the same experience with you so uhm I know a lot of times in the U.S. people understand cause they got stopped by the cops but here you know when you explain it to other people that they don’t understand or don’t encounter that experience. (Interview, April, 2008)

It is hard to identify a linear process when Albert transitioned from actor, to spect-actor, to spectator. In fact, Albert shifted back and forth as his subject positions were undergoing a struggle exhibiting resistance and adaptation to new life circumstances and cultural environ- ments. Toward the end of his sojourn, he wanted to abandon the program: “I wanted to go home, and I thought maybe they would send me home early and allow me to take my finals earlier . . . I learned a lot about myself, but uh I am just ready to go. Time to move on. And I wanna go somewhere where I can really learn Spanish and have another opportunity” (Interview, April, 2008).

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Albert’s racial, cultural, and socioeconomic subjectivity Albert rejected Spain and the Spanish culture, and resented the locals for the treatment received:

Europeans have negative conceptions about Blacks . . . I hated Spain . . . I do have some resentment of going back to Spain. I don’t think I would ever go back. There is no one there to relate with; everyone is the same. (Interview, November, 2008)

Instead, Albert embraced Black culture and proudly affirmed his racial, cultural, and socioeconomic class identity as a multicultural Black American:

Never in my life did I have to spend time with people who are totally different from the way I look, I mean both the American students from the group and the Spaniards. First, my experience was hard but later it turned to be a learning process about myself because now I understand that I cannot live around people who look nothing like me. (Interview, November, 2008)

Albert learned that he could not be separate from his people: “I like being around people who look like me. I do like hanging with a diverse crowd, but I LIKE THE OPTION OF SAYING ‘I WANT TO HANG WITH LOS MORENOS (Black people)” (Email, November, 2008). Albert identified with that community of individuals with similar cultural artifacts and racial, cultural, and class affinities.

Despite his sense of disillusionment after Spain, Albert was determined to seek another chance to make up for an experience abroad that did not meet his expectations: “I wanna go somewhere where I can really learn Spanish and have another opportunity . . . I wanna go uhm to the DR again you know and visit my cousin and do a complete immersion” (Interview, April, 2008). For Albert, the DR represented a place where he would blend and people would share and embrace his culture.

Albert’s embodiment of race Albert’s experiential knowledge is manifested in several ways, and it is based on the premise that race and racism are endemic in our society. As a young working-class African American male, Albert situated race in a historical perspective and recognized how the history of race relations in the U.S. supported contemporary racism:

These prejudices come from the beginning of history. Blacks were slaves in Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and the U.S. Thus, this superior mentality is still prevalent today. Many Whites feel that they are better than Blacks, not only because the media focuses on Blacks when they fail, but it stems from slavery and how people justified slavery due to Black’s inferiority. (Email, November, 2008)

The counter-space that Albert created for himself within his U.S. SA cohort did not help him escape the effects of discrimination. Albert was the only working-class African American male within a group that lacked the passion and experiential knowledge to fully empathize. In Spain Albert did not find Black student organizations, networks of support for equal rights, or infrastructures where deficit notions of people of color could be challenged. As Solórzano and Villalpando (1998) have discussed, such counter-spaces could provide students like Albert the educational, emotional and cultural support they need to foster their learning, validate their experiences and view them as important knowledge. Albert’s experiences highlight large global issues of racism and social injustice.

Discussion

This study supports previous research (Clark, Anderson, Clark, & Williams,1999; Pierce, 1988, 1995) reporting that mundane racism is stressful and causes emotional distress. Albert suffered from racial battle fatigue (RBF), defined as “the result of constant physiological, psychological, cultural, and emotional coping with racial microaggressions in-less-than-ideal and racially hostile or unsupportive environments” (Smith, Allen, & Danley, 2007, p. 555). In such environments, RBF redirects energy away from stressful and intensive academic and social labor demands and toward coping strategies against racism. RBF depleted Albert in exhaustive mental, emotional, and behavioral ways, and it explains his transition from actor-spect-actor-spectator, his dissatisfaction and disengagement

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abroad. However, Albert drew on hope to remain perseverant in the face of adversity. He hoped to have a second opportunity for full immersion in Spanish, ideally in the DR, where he could feel welcomed. Therefore, this study supports Adams and colleagues’ studies (Adams et al., 2003) indicating that hope plays a role in the well-being of people of color.

Staring at Albert on the street because he appeared to be “other” fits under the definition of “microinsult” (Sue et al., 2007, 2008), and it may communicate Sue’s (2010) microaggressive theme, you do not belong (p. 77). Additionally, the treatment that Albert received from the police may suggest assumption of criminal status, implying that a person of color like Albert is “dangerous, potentially a criminal, likely to break the law, or [potentially] antisocial” (p. 36). The lack of diversity in Valencia exacerbated Albert’s feeling of isolation and otherness, and affected his college life and experience abroad. Although he did not immediately react to the microaggressions he experienced, he was ready to discuss these offenses during our interviews. Pierce’s (1988) claim rings true that “the cumulative weight” of racial microaggressions can cause strain in racial relations (p. 66), despite the fact that the perpetrators may not be aware of the impact of their actions.

It can be argued that the “run-away slave” comment made by a Russian in the train addressing Albert is not exactly a “micro” or innocuous aggression. Rather than microaggressions, Minikel- Lacocque (2013) suggests that this form of racism be called “racialized aggressions” (p. 455) as the prefix micro may invalidate the hurt caused by such an offense, and it may lead perpetrators to think that these actions/words are minor or less indignant than blatant racism.

Block’s (2007) discussion of second language identities is relevant to this study. While abroad, Albert adopted multiple subject positions. He was mostly a student taking classes at the local university. Occasionally, he was also a volunteer English teaching assistant at the local nursery school and at the community service center. Albert also adopted L2-mediated subject positions. Albert was also 24, and his socioeconomic status was not middle class. For him, like for Alice in France (Kinginger, 2004), participating in a SA program meant access to cultural and social capital, becoming a cultured and sophisticated Spanish-speaking young man, learning, and sharing his knowledge with others. His efforts were an investment in social identity along the same line as the five immigrant women in Canada (Norton, 2000) who committed to learn English to ascend their status and be seen as multicultural citizens. Albert was investing in the symbolic value of studying abroad in Spain and travelling within Europe. He expected a certain return on his investment commensurate with the efforts spent in participating in L2-mediated activities with the locals. Albert’s investment, engagement, and social identity abroad evolved throughout the semester abroad with the changing social world, cultural environment, and interactional settings he experienced.

Albert’s identity in relation to the immersion context and the host community played a critical role in the construction of meaning for his experiences (Jackson, 2010; Kinginger, 2004, 2009; Pitts, 2009; Plews et al., 2010, 2014; Trent, 2011). The accounts narrated in this literature show how the SA participants strove to develop, negotiate, and assert their identity in response to circumstances that were foreign and unexpected. The most successful stories were when participants remained open- minded and adopted a dispassionate disposition toward learning from their encounters (Kinginger, 2009). Albert could have benefited from “programs designed to explicitly address racism” (Minikel- Lacocque, 2013, p. 460), including counselors and faculty in the SA team who are attuned to critical issues of race and ethnicity, constructive discussions of racism, and resources and infrastructures to support targets of racism. Albert did not fully acknowledge the Spanish working-class, although he understood that there were disadvantaged people in Spain, and that the United States is also a racist society. It is possible that Albert’s perceptions in Spain were affected by RBF. He did not find the Spanish friends he was looking for; he did not engage in the target language nor significantly improve his proficiency, nor did he earn much credibility as L2 speaker, which did not empower him to contest the negative experiences in Spain. This may explain Albert’s inclination to be more forgiving of the racism in the United States.

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Conclusions

This study presented data on a SA program in Spain and looks specifically at Albert’s experiences with race, class, and language learning. It focused on CLI abroad, drawing from a critical race theory, identity, and second language acquisition framework. Albert’s initial motivation to speak Spanish and make Spanish friends waned over time. He faced racial microaggressions that severely curtailed his involvement in local activities and social networks, and thereby reduced his language and culture learning opportunities. SA is complex and multi-faceted, and students go through different socio- cognitive processes at the foreign site. Despite the RBF that Albert manifested abroad, the SA offered him an education that he could not receive in the United States. Through his journey abroad, Albert experienced an empowering process of identity construction and affirmed his racial and cultural background as a working-class, multicultural, Black American.

Race, ethnicity, gender, and class, concepts that are ingrained in our societies, cultures, and language, were not discussed during the predeparture orientations offered by the sponsoring institution to all SA students. Issues of racial and linguistic discrimination and feelings of inequity should be addressed in the design of the SA program, and become part of the academic component before, during, and after the journey. This is particularly true in light of the increasing percentage of U.S. Black students studying abroad. Students can be prepared to face discomforting experiences and feelings challenging their own individual and social identities. They need to be supported and given the tools to process and understand such events, and articulate their emotions. It is not enough that students get passing grades and graduate. The college experience should be further explored and traditional frameworks for success should be expanded to address the needs of underrepresented students. In line with CRT, the creation of new college programs raising awareness and contesting blatant andsubtleracism should beimplemented at home and abroad. Mandatory new student orientations, classes, and trainings on racism and its effects should be designed for the whole college community, including strategies for faculty and staff to facilitate conversa- tions in/outside the classroom. Faculty leading SA programs should receive training in working with students of color, and SA should recruit counselors or faculty of color who are attuned to critical issues of race and who can offer strong support and mentorship. Destination choices, program focus, host families also need to reframe who they expect and how to treat U.S. diverse students studying abroad. Albert felt discouraged and helpless, personally diminished and frustrated because of the negative preconceived notions about African Americans, the racial microaggressions, and the RBF he experienced. Such challenges could push students to leave the SA program. Feeling discouraged from participating in other international experiences does not help the cause of educating students to become global citizens capable of effectively navigating and functioning in our multicultural and multilingual societies.

This study highlights how important it is to listen to the voices of those who are impacted by racial microaggressions and discrimination, and to analyze racism through their lenses. African American students travel a different road than White students, and they display considerable strength and resources while overcoming macro/micro-level challenges along that road. Without careful examination of minority students’ concerns and needs, racial stereotypes and microaggres- sions can be ignored or downplayed, leading to distressing consequences.

Notes

1. Every citation in this section is my translation from Spanish to English. 2. Unmeasured micropause.

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Appendix A

First Interview Questions (Valencia, Spain, January 2008)

Tell me about your experience so far. And how do you feel? Do you have any significant story (of cultural and linguistic immersion), anecdote, episode, moment or challenge that you want to share with me? Tell me about your routine/life in Spain. Tell me about your free time. Tell me about your social activities. What social activities do you do here in Spain? With whom, where, when, how often? Tell me about your Spanish. When do you speak Spanish? With whom, where, when, how often? What are the topics of conversation in Spanish? Tell me about your classes in Spain. Tell me about your professors in Spain. What is the role of classroom instruction in your cultural and linguistic immersion and learning process? Tell me about your life in the Spanish dorms. What is the role of the dorms and the dorm staff/residents in your cultural and linguistic immersion and learning process? Tell me about the study abroad (SA) program and activities. Tell me about the SA program staff. What is the role of the SA program (and staff) and the program activities in your cultural and linguistic immersion and learning process?

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Do you watch Spanish TV? What? Do you listen to Spanish music? What? Do you like Spain so far? Do you like Spaniards? What would you like to do more in Spain? Is there anything that you would like to do less? Or differently? Why did you decide to study abroad? Why and how did you choose this program and location? Did you have any goals or expectations from this journey? Which goals/expectations? What do you hope to achieve from the SA program? How are you going about it? Do you feel you are speaking/learning more Spanish that you would at home? How? Do you feel your Spanish has improved? Where? How? Why? Is there anything else that you would like to share with me or comment on?

Second Interview Questions (Valencia, Spain, April 2008)

In your first interview, you talked about your experiences here, feelings, expectations. Can you expand on that? Can you tell me more? How do you feel now? How is your life here now? What do you do during the day? Whom do you interact and spend time with? Is there any episode of intercultural misunderstanding/miscommunication, cultural clash or cultural obstacle that you want to share with me? Is there a person or a group of people from here, from your U.S. group or SA team, who have played a role in shaping your experience here? Can you tell me about it? Can you tell me a significant incident that made you feel like you have (not) understood Spanish culture/people, or that you have not been understood? Can you tell me a significant incident that made you feel like you have (not) integrated into the Spanish culture/ society? Can you tell me a significant incident that made you feel alienated from the local culture/community?

Third Interview Questions (U.S. university campus, November 2008)

How do you feel now? Was your SA journey a transformative experience? How? Why? Has it changed you in any way? How? Why? Have you kept in touch with someone from Spain or from the U.S. group? Can you tell me about the relationship that you have developed with this person or people? Any future plan derived from this SA experience? What have you learnt (about yourself, the Spanish language, culture, and people)? Do you feel now your Spanish has improved? How? Where? Were your expectations met? How? Why?

Appendix B

Survey Questions

Can you comment on any racist and xenophobic feelings in Spain? Can you talk about any racist and xenophobic feelings in Valencia more specifically, or other places in Spain that you are familiar with? Can you cite specific examples or episodes? How do you feel about people of color in Spain? How do Spaniards feel about people of color? What are their attitudes? Can you cite specific examples? Is there anything else that you wish to add on this topic?

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