Passing vs Non-Passing: Latina/o/x Experiences and Understandings of Being Presumed White

Latinos do not associate with a specific race, yet we are often homogenized into groups and stereotypes far from representing our diverse and ever-changing cultures and communities. How does the growth of Latinos affect the already existing and upcoming Latina/o/x communities in the United States? Due to my own lived experiences, I have dived into the layers of whiteness and colorism that exists within Latino communities in the United States. The idea that Latinos have a specific appearance is false and many assumptions associated to our complexion derive from stereotypes that affect the way we treat those around us, simply due to our physical appearance (phenotypes). For a further understanding of the lived experiences of those ‘passing’ and ‘non-passing’ Latinos, this analysis examines similarities and differences lived by people of the same community but who are perceived differently under the premise of ‘white-passing’ and ‘non-white passing,’ white Anglicized standards. White privilege, colorism, internalized racism, and third space will be revisited to determine the factors of society’s misconstructions of Latina/o/x in San Bernardino and surrounding areas of Southern California through extensive research, a small convenient sample, and an ethnographic reflexive approach