The Racialization of Latino Families

Abstract

While racial and demographic changes producing a multiracial United States are well-acknowledged in the family field, insufficient attention is given to Latinos as a racialized population. As the Latino population continues to expand, it is essential for family studies to move beyond a Black/White binary. We call for making race and racialization central building blocks in research and analysis of Latino families. This paper provides an overview of research and thought on the racialization of Latino families, advancing a structural framing to reveal: (1) how race and intersecting inequalities shape families; and (2) how racialization processes use families to sustain and reinforce institutional inequalities. This structural framing encompasses a set of analytic premises for extending the study of family racialization to Latinos, thereby building a more comprehensive racial analysis of U.S. families.