Verónica N. Vélez

Bio: Verónica N. Vélez is an academic researcher from Western Washington University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Racism & Critical race theory. The author has an hindex of 12, co-authored 27 publications receiving 657 citations. Previous affiliations of Verónica N. Vélez include University of California, Los Angeles & University of California, Berkeley.

Getting beyond the ‘symptom,’ acknowledging the ‘disease’: theorizing racist nativism

Abstract: An important tenet of Latina/o critical race theory (LatCrit) is to challenge dominant ideologies that mask racist beliefs and practices perpetrated against People of Color in the United States, particularly Latinas/os. In this article we utilize a LatCrit framework to theorize further the concept of racist nativism in the current sociopolitical moment, which is marked by significant anti‐immigrant sentiment. In doing so, we hope to understand better the contemporary experiences of People of Color and Latinas/os specifically. We show how many racial and ethnic groups throughout US history have experienced racist nativism, but argue that those targeted by it today tend to be Latinas/os in general, and Mexican immigrants in particular. In conceptually extending the notion of racist nativism we endeavor to go beyond the ‘symptoms’ of racism and toward naming the ‘disease’ that plagues US society – white supremacy. We argue that the legacy of white supremacy not only remains with us today, but profoundly info...

QuantCrit: rectifying quantitative methods through critical race theory

Abstract: Critical race theory (CRT) in education centers, examines, and seeks to transform the relationship that undergirds race, racism, and power. CRT scholars have applied a critical race framework to ad...

A Chicana Feminist Epistemology Revisited: Cultivating Ideas a Generation Later

Abstract: this article, the authors simultaneously examine how education scholars have taken up the call for (re)articulating Chicana feminist epistemological perspectives in their research and speak back to Dolores Delgado Bernal's 1998 Harvard Educational Review article, “Using a Chicana Feminist Epistemology in Educational Research.” They address the ways in which Chicana scholars draw on their ways of knowing to unsettle dominant modes of analysis, create decolonizing methodologies, and build upon what it means to utilize Chicana feminist epistemology in educational research. Moreover, they demonstrate how such work provides new narratives that embody alternative paradigms in education research. These alternative paradigms are aligned with the scholarship of Gloria Anzaldua, especially her theoretical concepts of nepantla, El Mundo Zurdo, and Coyolxauhqui. Finally, the authors offer researcher reflections that further explore the tensions and possibilities inherent in employing Chicana feminist epistemologies i...

Critical Race Quantitative Intersectionality: An Anti-Racist Research Paradigm that Refuses to “Let the Numbers Speak for Themselves”

Abstract: Over the last two decades of CRT’s emergence and maturation in education, powerful work has surfaced that informs the field about the experiences of students of color in primary and secondary education, undergraduate studies, and graduate programs across the country. We have learned about the multifaceted forms of microaggressions and their influence on: students’ experiences (Solorzano, 1998; Solorzano et al., 2000; Yosso et al., 2009); racial battle fatigue, or the cumulative impact of racial assaults (Smith et al., 2006); the unequal distribution of advanced placement courses, which often gives white students unfair GPA advantages and a head start in college (Solorzano & Ornelas, 2002, 2004); the range and depth of cultural wealth within communities of color (Yosso, 2005, 2006); and the intersection of nativism and racism and its impact on Latina/o immigrant communities, particularly the undocumented1 (Perez Huber et al., 2008). While far from exhaustive, these examples of educational research provide a glimpse of the breadth of work that has advanced how we use CRT to explore the educational experiences of students of color at all levels of the educational pipeline. Still, our work is not complete.

Race without Racism: How Higher Education Researchers Minimize Racist Institutional Norms

Abstract: This article analyzes 255 articles published in seven peer-reviewed journals over a 10-year period and presents examples of how higher education researchers undertake the study of campus racial climates; racial differences in access, outcomes, and attainment; and the experiences of students, faculty, and administrators of color on predominantly White campuses without explicitly considering racism or attributing quantified racial inequities to racist institutional practices. The analysis found three consistent trends: (a) racial disparities are overwhelmingly attributed to factors other than racism, (b) scholars use semantic substitutes for "racism" and "racist," and (c) critical race theory is rarely used for conceptual sense-making.

A Model for Diverse Learning Environments

Abstract: Drawing from converging areas of scholarship in higher education on the diversity dynamics of an institution and its surrounding contexts, this chapter explores how different aspects of the institution—all of which are influenced by and contribute to the campus climate for diversity—play important roles in achieving student outcomes that also enhance social transformation for a just society. The authors present a model to guide research and practice in creating the conditions for student success in diverse learning environments.

QuantCrit: education policy, ‘Big Data’ and principles for a critical race theory of statistics

Abstract: Quantitative research enjoys heightened esteem among policy-makers, media and the general public Whereas qualitative research is frequently dismissed as subjective and impressionistic, statistics are often assumed to be objective and factual We argue that these distinctions are wholly false; quantitative data is no less socially constructed than any other form of research material The first part of the paper presents a conceptual critique of the field with empirical examples that expose and challenge hidden assumptions that frequently encode racist perspectives beneath the facade of supposed quantitative objectivity The second part of the paper draws on the tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT) to set out some principles to guide the future use and analysis of quantitative data These ‘QuantCrit’ ideas concern (1) the centrality of racism as a complex and deeply-rooted aspect of society that is not readily amenable to quantification; (2) numbers are not neutral and should be interrogated for their role in promoting deficit analyses that serve White racial interests; (3) categories are neither ‘natural’ nor given and so the units and forms of analysis must be critically evaluated; (4) voice and insight are vital: data cannot ‘speak for itself’ and critical analyses should be informed by the experiential knowledge of marginalized groups; (5) statistical analyses have no inherent value but can play a role in struggles for social justice

Critical Race Theory in Education: A Review of Past Literature and a Look to the Future

Abstract: This article examines the development of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in education, paying attention to how researchers use CRT (and its branches) in the study of K-12 and higher education. The article reviews CRT literature with a focus on CRT scholarship that offers tools to engage with and work against racism within education. The authors highlight works that embody the critical origins of CRT in both the law and elsewhere, with a goal of demonstrating that CRT work means more than just pointing to race. It requires an engagement and articulation with the material, structural, and ideological mechanisms of White supremacy.