A Quantitative Investigation of Black and Latina Adolescent Girls’ Experiences of Gendered Racial Microaggressions, Familial Racial Socialization, and Critical Action

Abstract

As Black and Latina adolescent girls experience race and gender discrimination, they may turn to their families to explore their beliefs about and responses to systemic injustice and oppression. Familial racial socialization is a likely entry point for critical action (like community activism), linking ethnic–racial identity and critical consciousness in youth development. We used hierarchical linear regression to investigate whether familial racial socialization moderated the relationship between experiences of gendered racism and community activism. We analyzed survey data for 315 Black (n = 158) and Latina/Afro-Latina (n = 157) girls (n = 282) and gender expansive youth (age 13–17) from the southern United States. We found that girls who received more familial socialization and were more frequently stereotyped as being angry participated in more low-risk and formal political activism. Also, Black and Latina girls who were more frequently stereotyped as angry and received more messages about racism from their families engaged in more high-risk activism, while girls who were more frequently perceived as angry and received less racial socialization engaged in less high-risk activism. We discuss the implications of our results for families, educators, and scholars who support Black and Latina girls’ sociopolitical development.

1. Introduction

While the dual pandemics of racism and COVID-19 resulted in a racial reckoning across the United States [1], Black and Latinx youth may have already experienced moments of “racial awakening” during their upbringing that helped them cultivate tools to reflect on racial inequities prior to the summer of 2020 [2,3,4]. Beyond racism, Black and Latina girls face unique forms of discrimination at the intersection of their race and gender, also referred to as gendered racism [5]. For example, scholars have documented how gender shaped Black and Latina women’s experiences of racism and xenophobia by examining their unique experiences of anti-Black police brutality and family separation at the border [6,7]. Public discourse of anti-Blackness within the criminal legal system has often centered the experiences of Black men, while Black women’s experiences of physical, psychological, and sexual violence are often left untold [6,8]. Similarly, few have voiced concerns regarding the sexual violence and murders of the Latina and Black migrants in Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) or police custody. Numerous police and ICE officers have used their status to abuse women and girls and to force their silence by threatening deportation [9]. The recurrence of racial and gendered violence and discrimination underscores ongoing messages about the lack of investment in Black and Latina women and girls’ well-being in the United States. As Black and Latina adolescents consider these societal events in relation to their own intersectional identities and discriminatory experiences, the messages they receive about race and racism contribute to their ethnic–racial socialization [10,11]. In turn, girls’ ethnic–racial socialization and identity beliefs become integrated into how they view themselves [12], as well as their decisions about how to respond to gendered racism.

In order to make sense of these events, Black and Latina girls may have turned to their families and engaged in critical discussions about what it means to resist race and gender oppression as Black and Brown people [13]. These types of conversations are important opportunities for familial racial socialization, defined as messages families communicate to their youth about values, traditions, and practices associated with their ethnic–racial group [14]. Familial racial socialization has been shown to buffer the deleterious effects of racism, as a critical component in how youth come to understand racism as a systemic problem [15,16]. Emerging literature has also begun documenting how familial racial socialization promotes youths’ resistance to systemic oppression, like racism and xenophobia [17,18,19,20,21]. Considering how familial racial socialization contributes to youths’ responses to gendered and racial discrimination can help nuance our empirical understandings of youths’ critical consciousness, ethnic–racial identity, and overall well-being. This study considered the role of familial racial socialization in adaptive and healthy coping after experiences of gender racism. We specifically examine how familial racial socialization may inform the relationship between Black and Latina girls’ experiences of gendered racism and their resistance in the form of community activism.

1.1. Theoretical Framing

This work draws upon intersectionality theory [22,23], and the integrative model of ethnic–racial identity and critical consciousness [24] to describe how identity and socialization processes relate to critical action. Intersectionality is an important theory and problem-solving analytical tool with three main purposes: (1) illuminating how institutions of power are organized, (2) diagnosing a social problem, and (3) enhancing action [22]. Tenets of intersectionality encourage scholars to consider the intersecting systems of power that relate to how an individual or collective experiences social inequality within the social contexts where the inequality is happening. We apply intersectionality by contextualizing Black and Latina girls’ experiences of gendered racism and resistance within the socio-historical context of the United States. We also consider the complexities of youths’ decisions to take critical action, including their assessments of how levels of risk may vary across multiple salient identities.

The integrative model provides a novel framework for how critical consciousness and ethnic–racial identity processes intertwine and relate to youths’ understanding and responses to systemic oppression [24]. Critical consciousness development refers to the process by which youth advance their ability to critically reflect on and take action against systemic inequalities [25]. Critical action, which describes individual and collective acts of resistance, is one key component that allow marginalized youth to challenge systemic inequities that impact their communities [26]. Ethnic–racial identity development is a multidimensional construct that describes how youth develop attitudes and beliefs about their ethnic–racial group membership over time [12]. Within this framework, youths’ ethnic–racial identity is deeply related to and interconnected with their critical consciousness development [24]. These relationships are described in four postulates that detail broad intersections of ethnic–racial identity and critical consciousness processes. This study focuses on Postulates 1 and 2, which highlight the relationships between youth’s racialized experiences, their ethnic–racial identity processes, and critical action.

This study expands Postulate 1, which posits that youths’ exposure to salient ethnicity or race-based experiences (e.g., discrimination or ethnic–racial socialization) may predict critical reflection and promote further ethnic–racial exploration [24]. Black and Latina girls’ identities are not unidimensional, and the interconnectedness of their race and gender informs their self-concept and perceived agency [27,28]. Thus, studies exploring the singular impacts of racism or sexism on Black and Latina girls’ development may be limited in their understanding of girls’ intersectional experiences, appraisal, and responses to discrimination [29]. We draw on intersectionality to contextualize how these girls’ critical action is informed by their experiences of gendered racism [22]. Additionally, we expand current studies focused on Black and Latina girls by including youth whose conceptualization of girlhood and femininity are more expansive (gender expansive youth) than binary (i.e., boy and girl) constructions of gender [30]. Lastly, we draw upon intersectionality to guide our discussion of critical action by focusing on one type of action—community activism—as both an adaptive and potentially risky response for Black and Latina girls navigating gendered racism.

This study also expands Postulate 2, which suggests that ethnic–racial identity processes promote critical action [24]. While the integrative model discusses how racial socialization plays an important role in informing both ethnic–racial identity and critical consciousness development, more work is needed to understand how familial racial socialization works in tandem with these processes to promote youths’ resistance to gendered racism. The communalist nature of Black and Latinx families informs youths’ self-definition [27,28], sense of agency [11], and sense of responsibility when deciding to take action on behalf of their racial–ethnic group [17,20,31]. As Black and Latina adolescents experience racially salient or discriminatory events, they may turn to their parents for support while reflecting on and responding to what happened [13]. Therefore, familial racial socialization may also serve as an important component of youths’ critical consciousness development and their overall well-being [15,24]. We argue that fostering strong ethnic–racial identity, which is developed through familial racial socialization [13], is an essential component of Black and Latinx youths’ health and well-being [15]. Thus, we discuss how scholars, parents, and youth-serving organizations might leverage positive ethnic–racial identity and socialization to support girls’ resistance to gender and racial discrimination.

1.2. Contextualizing Black and Latina Girls’ Experiences of Systemic Oppression in the United States

Although the Black and Latinx diasporas have unique histories and experiences of systemic oppression, both populations have been greatly shaped by white supremacy through colonization and enslavement [32,33]. Given the shared experiences of marginalization rooted in white supremacist, heteropatriarchal ideologies, studying Black and Latina girls experiences together can illuminate how experiences of gendered racism and xenophobia impact their physical and mental health and overall well-being. Currently, the Latinx and Black communities make up the largest ethnic–racial minority groups in the United States and simultaneously experience significant physical and mental health disparities due to systemic racism [34]. Research has documented how Black and Latina women experience social environments, beginning in childhood, that put them at greater risk for ill-health (e.g., higher mortality rates, maternal mortality, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disorders, and obesity later on in life [35,36,37]. Historical and collective racial trauma has also resulted in poorer mental health among Black and Latina girls [38]. Therefore, systemic racism leaves Black and Latinx youth especially vulnerable to negative health outcomes and creates a hostile environment for youth development [39,40]. This may be especially important for Black youth, as more than half of Black families live in the South, a region with the poorest health outcomes, lowest access to health care, and weakest social safety nets in the country [41].

For this study, we chose to focus on the experiences of Black and Latina girls living in the “Traditional South” (we considered the Traditional South-eastern Region of the United States to be: Delaware, Maryland, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, or Virginia) of the United States. For both the Black and Latinx communities in the United States, the South has a long history associated with racial violence and colonization. For Black Americans, states in the Traditional South shared a history of confederate membership and the enslavement of African people [42]. Further, during the Mexican American War, many Mexican people (the largest ethnic group of Latinx people in the United States) became American citizens through the annexation of Texas and other lands that were originally part of Mexico [43]. Through powerful resistance and racial justice movements, many Black and Latinx families have come to reclaim the Traditional South as their home [42]. Still, for many, the South “feels frozen in time”, and is considered to be more overtly racist than other regions [42]. Studying Black and Latina girls’ experiences of gendered racism in this region provides critical insight into how they resist systemic oppression in spaces that constantly remind them of the legacy of racism in the United States.

1.3. Black and Latina Girls’ Experiences of Gendered Racism

Black and Latina girls may have witnessed the impact of racist and sexist policies on a macro-level as they watched the news in 2021 and saw the range of racial and gender discrimination, like the lack of coverage of Black women killed by police [6,8] or sexual violence inflicted on migrants at the border of Mexico [7,9]. However, these girls may have already experienced or witnessed gendered racial discrimination on an interpersonal level through experiences of microaggression or covert manifestations of gendered racism [44,45]. Understanding the various forms of gendered racism that Black and Latina girls may experience is important for acquiring the ability to assess their impact. Both Black and Latina girls experience stereotypes regarding beauty and objectification that are associated with expectations of promiscuity (e.g., being sexually active and/or available) [44,45], exoticism (e.g., being considered an “unusual” or foreign beauty) [45,46,47], and gatekeeping in academic and professional spaces [47,48]. Further, there are parallel stereotypes about Black and Latina girls as “strong”, “spicy”, or “sassy” that relate to the lack of support they may receive from adults in their lives who believe they may not need help [44,45,49]. Lastly, educators and other adults’ negative stereotypes of Black and Latina girls as angry, defiant, or trouble makers can contribute to their hyper surveillance and criminalization, which limits their educational and professional opportunities, reifies the school-to-prison pipeline [44,45,46], and sometimes results in physical harm from punitive disciplinary practices [50]. While scholarship has documented that Black and Latina girls’ experiences of gendered racism impacts their well-being, opportunities and overall development [39,40], it is important to recognize that these girls’ experiences of gendered racism are experienced, appraised, and navigated differently, based on their social position [51,52].

Black girls often face stereotypes related to their physical appearance, independence, sexual behavior, and levels of aggression [44,47]. Stereotypes about Black women originated from white supremacist ideology meant to condone the gendered racism that enslaved African women were subjected to during times of slavery [53]. In regards to beauty, contrasting stereotypes exist for Black women, such as the unsexual, maternal, and helpful Mammy vs. the seductive and lustful Jezebel. Slavery also perpetuated the stereotype of the Strong Black Woman, who would endure anything, ultimately exploitation, violence, and dehumanization [53]. These stereotypes continue to plague Black women and girls today, resulting in disparate health outcomes like greater stress, eating disorders [54], and sexual violence [55]. A qualitative study exploring Black adolescent girls’ experiences of gendered racial microaggressions highlighted that they experienced discrimination related to their appearance (e.g., Afrocentric hairstyles) and perceived intelligence, as well as comparisons to white girls [44]. Girls described how their male peers simultaneously viewed them as desirable sexual partners, but not suitable for long term relationships; this impacted Black girls’ sense of self-worth. Black girls felt silenced and marginalized by adults who often disregarded their need for support, even when they reported harassment based on race or gender. In contrast, Black girls felt hyper-visible when receiving disciplinary action, often describing instances in which they received harsher punishment than their white peers, or were presumed of wrongdoing within a conflict [44].

Similarly, research focused on Latina girls has documented their experience navigating stereotypes about their socioeconomic status, intelligence, and sexual activity [45,46,56]. Stereotypes about Latina women and girls’ beauty and power stem from colonization, as well as from more recent stigma around immigrants [46]. Latina girls are often dichotomized as “good girls” or “bad girls” [45]. Good girls are considered virginal and virtuous and live a life in service to others, aligned with values of marianismo (i.e., idealized feminine gender role characterized by submissiveness, selflessness, and humbleness) [46,57]. Bad girls, on the other hand, are considered “pagan putas” who are considered promiscuous, defiant, and angry. Latina girls stereotyped as “bad girls” are often assumed to be at risk for unwanted teen pregnancy or gang membership [45,46]. One qualitative study demonstrated how clinicians working with Latina girls dichotomized them as “good” or “bad”, based on how their behaviors mapped onto Latinx gender scripts of women as caretakers of their families and communities [45]. Another retrospective qualitative study explored Latina and Caribbean women’s accounts of gendered racism in adolescence and highlighted discrimination based on their appearance (especially hair) and intelligence [58]; Latinas with darker skin tones experienced greater marginalization rooted in anti-Blackness than did lighter-skinned Latinas who already experienced daily microaggressions and exoticism. Across studies, we see how Latina girls are negatively impacted by stereotypes, and gate-kept from important educational opportunities. In turn, Latina girls experience greater stress and mistrust of various systems (e.g., schools and immigration) [45,56,58]. While we know that Black and Latina girls experience a range of gendered racial microaggressions, there is still more to learn regarding adolescents’ resistance to such marginalization through critical action.

1.4. Black and Latina Girls’ Resistance Strategies through an Intersectional Lens

In many cases, activism for women and girls of color is “not a choice, but a matter of survival and self-determination” [59]. From a young age, Black and Latina girls understand the importance of collective resistance [60] and are often socialized to “look out for the others” because they would become the pillars of their families [51]. While these messages may spark their desire to take critical action on behalf of themselves and their community, many factors contribute to if and how these girls might decide to take action [61]. In the current study, we explore girls’ participation in community activism, a type of critical action. Community activism is defined as action taken to formally change judicial, legislative, or electoral processes, often within a politicized collective of allies and oppressed groups [31].

Hope and colleagues created a measure for assessing community activism to explore Black youths’ “sociopolitical action planned and executed for the specific benefit of positive social change, eradication of oppression, and promotion of justice in and for the Black community” [31]. This construct considers how Black adolescents’ community activism embodies collective resistance to structural oppression. Ultimately, they found that Black youth engage in three types of activism: low-risk activism (i.e., relatively passive, conventional, and safe social and political actions with minimal risk of personal harm, arrest, and danger), high-risk activism (i.e., highly visible, assertive, social and political action that may result in bodily harm, involvement in the criminal justice system, or damage to possessions), and formal political activism (i.e., traditional political involvement, like organizing political events, donating to organizations, and supporting political candidates from their communities) [31]. While this construct was developed for Black youth, we recognize its utility in examining Latinx and Afro-Latinx youths’ experiences because of their shared communal values [62] and similar experiences of systemic oppression [44,45,58].

While there is still limited research that examines how Black and Latina girls engage in critical action, research shows that these girls leverage self-expression as a method of individual resistance when they are experiencing discrimination in contexts like their schools. In some cases, Latina girls used visible forms of self-expression like physical fighting to demand respect from peers who discriminated against them at school because they felt this physical display of aggression made it clear that they would not passively accept discrimination at school [56]; this could be considered a form of high-risk activism, where girls risk their safety to resist discrimination. In other cases, girls engage in low-risk activism by leveraging the arts (e.g., writing) to reflect on and respond to discrimination [63,64]. Regardless of how girls “speak up”, the literature demonstrates that Black and Latina girls create opportunities to share their voices.

Other studies highlight how Black and Latina girls engage in collective resistance, via low-risk activism, by creating opportunities for community building, both in person [65] and online [63,66,67], that supports healing and social change within their communities. One quantitative study demonstrates how Latina youth are four times more likely to engage in service oriented and low-expression civic engagement than in critical action [65]. These community-oriented resistance strategies may not traditionally fit into “critical action”. An intersectional examination of these findings suggests that Latina girls’ choices to target an “internal” or community level mutual aid are informed by gendered socialization, such as marianismo. Focusing on community impact, like mutual aid, may also be protective to communities that must avoid interactions with police and immigration forces. Girls’ assessment of their families and communities’ strengths and vulnerabilities may influence their decisions regarding how to take action [65]. Other studies demonstrate how Black girls use social media, like Snapchat and Twitter, to create safe spaces for sisterhood and sociopolitical conversations with other Black youth [66,67]. One study found that Black girls developed social media communities where they could speak out against injustice at their school, (e.g., lack of attention for Black history month or teachers were wearing #BlueLivesMatter shirts) [66]; these spaces fostered a sense of collective identification that supported their navigation of racism in their school. So, measures of critical action developed for Black and Latina girls must incorporate a more nuanced understanding of the cultural and community factors that influence how and why they take action in response to discrimination.

1.5. Identity and Familial Racial Socialization Processes as a Catalyst for Action

Research has shown that ethnic–racial identity and socialization processes are helpful in coping with racial discrimination [12,15]. Adolescence is an important time for ethnic–racial identity development, as youth’s exposure to different events may ignite critical reflection about themselves, those in their ethnic–racial group, and the rest of society [24]. As their race becomes more salient, youth may engage in more exploration and reach out to parents or family to gain further insight. Reaching out to family may be particularly important after youth experience or witness discrimination, and previous research shows that much of parental socialization is retroactive as parents help youth navigate these events [13].

While research has shown that stronger ethnic–racial resolution may be an important factor for critical action [24], this may be in part because familial racial socialization processes help fortify youths’ sense of agency and support [11,15]. Familial racial socialization supports youth in processing whether or not an event poses a threat and whether they have the resources needed to cope with the event [15]. Parents offer verbal (overt) messages (i.e., passing down information, skills, traditions, or cultural information) or nonverbal (covert) messages (i.e., familial modeling and exposure to cultural events) [68,69] that inform their understanding of their social position. In addition to this general racial socialization, emerging research demonstrates that parents may tailor their socialization messages to address the intersectional realities of their children through gendered racial socialization [29]. This is important to consider within the context of 2021, as Black and Latina girls were likely discussing how to respond to race and gender discrimination with their families.

Emerging literature demonstrates how familial racial socialization is related not just to coping, but also to promoting action [61]. For Latinx youth, political discussions may be incorporated in familial racial socialization, promoting a greater sense of collective responsibility, as well as greater expectation for community involvement [17,20]. A study observing Latinx families’ discussions about race and racism found that parents tended to reassure their children about safety, educate them about nativity and documentation, and encourage them to adapt and expect discrimination [18]. In turn, these parents also modeled and advised children to advocate for themselves and others, reinforced a sense of ethnic pride, and talked to their children about the value of diversity and empathy. A study focused on Black families found that Black parents used familial racial socialization to impart several coping strategies, ranging from avoidance to assertive defiance, after their child experienced racial discrimination [19]. Another study that examined familial racial socialization and critical consciousness among dyads of Black youth and their parents found that youth who received more cultural pride messages engaged in more sociopolitical discussions and received more civic modeling from their parents; these socialization practices were positively associated with youths’ critical agency [11]. In line with this work, this study seeks to continue exploring how familial racial socialization may inform the relationship between discriminatory experiences (e.g., gendered racism) and critical action (e.g., community activism).

1.6. The Current Study

Drawing on intersectionality and integrated model of ethnic–racial identity and critical consciousness theory [22,23,24], this study expands the literature on Black and Latina girls’ and gender expansive youths’ experiences of gendered racism, identity socialization, and critical action. Our study is guided by the following questions and hypotheses: (1) What is the relationship between girls’ experiences of gendered racism and community activism? Aligned with previous work exploring Black and Latina youths’ responses to racism, we hypothesize that Black and Latina girls who experience more gendered racial microaggressions will engage in more activism [26]. (2) Does familial racial socialization moderate the relationship between experiences of gender racial microaggressions and community activism? Based on research exploring the relationship between ethnic–racial identity and socialization processes and critical action, we expect that girls who received more familial socialization will engage in more community activism when experiencing greater discrimination [11,17,18,19].

2. Method

This study draws from the Hope Resilience Action (HRA) study which centers on Black and Latina girls’ responses and resistance to gendered racism within home, school, and social media contexts. We collected survey data during August 2021, when youth in the United States were navigating the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, heightened racial violence, the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, and a shift in sociopolitical power due to the change in the presidential administration.

2.1. Participants

The current sample included 315 adolescent girls (13–17 years old, M = 16.65, SD = 1.49), including 158 Black (50%), 154 Latina (49%), and 3 Afro-Latina (1%) participants from the Traditional Southeastern Region of the United States. In terms of gender, participants identified as girl (n = 282, 89.5%), butch (n = 6, 2%), femme (n = 9, 3%), and gender-queer (n = 12, 4%). Almost half (n = 140; 44%) of the participants reported that either they or their parents migrated to the United States. Most of the participants received free or reduced lunch (n = 193, 61%). On average, the girls reported that 51% of their neighbors and 56% of their classmates shared their ethnic–racial identity.

We hope to clarify some terms used throughout the paper. We have used the term Latinx to refer to people of Latin American descent of all genders; Latina refers specifically to Latinx girls and femme people; Latino refers specifically to men or boys. We make these distinctions to align with LGBTQ movements in the United States promoting gender inclusivity for Latinx Americans; however, we recognize that this term is contentious within the Latin American community, and there is room for growth to identify a term that is developed by and for Latin Americans that moves from gender neutrality towards gender appreciation [70]. Further, gender expansive youth refers to a wider, more flexible range of gender identity and/or expression than typically associated with the binary gender system [30]. While our study focused on girls, we did not consider girlhood within a binary, and instead considered the spectrum of girlhood; our understanding of girlhood includes gender expansive youth assigned female at birth who identified as non-binary genderqueer or gender fluid, or youth who identify as a girl or femme now. We recognize that gender is a fluid and complex construct. Therefore, we allowed gender expansive youth to participate if they felt their current gender identity aligned with our intention to amplify girls’ stories. For the sake of parsimony in the paper, we use the term girls to align with our recruitment criteria and overall sample composition. We note gender differences explicitly when appropriate.

2.2. Procedures

After receiving IRB approval from the University of Virginia (Study 4192), the two co-PIs of the Hope Resilience and Action Study worked with Qualtrics XM to distribute the anonymous quantitative survey. As a survey panel service, Qualtrics draws on a variety of methods, such as partnering with organizations and nonprofits to recruit eligible participants for studies [71]. Qualtrics leverages multiple partnerships for each survey panel in order to aggregate diverse samples that fit the researchers’ specifications, including hard to reach populations. Inclusion criteria in the current sample required individuals to be Black, Latina, or Afro-Latina girls and gender expansive youth between the ages of 13 and 17, living in one of the states considered to be part of the “Traditional South”. The Qualtrics platform made the study description available to all parents who reported having daughters that met the inclusion criteria in the Traditional Southeastern Region of the United States. To access the survey, parents provided informed consent, after which the girls provided informed assent using an electronic signature. The estimated survey length was 20–25 min. The girls were compensated approximately USD 9 for their participation.

2.3. Measures

Demographics. The girls were asked to provide information regarding their race, gender, migration status, and socio-economic status. The girls reported their ethnic–racial identity by selecting the options “African American”, “Afro-Latina”, “Black”, “Hispanic/Latina”, or “Multiracial”. Moreover, the girls shared their gender identity by using the options: “Girl”, “Butch or Stud”, “Femme”, “Gender Non-Conforming or Genderqueer”, “Transgender girl”, “I don’t know”, “Other”, or “Prefer not to answer”. Migration status was gauged through the question, “Did you or your immediate family immigrate to the United States from a different country?” Girls respond either “Yes” or “No”. Lastly, we asked girls if they received free or reduced lunch as a proxy for socioeconomic status; in response to the question, “At your school, do you qualify for free or reduced lunch?”, girls could respond, “Yes” or “No”.

Ethnic–Racial Identity Exploration (α = 0.73). The Ethnic Identity Scale was developed to assess three components of ethnic–racial identity: exploration, resolution, and affirmation [69]. We used the ethnic–racial identity exploration subscale to examine the degree to which girls had explored their identities, which included nine items. The exploration subscale consisted of three items, including, “I have read books/magazines/newspapers or other materials that have taught me about my ethnicity”. These questions were answered using a 4-point Likert scale, from 1 = “does not describe me at all” to 4 = “describes me very well”.

Gendered Racism. In order to measure experiences of marginalization, we used four subscales from the Gender Racial Microaggressions Scale for Black Women [5]. Participants responded using a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 = “all of the time” to 5 = “none of the time”. We modified the measure to be more specific to the age of the girls by changing items that mention the workplace to focus on school (e.g., I have been disrespected at school), and replacing the word “women” with “girls” within. The assumptions of beauty and sexual objectification subscale (α = 0.89) was used to measure girls’ experiences of stereotypes about aspects of girls’ appearance and sexuality, using 11 items. This subscale included items like, “Someone made sexually inappropriate comments” or “Someone made negative comments about my hair when it was natural”. The silenced and marginalized subscale (α = 0.88) was measured using a seven-item subscale of girls’ perceptions of being ignored or having their intelligence questioned at school. The subscale included items like, “My comments have been ignored”. Strong Black/Latina women stereotypes (α = 0.83) subscale was quantified using a five-item subscale to gauge girls’ perceptions of when they had been treated as strong, sassy, independent, and assertive. Sample items include, “I have been told that I am too independent”. Lastly, the angry Black/Latina women stereotypes (α = 0.84) subscale was used to assess girls’ experiences of being treated as angry or aggressive. The subscale consisted of three items, including “Someone accused me of being angry when I was speaking calmly”.

Community Activism. We assessed community activism using the Black Community Activism Orientation Scale [31]. This measure was originally developed and validated to reflect variants of Black activism, with the intent to measure youths and young adults’ orientation towards low-risk, high-risk, and formal political activism (ages 14–29; M = 19.7). The measure included 26 items across three subscales on a 5-point Likert-type scale from 1 = “extremely unlikely” to 5 = “extremely likely”. Low-risk activism (α = 0.88) captured passive, conventional, and less risky behaviors like wearing a t-shirt or button with a political message. High-risk activism (α = 0.92) measured highly visible, assertive, and riskier forms of activism like blocking access to a building or public area with your body for a cause. Lastly, formal political activism (α = 0.92) quantified traditional involvement within formal political systems, like donating money to a political candidate or organizing a political event. We tailored this measure by using an adaptive Qualtrics measure which matched each mention of race with the girls’ self-reported racial identity. For example, in an item that says, “Display a poster or bumper sticker with a political message specific to the [racial-ethnic] community”, Latina girls would see Latinx community, and Black girls would see Black community.

Familial Racial Socialization (α = 0.85). The familial racial socialization scale was used to measure girls’ perception of the degree to which their families shared overt or covert messages regarding their ethnic–racial identity [69]. The overall measure included 12 items, of which 7 items were used to assess covert messages. For example, “Our home is decorated with things that reflect my ethnic/cultural background” or “My family participates in activities that are specific to my ethnic group”. Five items were used to measure overt familial racial socialization. For example, “My family teaches me about the values and beliefs of our ethnic/cultural background”. or “My family talks about how important it is to know about my ethnic/cultural background”. Questions were answered on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 = “not at all true” to 5 = “very much”. This measure has been used with both Latinx and Black populations.

2.4. Reflexivity

Reflexivity refers to the practice of reflecting on the ways our identities, epistemological beliefs, and research perspectives relate to the ways we engage in research, interpret our results, and disseminate our findings [72]. Sharing these reflections provides insight into why and how scholars are invested in a particular study. As a collective, we are Black and Latina women scholars, at various points in our academic careers, committed to leveraging research as a tool for racial justice. Author 1 is a second-generation Latina, lesbian scholar whose research focuses on exploring how Black and Latinx girls and women leverage critical consciousness and sociopolitical action to navigate systemic inequities. Author 2 is a Black scholar whose research focuses on centering the brilliance of Black and Latinx youth by exploring how cultural assets of ethnic–racial identity and critical consciousness inform their academic and sociopolitical outcomes. Author 3 is a biracial Asian and Black scholar whose research interests involve racial identity and socialization processes among Black families. Author 4 is a Latinx scholar whose research focuses on the unique struggles and resilience in the Latinx and LGBTQ+ communities, with particular focus on self-injurious and suicidal behaviors. Author 5 is a Black scholar who draws on healing justice frameworks to explore the holistic development of Black girls and women within their families, schools, and communities. Drawing on our feminist principles and academic expertise, we developed a study that sought to amplify these girls’ lived experiences, including not only the beauty of resistance, but also the risks they may take in speaking up against injustice. Our lived experiences as organizers, teachers, and members of these communities helped inform our selection of key study variables, as well as the interpretation of the results. While we are proud to have a team that is reflective of our sample, we recognize that our experiences are as unique as the girls who participated in the current study, and that we have our own personal and professional lens regarding how we think about bias, discrimination, and youth development. Thus, we consulted each other for accountability to bridge the gaps in our own perspectives.

2.5. Data Analysis

We used hierarchical linear regression (HLR) in SPSS [73] to examine the role of gendered racism (i.e., being objectified, feeling silenced and marginalized, assumed to be strong, and perceived as angry) in each type of community activism (i.e., low-risk activism, high-risk activism, and political engagement). We also examined whether familial racial socialization moderated the relationship between girls’ experiences of each type of gendered racism and their reports of community activism. We created dummy coded variables to examine the differences between Black and African American girls compared to Latina girls, and to explore differences between “girls” and “gender expansive”, the latter of which denoted those who identified as butch, femme, or genderqueer. We ran three separate models to examine how the variables related to the three types of community activism. For each regression, at step 1, we included key study variables like each type of gendered racial microaggression and familial racial socialization. We include ethnic–racial identity, gender, migration status, and ethnic–racial identity exploration as covariates based on previous research indicating the importance of these identities in shaping critical action [74,75]. In the next step, we included two-way interaction terms between each type of gendered racism and familial racial socialization. All continuous variables were mean-centered to allow for comparisons across measures. We used pairwise deletion to address missing data and maximize power.

3. Results

3.1. Preliminary Analyses

We conducted a series of t-tests to examine the differences between Black and Latina girls among key study variables. Firstly, we found that Latina and Afro-Latina girls receive more familial racial socialization than Black girls. We also find that Black girls experienced being stereotyped as angry more often compared to Latina and Afro-Latina girls (See

Table 1. T-test results comparing Black and Latina girls regarding key study variables.

	Black Girls		Latina and Afro-Latina Girls		T(310)	p
	M	SD	M	SD
Ethnic–Racial Identity Exploration	2.32	0.83	2.49	0.85	−1.73	0.09
Familial Racial Socialization	3.33	0.98	3.72	0.90	−3.66	0.001 **
Beauty and Objectification	2.43	0.99	2.32	0.96	0.92	0.36
Strong	2.42	1.07	2.60	1.16	−1.41	0.16
Angry	2.69	1.21	3.13	1.36	−3.02	0.003 **
Silenced and Marginalized	2.71	1.09	2.67	1.11	0.34	0.74
Low-Risk Activism	3.53	0.85	3.48	0.83	0.53	0.60
High-Risk Activism	2.85	0.95	−0.07	2.71	1.18	0.24
Formal Political Engagement	3.31	0.86	3.23	0.98	0.68	0.50

Note: We provide raw means and standard deviations in this table for ease of interpretation, but used mean centered data for analysis. ** p < 0.01

).

We also conducted a series of t-tests to examine the differences between girls and gender expansive youth among key study variables. We found that gender expansive youth engaged in more low- and high-risk activism compared to girls (See

Table 2. T-test results comparing girls and gender expansive youth regarding key study variables.

	Girls		Gender-Expansive Youth		T(310)	p
	M	SD	M	SD
Ethnic–Racial Identity Exploration	2.42	0.84	2.32	0.97	0.57	0.57
Familial Racial Socialization	3.56	0.95	3.25	0.92	1.66	0.10
Beauty and Objectification	2.37	0.97	2.51	1.08	−0.72	0.47
Strong	2.53	1.12	2.38	1.03	0.69	0.25
Angry	2.93	1.30	2.94	1.34	−0.03	0.98
Silenced and Marginalized	2.67	1.09	2.97	1.30	−1.33	0.187
Low-Risk Activism	3.48	0.84	3.85	0.73	−2.19	0.03 *
High-Risk Activism	2.74	1.04	3.32	0.78	−2.83	0.002 **
Formal Political Engagement	3.26	0.92	3.48	0.87	−1.18	0.24

Note: We provide raw means and standard deviations in this table for ease of interpretation, but used mean centered data for analysis. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01.

).

We report raw means (M), standard deviations (SD), and correlations for key study variables in

Table 3. Key study correlations.

	M(SD)	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1. Exploration	2.40(0.85)
2. Familial Socialization	3.52(0.96)	0.53 **
3. Beauty and Objectification	2.37(0.98)	0.10	0.03
4. Silenced and Marginalized	2.69(1.10)	0.07	−0.03	0.69 *
5. Angry	2.91(1.30)	0.16 **	0.14 *	0.56 *	0.56 *
6. Strong	2.51(1.11)	0.18 **	0.34 *	0.68 *	0.66 *	0.68 *
7. Low-Risk	3.50(0.84)	0.37 **	0.36 *	0.16 **	0.12 *	0.25 **	0.15 **
8. High-Risk	2.78(1.03)	0.22 **	0.19 *	0.22 **	0.16 **	0.22 **	0.19 *	0.51 **
9. Formal Political	3.27(0.92)	0.37 **	0.31 *	0.15 *	0.14 *	0.21 *	0.17 *	0.78 **	0.57 **

Note: We provide raw means and standard deviations in this table for ease of interpretation, but used mean centered data for analysis. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01.

. There was a positive correlation between ethnic–racial identity exploration and low-risk, high-risk, and formal political activism. There were also positive and significant associations between familial racial socialization and low-risk, high-risk, and formal political activism. Familial racial socialization was positively associated with perceptions of being angry and perceptions of being strong. Each type of gendered racial microaggression (i.e., being objectified, feeling silenced and marginalized, assumptions of being strong, and perceptions as angry) was positively associated with each type of activism (i.e., low-risk, high-risk, and formal political activism).

3.2. Low Risk Activism

In Step 2, we found significant differences based on gender (F(14, 238) = 6.03, p = 0.001), such that gender expansive youth engaged in more low-risk activism than girls (β = 0.14, p = 0.01). Youth who engaged in more ethnic–racial identity exploration (β = 0.23, p = 0.001) and received more familial racial socialization (β = 0.26, p = 0.001) tended to engage in more low-risk activism. Lastly, girls perceived as angry tended to engage more often in low-risk activism (β = 0.25, p = 0.002). (See

Table 4. Hierarchical linear regression, with Gendered Racism and Familial Racial Socialization predicting Low-Risk Activism.

	b	SE	β
Step 1: Covariates and Key Study Variables
Race	−0.19	0.10	−0.11 †
Gender	0.42	0.17	0.14 *
Migration Status	0.09	0.10	0.05
Socioeconomic Status	0.03	0.11	0.02
Ethnic–Racial Identity Exploration	0.22	0.07	0.22 ***
Familial Racial Socialization	0.23	0.06	0.26 ***
Beauty and Objectification	0.07	0.07	0.08
Strong	−0.10	0.07	−0.13
Angry	0.16	0.05	0.24 **
Silenced and Marginalized	−0.01	0.07	−0.02
R2	0.25
F	8.00 ***
Step 2: Interactions between Familial Racial Socialization and Gendered Racial Microaggressions
Race	−0.19	0.10	−0.11 †
Gender	0.42	0.17	0.14 *
Migration Status	0.09	0.10	0.05
Socioeconomic Status	0.04	0.11	0.02
Ethnic–Racial Identity Exploration	0.22	0.07	0.23 ***
Familial Racial Socialization	0.23	0.06	0.26 ***
Beauty and Objectification	0.07	0.08	0.08
Strong	−0.11	0.07	−0.15
Angry	0.16	0.05	0.25 **
Silenced and Marginalized	0.23	0.06	0.26
Socialization × Objectification	−0.06	0.08	−0.07
Socialization × Strong	−0.00	0.07	−0.00
Socialization × Angry	0.05	0.06	0.07
Socialization × Silenced	−0.07	0.06	−0.09
∆R	0.01
R2	0.26
F	6.03 **

All standardized regression coefficients for Low-Risk Activism come from the second step in analysis—n = 315 † p < 0.10; * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.

for full regression results).

3.3. High Risk Activism

In Step 2, there were significant differences between gender (F(14, 238) = 4.76, p = 0.001), such that gender expansive youth engaged in more high-risk activism (β = 0.14, p = 0.02). Youth with a recent personal or familial history of migration engaged in less high-risk activism (β = 0.12, p = 0.05) than those who have been in the United States for more than two generations. Youth who received subsidized lunch participated in more activism (β = −0.20, p = 0.001) than those who paid full price for lunch. Youth who engaged in more ethnic–racial identity exploration engaged in more high-risk activism (β = 0.15, p = 0.04). Lastly, there was a significant interaction between perceptions of being angry and familial racial socialization (β = 0.17, p = 0.04). Specifically, when girls experienced fewer stereotypes of being angry, there were no significant differences in participation in high-risk activism, regardless of their familial racial socialization messages. However, girls who were more often perceived as angry and received more familial racial socialization engaged in the greatest amount of high-risk activism; contrarily, girls who were perceived as more angry and received less familial racial socialization engaged in the lowest amount of high-risk activism. A simple slopes analysis revealed a significant slope for those who received more familial racial socialization messages (β = 0.24, t = 2.56, p = 0.01; see Figure 1) (see

Table 5. Hierarchical linear regression, with Gendered Racism and Familial Racial Socialization predicting High-Risk Activism.

	b	SE	β
Step 1: Covariates and Key Study Variables
Race	−0.12	0.13	−0.06
Gender	0.52	0.21	0.14 *
Migration Status	0.25	0.13	0.12 †
Socioeconomic Status	−0.50	0.14	−0.21 ***
Ethnic–Racial Identity Exploration	0.17	0.08	0.14 *
Familial Racial Socialization	0.16	0.07	0.15 *
Beauty and Sexual Objectification	0.14	0.09	0.11
Strong	0.01	0.09	0.01
Angry	0.09	0.06	0.12
Silenced and Marginalized	−0.00	0.08	−0.00
R2	0.20
F	5.60 ***
Step 2: Interactions between Familial Racial Socialization and Gendered Racial Microaggressions
Race	−0.13	0.13	−0.06
Gender	0.50	0.21	0.14 *
Migration Status	0.26	0.13	0.12 *
Socioeconomic Status	−0.48	0.14	−0.20 ***
Ethnic–Racial Identity Exploration	0.18	0.08	0.15 *
Familial Racial Socialization	0.15	0.08	0.14 *
Beauty and Sexual Objectification	0.12	0.10	0.11
Strong	−0.02	0.09	−0.02
Angry	0.10	0.07	0.13
Silenced and Marginalized	0.01	0.08	0.01
Socialization × Objectification	−0.13	0.10	−0.12
Socialization × Strong	−0.01	0.09	−0.01
Socialization × Angry	0.14	0.07	0.17 *
Socialization × Silenced	−0.04	0.08	−0.04
∆R	0.02
R2	0.22
F	4.76 ***

All standardized regression coefficients for High-Risk Activism come from the second step in analysis—n = 315. † p < 0.10; * p < 0.05; *** p < 0.001

for full regression results).

3.4. Formal Political Activism

In Step 2, we found ethnic–racial identity exploration significantly predicted formal political activism such that more ethnic–racial identity exploration was associated with more activism (β = 0.28, p = 0.001), (F(14, 238) = 5.22, p = 0.001). Youth who received more familial racial socialization also engaged in significantly more formal political activism (β = 0.18, p = 0.011) (See

Table 6. Hierarchical linear regression, with Gendered Racism and Familial Racial Socialization predicting Political Engagement.

	b	SE	β
Step 1: Covariates and Key Study Variables
Race	−0.17	0.12	−0.09
Gender	0.24	0.19	0.07
Migration Status	0.15	0.11	0.08
Socioeconomic Status	−0.08	0.12	−0.04
Ethnic–Racial Identity Exploration	0.29	0.07	0.27 ***
Familial Racial Socialization	0.18	0.07	0.19 **
Beauty and Sexual Objectification	0.01	0.08	0.01
Strong Black/Latina women	−0.04	0.08	−0.04
Angry Black/Latina women	0.10	0.06	0.14 †
Silenced and Marginalized	0.05	0.07	0.06
R2	0.21
F	6.25 ***
Step 2: Interactions between Familial Racial Socialization and Gendered Racial Microaggressions
Race	−0.17	0.12	−0.09
Gender	0.24	0.19	0.07
Migration Status	0.15	0.11	0.08
Socioeconomic Status	−0.07	0.12	−0.03
Ethnic–Racial Identity Exploration	0.30	0.07	0.28 ***
Familial Racial Socialization	0.17	0.07	0.18 *
Beauty and Sexual Objectification	−0.01	0.08	−0.01
Strong	−0.05	0.08	−0.06
Angry	0.11	0.06	0.15 †
Silenced and Marginalized	0.07	0.07	0.08
Socialization × Objectification	−0.02	0.09	−0.02
Socialization × Strong	−0.08	0.08	−0.09
Socialization × Angry	0.11	0.06	0.15 †
Socialization × Silenced	−0.12	0.07	−0.15 †
∆R	0.03
R2	0.24
F	5.22 ***

All standardized regression coefficients for Political Engagement come from the second step in analysis—n = 315. † p < 0.10; * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.

for full regression results).

4. Discussion

Previous research has documented the role of ethnic–racial identity and critical consciousness in promoting adaptive and healthy coping responses to racial discrimination among Black and Latinx youth [24,61]. Familial racial socialization may work in tandem with youth’s ethnic–racial identity beliefs and their critical action because youth rely on these familial messages about race and racism to process their experiences and determine how to respond [11,17,18,19,20,21]. Our findings build upon this literature by examining how familial racial socialization informs the relationship between gendered racism and critical action among Black and Latina adolescent girls. Moreover, we nuance current studies on adolescents’ critical action by assessing the risk associated with different types of community activism and considering how Black and Latina girls’ intersectional identities and experiences inform critical consciousness processes.

Across both racial groups, girls who experienced more gendered racism—particularly being perceived as angry—engaged in more community activism. Girls who received more familial racial socialization tended to engage in more of each type of community activism. For high-risk activism specifically, familial racial socialization moderated the association between girls’ experiences of gendered racism and their critical action, such that girls who received more messages from their family about race tended to be more involved in political engagement and high-risk activism. Our findings offer more insight into how girls’ experiences of family socialization and gendered racism inform their critical action. These findings underscore the importance of engaging in intersectional and familial-focused approaches to expand our conceptualization of Black and Latina girls’ critical and community action.

4.1. Fueling the Fire: How Stereotypes of Anger Contribute to Community Activism

Girls who were more frequently perceived as angry engaged in more low- and high-risk activism as compared to girls who were less frequently perceived as angry. It is worth noting that Black girls in our sample reported being stereotyped as angry more often than Latina and Afro-Latina girls. This may be related to distinctive racialized and gendered stereotypes specific to Black women and girls as being aggressive, angry, and domineering [44]. While similar racist and sexist stereotypes exist about Latina women and girl’s “spicy” nature [45,46], it is possible that being perceived as angry was less salient for the Latina and Afro-Latina girls in the current sample. We offer two interpretations of these findings. It is possible that Black and Latina girls who speak up for themselves and others in contexts like their schools may be interpreted as “aggressive”, with their leadership and critical self-advocacy misinterpreted as anger [44,56,66]. In this case, girls may not initially be angry, and something like challenging their teacher about the lack of diversity in the school curriculum could be perceived as “sassy” or “defiant”. It is also possible that sometimes girls are angry about the discrimination or inequalities they experience, and adults may feel threatened by their response. For example, girls may resist a dress code infraction that feels racially motivated, feel angry about it, and a school administrator could see that as defiance. This finding is especially important to consider because of previous literature emphasizing the importance of Black and Latina girls speaking up and not losing their voices during times of injustice [56,63,64,66]. By invoking stereotypes of anger, individuals may seek to silence Black and Latina women and girls by invalidating their experiences and writing them off as reactionary. It is unfair that girls of color must filter their reactions because their emotions can be politicized by others and weaponized to silence them [76]. In future studies, scholars should consider how adults working with youth can honor anger as a valid response to gendered racism and systemic oppression and how they can help girls utilize their anger in personally productive capacities [77].

It is also important to consider why other types of gendered racism, like microaggressions related to assumptions of strength, appearance and beauty, and instances where girls feel silenced and marginalized, did not predict community activism. For many Black and Latina girls, being strong and resilient is not only a cultural value, but a part of their self-definition [27,28]. Thus, when girls are stereotyped as strong or independent, they may not necessarily view the microaggression as negative, but instead as an indicator of resilience and resistance. However, scholars have demonstrated how perceptions of being strong can lead to a lack of support, mentorship, and positive guidance due to adultification bias [44,49]. Adultification is harmful, because it frames girls as more adult-like than their peers and may prevent some girls from seeking help when they need it. Contrarily, stereotypes about girls’ appearance and experiences of marginalization may make girls feel like they are not important or that their voices do not matter. Experiences of sexual violence [55], exoticism [44,45], and gatekeeping in academic and professional spaces [47,48] may inhibit girls from engaging in critical action because they may be focused on coping or surviving in other ways. Adults working with youth should be cautious of how these stereotypes are impacting Black and Latina girls’ well-being, access to resources, and ability to practice critical action.

4.2. Ethnic–Racial Identity and Familial Racial Socialization as a Critical Component of Critical Consciousness and Well-Being

Consistently across both racial groups, girls who engaged in more ethnic–racial identity exploration engaged in more low-risk, high-risk, and formal political activism. This finding supports the associations found in prior studies between ethnic–racial identity and critical consciousness development, such that events inciting ethnic–racial identity exploration are also likely to contribute to critical reflection and action [24,61]. For Black and Latinx girls, having a strong ethnic–racial identity is important for their health and well-being because these identities are often central to their sense of self, shaping the way they build community. In the current study, we expanded on previous findings about ethnic–racial identity and critical consciousness by considering whether familial racial socialization played a role in these processes. Familial racial socialization may provide youth with critical perspectives about how others, like their parents, are navigating racially systemic inequities [18,19]. Furthermore, as youth discuss issues of racism and/or gendered racism with their family members, they may come to recognize the importance of community support, resources, and activism.

We found that familial racial socialization contributed to girls’ participation in all three types of community activism. Specifically, familial racial socialization contributed to low-risk activism. We also found that familial racial socialization informed the relationship between perceptions of being angry and high-risk activism; we see this same trending relationship with formal political activism (see Figure 2). For high-risk and formal political activism, we saw that when girls experienced more stereotypes and received less familial racial socialization, they engaged in less activism; contrarily, if they received more familial messages, they engaged in more activism, suggesting that familial racial socialization may serve as a protective factor against experiences of discrimination, contributing to transforming experiences of discrimination into action. These findings aligned with empirical literature demonstrating that familial conversations about racial discrimination inform Black and Latinx youths’ decisions about how to take action [11,17,18,19,20,21]. Thus, our findings offer additional insight into the integrative model of ethnic–racial identity and critical consciousness by emphasizing the role of familial racial socialization in Black and Latina girls’ critical consciousness development.

4.3. Expanding Conceptualizations of “Girlhood”: Exploring Gender Expansive Youths’ Community Activism

We anticipated that girls’ engagement in different types of community activism would be informed by their ethnic–racial and gender identities. We found significant gender differences in low-risk and high-risk activism, such that gender expansive youth (i.e., those who identified their girlhood as butch, femme, genderqueer) engaged in more of these types of activism than those who identified as girls. Black and Latinx gender expansive youths’ experiences of discrimination related to defying gender expectations may contribute to their intersectional awareness of systemic oppression, which encourages their activism [78,79,80]. Experiences like navigating unique concerns of being silenced and marginalized by medical professionals [81], or perceiving that others value more masculine traits [48], may inform their critical awareness of how their intersectional identities might impact their access to resources later on in life. While this is beyond the scope of the current study, our findings highlight the strong sense of urgency around engaging in community activism that gender expansive Black and Latinx youth may experience due to their current and future concerns regarding marginalization and systemic harm. It is possible that we did not find significant differences in formal political activism because youth’s opportunities to engage with the formal political system and public officials are often limited until they reach the age of 18. Future work concerning gender expansive youths’ activism must take into consideration the distinct and undue threats gender expansive youth face when engaging in critical action, such as: being outed, receiving physical harm due to others’ prejudice, a lack of resources, and potential dangers in the medical or criminal–legal system [82].

4.4. Limitations and Considerations

While our study makes several notable contributions to the extant literature, there are some limitations and considerations worth mentioning. Although we intentionally recruited Afro-Latina girls, we did not have sufficient power to make meaningful comparisons to Black or Latina girls. Therefore, we combined the Afro-Latina and Latina samples, based on their similar ancestral relationship to colonization in Latina America as opposed to chattel slavery in the United States. However, it is important to note that Latina and Afro-Latina girls’ experiences of marginalization also vary, often due to colorism [58,83]. Afro-Latina girls may face different types of stereotypes and are racialized differently in the United States. For instance, many Afro-Latina girls have darker skin tones and experience colorism and criticism of their hair. Additionally, others may try to force Afro-Latinx people to “choose” an identity as either Black or Latinx, rejecting one side or the other; this may result in feeling like their identities are invisible in different contexts within the Latinx community [84]. By combining these groups, we may lose information about Afro-Latina girls’ experiences of gendered racism.

Similarly, while we included gender expansive youth in our analyses, we recognize that our findings are limited because of the small sample size. Gender expansive youth continue to expand the designations and definitions of gender identities in ways that we may not have captured through our survey selections. Furthermore, by combining butch, femmes, and genderqueer youth, we may have lost important insight into these youths’ experiences of marginalization. Additionally, no trans girls participated in our study, and so our results are not inclusive of their experiences of gendered racism. Research shows that youth who do not conform to their sex assigned at birth experience greater harassment and bullying; this may be particularly true for youth of color [30]. Although our statistical power was limited in the types of analyses we could run, we included these gender expansive youths’ experiences to provide a more accurate representation of the adolescent youth who participated in our study. Scholars must find more ways to be intentionally inclusive in sample design, rather than opting to exclude certain populations based on low numerical representation. Without doing so, the field will continue to miss out on critical developmental knowledge about gender expansive youth, for instance.

Another consideration is that we used the Black Community Activism Orientation Scale [31] and the Gender Racial Microaggressions Scale for Black Women [5] to measure Black and Latina girls’ and gender expansive youths’ experiences. Both of these scales have advanced the field by offering more ecologically valid measures of Black peoples’ experiences. However, since the Black Activism Orientation Scale focuses on Black adolescents and young adults in general, we may have missed some activist behaviors specific to Latina girls. We addressed this concern by tailoring our measure to be racially specific and did not find any significant racial differences in these girls’ community activism participation. Moreover, this measure does not focus on girlhood. It is possible that there may be types of activism, specific to girls, that may not be captured in this measure. For instance, one subtle way that girls choose to resist gendered racism daily is through self-expression via fashion, hair, and make-up [47]. Other literature demonstrates how Black and Latina girls may also leverage art or service (e.g., mutual aid) as part of their community activism [63,64,65,66]. Therefore, future measures of critical action must be more expansive to not only better incorporate the ways girls show up in their activism, but also to capture these moments of micro-resistance that are often overlooked and devalued in the current literature. Similarly, we adapted the Gendered Racial Microaggression Scale to be age-specific by including more youth-specific contexts in the items. We did see some significant differences in terms of the experiences of gendered racism Black girls faced compared to that faced by Latina and Afro-Latina girls. It is possible we did not capture microaggressions that Latina or Afro-Latina girls face. These measures were not adapted to show participants’ gender in the item. Thus, there may also be ways that gender expansive youth are discriminated against that are not captured by our measure.

4.5. Implications

Our study has important implications for parents, educators, and youth practitioners, as well as for scholars studying identity and critical consciousness development among adolescents. The results indicate that familial racial socialization can encourage Black and Latina girls to respond to gendered racial discrimination through critical action. Researchers have demonstrated that racial socialization processes inform youths’ racial understandings and beliefs about the world, which can then inform their perceived ability to cope with instances of racial discrimination [15,61]. We build on this work by demonstrating that familial racial socialization plays a role in Black and Latina girls’ responses to gendered racial discrimination, in part by influencing their beliefs and actions about affecting positive change in their communities. Thus, we suggest that in addition to offering messages about preparation for discrimination, parents might also offer concrete ways for girls to feel involved and important within their local communities. This might include volunteering with a local youth organization, getting involved in a youth participatory research project, or facilitating other activities that nurture their activist spirit and desire to improve social conditions. To date, culturally relevant family-based programs have often focused specifically on preparing parents to discuss race and racism with their children [85]. Our results suggest that, when possible, these programs might also incorporate opportunities for families to learn more about how to translate Black and Latina girls’ ideas and experiences of injustice into different forms of critical community activism.

Similarly, the results should encourage educators to develop and incorporate curriculum, programming, and organizational practices that address Black and Latina girls’ cultural and social realities and support their critical consciousness development. While some culturally relevant curricula, like ethnic studies [86], allow students of color to explore their intersectional identities, the majority of schools struggle to integrate discussions of race, ethnicity, and culture and are explicitly instructed to avoid talking with students about “racially charged” sociopolitical events that may impact Black and Latinx girls’ gendered and racialized realities. Given the nationwide pushback against students learning accurate information about racism in school [87,88], as well as against gender affirming care for gender expansive and diverse youth [89], this will likely be more difficult or impossible for educators who work within schools and districts that do not adopt anti-bias and discrimination policies [90]. Youth in our study, who were being educated in the Southern region of the United States, may be particularly impacted by the movement to ban critical race theory (CRT) from schools; currently 10 out of 15 states from which we recruited our participants have banned historically accurate discussions of race and racism in the classroom [87,88,91,92]. At the minimum, we hope educators will use these findings and consider the importance of locating books or materials that address gendered racial stereotypes of Black and Latinx girls (e.g., Piecing Me Together, by R. Watson, or Juliet Takes a Breath, by G. Rivera) and encourage girls to tap into peers, caregivers, and youth mentors who can provide a web of support and care [93]. Additionally, we encourage educators facing barriers to discussing racism in the classroom, to continue to get creative about how they may choose to connect girls to youth organizations in their communities (e.g., Girls for Gender Equity or Radical Monarchs) and service opportunities that relate to youths’ interests. If the curriculum and programming cannot occur within the classroom, educators can still serve as advocates for Black and Latina girls to find ways to reflect on and consider actions to address the sociopolitical events impacting their lives.

Our results offer a few main points of departure for scholars who study identity development, family socialization processes, and critical consciousness development. First, researchers should interrogate how familial messages (i.e., talking about a time when they encountered discrimination) and modeling (i.e., seeing the adults in their lives attend protests or take care of others in their communities) encourage girls to take action against gendered racism and social inequities in their communities. In moving forward, scholars could examine the type of gendered and racialized messages that Black and Latinx girls receive from different family members in their lives, especially in regards to thinking about how a family member’s own social identities and positioning may inform the conversations they have with these girls. Finally, more studies must assess the multidimensional nature of familial socialization regarding gendered and racialized systemic barriers, as well as the mechanisms that underlie the connection between familial socialization and youth action. In particular, scholars should explore the way in which families are especially impactful in incorporating culturally relevant values, traditions, and knowledge within their messages to Black and Latina girls about taking action within their communities.

Lastly, we call for scholars and educators to consider the complexities of what it means to support Black and Latina girls’ decisions to engage in critical action in their communities. Although scholars generally consider critical action an adaptive and healthy coping response to racism, we still need more empirical evidence on how cultural values (e.g., communalism and familismo) [62], structural barriers (e.g., institutional support and insufficient activist development in schools) [39,40], and risk (e.g., physical harm or threats to self and family) [31,65] inform Black and Latina girls’ critical consciousness development. Most current attempts to quantitatively measure critical action lack community focus and do not consider the various risks youth face when they engage in critical actions like attending protests, organizing events in their communities, and drawing attention to social inequities. Youth engaging in critical action may encounter discrimination or experience physical, psychological, and legal costs that vary based on their intersectional identities (i.e., gender, sexuality, and nationality status) [26]. Girls who take action within their schools may find themselves hyper surveilled, punished, and even at risk of being pushed into the carceral system [44,56,66]. Ergo, adults must be prepared to support youth after they commit to taking action and encounter these types of risks. At a baseline, parents, educators, and scholars can have open and honest conversations about how youth can determine their own comfort with certain forms of critical action and the potential consequences. This may include discussions on how youth can mitigate risk when engaging in high-risk activism, such as providing a checklist on how youth can prepare for a protest (e.g., what to bring, how to establish a home base, and how to respond if police become involved) [94]. Scholars and educators might also consider accompanying youth as co-conspirators when youth share concerns about how their activism may impact their safety; for allies joining Black and Latinx youth, this means a willingness to risk your safety. Another way scholars can support youth could be by developing long term collaborations through youth participatory action research that can provide a space for youth to lead activism around issues that are important to them. Youth participatory action research fosters trusting, youth-adult partnerships that can support youth in stepping up or seeking support when they need it. All in all, scholars and educators must honor the risk that comes with Black and Latinx youths’ decisions to engage in critical action and support these youth to take action in ways that feel right to them.

5. Conclusions

In the current study, we integrated intersectionality theory [22,23] and the integrative model of ethnic–racial identity and critical consciousness [24] to examine how familial racial socialization and gendered racism inform Black and Latina girls’ critical action and community involvement. We found that both ethnic–racial identity and familial socialization processes inform Black and Latinx youths’ healthy development by promoting particular forms of critical action. Experiences of gendered racism—specifically, Black and Latina girls’ being perceived as angry—were related to increased low-risk, high-risk, and formal political activism. Girls who received more familial racial socialization participated in more high-risk activism when faced with gendered racism. Considering the pivotal role that Black and Latinx families play in regards to their girls’ adaptive coping with discrimination, we hope this study reminds scholars of the importance of supporting Black and Latinx families in how they talk with their daughters and gender expansive youth about not only racism, but gendered racism. While many parents unknowingly engage in gendered socialization messages with their youth, taking a more intentional approach that critically considers the unique struggles of their daughters can better prepare girls to navigate gendered racism throughout their lifetime. Our findings also offer novel intervention points to support Black and Latina girls’ sociopolitical development that can be incorporated at the interpersonal (e.g., connecting girls with opportunities for community involvement) and macro (e.g., changing school policies that reinforce exclusionary discipline practices in response to student behaviors) level. As we continue to engage in conversations about what it means to support Black and Latina girls’ sociopolitical development, adults working with youth must identify how they can support and amplify the innovative and intentional ways they seek to create system change.