UC Irvine

Latinas/Latinos in the United States experience a persistent context of racism and xenophobia.1–3 For example, the 2016 presidential election cycle and the subsequent change in presidential administrations were filled with anti-immigrant and anti-Latina/Latino ideologies, policy proposals, and policy spectacles that have continued unabated.4–6 Such discourse and its associated policy proposals and policy changes continue a trend that casts Latinas/Latinos as perpetual foreigners, creates hostile conditions for immigrant communities, and criminalizes those suspected of undocumented migration, dehumanizing Latinas/Latinos in the process.1,7,8 These dynamics are critical components of racialization processes (see Box 21-1) that have important implications for the current and future health and well-being of Latina/Latino communities. Previous research has paid limited attention to the role of racism in shaping the health of Latinas/Latinos. Instead, it has often focused on cultural factors and language use; though these factors are important and contextually specific, they paint an incomplete picture. This chapter seeks to broaden the conversation on Latina/Latino health by providing an overview of the ways in which race and racism narrate the experiences of Latinas/Latinos and how these, in turn, affect their health. We acknowledge the need to engage in analysis that considers race along other axes such as class, gender, and sexuality. Given that this chapter does not center sexuality or gender as our primary analytical lens, we have decided to use Latina/Latino (as opposed to Latinx) throughout the chapter.