Un/masking Identity

Abstract

Using personal narrative, this article examines how masks function to subordinate African American and Latina women in the academy. The article uses Critical Race Theory and more specifically critical race gendered epistemologies, including Black feminist thought and Chicana feminist epistemology, to understand how females of color resist in the academy. Interweaving two narratives, the narrative of an African American woman and her experiences in the White academy with the author's personal narrative about resisting cultural and linguistic domination, this article seeks to understand the process of redefinition leading toward self empowerment. Critical in exposing hidden truths, the article unmasks racism in the White academy, challenging the dominant discourse.