Being Black in a Sea of Color: A Phenomenological Study Exploring Black Students’ Racial Experiences at an AANAPISI and Emerging HSI

Abstract

This phenomenological study used semi-structured interviews with 13 Black college students attending a university that is both an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI) and emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) to explore their racial experiences using symbolic interaction theory. Findings demonstrate that despite attending a minority-serving institution, Black students felt a cultural mismatch with their Asian and Latinx peers and the values of their campus. Being a minority within a minority-serving institution, they also experienced being invisible and hypervisible simultaneously.