Document Type

Honors Project

Publication Date

6-5-2024

Abstract

Past research on intersections of race and sexuality have been limited to heterosexual people and gay men, with limited research on racial dynamics in lesbian communities. Through an exploratory analysis of 10 in-depth interviews, this qualitative research study examines how racism and racial segregation are experienced by people of different races in the sapphic and lesbian community of Austin, Texas. In this paper I analyze results through Bonilla-Silva’s theory of Color-Blind Racism, May’s theory of Integrated Segregation, and Feagin’s Theory of the White Racial Frame. I argue that there is a broad pattern of self-actualizing segregation among my participants, whereby segregation of experience leads to reinforced social segregation. As a result of this finding, I call for a re-evaluation of how to respond to ongoing segregation in the post-Jim Crow era United States, one that considers both the subversive agency of people of color and the oppressive power of white people in social spaces, and how the politics of sexuality further complicated Color-Blind Racism.

Level of Honors

cum laude

Department

Ethnic Studies

Advisor

Jesús G. Smith

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