In Solidarity Against Systemic Oppression: Mexican-Origin College Students’ Minoritized Linked Fate in the Nuevo South

This study examines Mexican-origin college students’ minoritized linked fate in the Nuevo South, exploring how perceptions of cross-racial and cross-ethnic collaboration vary by place of racial socialization. While scholarship on Mexican-origin students often centers regions with long-standing Latine communities, this research focuses on Arkansas and North Carolina, new destination states with rapidly growing Latine populations. Using a comparative case study approach, we analyze open-ended survey responses from Mexican-origin undergraduates, examining how collaboration perspectives vary across socialization contexts and how students’ preferences for solidarity counter dominant narratives of intergroup competition. Findings highlight cross-racial solidarity, particularly with African American communities, with implications for equity-centered higher education practice.