Don’t Deny Our Existence: Highlighting Multiracial Staff Experiences Through Mixed Filipinx Americans’ Narratives

Abstract

This chapter explores challenges that multiracial staff members face in higher education institutions. We explore our narratives as Filipinx and White multiracial people who are full-time staff at different institutions. Mitchell shares how their experiences related to their proximity to Whiteness has allowed them to go unnoticed when adhering to White respectability politics; however, they get disciplined when expressing themself in a manner that triggers white fragility because of their activist leanings. Lisa shares her narrative around obstacles related to being a multiracial person doing diversity, equity, and inclusion work. This chapter aims to contribute to the limited literature available about the experiences of multiracial staff in postsecondary contexts. Jessica Harris has written two articles about multiracial higher education campus professionals: “Multiracial Campus Professionals’ Experiences with Queering Race in U.S. Postsecondary Contexts” (2020) and “Multiracial Campus Professionals’ Experiences with racial authenticity” (2019). This chapter provides recommendations for future scholarship and practice to create spaces where multiracial staff members can successfully navigate higher education spaces while showing up as their full selves.