Undocumented Black Students and Hermeneutical Injustice: Higher Education’s Role in Leaving Them Out of the Undocumented Conversation

A growing number of first-generation undocu/DACAmented students are present on college campuses who come from various racial and ethnic groups. Research examining the educational experiences of first-generation undocu/DACAmented Black students has been largely absent despite their presence on college campuses. Universities are spaces that perpetuate epistemic injustice, yet how epistemic injustice impacts the lives of undocumented Black students is unexamined. This qualitative study explores how higher education faculty, staff, and administrators render undocumented Black students invisible as narrated through their stories. Findings suggest that undocumented Black students are hidden in plain sight and face identity-related challenges. This research sheds light on a population that is woefully understudied and alerts higher education and student affairs (HESA) faculty and professionals to the existence and realities of undocumented Black students.

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