A Colorado professor wondered how racist rhetoric stoked by the 2016 presidential election was impacting Latino students, so he conducted academic research that found exposure to racism often led to self-hatred and acceptance of the offensive cultural beliefs lobbed at young Latinos from politicians, the media and their community.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough most people might intuitively know that racism negatively affects Latino undergraduates, the findings of this study provide empirical evidence of racism\u2019s impacts,\u201d said Carlos P. Hipolito-Delgado, an associate professor of counseling at the University of Colorado Denver. \u201cLittle by little, it begins to chip away at that sense of self.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hipolito-Delgado\u2019s interest in studying the subject piqued during the lead up to the 2016 presidential election and after\u00a0Donald Trump referred to Mexicans as rapists, drug dealers and criminals.<\/a>\u00a0In Colorado, white supremacist and other extremist organizations have been more emboldened now than in past years, data show, and the\u00a0incidents of hate and bias in the state is rising dramatically, experts said.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n The study\u2019s participants, 350 first-generation Latino undergraduate students from colleges across the country, took a survey designed to determine whether exposure to racism and encouragement to accept and assimilate to racist notions were predictive of internalized racism.<\/p>\n