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This descriptive, exploratory, sequential mixed-methods study investigated youths’ articulations about racism via an open-ended survey question, and the extent to which these articulations differed based on youths’ demographic characteristics. This study included 384 youth who identified as African American ( n = 98), Latinx/o/Hispanic ( n = 74), Asian/Pacific Islander ( n = 52), Multiracial ( n = 38), Native American ( n = 20), and White ( n = 100). Youth were between 14 and 18 years of age ( Mage = 16.66, SD = 1.28) and were primarily cisgender girls (51.3%) followed by cisgender boys (44.5%) and transgender (4.2%) youth. Thematic analysis was used to analyze youths’ responses, finding that youth displayed an analysis of intrapersonal/interpersonal racism, structural racism, and color-evasive ideology. Cross-tabulation analysis revealed that youth from lower socioeconomic statues (SES) were more likely than higher SES youth to describe racism as an intrapersonal/interpersonal phenomenon, and girls and transgender youth were more likely than boys to express a structural analysis of racism. Study findings suggest that youths’ beliefs about racism are multidimensional and primarily characterize racism as an intrapersonal/interpersonal phenomenon. Results may be used to inform the development of youth programs that aim to discuss racism in critical ways.

In this article, we conceptualize youth-led antiracism research in developmental science. First, we discuss how Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) principles converge with critical race epistemological approaches to knowledge production. Second, we propose that youth-led antiracism research requires a commitment to multiple ways of knowing, countering paternalism, focusing on structural racism, and activist scholarship that advances racial equity. These commitments are necessary to challenge how White supremacy culture shapes social science research paradigms. We weave existing empirical evidence and theory on YPAR with counter-storytelling methodology to identify various participatory methods and creative strategies that exemplify these commitments and emerged from co-creating research projects with ethnically and racially diverse youth. We conclude with implications for developmental science and offer guiding questions that may help scholars reimagine research in partnership with youth in ways that advance racial justice.

This case study examined how the Michigan Youth Policy Fellows program—which aimed to create a space for a team of adolescents to engage in a collaborative photovoice project with peers from diverse backgrounds—empowered young people to critically analyze and interrupt racial segregation. The study describes how nine racially and socioeconomically diverse adolescent girls and boys (14–17 years old), from the inner city and suburbs of Detroit, collectively evaluated the cultural, economic, and racial markers of differences found along one of the region’s thoroughfares, Woodward Avenue. The case study used multiple sources of data, collected over 8 years from 2006 to 2014, and a hybrid inductive-deductive analysis approach to examine the process of youth empowerment. The collaborative nature of the photovoice tour helped youth move from critical self-reflection of lived experiences to a collective understanding of segregation and inequality in the metropolitan region. The findings also suggest that engagement in a photovoice project fostered collective action through intergroup advocacy and supported youths’ civic development. As a practical method, the case study demonstrates that photovoice is a useful tool for group empowerment with adolescents.