The question of what constitutes a multicultural curriculum was addressed by examining the experiences of three Latina students, each attending a different urban high school, who were followed through freshman and sophomore years. Two questions guided the inquiry: (1) where is curriculum relevant to ethnicity? and (2) how do students evaluate and respond to ethically relevant curriculum when it is encountered. The emphasis was on students' perceptions and evaluation of three potential sources of ethnically relevant curricula--the explicit (encountered in texts and assignments) and the hidden. The hidden curriculum includes the "relational" (lessons learned about intercultural communication from relationships with peers and teachers) and the "differentiating" (lessons about finding a place in the social structure learned through observations of teacher expectations and students' educational choices). Data were gathered based on interviews; school and classroom observations; student records; students' conceptions of their ethnicity; and family and peer relationships. Findings suggest that only in environments where youth can openly display their ethnicity does curriculum foster an appreciation of diversity; only in environments where disenfranchised youth are enabled to empower themselves do youth have the opportunity to acquire the skills necessary to take effective action against oppression and inequality. (LL)