This study uses symbolic interactionism as a framework for understanding race, and for understanding how faculty of color construct the promotion and tenure process. Interviews were conducted with 16 faculty members at a private research university in a small United States city. Interviewees included eight African American women, three African American men, two Asian American women, one Asian American man, and two Latino men; all were tenured or on tenure track. Faculty evaluations were based on teaching, service, and scholarly achievement, defined primarily through research and publication. During open-ended, semistructured interviews participants were asked to talk about their promotion and tenure experiences. Faculty members' perceptions of racism were then classified into two categories: individual or institutional. It was found that faculty members negotiated and resisted racism as best they could; responses ranged from "giving up," to fighting back, to picking and choosing battles, to playing the game, finding mentoring support, and most importantly to defining promotion and tenure criteria in ways that benefited their racial communities that is, through "race" research and minority-related community service. The paper concludes that creating a more supportive environment for faculty of color will require the construction of a common understanding of race in higher education. (Contains 78 references.) (CH)