Mixed Race Studies

CeCe Ridder is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Higher Education Administration at The University of Texas at Austin and is recruiting University of Texas at Austin students for a research study about Black-White Multiracial college students.  She is seeking registered students at UT Austin in the third or fourth year of study and have one parent from a Black or African American racial category and one from a White or European racial category.   She would be very interested in speaking to them more about involvement or non-involvement in student organizations and racial identity. This interview is a conversation style, confidential process.

The title of this study is: Multiracial College Students: Exploring Racial Identity Through Student Organizations. The significance of this study is to explore how multiracial students utilize student organizations, and what influence this involvement has on racial and other social identities (gender, age, sexual orientation, etc). The implications for college administrators will be a more in depth understanding of multiracial students, and improve policy, curricula, advising and counseling.

The student participation will include a brief survey, one 60-90 minute in person interview and a 60 minute follow-up interview at a convenient time and location.  If you have any students in mind, can you please e-mail her his/her name and e-mail address and she can send them an e-mail, or feel free to send this request to them with her information, CeCe.Ridder@mccombs.utexas.edu or by phone (512) 789-7410.

Shades of Community and Conflict: Biracial Adults of African-American and Jewish-American Heritages

The Wright Institute, Berkeley, California
1998
152 pages
Publisher: Dissertation.com
ISBN-10: 1581120249
ISBN-13: 9781581120240

Josyln C. Segal

A dissertation submitted to the Write Institute Graduate School of Psychology in partial fulfullment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosphy in Psychology

This study of eighteen adults of African-American and Jewish-American heritage explores how biracial subjects of two minority parents negotiates mixed race heritage and identity in a society that maintains a hostile attitude toward interracial unions. Data collection included1) a semi-structured interview to determine subjects’ own sense of racial/ethnic identity, 2) a measure of parental closeness, and 3) a series of twelve anecdotal hypothetical situations as a stimulus to revealing subjects’ affective, cognitive and behavioral responses in contexts in which the subjects mixed-heritage might be expected to evoke conflict.

A qualitative analysis, incorporating socio-cultural, psychodynamic, and historical perspectives, was utilized to investigate 1) racial and cultural stereotyping, 2) a hierarchy of color and racial categorization, 3) racial tolerance, 4) Black and Jewish relations, 5) biracial (Black and Jewish) identity, as mediated by parental and familial closeness.

Factors that influenced racial/identity development in the subjects’ lives were identified. Five of the six hypotheses were supported: 1) Phenotype is related to interpersonal perception. The biracial adult phenotypically perceived as African-American is more likely to identify as such, whereas the biracial adult phenotypically perceived as White is more likely to identify as either White or “mixed.” 2) Closeness to the African-American parent is not necessary for children of mixed-race/Jewish heritage to identify with African-American heritage. 3) Closeness to the Jewish parent is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for children of mixed-race/Jewish heritage to identify with Jewish heritage. 4) For those who are close to their Jewish parent, the degree of closeness affects the degree to which they identify as Jews. 5) The extent to which respondents experience themselves as integral parts of their extended families will increase the extent to which they identify with that half of their cultural heritage. The sixth hypothesis, which stated that to the degree that respondents express negative stereotypes of one part of their heritage they will also minimize their identification with that part of their heritage was not supported due chiefly to the lack of negative stereotyping by most of the respondents.

Read the first 25 pages here.
Purchase the dissertation here.

Clusters of racial identity among Black/White biracial college students: A mixed method investigation

University of Michigan
August 2006
197 pages
Publication ID: AAT 3208292

Yvette C. Clinton

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfullment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology) in the University of Michigan

Historically, in the United States Black/White biracial individuals were labeled as Black in accordance with the “one drop rule”. However, recent Census changes now allow biracial individuals to identify with multiple racial groups. As a result there are several ways in which biracial youth view their multiple racial identities. The aim of the present study was to examine how Black and biracial identities among biracial college students were related by conducting a cluster analysis. The study utilized a mixed method design to examine how racial identity clusters differed in terms of how they viewed their race, the racial socialization messages they received from their parents, racial context and psychological well-being. Sixty-one Black/White biracial college students at a Midwestern University completed a demographic questionnaire and scales that measured Black and biracial centrality, Black and biracial socialization messages received from their parents, feelings of alienation from Black and White peers and psychological well-being. Thirty participants also took part in a semi-structured interviewed that focused on the participants’ racial identity, discussions about race with parents and interactions in their college context.

A cluster analysis based on the participants’ Black and biracial centralities revealed four main cluster groups. Qualitative analyses examined dominant themes of racial identity and racial socialization messages among each cluster group. It was found that each cluster had a distinct way of viewing their Black and biracial identities. Clusters included: (1) an adamant biracial identity, (2) a public Black identity, (3) a dual identity (Black and biracial), and (4) non-racial identity (race was not important). Quantitative analyses revealed that there were significant differences in racial socialization messages, racial context (racial composition of neighborhood and number of Black and White friends), and feelings of alienation from Black and White peers between the clusters. However, there were no differences in psychological well-being between any of the racial identity cluster groups. This suggests that there are multiple “healthy” ways that Black/White biracial youth view their racial identities.

Purchase the dissertation here.

‘Half-breeds,’ racial opacity, and geographies of crime: law’s search for the ‘original’ Indian

Cultural Geographies
Volume 17, Number 4 (October 2010)
pages 487-506
DOI: 10.1177/1474474010376012

Renisa Mawani, Associate Professor of Sociology
The University of British Columbia, Canada

Discussions of hybridity have proliferated in cultural geography and in social and cultural theory. What has often been missing from these accounts are the ways in which mixed-race identities have been forged, contested, and embodied spatially. Inspired by recent calls in cultural geography to rematerialize race and drawing from the growing literature on law and geography, this article examines the material dimensions of hybridity, how it was legally produced, gained traction, and slipped in the quotidian spaces of everyday encounters. Focused on late-19th and early-20th-century British Columbia (Canada), I trace the emergence of the ‘half-breed’ as a new racial personage and juridical taxonomy that unsettled racial hierarchies and spatial distinctions between aboriginal and white settler populations. Unlike other colonial contexts, mixed-race peoples on Canada’s west coast did not threaten European superiority alone but were believed to endanger the protection and assimilation of aboriginal peoples. Proximities between ‘half-breeds’ and ‘Indians’ were politically charged for two reasons. First, racial differentiations between these populations were often imperceptible, and second, their putative distinctions were closely bound up with concerns over territory and with aboriginal well-being. The racial opacity of mixed-race peoples created some sites of mobility for those in-between. However, their unknowability shored up the uncertainties of colonial knowledge production and the limits of existing racial repertoires, creating persistent demands for new markers of racial otherness in the process. Crime and immorality became potent signifiers of racial inferiority aimed at differentiating half-breeds from Indians and providing authorities with additional optics through which to problematize and govern their affective and geographical encounters.

Read or purchase the article here.

Grey girls: Biracial identity development and psychological adjustment among women

The Wright Institute
September 2008
141 pages
Publication Number: AAT 3306485 

Andrea Catherine Green

A dissertation submitted to the Wright Institute Graduate School of Psychology, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Psychology

The purpose of this study was to expand the body of research regarding the developmental and psychological experiences of Biracial women-women who have one Black parent and one White parent. This study examined how Biracial women identify racially (i.e., Biracial, Multiracial, Interracial, Black, White, etc.) and how this identification has impacted their psychological well-being. This study had the following purposes: (1) to determine which factors (e.g., family and others’ expectations, physical appearance) may influence racial identity choice for Biracial women, (2) to determine if Biracial women are as psychologically maladjusted as previous studies have indicated, and (3) to explore the relationship between racial identity and psychological functioning among Biracial women.

Forty-two women accessed the study, while thirty-three participants completed the online survey. The survey consisted of three measures: the Adapted Biracial Identity Development Questionnaire (ABID-Q), the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (CES-D), and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). The findings indicate the following: All of the participants chose to identify as a person of color (Biracial, Interracial, Multiracial, Black); medium to large correlations were found to exist between the variables (family messages, others’ perceptions, physical appearance) and racial identity development, although not statistically significant relationships; and this sample of women were overall psychologically healthy, reporting low depression scores and high satisfaction with life scores.

Table of Contents

• ABSTRACT
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
• CHAPTER
  • PRESENTATION OF THE PROBLEM
    • Introduction
    • Statement of Purpose
    • Definitions of Key Terms
    • A Historical Understanding of the Presence of African-Americans in the United States of America: The African Slave Trade
    • After Slavery and the Emergence of Biracial Americans
    • A Short Story: The Researcher’s Own Journey Toward Biracial Identity Development
  • I. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
    • General Identity Development
    • Racial Identity Development Models
    • Biracial Identity Development Models
    • The Early Biracial Identity Development Models
    • The New Generation of Biracial Identity Development Models
    • Biracial Identity Development and Psychological Implications
    • Gender and Biraciality
    • Hypotheses
• METHODOLOGY
  • Participants
  • Procedure
  • Instruments
• RESULTS
• DISCUSSION
• REFERENCES
• APPENDICES
  • A. ADAPTED BIRACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT QUESTIONNAIRE
  • B. SURVEY OF BIRACIAL EXPERIENCES
  • C. BUXENBAUM BIRACIAL IDENTITY QUESTIONNAIRE
  • D. CENTER FOR EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES DEPRESSION SCALE
  • E. SATISFACTION WITH LIFE SCALE

List of Tables and Figures

• TABLE 1. Descriptive Statistics of Sample
• TABLE 2. Statistical findings of the correlations
• TABLE 3. Means and Standard Deviations of dependent variables
• FIGURE 1. Percentages of Racial Identity

Purchase the dissertation here.

Univ. changes categories for reporting race, ethnicity

Diamondback Online
The University of Maryland’s Independent Daily Student Newspaper
2010-10-11

Leyla Korkut

Latest data expected to reflect true demographic makeup, but may reduce minority funding

The university will release new demographic data this week that administrators said will more accurately convey the diversity of this university. But some students argue the changes are still not good enough.

The standards, which were changed to resemble federal guidelines imposed by the U.S. Department of Education, will reflect similar changes made to the Census this year. So, last academic year, students were asked to identify their race and ethnicity before registering for classes.

The data collected from students’ responses, officials said, will enable the university to get a better idea of its demographic breakdown by allowing students to check more than one box for race and by making race and ethnicity two separate categories.

But because of that change, the number of students who originally identified themselves as minorities prior to last year may decrease, which could decrease funds earmarked for minority students, university research analyst Kyland Howard said…

Read the entire article here.

Builders of a Racial Bridge: Biracial College Students

The Journal of Pedagogy Pluralism & Practice
Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Issue 11 (Fall 2006)

Atina Andrea White

This study addresses issues surrounding Black/White biracial students in a multiracial student run organization at a diverse liberal arts college in Massachusetts.   The impact of the United States race history on biracial individuals is presented. The insights of the biracial individuals are reported along with suggestions for constructively addressing concerns of multiracial students.

Despite a history of oppression and marginalization, biracial individuals are surviving, thriving, and positively impacting our society. Black/White biracial individuals can be seen as a bridge between Black and White America. The purpose of this study is to explore aspects of biracial identity, increase awareness and understanding of biracial individuals and address various implications associated with college curriculum and activities.

Black/White biracial college students and their involvement in the Multiracial Organization of Students at Tufts University (MOST) has been the focus of this study. It addresses issues of identity-construction and development in a college setting. I selected this liberal arts college in Medford, MA because of its diverse population and because MOST, a specific organization for multiracial individuals, exists at the college. This organization designed and operated entirely by students, focuses on creating a community, offering support to its members, increasing awareness of multiraciality and seeking to bridge racial, ethnic and cultural divides (MOST, 2003). The students I have interviewed for the following study all participate in MOST and were willing to share their experiences as biracial human beings in America…

…MOST, however, is not only about finding a space to feel comfortable and supported in but also represents a place from which to begin to bridge differences across all races and ethnicities on the Tufts campus and in the larger community. Despite the fact that biracial and multiracial individuals are so often being excluded from all groups, they have not reciprocated this exclusive behavior and have introduced a different idea of welcoming all groups. There is a strong tendency in a racialized society to close-off and stay within your own culture or group but the MOST organization and its members are working to change this trend…

Read the entire article here.

The New Multiracial Student: Where Do We Start?

The Vermont Connection
Volume 31 (2010)
pages 128-135

Jackie Hyman
University of Vermont

Jackie Hyman earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2008, and is anticipating her graduation from HESA in 2010. Having gone through periods of doubt and confusion throughout her graduate career in identifying as Biracial, she is now more confident than ever in her racial identity. Because of her experiences at University of Maryland and University of Vermont, she has committed herself to creating a Multiracial student group at UVM, as well as creating potential spaces for Multiracial students at her next institution, wherever that may be. Without a doubt, a passion has been ignited that will guide her research and involvement on college campuses for years to come.

In 2004, one in 40 persons in the United States self-identified as Multiracial. By the year 2050, it is projected that as many as one in five Americans will claim a Multiracial background, and in turn, a Multiracial or Biracial identity (Lee & Bean, 2004). With racial lines becoming more blurred, it is increasingly important for practitioners in higher education to address the issues surrounding identity development in Multiracial college students. By looking at a personal narrative of a Biracial woman, recent studies of Multiracial identity development, and the daily challenges that Multiracial and Biracial students face concerning their identity, student affairs practitioners can begin to create more inclusive spaces for this growing population of students.

Read the entire article here.

“What is black, white and yellow all over?”: An analysis of the racial experiences of people of Asian/white and Asian/black heritage

University of Southern California
May 2007
208 pages

Bruce Calvin Hoskins

Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Southern California In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy (Sociology)

It has been argued that the increase of people of multiracial heritage in our society represents the fulfillment of the assimilation process. People of Asian/white and Asian/black heritage have been singled out in multiple works as posing a direct challenge to how race is understood in the United States and that this group’s assertion of their multiracial identity will ultimately lead to a raceless society (Williams-Leon and Nakashima 2001; Root 1996; Hollinger 1995; Root 1992). Therefore, this research uses in-depth interviews of thirty-two (32) people of Asian/white and Asian/black heritage and six (6) sets of interracial Asian and white and Asian and black parents to critically analyze to what degree their lived experiences are consistent with a society that has assimilated people of different racial categories.

In order to determine levels of assimilation for these groups, this research will use a racial formations framework to examine how racial categories are constructed through “racial logic” and how race is given meaning within the lives of multiracial people and through parents of multiracial children. This will be done by showing situations where society will ascribe a race onto a person of multiracial heritage, how the person of multiracial heritage will use their “biology” to support or refute these claims, and how that same multiracial person might develop a racial identity that may or may not be consistent with how they look or their actual racial heritage.

Demonstrating how race is socially constructed will reveal how being mixed with white is fundamentally different than being mixed with black. This will be shown by demonstrating that Asian/white people have more identity options than Asian/black people, how families socially enforce to their children which races are considered acceptable marriage partners, and how society uses a universal anti-black context to discriminate against people of Asian/black heritage.

Table of Contents

• Dedication
• Abstract
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2
  • Literature Review
  • Chapter Endnotes
• Chapter 3
  • Methodology
  • Chapter Endnotes
• Chapter 4: “What Are You?”
  • How Multiracial People Construct an Internal Racial Identity
  • Chapter Endnotes
• Chapter 5: “What are you?” Part II
  • The creation of external and expressed racial identity
• Chapter 6: “Can’t We All Just Get Along?”
  • The External Context of Racial Identity Formation
• Chapter 7: All in the Family
  • Learning Racial Hierarchy from the Ones You Love
  • Chapter Endnotes
• Chapter 8: Conclusions
  • From the Beginning to the End then Back to the Beginning
• Bibliography
• Appendices
  • Appendix A: Questions for Multiracial Person
  • Appendix B: Questions for Interracial Parents

Read the entire dissertation here.

 Mixed Dreams: A Symposium on Multiracial Identities in the United States

2010-10-15 through 2010-10-20
Oberlin College
Oberlin, Ohio

At its root, Mixed Dreams: A Symposium on Multiracial Identities in the U.S. aims to create a space to discuss and interrogate historical and contemporary perspectives on multiraciality and the “multiracial experiences” of people identifying as bi-racial, mixed, and/or transracial/transnational adoptees in the United States. Through public lectures and panels it will explore current trends and dilemmas in understanding multiraciality historically, socially and politically as well as the growing narratives and spaces being created to express these “mixed” subjectivities. Featured guests will be Paul Spickard, Eric Hamako, Debra Yepa-Pappan, Alicia Arrizón and a video conference discussion with G.Reginald Daniel.

For more information, click here.