Mixed Race Studies

Scholarly perspectives on the mixed race experience.

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Category: United States

  • Are Brazilians Latinos? What their identity struggle tells us about race in America

    In the United States, all three are closely associated with the word “Brazilian.” Yet, although none of these things are linked to Latino identity, one of the questions that journalists frequently ask me is, “Are Brazilians Latinos?”

  • Seeing Santa in Black and White

    When my friend posted an adorable picture of her son with a black Santa in New York City, I was drawn to the idea of visiting a Santa who reflected my family’s skin tones. I’m black, and my 3-year-old son’s father is white. I am raising him as a single mom with the help of…

  • China Machado, Breakthrough Model Until the End, Dies at 86

    China Machado, Breakthrough Model Until the End, Dies at 86 The New York Times On The Runway 2016-12-19 Vanessa Friedman China Machado, the first non-Caucasian to appear in the pages of an American glossy fashion magazine and a model who broke not only the race barrier but also the age barrier, died on Sunday in…

  • Avoiding the One-Drop Rule

    Avoiding the One-Drop Rule The Harvard Advocate Fall 2016 Eli Lee This past January, I attended a concert at Philadelphia’s First Unitarian Church. The audience in the church’s dimly lit basement was tattooed, bedecked in social justice slogans and, like most punk show crowds, predominantly white. Two hours into the show, a local hardcore band…

  • The Problem With Obama’s Faith in White America

    The Problem With Obama’s Faith in White America The Atlantic 2016-12-13 Tressie McMillan Cottom, Assistant Professor of Sociology Virginia Commonwealth University The president’s optimism about race blinded him to the pervasiveness and stubborn persistence of racism. I screamed a lot while reading Ta-Nehisi Coates’s My President Was Black. When I was done reading and screaming,…

  • The Physics of Melanin: Science and the Chaotic Social Construct of Race

    The Physics of Melanin: Science and the Chaotic Social Construct of Race Bitch Media 2016-12-19 Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Research Associate Department of Physics University of Washington, Seattle It could have been earwax. It turns out that the texture of a person’s earwax is not determined by environment but rather is written into a person’s genetic…

  • Opinion of Judge Leon M. Bazile (January 22, 1965)

    Opinion of Judge Leon M. Bazile (January 22, 1965) Source: Encyclopedia Virginia In this written judgment, dated January 22, 1965, Leon M. Bazile, judge of the Caroline County Circuit Court, refuses a motion on behalf of Richard and Mildred Loving to vacate their 1959 conviction for violating the state law that forbids interracial marriage. The…

  • Dating in the Time of #BlackLivesMatter

    Dating in the Time of #BlackLivesMatter Racism Review: shcolarship and activism toward racial justice 2016-02-24 Shantel Buggs, Ph.D. Candidate Department of Sociology The University of Texas, Austin When I started my dissertation research a year ago, I had not considered what impact the widespread media coverage of #BlackLivesMatter as a movement and rallying cry might have…

  • What does it mean to be “black enough?” Three women explore their racial identities

    What does it mean to be “black enough?” Three women explore their racial identities The Washington Post 2016-12-11 On “Historically Black,” our podcast about black history, narrator Roxane Gay introduces three new voices. “What are you?” “Are you adopted?” “What are you mixed with?” Many photos and stories submitted to “Historically Black,” The Washington Post Tumblr…

  • Even today, being biracial in America is not always easy

    Even today, being biracial in America is not always easy Observer-Reporter Washington County News Washington, Pennsylvania 2016-12-17 Karen Mansfield, Staff Writer Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter Dontae Monday, a student at Washington & Jefferson College, stands in front of Old Main recently. Koron Harris is used to strangers sneaking glances at her, and she knows why. “They’re…