Mixed Race Studies

Steelers and Ward nominated for Positive Peace Awards

Pittsburgh Steelers News
2010-12-06

Celebrate Positive announced today that the Pittsburgh Steelers and wide receiver Hines Ward have been nominated for the inaugural  2010 United Nations NGO Positive Peace Awards in the Professional Sports Team and Professional Athlete categories. This award, viewed as a 21st century peace prize, honors and recognizes individuals, businesses, athletes, sports teams, entertainers and schools around the world for their positive contributions.

…The nomination of Hines Ward came from Pearl S. Buck International Inc. [for] his critical work in Korea which has changed the perception of the biracial population in the community. His involvement has attracted influential Koreans to join him in his efforts.

“Hines Ward changed the cultural landscape of Korea,” said Janet Mintzer, President/CEO of Pearl S. Buck Intl. “After Japanese invasions, Korea placed high value on being pure-blooded Koreans, creating prejudice of biracial people. As a successful biracial Korean-American, he returned to Korea, creating media attention which sparked a cultural shift.”…

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Aren’t they just black kids? Biracial children in the child welfare system

Child & Family Social Work
Volume 15, Issue 4 (November 2010)
pages 441-45
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2206.2010.00690.x

Rachel A. Fusco, Assistant Professor of Social Work
University of Pittsburgh

Mary E. Rauktis, Research Assistant Professor of Social Work
University of Pittsburgh

Julie S. McCrae, Research Scientist
Butler Institute for Families
University of Denver

Michael A. Cunningham, Research Specialist
University of Pittsburgh

Cynthia K. Bradley-King, Field Assistant Professor and Academic Coordinator, Child Welfare Education for Baccalaureates (CWEB)
University of Pittsburgh

In the USA, African-American children are overrepresented in the child welfare system. However, little is known about the child welfare system experiences of biracial children, who are predominately both White and African-American. To better understand this population, data from public child welfare in a US county were used to examine biracial children in the child welfare system. Results showed significant racial differences between children in the child welfare system. Despite the common belief that biracial children will have experiences similar to African-American children, the child welfare system seems to view them differently. Biracial children are more likely to be referred, rated as high risk and investigated compared with White or African-American children. Their mothers were younger, and were more often assessed as having physical, intellectual or emotional problems. These caregivers were also considered to have lower parenting skills and knowledge compared with White or African-American caregivers. Although the disproportionate representation of African-American children in the system has been well documented, this study provides evidence that biracial children are also overrepresented. Despite the fact that this is a rapidly growing population in the USA, there is little research available about biracial children and their families.

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White like who? The value of whiteness in British interracial families

Ethnicities
Volume 10, Number 3 (September 2010)
pages 292-312
DOI: 10.1177/1468796810372306

France Winddance Twine, Professor of Sociology
University of California, Santa Barbara

The value of whiteness is not fixed, rather it has contradictory and competing meanings among members of Black British interracial families. Drawing upon racial consciousness interviews and participant observation conducted as part of a longitudinal study of Black-White interracial families in England, this article presents the analysis of five black members of interracial families to show the fluid value of whiteness. An analysis of interviews with sixteen black family members uncovered four discourses or analytical frames employed by blacks as they evaluated the impact of their white family member upon the family.  These four frames reveal that white family members are perceived as both a source of status and stigma. Black family members perceived their white spouses, partners and sisters-in-laws as: 1) an asset – a source of economic, social and symbolic capital, 2) a source of injury, 3) a cultural liability and 4) a source of sexual adventure that threatened the respectability of the family.

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Biracial Identity Theory and Research Juxtaposed with Narrative Accounts of a Biracial Individual

Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal
Volume 27, Number 5 (October 2010)
pages 355-364
DOI: 10.1007/s10560-010-0209-6

Simon Nuttgens, Professor of Psychology
Athabasca University, Alberta, Canada

With the increase in mixed-racial parentage in North America comes increased scholarly activity intended to bring greater understanding to the biracial experience. Such efforts, while undoubtedly informative and helpful, fall short when set aside the actual narrative accounts of a biracial individual’s life experience. In this paper I first explore the typical, negative, portrayal of the biracial experience found within social scientific literature, and then compare this with the narrative accounts of a biracial individual. Through this exercise it is shown that factors such as the specific racial parentage and socio-cultural context can have a positive effect on what usually is viewed as a problematic psychosocial experience.

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Race and Social Problems: Interview with Dean Larry E. Davis

The Social Work Podcast
2008-03-24

Jonathan B. Singer, Assistant Professor of Social Work
Temple Univerisity

Interview with
Larry E. Davis, Dean and Donald M. Henderson Professor of Social Work and Director of the Center on Race and Social Problems
University of Pittsburgh
 
[Episode 36] Today’s podcast is on Race and Social Problems. On January 15, 2008, I spoke with Dr. Larry E. Davis, Dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh, the Donald M. Henderson Professor, and Director of the Center on Race and Social Problems. In our conversation, Dean Davis defined racism, the role of race in understanding social problems, and about how issues of race may or may not change as the percentage of whites in the United States continues to decrease discussed. We talked about some of the racial and gender issues in the current election and talked about how race is different from gender as a point of diversity. We also talked about race and social work, and what social workers can do to fight racism. We ended our conversation with a discussion of the Center on Race and Social Problems and what the Center is doing to fight racism.

1. Beginning of the interview and definition of Race and Social Problems: [01:58]
2. “The major definition of race has been color” [02:31]
3. Mulattos and Octaroons [3:30]
4. The New Ingredient in the Identity of Black Biracial Children [4:49]
5. “African Americans are a multi-racial people.” [5:13]
6. “America may have biracial children, but there are no biracial adults.” [5:37]
7. What makes race a social problem? [9:36]
8. How will issues of race change now that Hispanics are the majority minority group? [11:06]
9. There is less than a percentage point difference between the number of African American and Hispanics in the United States according to the 2000 Census [11:59]  (Note: In the 2000 US Census, 75.1% of Americans identified as White. 12.5% identified as Hispanic or Latino. 12.3% identified as Black or African American.)
10. Why should social workers be concerned about race? [15:00]
11. How can race be a more defining issue for America than gender? [18:19]
12. Will people vote with their racial or gender identities in the presidential election? [21:47]
13. Is it detrimental to the Democrats to have two traditionally oppressed groups represented in the front-runners? [24:10]
14. Dean Davis defines and discusses his concept “Psychological Majority” [26:43]
15. What can social workers do to fight racism? [31:25]
16. Should other schools of social work have a center on race and social problems? [36:29]
17. Center on Race and Social Problems lecture series [38:26]

Listen to the podcast here (Due to large file size, right-click and save to your computer).  Running Time: 00:45:17.

Singer, J. B. (Host). (2008, March 24). Race and social problems: Interview with Dean Larry E. Davis [Episode 36]. Social Work Podcast. Podcast retrieved April 17, 2010, from http://socialworkpodcast.com/2008/03/race-and-social-problems-interview-with.html

Faces of the Future: An Exploration of Biracial Identity Development and Racial Identification in Biracial Young Adults

Smith College School for Social Work
Northampton, Massachusetts
2009
119 Pages

Dana L. Benton

A project based upon an independent investigation, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work.

This research study examines how biracial young adults experience the process of racial identification and racial identity development. The purpose of this study was to contribute to the growing body of knowledge budding around this topic. This study utilized a mixed methods approach to explore the racial demographics and quality of relationships in bi racial young adults social networks across their life span; experiences with ascribed and self declared racial identifications, as well as, thoughts, feelings and attitudes about being biracial. The experiences of N=53 biracial young adults, 18 to 35 years of age, were collected through an anonymous, online survey created by the research. The results of this study suggest that (1) Racial self identification in biracial people can vary across person, time and place (2) Social Factors and Racial Group Membership can be important to biracial peoples racial identity development and racial self identification (3) Inquiry into a biracial persons racial identification can evoke a variety of emotions (4) Biracial people’s attitudes about being biracial can range from negative to positive. This study considers these findings and offers clinical practice as well as research implications for future best practices.

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
CHAPTER IV FINDINGS
CHAPTER V DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

APPENDICES
Appendix A: Human Subjects Committee Approval Letter
Appendix B: Informed Consent Form
Appendix C: Recruitment Tool
Appendix D: Referral List
Appendix E: Questionnaire
Appendix F: Figure 1: Age of Respondents
Figure 2: Gender of Respondents
Appendix G: Figure 3: Respondent U.S. Region Reared In
Figure 4: Respondents Country Reared In
Appendix H: Figure 5: Educational Level of Respondents
Figure 6: Income Level of Respondents
Appendix I: Figure 7: Change in Racial Self Identification
Appendix J: Table 1: Racial Composition of Social World
Appendix K: Figure 8: Race of Biological Parents
Figure 9: Quality of Parental Relationship
Appendix L: Figure 10: Quality of Relationships with Extended Family
Figure 11: Familial Acceptance & Participants’ Mixed Race Ancestry
Appendix M: Table 2: Respondents’ Racial Identifications (1)
Table 3: Respondents’ Racial Identifications (2)
Appendix N: Table 4: Respondents’ Racial Identifications (3)
Table 5: Respondents’ Monoracial Identifications
Appendix O: Table 6: Comparison of Racial Self Identifications
Appendix P: Figure 12: Emotional Responses & Racial Inquiries
Figure 13: Emotional Responses & Ascribed Racial Identifications
Appendix Q: Table 7: Grouping of Racial Self Identification Options

Read the entire project here.

“… But … But I am Brown.” The Ascribed Categories of Identity: Children and Young People of Mixed Parentage

Child Care in Practice
Volume 13, Issue 2 (April 2007)
pages 83 – 94
DOI: 10.1080/13575270701201169

Annabel Goodyer, Principal Lecturer in Social Work
London South Bank University

Toyin Okitikpi

This paper explores the concept of the categorisation of social groups by looking at the issue of ascribed categories of identity for children and young people of mixed parentage. Our exploration of the knowledge-base in this area reveals that children and young people have clearly expressed views about their racial identity and that these views are broadly consistent across research studies. In essence, children and young people’s expressed views are that they are not mixed-race, black or white, but are in fact brown. The emerging sociology of childhood and the government’s current child participation agenda emphasise the centrality of children and young peoples’ perspectives on the provision of services that seek to support them. Through this perception, which places children and young people’s own understandings of their racial identity at the forefront of the analysis, we added fresh understandings to the existing data concerning ascribed categories of identity for children and young people of mixed parentage.

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The racial canons of American sociology: Identity across the lifespan as biracial alternative

The American Sociologist
Volume 31, Number 1 (March, 2000)
pages 86-93
Print ISSN: 0003-1232; Online ISSN: 1936-4784
DOI: 10.1007/s12108-000-1006-z

Ronald E. Hall, Professor of Social Work
Michigan State University

The fabric of American sociology is woven from societal belief and tradition. Sociology is thus, to some extent, a manifestation of canons. While research has concluded no single model of racial identity based in fact, sociologists apply racial canons in conformation to cultural tradition and Western belief systems. Traditions and beliefs are reflected in sociological research, literature, and various theoretical constructs. In the aftermath, racial canons pertaining to the identity of biracial Americans assume the force and merit of fact.

In the search for knowledge and scientific evidence the weight of canons is not irrelevant to the direction of sociological conclusions. Assumed truths may be expressed directly or indirectly to explain certain social phenomena. This allows for particular bodies of knowledge to be implicitly defined by canons. Occasionally, more explicitly, canons define a social phenomenon. For example, the canons of race category define the theory of racial identity by specifying what kinds of attributes designate race. In this instance sociologists frequently make use of what is perceived as universal fact. Racial canons are presented as if there were general agreement about their validity, even though this validity cannot be demonstrated (Bennett, 1996)…

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In Their Siblings’ Voices: White Non-Adopted Siblings Talk About Their Experiences Being Raised with Black and Biracial Brothers and Sisters

Columbia University Press
May 2009
248 pages
5 tables
Cloth ISBN: 978-0-231-14850-4
Paper ISBN: 978-0-231-14851-1

Rita J. Simon, University Professor Emerita
Department of Justice, Law and Society
American University, Washington, D.C.

In Their Siblings’ Voices shares the stories of twenty white non-adopted siblings who grew up with black or biracial brothers and sisters in the late 1960s and 1970s. Belonging to the same families profiled in Rita J. Simon and Rhonda M. Roorda’s In Their Own Voices: Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories and In Their Parents’ Voices: Reflections on Raising Transracial Adoptees, these siblings offer their perspectives on the multiracial adoption experience, which, for them, played out against the backdrop of two tumultuous, politically charged decades. Simon and Roorda question whether professionals and adoption agencies adequately trained these children in the challenges presented by blended families, and they ask if, after more than thirty years, race still matters. Few books cover both the academic and the human dimensions of this issue. In Their Siblings’ Voices helps readers fully grasp the dynamic of living in a multiracial household and its effect on friends, school, and community.

Social Work Response to the Needs of Biracial Americans

Surjit Singh Dhooper, Assistant Professor of Social Work
University of Kentucky

Journal of Ethnic And Cultural Diversity in Social Work
Volume 12, Issue 4 (April 2004)
pages 19 – 47
DOI: 10.1300/J051v12n04_02

The number of interracial marriages is rising. The offspring of these marriages are a special group that is experiencing the complexities and frustrations of multiracial existence. Over six million Americans identified themselves as biracial in the 2000 census. These people are different from biracial Americans of the past. They do not want to disown any part of their ancestry and are resisting the societal practice of forcing them to identify with only the racial community of one parent. This paper examines the social realities and worldviews of these Americans and identifies their major needs. It discusses these and suggests a social work response at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels of practice.

Read or purchase the article here.