Lecture
2009-11-17 21:00Z
Mencoff Hall, 68 Waterman St.
Jennifer L. Hochschild, Henry LaBarre Jayne Professor of Government and Professor of African and African-American Studies
Harvard University
For the first time in American history, the United States’ 2000 census allowed individuals to choose more than one race. That new policy sets up our exploration of whether and how multiracialism is entering Americans’ understanding and practice of race. Using a policy feedback framework, we find that multiracialism is becoming institutionalized, that the small proportion of Americans who define themselves as multiracial is growing, and that the evidence suggests a continued rise.
Increasing multiracial identification is also made more likely by racial mixture’s growing prominence in American society. However, the politics side of the feedback loop is complicated by the fact that identification is not identity; traditional racial or ethnic loyalties and understandings remain strong, including among potential multiracial identifiers. We expect mixed race identity to be contextual, fluid, and additive, so that it can be layered onto rather than substituted for traditional monoracial commitments. If this development continues to take hold, it has the potential to change much of the politics and policy of American race relations.