Mixed Race Studies

Multiracial Identity and Affirmative Action

Asian Pacific American Law Journal
University of California, Los Angeles
Volume 12, Fall 2006 – Spring 2007
32 pages

Nancy Leong, Assistant Professor of Law
Sturm College of Law, Denver University

The classification of multiracial individuals has long posed a challenge in a number of legal contexts, and the affirmative action debate highlights the difficulty of such classification. Should multiracial individuals be categorized according to how they view themselves, how society tends to view them, by some ostensibly objective formula based on their parents’ ancestry, or in some other fashion?

My article draws on sociological research to demonstrate that there are no easy answers to this question. The way multiracial individuals view themselves varies among individuals and, moreover, may vary at different times for the same individual. Society often lacks consensus on an individual’s racial status, and examining a person’s ancestry simply removes the question of categorization to prior generations. Although my article does not attempt to propose a better way to take race into account in the affirmative action context, I strive to raise the issues that must be confronted in developing a coherent system that furthers the goal of affirmative action.

Read the entire article here.

Multi-Hued America: The Case for the Civil Rights Movement’s Embrace of Multiethnic Identity

The Modern American
American University
Volume 4, Issue 1 (Spring 2008)
8 pages

Kamaria A. Kruckenberg
Harvard Law School

My little girl in her multi-hued skin
When asked what she is, replies with a grin
I am a sweet cuddlebums,
A honey and a snugglebums:
Far truer labels than those which are in.

The above poem resonates deeply with me, and it should: my mother wrote it about me. She recited its lines to me during my childhood more times than I can count. It was a reminder that I, daughter of a woman whom the world saw as white and a man whom the world called black, could not be summed up into any neat ethnic category. The poem told me that, though my skin reflected the tones of a variety of cultures, I was more than the sum of my multiple ethnic identities. Over my lifetime, I have recalled this message each time someone asked, “What are you?” and every time I checked “other” in response to the familiar form demand that I mark one box to describe my race.

The classification of multiethnic individuals like myself recently has been the focus of many heated debates. The Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) sets the racial categories used on numerous forms, including the census. In 1997, the OMB revised Statistical Policy Directive 15, its rule for racial data classification, requiring all federal agencies to allow individuals to mark multiple races on all federal forms.  Because the implications of the classification of multiethnic individuals in federal racial data collection are potentially far reaching, this change has been surrounded by controversy. The census tracks the numbers and races of Americans for legislative and administrative purposes.  This information is particularly important for this country’s enforcement of civil rights laws.

Numerous authors argue that the recognition of multiethnic identity will hamper traditional civil rights efforts. They claim that policies that maintain civil rights must win out over the individual caprice of those who advocate for multiethnic recognition.  On the other hand, many argue that the recognition of the personal meaning of multiethnic identity is important and does not hamper the traditional goals of civil rights groups.

In this article I explore the context of this debate by examining both the history of race and the census. I then examine both sides of the multiethnic characterization argument. Finally, I end the article with a proffered solution to the controversy…

Read the entire article here.

Mike Peden, a graduate of the University of Minnesota with a degree in journalism and minor in communication studies and an employee of the St. Paul Neighborhood Network is currently working on a second documentary about multiracial identity that will air on the station and online.  This is the second part in a series of shows about mixed race.  The original documentary was featured in the 2009 Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival in Los Angeles.

You can watch the original documentary, What Are You? A Dialogue on Mixed Race, by following the link here.

Mike is looking for men and women in the Twin Cities [Minneapolis/St. Paul] area of any age who are of multiracial heritage.  If you or someone you know has researched or participated in scholarly studies on multiracial identity, feel free to share those stories.  He believes the best way to educate others on the facets of multiracial identity is having his subjects guide the storytelling, so the show will be presented from a journalistic perspective with minimal input from him during the program.  His goal is to share professional and anecdotal stories with scientific research to provide a well-rounded forum.

If you would like to share your story, Mike can be reached by phone at 651-468-5451, or by e-mail at sportsbrain2005@aol.com.

Desire for Race

Cambridge University Press
November 2008
256 pages
Hardback ISBN-13: 9780521862103
Paperback ISBN-13: 9780521680479
Adobe eBook Reader ISBN-13: 9780511434174

Sarah Daynes, Professor of Sociology
New School for Social Research, New York

Orville Lee, Assistant Professor of Sociology
New School for Social Research, New York

What do people mean when they talk about race? Are they acknowledging a biological fact, a social reality, or a cultural identity? Is race real, or is it merely an illusion? This book brings analytical clarity to one of the most vexed topics in the social sciences today, arguing that race is no more than a social construction, unsupported in biological terms and upheld for the simple reason that we continue to believe in its reality. Deploying concepts from the sociology of knowledge, religion, social memory, and psychoanalysis, the authors consider the conditions that contribute to this persistence of belief and suggest ways in which the idea of race can free itself from outdated nineteenth-century notions of biological essentialism. By conceiving of race as something that is simultaneously real and unreal, this study generates a new conceptualization that will be required reading for scholars in this field.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. American sociology
2. Marxism
3. British social anthropology
4. British cultural studies
5. Intermediate reflections on essentialism
6. Belief and social action
7. Theorizing the racial ensemble
8. The politics of memory and race
9. Desire
Conclusion

Life on the Color Line: Exploring the Struggle to Conceptualize and Measure Racial Identity in the Mixed-Raced Population

Race & Ethnic Studies Institute
Texas A&M University
2010-01-29
14:30-16:00 CST (Local Time) 
ACAD 326

Kerry Ann Rockquemore, Associate Professor of Sociology
University of Illinois at Chicago

Empirical research on the growing multiracial population in the U.S. has focused largely on documenting new forms of racial identification, analyzing psychological adjustment, and understanding the broader political consequences of mixed-race identification. Efforts toward conceptualizing multiracial identity, however, have been largely disconnected from empirical data, mired in disciplinary debates, and bound by historically specific assumptions about race and racial group membership. This talk will provide a critical overview of multiracial identity theories, examine the links between theory and research, explores the challenges in conceptualizing multiracial identity, and propose considerations for future directions in measuring the racial identity of the mixed-race population. Kerry Ann Rockquemore’s scholarship focuses on racial identity development among multiracial individuals, interracial family dynamics, and the politics of racial categorization. She is the author of Beyond Black: Biracial Identity in America (2001, 2007), Raising Biracial Children (2005), and over two-dozen articles and book chapters on multiracial youth. Her research has been featured in numerous media outlets such as the New York Times and ABC’s 20/20. In addition to her research, Dr. Rockquemore provides mentoring workshops for faculty of color at colleges across the U.S. She facilitates the popular online discussion forums at www.BlackAcademic.com, and is co-author of The Black Academic’s Guide to Winning Tenure Without Losing Your Soul (2008).

Counseling Multiple Heritage Individuals, Couples and Families

American Counseling Association
2009
235 pages
Order Number: 72883
ISBN: 978-1-55620-279-7

Written and edited by:

Richard C. Henriksen Jr., Associate Professor of Education
Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling
Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas

Derrick A. Paladino, Assistant Professor of Counseling
Department of Graduate Studies
Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida

This book examines the strengths of and the challenges facing multiple heritage individuals, couples, and families and offers a framework for best practice counseling services and interventions specifically designed to meet their needs. Topics covered include historical and current racial classification systems and their effects; identity development; transracial adoptions; and counseling strategies for children, adolescents, college students, adults, couples and families, and GLBT individuals. Poignant case studies illustrate important concepts and techniques throughout the book, and chapter review questions provide a starting point for lively classroom discussion.

Table of Contents

• Foreword. Patricia Arredondo
• Prologue. Richard C. Henriksen Jr. and Derrick A. Paladino
• Preface xiii
• About the Authors
• About the Contributors
• Chapter 1: History of Racial Classification. Richard C. Henriksen Jr. and Derrick A. Paladino
• Chapter 2: History of Antimiscegenation. Richard C. Henriksen Jr. and Derrick A. Paladino
• Chapter 3: Identity Development in a Multiple Heritage World. Richard C. Henriksen Jr. and Derrick A. Paladino
• Chapter 4: Counseling Multiple Heritage Children. Henry L. Harris
• Chapter 5: Counseling Multiple Heritage Adolescents. Michael Maxwell and Richard C. Henriksen Jr.
• Chapter 6: Counseling Multiple Heritage College Students. Derrick A. Paladino
• Chapter 7: Counseling Multiple Heritage Adults. Derrick A. Paladino and Richard C. Henriksen Jr.
• Chapter 8: Counseling Multiple Heritage Couples and Families. Kelley R. Kenney and Mark E. Kenney
• Chapter 9: Navigating Heritage, Culture, Identity, and Adoption: Counseling Transracially Adopted Individuals and Their Family. Amanda L. Baden, Laura A. Thomas, and Cheri Smith
• Chapter 10: Intersecting Socially Constructed Identities With Multiple Heritage Identity. Andrew C. Benesh and Richard C. Henriksen Jr.
• Chapter 11: Bridging the Margins: Exploring Sexual Orientation and Multiple Heritage Identities. Tiffany Rice and Nadine Nakamura
• Chapter 12: Multiple Heritage Case Studies, Analysis, and Discussion
  • What’s in a Name? An International Adoption Case Study. L. DiAnne Borders and Christine E. Murray
  • The Case of Michael: Searching for Self-Identity. Nancy J. Nishimura
  • Family Case Study: Identity Lost. Jose A. Villalba and Derrick A. Paladino
  • Working With a Multiple Heritage Couple: A Couple’s Case Study. Mary G. Mayorga
  • The Balancing Act of Multiple Heritage Family Counseling. Leigh H. de Armas and Amanda K. Bailey
  • Working With a Multiple Heritage Client With Indigenous Roots. Janet Windwalker Jones
• Appendix
• Resources
• Index

Read the front matter of the book here.

Mixed-Race Issues in the American and French Melodrama: An Analysis of the Imitation of Life Films (Stahl, USA, 1934; Sirk, USA, 1959) and Métisse (Kassovitz, France, 1993) In: Martin McLoone & Kevin Rockett, eds. Irish Films, Global Cinema, Studies in Irish Film 4.

Four Courts Press
2007
176 pages
Hardback ISBN: 978-1-84682-081-6

Zélie Asava
University College Dublin

The chapter analyses the positionalities of the mixed-race female protagonists of each film and the visualisation of their mixed-race identity.  It considers aspects of their struggle for self-definition against the director’s visual clues about their ‘true’ racial space.  It also explores the possibility in these films for a representation of mixed identity that surpasses the stereotypes of the ‘tragic mulatto’ torn between black and white worlds (as represented by mothers in the American films and lovers/parents in the French film).  Finally the article – as with my thesis – considers the limitations of American cinema in transcending binaried representations of race and the alternatives which French cinema offers, in order to consider the possibility for a mixed-race representative model which would visualise the multiplicity and ‘Third Space’, as Homi K. Bhabha put it, of mixed-race identity.

Blurring Racial and Ethnic Boundaries in Asian American Families: Asian American Family Patterns, 1980-2005

Journal of Family Issues
Volume 31, Number 3 (March 2010)
pages 280-300
DOI: 10.1177/0192513X09350870

Danielle Antoinette Hidalgo
University of California, Santa Barbara

Carl L. Bankston, Professor of Sociology
Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana

In this work, the authors use statistics from the U.S. Census to examine trends in intermarriage, racial and ethnic combinations, and categorizations among Asian Americans. Specifically, the authors want to consider the extent to which family patterns may contribute to Asian Americans and their descendants’ continuing as distinct, becoming members of some new category or categories, or simply becoming White. Based on the data analysis and discussion, it seems most likely that Whiteness will increasingly depend on the situation: Where there are Asians,Whites, and Blacks, Asians will tend to become White. Where there are only Whites, Asians, including even those of multiracial background, may well continue to be distinguished. Yet people in mixed families will be continually crossing all racial and ethnic lines in the United States, and their numbers will steadily increase.

Read or purchase the article here.

Review: “Black Gal Swing”: Color, Class, and Category in Globalized Culture [Review of works by Jayne O. Ifekwunigwe, Arthur K. Spears, and Rainier Spencer]

American Anthropologist
Volume 103, Issue 1 (March 2001)
pages 208-211
DOI: 10.1525/aa.2001.103.1.208

Fred J. Hay, Professor and Librarian of the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection Library
Appalachian State University

• Scattered Belongings: Cultural Paradoxes of “Race,” Nation and Gender. Jayne O. Ifekwunigwe. New York: Routledge, 1999. 221 pp.
• Race and Ideology: Language, Symbolism, and Popular Culture. Arthur K. Spears, ed. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 1999. 242 pp.
• Spurious Issues: Race and Multiracial Identity Politics in the United States. Rainier Spencer. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999. 222 pp.

(Son Bonds) Now a yellow gal will kiss you. she will kiss you awful sweet—brownskin gal kiss the same.
(John Estes) What do a black gal do?
(Son Bonds:) But a black gal spit ‘bacco juice, spew snuff all on your lips—oh, loving you just the same.

“Black Gal Swing” Delta Boys, 1941

This lyric speaks to the multiple concerns and issues addressed in these three books. In a few short lines, it depicts and satirizes social distinctions based on phenotype. it mocks the dominant economic class’s insistence on the value of whiteness, it rejects these constructs and in addition flaunts (sociologists Odum and Johnson referred to the blues as “the superlative of the repulsive [Odum and Johnson 1925:166]) its defiance of while American capitalist cultural hegemony. It is a multivocalic, nuanced, and subversive manifesto of cultural affirmation by and for those most reviled, oppressed, and economically deprived. Also, it is brutally honest and humorous. Unfortunately, it is rare for scholarly writing to achieve this level of sophistication or this degree of conciseness.

Ifekwunigwe’s Scattered Belongings (“mixed race” people in England) and Spencer’s Spurious Issues (“mixed race” people in the United States) are revised dissertations (Berkeley and Emory, respectively). Spears’s edited volume Race and Ideology is a collection of essays, by nine scholars, each examining an aspect of how racism is “interconnected and maintained” through “language, symbolism and popular culture” (back chut blurb). Ifekwunigwe, Spencer, and Spears agree on one thing: “race” is not a scientifically valid concept and should be discarded. But on how to achieve the goal of a deracialized social order, and on what intermediate steps should be taken to facilitate progress to that goal, there is little agreement among the three.

Spencer, of white German maternity and black American paternity, grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood in Queens. Ifekwunigwe, of British and Caribbean maternity and Nigerian paternity, was born in Nigeria moved to England when quite young, and then, at the age of ten, moved to “upper middle-class Jewish West Los Angeles” (p. 35). Both authors include family pictures emphasizing the wide range of color and other “racial” traits manifested in their families.

A self-proclaimed “antiracialist” and “antiracial advocate.” Spencer attacks multiracialism on the grounds that biological race does not exist and “social” race—based as it is on outdated concepts of scientific racism and popular readings of phenotype—is also spurious. Spencer argues that without race there would be no racism and that multiracialism is based on the false race concept supporting the hegemonic system of white supremacy. Furthermore, as Spencer notes, if race really existed, most, if not all, Americans would be multiracial.

Spencer’s is a straightforward presentation in which he reconstructs the history of federal racial classification and examines its purpose. He analyzes the ideology and goals of the multiracial movement in the United States, especially of the groups Project Race and the Association of Multiethnic Americans. (Spencer has been a prominent figure in multiracial circles through his column “Spurious Issues” regularly featured in InterRace magazine.) The bottom line is that Spencer is opposed to classifying people by race and adamantly against adding a new category of mixed or multi-race to the federal census. With regret, he acknowledges that for purposes of monitoring the enforcement of civil rights legislation—we must continue to use. for the present, the federal government’s existing racial categories.

Spencer’s argument against muluracialism is sound and well-articulated but, perhaps because of his commitment to antiracialist ideology, Spencer downplays issues of class: he does not acknowledge that the majority of the people in the multirace movement are middle class and committed to upward social mobility. He also downplays Project Race’s denial of and desire to escape from, blackness; ignores recent revitalization movements among what were once disdainfully referred to as “little races” and “tri-racial isolates” (especially the new Melungeon pride crusade); and fails to address issues related to individuals who share a “racial” culture different from their “race” (e.g., R&B legend Johnny Otis, culturally black son of Greek immigrants)…

Read or purchase the article here.

Africanastudies: YouTube Channel

First Documentary Posted: 2008-03-27

Marco Polo Hernández Cuevas, Asssociate Professor of Spanish
North Carolina Central University

Reconstructs the involuntary planetary dispersion of African populations, with their millenary cultural capitals, between the 15th and 19th centuries; and analyses the africanization of the places of arrival through their ethnic contributions.

Reconstruye la dispersión planetaria involuntaria de poblaciones africanas, con sus capitales culturales milenarios, entre los siglos XV y XIX; y analiza la africanización, mediante sus aportaciones étnicas, de los lugares de llegada.

View all of the documentaries here.
Also visit the blog here.