Mixed Race Studies

The Marital Patterns of Multiracial People in the United States: A Comparison of Asian/Whites and Black/Whites

American Sociological Association Annual Meeting
Hilton San Francisco
San Francisco, California
2009-08-08
20 pages

Michael Miyawaki
Fordham University

In this paper, I examine and compare the marital patterns of two multiracial groups—Asian/whites and black/whites—in the United States. Examining the marital behavior of multiracial people is of particular importance to understanding their state of assimilation. Furthermore, the race of their spouse has important consequences for the racial classification of their offspring. Because the racial identity and experience of multiracial people differ by racial background (i.e., Asian/white, black/white, etc.), there may be differences in the marital patterns of multiracial subgroups in a marriage market segmented by race. In this study, I limit my analysis to non-Latino Asian/white adults (18 and older) married to non-Latino whites, Asians, and Asian/whites, and non-Latino black/white adults married to non-Latino whites, blacks, and black/whites. To compare the odds of Asian/whites and black/whites marrying whites, their nonwhite counterparts, and their multiracial counterparts, I use multinomial logistic regression. While both Asian/whites and black/whites are most likely to marry whites, results show significant differences between the two groups in terms of their odds of marrying whites, nonwhites, and multiracials. Whereas Asian/whites are more likely than black/whites to marry whites (vs. nonwhites) and multiracials (vs. nonwhites), black/whites are more likely than Asian/whites to marry nonwhites. Thus, results demonstrate that not only is the marriage market segmented by race among monoracials, it is also racially segmented among multiracials.

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Politics and policies: attitudes toward multiracial Americans

Ethnic and Racial Studies
First Published on: 2010-04-15
Volume 33, Issue 9 (October 2010)
pages 1511-1536
DOI: 10.1080/01419871003671929

Mary E. Campbell, Associate Professor of Sociology
University of Iowa

Melissa R. Herman, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Dartmouth College

The growing prominence of the multiracial population in the United States is prompting new questions about attitudes toward multiracial people and popular opinion of policies designed to protect them from discrimination. Currently, American anti-discrimination policies are directed at groups who identify with a single race, but the rising profile of multiracial groups introduces new complexity into questions about racial policy. In this study, we find generally positive affect toward multiracial people, although monoracial minorities are more positive toward multiracial people than whites are. About half of the monoracial minorities and the majority of whites oppose including multiracial people in anti-discrimination policies. Attitudes are associated with traditional predictors such as education and political beliefs, and also with the racial heterogeneity of the local context and intimate contact with other racial groups. Although multiracial people report experiencing discrimination at levels similar to those of monoracial minorities, our results suggest there may be significant resistance to anti-discrimination policies that include multiracial groups. 

Read the entire article here.