Mixed Race Studies

Halle Berry and Nahla: Not So Mixed, Not So Happy

The Huffington Post
2011-02-09

Marcia Dawkins, Visiting Scholar
Brown University

As we await the results of the 2010 Census it’s tempting to think that our growing comfort with categorizing people as multiracial has erased racism and the fear of interracial relations. But in a recent interview with Ebony Magazine, Halle Berry says that we’re neither as mixed nor as happy as we’d like to think.

In the interview Berry addressed her ugly custody battle with Gabriel Aubry over their 2-year-old daughter, Nahla. Allegations are circulating about the couple’s different racial philosophies, including the use of racial slurs, and their anxiety over Nahla’s racial categorization in the press. Berry told Ebony that “I feel like [Nahla is] black” because of the one drop rule. In other words, Berry sees herself and her daughter as black because they are of partial African American ancestry. Other sources say that Aubry sees Nahla as white and that he thinks Berry should demand a retraction whenever Nahla is identified otherwise…

…Note the word “naturally.” If we take a step back in time we will find that many, including the U.S. Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson, used the word “naturally” to justify and promote racial segregation and inequality. Now, many are using this same terminology to suggest that mixed race people are, by nature, non-racist and capable of promoting large-scaled racial healing. Some even suggest that multiracial families can promote the end of race and racism because of their biological backgrounds. The beauty of thinking this way is that it allows culture to masquerade as human nature without any justification.

This popular-but-flawed way of thinking equates racial progress with racial mixing and ignores the fact that interracial romantic relationships still experience higher rates of failure and different kinds of challenges than same-race relationships. That’s why we can have multiracial families selling car insurance, pasta, and video games on one hand and, on the other, have Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry’s rancorous custody battle…

Read the entire article here.

Where the interracials may take us

Los Angeles Times
2010-09-21

Eli Steele

Of all Americans, they represent the best opportunity to end identity politics and point America back to its tradition of individualism.

We may be in the midst of an interracial baby boom. A recent Pew Research Center study reported that interracial marriages rose from 6.7% in 1980 to a record 14.6% in 2008. If these marriages produce children at the national average, one out of seven Americans could claim two or more races. In Western states where interracial marriage is more common, the ratio rises to nearly one out of four.

The day will arrive when this interracial generation reaches political consciousness and finds itself at odds with America’s divisive identity politics. Of all Americans, they represent the best opportunity to end these politics and point America back to its tradition of individualism…

…Will such identity politics survive the interracial baby boom? Will new categories arise for the African German American or Chinese Latino American? Will a critical mass of interracials become an eclectic race in their own right? Or will they bypass the labels and embrace individualism?…

Read the entire article here.

Johanna Workman to be Featured Guest on Mixed Chicks Chat

Mixed Chicks Chat (The only live weekly show about being racially and culturally mixed. Also, founders of the Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival) Hosted by Fanshen Cox and Heidi W. Durrow
Website: TalkShoe™ (Keywords: Mixed Chicks)
Episode: #192-Johanna Workman
When: Wednesday, 2011-02-09, 22:00Z (17:00 EST, 16:00 CST, 14:00 PST)

Johanna Workman

Dr. Johanna Workman recently received her doctorate in clinical psychology from Alliant International University, San Diego. She has worked in the mental health field for 20 years in a variety of treatment settings and modalities, including: outpatient psychotherapy, school counseling, inpatient psychiatric hospitalization, and residential substance abuse treatment. Her dissertation study investigated biracial daughter’s perceptions of self-mother relationships and body image. With a Black Caribbean mother, and a White British father, Dr. Workman was born in England and spent her early childhood years there before immigrating to the United States with her family.

This is who I am: Defining mixed-race identity

The Seattle Times
2008-09-28

Lornet Turnbull, Seattle Times staff

The story of race in the U.S. is changing, and so is the way many of us identify ourselves. That’s especially true in the Seattle area, which has a higher concentration of mixed-race people than any other metro area in the country.

Rachel Clad’s parents are a black woman from Detroit and a white man from California who met in the Peace Corps in Africa.

Clad, 26, was born in New Zealand and spent her early years in far-flung parts of the world before her family settled into a middle-class lifestyle in Washington, D.C.

She’ll tell you she’s multiracial.

“People look at me and see African American,” she said. “In my mind, that’s not who I am. I’m both and I’d like to be seen as both.”.

Aaron Hazard’s mother was a French-Canadian white woman who met his African-American father at a dance in Boston in the 1930s, at a time when such unions were forbidden.

When he signed up for service during the Vietnam era, the Army listed him as white, although Hazard has never referred to himself as anything other than black.

“It’s what my father was and that’s what I am,” the 62-year-old South Seattle resident said. “Back then there were too many white people to remind me of it.”

Barack Obama’s rise to prominence has broadened the dialogue around race in a country that has always done a poor job talking about it. And this new attention is prompting some people of mixed race to more closely examine how they define themselves.

That’s especially so in Greater Seattle, which has a higher concentration of mixed-race people — nearly 4 percent of the area’s population — than any other large metropolitan area in the country.

“One of the biggest mistakes people make in this discussion is assuming there’s only one correct way to be biracial,” said author Elliott Lewis, who grew up in Eastern Washington and has written about the biracial experience…

…”There were historical rules … that if you were mixed and had a parent who wasn’t white, then you checked the census box of the parent who wasn’t white,” said Maria P. P. Root, a Seattle clinical psychologist who has written extensively on mixed race in America.

“There was this gate-keeping around whiteness. The public still hasn’t gotten around to the fact that you can be blended.”…

Read the entire article here.

Identifications and cultural practices of mixed-heritage youth

Paper presented in the eConference on “Mixedness and Mixing: New Perspectives on Mixed-Race Britons”
Commission for Racial Equality
2007-09-04 through 2007-09-06
4 pages

Martyn Barrett, Professor of Psychology
University of Surrey

David Garbin, Research Fellow
Centre for Research on Nationalism, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism
University of Surrey

John Eade, Professor of Sociology & Anthropology
Roehampton University

Marco Cinnirella, Senior Lecturer in Psychology
Royal Holloway University of London

This paper summarises findings from a research study which investigated how 11- to 17-year-old mixed-heritage adolescents living in London negotiate the demands of living with multiple cultures. The study also explored how these adolescents construe themselves in terms of race, ethnicity and nationality. It was found that these individuals had multiple identifications which were subjectively salient to them, and that they were very adept at managing their various identities in different situations. There was no evidence of a sense of marginality, or of being ‘caught between two cultures’, and there was no difference in the strength of British identification exhibited by these mixed-heritage adolescents and white English adolescents of the same age. However, the identities and cultural practices of the mixed-heritage adolescents were fluid and context-dependent, and they appreciated the advantages of being able to negotiate and interact with multiple ethnic worlds.

…Findings from the quantitative phase

The quantitative questionnaires revealed that, in the full mixed-heritage sample of 126 youth, British identification was weaker than both ethnic and religious identification; ethnic and religious identifications were of equal strength. It is noteworthy that there was no difference in the strength of British identification exhibited by the mixed-heritage and white English participants. When the black Caribbean-white mixed-heritage participants were analysed as separate group, it was found that they had the highest levels of identification with Britishness out of all the minority ethnic groups, and there were no significant differences in the strength of these participants’ ethnic, British and religious identifications. However, for the black African-white participants, ethnic identification was stronger than British identification, with religious identification being between the two. Analysed individually, neither of the two black-white mixed-heritage groups differed from white English children in their strength of British identification…

Read the entire paper here.

US, MSU see increase in multiracial students

The State News
East Lansing, Michigan
2011-02-02

Emily Wilkins

They call her “blackbean” – half black, half Mexican.

It’s a nickname embraced by Lynette Davidson, a political theory and constitutional democracy and communication sophomore and one of the 710 students at MSU who identifies with two or more races. Davidson’s mother is Mexican, her father is black.

Davidson is part of a growing number of college students who identify as biracial or multiracial.

MSU [Michigan State University] did not offer two or more races as a choice for students on university documents until fall 2010, so it is unknown how this number has changed during the past several years. However, the number of people in the U.S. who identify with two or more races is growing. Data from the U.S. Census shows between 2004-09, 838,000 babies were born with two or more races, an increase of more than 100,000 from the number born between 2000-04, which also increased from the five-year period prior.

Davidson said she does not fully feel like she belongs in black or Mexican student organizations.

“I never really identify with either of them,” Davidson said. “I grew up in a predominately white area.”

Students such as Davidson are not alone, but they do not represent the feeling of all multiracial students…

…Kristen Renn is an associate professor of higher, adult and lifelong education who has written a book about multiracial college students. Renn said not all racial groups are open to multiracial members, and a person’s acceptance and comfort level within a group is based on multiple things.

“Sometimes it has to do (with) a way a student looks,” Renn said. “(For example) it looks to the outside world that they are Asian, but they might have grown up in a household that didn’t celebrate a lot of Asian holidays or have a lot of Asian food. (They) come to campus and find themselves outside (Asian) student culture.”…

Read the entire article here.

Biracial identity development in minority/minority individuals: A relational model

Alliant International University, San Francisco Bay
May 2009
383 pages
Publication Number: AAT 3358398
ISBN: 9781109176018

Michelle Grady

There are a growing number of biracial individuals in America, and while some studies have examined their experiences, few have focused on the experiences of biracial minority, minority individuals, whose parents are from different racial minority groups. This study qualitatively explored, through the use of in-depth interviews, the biracial identity development experiences of 6 biracial minority, minority individuals, between the ages of 25 and 34. Interview questions were informed by the literature on biracial identity development, in particular a previous study by Kich (1982), and by Josselson’s (1992) relational theory of identity development. Transcripts were used to create a biography for each respondent; the biographies were analyzed to identify themes and factors influencing biracial identity development. A major theme which emerged included respondents’ tendencies, in childhood, to develop a stronger racial identification with the side of the family they felt more emotionally connected to. Over the course of the respondents’ lives, conflicts about identity emerged and receded, in response to environmental and relational experiences. Relationships with peers and extended family members evoked an awareness of being racially different in respondents. Peer acceptance or rejection strongly influenced respondents’ biracial identity development both positively and negatively during their childhood and adolescence. A relational model of biracial identity development was proposed which was based on themes that emerged, as respondents described their identity development. Stages of biracial identity development were characterized by a search for a sense of belonging, acceptance, and validation, as well as, over time, an increased need for self-definition and consolidation of personal identity. Respondents experienced racism, rejection, and subjective experiences of being different. Acceptance from peers and extended family, communication with family members about their biracial experience, and being taught about both cultures, were longed for experiences that seemed to contribute to a positive experience of identity, when they occurred. Recommendations for future research include further exploration of the usefulness of Josselson’s relational identity development theory for understanding biracial identity development.

Purchase the dissertation here.

Not White Enough, Not Black Enough: Racial Identity in the South African Coloured Community [Review]

H-Net Reviews
May 2007

Sean H. Jacobs
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Mohamed Adhikari. Not White Enough, Not Black Enough: Racial Identity in the South African Coloured Community. Africa Series. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2005. xvii + 252 pp. Paper ISBN 978-0-89680-244-5.

Coloured Categories

What are “Coloureds“? For most South Africans and others familiar with South Africa the answer will be “people of mixed race.” This invocation of “mixing” inevitably links to a racial binary that relies on two opposing and ossified (primordial) identities of black and white. Linked to this view is of course the persistence of the stereotype of “tragic mulattoes“—long a trope in South African writing—in which the “products of miscegenation” can never be “true” South Africans. These were the views of apartheid’s planners and retain their resonance for most South Africans today, including many whom self-identify as Coloured.

Mohamed Adhikari’s work attempts a corrective to this kind of de-contextualized portrayal and assessment of Coloured politics and identity. In Not White Enough, Not Black Enough—a slim volume of 187 pages—Adhikari attempts to place Colouredness as a product, not of any biological process such as “mixture,” but rather as one of the politics of the last century or so. For him, Coloured identity is, in fact, both a product of apartheid category-making and of vigorous identity-building on the part of Coloured political actors themselves. That is, Adhikari also targets attempts to “do away” with Coloured identity, as by proclaiming it a species of false consciousness. The book’s main focus is on attempts by Coloureds themselves to construct identity and history. While much of the material he covers is useful and interesting, it is not clear that Adhikari has quite managed to get out from under the weight of inherited categories and analytic frames in quite the way he sets out to do.

Coloureds make up 4.1 million of South Africa’s 46.9 million people. Mostly working class and concentrated in (but not restricted to) the Western Cape Province (where they comprise 53.9 percent of the total population) and the more rural Northern Cape, they, along with Africans—despite some changes at the apex of the class pyramid—account for most of South Africa’s urban and rural poor…

Read the entire review here.

Multiracial People of Black-White Backgrounds needed for Dissertation on the Effects of Racial Microaggressions

Hello! My name is Claire Anne (“Daanee”) Touchstone, and I am a doctoral student at Loyola Marymount University, writing a dissertation on the effects of racial microaggressions on multiracial black-white university students between the ages of 18-25. While I am most interested in people of black-white mixed backgrounds, I will gladly accept any applicant who is of mixed black background.

Racial microaggressions are defined by Derald Wing Sue and colleagues (2007) as: “brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to people of color because they belong to a racial minority group.” Some examples include (Sue et al, 2007):

• Alien in Own Land: When assumed to be foreign-born based on race: “Where are you from?” “Where were you born?” “You speak good English.”
• Ascription of Intelligence: “You are a credit to your race.” “You are so articulate.”
• Color Blindness: Statements that indicate that a person does not want to acknowledge race: “When I look at you, I don’t see color.” “There is only one race, the human race.”
• Assumption of Criminal Status: A person of color is presumed to be dangerous, criminal, or deviant on the basis of their race: For example, a man or woman clutching their purse or checking their wallet as a person of color approaches or passes. Also, a store owner following a customer of color around the store.
• Denial of Individual Racism: A statement made when people deny their racial biases: “I’m not racist. I have several Black friends.” “As a woman, I know what you go through as a racial minority.”

Can you think of a microaggression that has happened to you in your life, particularly as a result of being of mixed racial backgrounds?

For this study, I am particularly interested in multiracial microaggressions, defined by Johnston and Nadal (2010) as “daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, enacted by monoracial person that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative slights toward multiracial individuals or groups.” Some examples include:

• “What are you?
• “You have to choose, you can’t be both.”
• “One day, everybody will be mixed.”
• “Were you adopted? Is that your mother, father?”
• Being accused of “acting white”
• Forms that allow only one racial choice
• Tokenism: being the racial spokesperson for your minority race: “Why do all black people ______ (fill in the blank)?”
• Subjected to minority stereotypes and microaggressions

Study Procedures:

This three-part study consists of reading a vignette of a microaggressive experience and discussing in a focus group interview (of 6-8 people), three individualized interviews (each to take place 3-7 days apart), and writing a short narrative/reflection (1-2 pages) of a personal microaggressive experience based on being of mixed backgrounds.

Participation is voluntary and anonymous, and participants may withdraw at any time from the study without penalty. All participants will be given an Informed Consent Form and Subject’s Bill of Rights. All participants will be compensated with a gift card to either Starbuck’s or Target; the amount of the gift card will vary depending on partial or complete participation (up to $25.00 USD), but all participants will receive some compensation for their time.

If you are a person of African-American mixed heritage (particularly with one African-American parent and one Caucasian parent) and are interested in participating in this study, please contact me at daancer@hotmail.com. Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you!

Ms. Claire Anne (“Daanee”) Touchstone, Ed.D. Candidate
Loyola Marymount University

California’s Multiracial Population

Public Policy Institute of California
California Counts: Population Trends and Profiles
Volume 6, Number 1 (August 2004)
20 pages

Laura E. Hill, Associate Director and Research Fellow
Public Policy Institute of California

Hans P. Johnson, Editor; Director of Research and Thomas C. Sutton Chair in Policy Research
Public Policy Institute of California

Sonya M. Tafoya, Research Associate
Pew Hispanic Center

Summary

Before Census 2000, Americans were asked to choose just one race when identifying themselves and their children. With the advent of the option to choose one or more races in Census 2000, there was a great deal of uncertainty about just how many Americans consider themselves to be multiracial. As with other issues related to racial and ethnic diversity, California is leading the nation—5 percent of the state’s population is identified as being of more than one race, about twice the rate as in the rest of the nation. In this issue of California Counts, we explore this newly identified population. We find that California’s multiracial population is hard to characterize with any basic summary statistics. Overall, people who identify themselves as multiracial are younger, less educated, slightly more likely to be foreign-born, and more likely to be living in poverty than single-race Californians. However, multiracial Californians are of many racial combinations, with very different characteristics according to the particular combination. For example, the median age of individuals identified as both black and white is only 12 years, compared to 36 years for American Indian and white Californians. The poverty rates for individuals identified as Asian and white is less than half that of Hispanics who identify as both white and some other race. For the most part, biracial Asian and whites, American Indian and whites, and black and whites have socioeconomic characteristics intermediate to those of their monoracial counterparts. However, both black and whites and Asian and whites are significantly younger than their monoracial counterparts, suggesting that the characteristics of the multiracial population could change as more and more children are born to parents of different races and potentially retain multiracial identity as they grow into adulthood and have their own children. In the near term, the presence of this new multiracial option presents some challenges for the collection and analysis of demographic data at the state and national levels. We already see evidence that demographic rates calculated using different data sources can lead to implausible results for multiracial populations. Ultimately, the size and significance of the multiracial population of California will depend at least partly on future preferences with respect to identity. The ability to choose more than one race on state forms and future censuses along with increasing rates of intermarriage could lead more Californians to choose a multiracial identity. As the multiracial population grows, it has the power to challenge and even transform our understanding of race in California.

…What is especially notable about California’s multiracial population is how few of the state’s 58 counties have less than 3 percent of their population that is multiracial (recall that the national average was 2.4%). Indeed, only Mono county has a lower proportion of its residents that are multiracial than the national average (2.2%). The six most multiracial cities in the state each have multiracial population shares of 7 percent or higher (Table 4).

More than 10 percent of Southern California’s Glendale population is multiracial, as is over 7 percent of the population in a number of cities in the wider San Francisco Bay Area (Hayward, Fairfield, Pittsburg, South San Francisco, and Antioch). In Glendale, most multiracial residents are SOR  (some other race)+white, with ancestry data indicating many of Armenian descent. Newport Beach, in Southern California, has the lowest percentage of multiracial residents (1.7%).

Because Hispanic SOR+whites are the most common multiracial group statewide, they also tend to dominate the multiracial population in any given locale. When we examine California’s ten largest cities (Table 5), we find that Hispanic SOR+whites are the most common multiracial group in nine of them.

San Francisco, California’s tenth largest city, is the one exception, where Asian+whites are the most common multiracial group. Los Angeles, the largest city in the state, has the greatest number of multiracial individuals of any city statewide, and this is true for each of the five most common biracial groups…

Read the entire report here.