Mixed Race Studies

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.