Mixed Race Studies

Scholarly perspectives on the mixed race experience.

One of the more tragic aspects of the racial worldview has been the seeming dilemma of people whose parents are identifiably of different “races.” Historically, “race” was grounded in the myth of biologically separate, exclusive, and distinct populations. No social ingredient in our race ideology allowed for an identity of “mixed-races.” Indeed over the past century and a half, the American public was conditioned to the belief that “mixed-race” people (especially of black and white ancestry) were abnormal products of the unnatural mating of two species, besides being socially unacceptable in the normal scheme of things. The tragedy for “mixed” people is that powerful social lie, the assumption at the heart of “race,” that a presumed biological essence is the basis of one’s true identity. Identity is biology, racial ideology tells us, and it is permanent and immutable. The emphasis on and significance given to “race” precludes any possibility for establishing our premier identities on the basis of other characteristics. In this sense it may be argued that the myth of ”race” has been a barrier to true human identities.

Audrey Smedley, “‘Race’ and the Construction of Human Identity,” American Anthropologist, Volume 100, Issue 3 (September 1998): 690-702. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/aa.1998.100.3.690.

Late Night Woman’s Hour (2016-05-27)

Posted in Audio, Economics, Media Archive, Social Science, United Kingdom, Women on 2016-05-28 18:50Z by Steven

Late Night Woman’s Hour (2016-05-27)

Woman’s Hour
BBC Radio 4
2016-05-27

Lauren Laverne, Presenter

Lauren Laverne and guests discuss the origins and pitfalls of stereotypes of women.

With Joanne Harris, best-selling author of Chocolat who has written about myth and fairy tales.
Lisa Mckenzie, a sociologist at the London School of Economics, who has explored portrayals of working class women
Emma Dabiri, teaching fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, who has studied what people mean by the term ‘mixed-race’ in Britain today.
Jane Cunningham, founder of advertising and marketing consultancy Pretty Little Head.

Listen to the episode here. Download the episode here.

Tags: BBC Radio 4, Emma Dabiri, Jane Cunningham, Joanne Harris, Late Night Woman's Hour, Lauren Laverne, Lisa McKenzie, Woman's Hour

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White is Right, But Light-Skin is the Next Best Thing

Posted in Articles, Communications/Media Studies, Media Archive, United States on 2016-05-28 03:17Z by Steven

White is Right, But Light-Skin is the Next Best Thing

Media Diversified
2016-05-23

Shane Thomas

The arrival of summer means a number of things: Intermittent sunshine, music festivals where at least one white person gets their cultural appropriation on; and superhero movies. Lots of superhero movies. Box-office takings are the engine of established Western cinema, and few things fuel that engine more than a superhero tale.

Last week saw the release of the latest adventure in the rebooted X-Men series; X-Men: Apocalypse, which introduced Ororo Munroe to the franchise, better known to comicbook fans as Storm – one of the few black women characters in the mainstream superhero oeuvre.

A black woman at the hub of a major Hollywood movie should be cause for us to break out our best Sophina DeJesus impersonation, but one’s joy has to be rationed, as Alexandra Shipp was cast as (the discernibly dark-skinned) Storm. Shipp is black, but dark-skinned she is not…

Read the entire article here.

Tags: Alexandra Shipp, colorism, Media Diversified, Ororo Munroe, Shane Thomas, Storm, X-Men

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Mixed Race Studies

Late Night Woman’s Hour (2016-05-27)

White is Right, But Light-Skin is the Next Best Thing

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