Mixed Race Studies

Crossing the racial line: The fluidity vs. fixedness of racial identity

Self and Identity
Published online: 2019-09-04
DOI: 10.1080/15298868.2019.1662839

Payton A. Small, Graduate Student
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
University of California, Santa Barbara

Brenda Major, Distinguished Professor
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
University of California, Santa Barbara

Five studies investigated perceptions of individuals whose identity claims violate societal ascriptions of group membership. Studies 1–3 showed that perceivers dislike targets whose claimed race/ethnicity does not match either of their parent’s racial/ethnic ancestry, delegitimize their identity claims, and deny their claimed identity relative to targets whose claimed race/ethnicity matches at least one of their parents’ race/ethnicity backgrounds. Study 4 showed that mismatched religious identities are not similarly devalued, suggesting that perceived misrepresentation of racial/ethnic identity holds special significance as a violation of social norms. Study 5 found that racial essentialism was associated with increased disparagement of targets with two White parents who claim a Black identity, but not of targets with two Black parents who claim a White identity.

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I am Multiracial: Predictors of Multiracial identification strength among mixed ancestry individuals

Self and Identity
Published online: 2019-06-29
DOI: 10.1080/15298868.2019.1635522

Jasmine B. Norman, Graduate Assistant
Department of Psychology
University of Utah

Jacqueline M. Chen, Assistant Professor of Social Psychology
University of Utah

Research has yet to examine variability in how strongly individuals claim the unconventional Multiracial identity and why. In two studies, we examined mixed-race individuals’ strength of Multiracial identification. Across both studies (N_S1 = 139; N_S2 = 215), mixed-race people who regularly received feedback that their appearance was incongruent with their background had stronger Multiracial identification. In Study 2, perceived discrimination was associated with Multiracial identification, but the link depended on the racial group of the perpetrator. Specifically, perceiving discrimination from ingroup members was associated with stronger Multiracial identification, and this was strongest when White ingroup members were the source of discrimination. These findings demonstrate the interpersonal nature of racial identity and illuminate the complex dynamics of negotiating multiple racial backgrounds.

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Column: Lightskin privilege and its place in activism

The Daily Tar Heel
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
2019-04-14

Devon Johnson, Chief Opinion Editor

After reading a letter to the editor this week questioning the place of biracial students in campus activism, I thought it was an important question that deserved to be expanded upon and hopefully answered to some degree. So I’ve reflected on my race, specifically how my race is perceived by others and how, if at all, it impacts the ways in which I form my racial identity.

The first time I distinctly remember my biracial identity being affirmed was, perhaps unsurprisingly, in Drake’s “You & The 6.” “I used to get teased for being Black, and now I’m here and I’m not Black enough.” This line summed up the in-betweenness I had felt for most of my life; the tugging from either side of the aisle by those trying to have me racialize and categorize myself…

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