Mixed Race Studies

Scholarly perspectives on the mixed race experience.

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  • Plus ça Change? Multiraciality and the Dynamics of Race Relations in the United States

    Plus ça Change? Multiraciality and the Dynamics of Race Relations in the United States

    Journal of Social Issues
    Volume 65, Number 1 (March 2009)
    pages 205-219
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.2008.01595.x

    Frank D. Bean, Chancellor’s Professor
    School of Social Sciences
    University of California, Irvine

    Jennifer Lee, Associate Professor, Sociology
    School of Social Sciences
    University of California, Irvine

    The issue of race has long cast a shadow on the founding mythology of the United States, but today some scholars argue race is declining in significance, as evidenced by the rise of interracial unions and the fact that the offspring of such unions can now officially acknowledge their mixed-race backgrounds. However, the sizeable growth of the Asian and Latino populations in the United States through immigration complicates the issue. Seemingly neither black nor white, the new immigrants are generating increased diversity and raising questions about whether today’s color line replicates the old Black–White demarcation.  The research results introduced in this article suggest the contemporary color line in the United States more reflects a Black/non-Black division than a White/non-White one.

    Read or purchase the article here.

  • Exploring Multiracial Individuals’ Comfort with Intimate Interracial Relationships

    Exploring Multiracial Individuals’ Comfort with Intimate Interracial Relationships

    Journal of Social Issues
    Volume 65, Number 1 (2009)
    pp. 87–103

    Courtney M. Bonam
    Stanford University

    Margaret Shih, Assistant Professor, Organizational Psychology
    University of Michigan

    This article explores the relationship between a heightened awareness of race as a social construct and comfort in interracial relationships across varying levels of intimacy among multiracial and monoracial individuals. Study 1 finds that multiracial individuals express higher levels of comfort in intimate interracial relationships than monoracial White and minority individuals. Study 2 finds that belief in race as a social construction mediates the differences between monoracial and multiracial individuals in their comfort in intimate interracial relationships.  Implications of these findings for interracial relationships are discussed.

    Interracial relationships in the United States, while on the rise, are still relatively uncommon. Research finds people are more likely to live near (Massey & Denton, 1993; Zubrinsky Charles, 2003), marry (Crary, 2007; Fu, 2001; Lee & Fernandez, 1998; Qian & Lichter, 2001; Root, 2001; Tucker & Mitchell-Kernan, 1990), and develop friendships (Hallinan & Williams, 1989; Moody, 2001; Olfson et al., 2000; Quillian & Campbell, 2003; Tatum, 1997) with those who are ethnically and racially similar to themselves than those who are not. In addition, research suggests that the few interracial relationships that do form tend to be more superficial in nature than relationships between those from the same ethnic/racial background (Sigelman, Bledsoe, Welch, & Combs, 1996; Welch, Sigelman, Bledsoe, & Combs, 2001).  Towles-Schwen and Fazio (2003) found that people’s comfort with interracial relationships tends to be greater at lower levels of intimacy than at higher levels. This may impact the type of interactions that may occur in interracial relationships.  For example, Welch and colleagues (2001) found White families rarely enter the homes of their Black neighbors even though they may have frequent positive interactions and consider these families to be part of their social network.

    While this evidence suggests people in the general population are less comfortable with more intimate interracial relationships, the bulk of this research has focused on monoracial populations.We propose these interracial relationship patterns are less likely to be observed among multiracial individuals.  Specifically, multiracial individuals will report more comfort with intimate interracial relationships than will monoracial people of White or minority descent…

    Read the entire article here.

  • Multiracial Identity Integration: Perceptions of Conflict and Distance among Multiracial Individuals

    Multiracial Identity Integration: Perceptions of Conflict and Distance among Multiracial Individuals

    Journal of Social Issues
    Vol. 65, No. 1, 2009
    pp. 51–68

    Chi-Ying Cheng, Assistant Professor of Psychology
    Singapore Management University

    Fiona Lee, Professor of Psychology
    University of Michigan

    This article examines how multiracial individuals negotiate their different and sometimes conflicting racial identities. Drawing from previous work on bicultural identity integration (see Benet-Martınez & Haritatos, 2005), we proposed a new construct, multiracial identity integration (MII), to measure individual differences in perceptions of compatibility between multiple racial identities. We found that MII is composed of two independent subscales: racial distance that describes whether different racial identities are perceived as disparate, and racial conflict that describes whether different racial identities are perceived as in conflict.  We also found that recalling positive multiracial experiences increased MII, while recalling negative multiracial experiences decreased MII.  These findings have implications for understanding the psychological well-being of multiracial individuals, and the development of social policy and programs catered to this population.

    In today’s increasingly global, mobile, and racially integrated world, more and more people identify with and claim membership in more than one racial group, making the multiracial population a noteworthy demographic group in the United States (Rockquemore, Brunsma, & Delgado, 2009; Shih & Sanchez, 2005). As a response, a federal task force was created to examine whether census forms should include a new racial classification of “multiracial” (Holmes, 1997). This demographic trend challenges traditional notions that racial categories are discrete, extends current thinking about intergroup racial relations, and has important implications for political and social policy (Pittinsky & Montoya, 2009; Shih & Sanchez, 2009).

    Even though multiracial individuals do not necessarily have lower levels of psychological well-being and social adjustment, they face unique challenges in managing two or more different racial identities (Shih & Sanchez, 2005).  For example, multiracial individuals are more likely to encounter disapproval and discrimination from their extended families, neighborhoods, and larger communities (Kerwin & Ponterotto, 1995). They are also more likely to experience social isolation (Brown, 1995; Gaskins, 1999; Nakashima, 1996).  In this article, we investigate how multiracial individuals reconcile the differences and tensions between their different racial identities, and how these dynamics are influenced by their racial experiences…

    Read the entire article here.

  • Marriage between blacks, whites and Indians…

    …Marriage between blacks, whites and Indians was legal in Virginia for most of the 17th century. Genealogist Paul Heinegg found that 99% of all mixed children in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and the Carolinas before 1810 came from intermarriages of free blacks with whites. Cases of white masters having children by black slaves were virtually non-existence, making up only one percent of the mixed mulatto population…

    Tim Hashaw,  “MALUNGU: The African Origin of the American Melungeons,” Electica (July/August 2001). http://www.eclectica.org/v5n3/hashaw.html.

  • Melungeon Origins

    …From the 1620s, in southern British colonies like Virginia, white northern Europeans intermarried with Indians.  They also intermarried with Africans who began entering the American colonies as early as 1619.  Melungeons originate from these red, white and black peoples in this period of American history.  They began forming identifiable separate mixed communities when the first anti-African laws started restricting some of their freedoms by 1660…

    Tim Hashaw,  “MALUNGU: The African Origin of the American Melungeons,” Electica  (July/August 2001), http://www.eclectica.org/v5n3/hashaw.html.

  • The Interpretation of Multiracial Status and Its Relation to Social Engagementand Psychological Well-Being

    The Interpretation of Multiracial Status and Its Relation to Social Engagementand Psychological Well-Being

    Journal of Social Issues
    Volume 65, Number1, (March 2009)
    pages 35-49
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.2008.01586.x

    Kevin R. Binning
    Stanford University

    Miguel M. Unzueta
    University of California, Los Angeles

    Yuen J. Huo
    University of California, Los Angeles

    Ludwin E. Molina
    University of Kansas

    This research examines how multiracial individuals chose to identify themselves with respect to their racial identity and how this choice relates to their self-reported psychological well-being (e.g., self-esteem, positive affect) and level of social engagement (e.g., citizenship behaviors, group alienation). High school students who belong to multiple racial/ethnic groups (N = 182) were asked to indicate the group with which they primarily identify. Participants were then classified as identifying with a low-status group (i.e., Black or Latino), a high-status group (i.e., Asian or White), or multiple groups (e.g., Black and White, etc.). Results showed that, compared with multiracial individuals who identified primarily with a low- or high-status group, those who identified with multiple groups tended to report either equal or higher psychological well-being and social engagement.  Potential explanations and implications for understanding multiracial identity are discussed.

    Read the entire article here.

  • Is Valuing Equality Enough? Equality Values, Allophilia, and Social Policy Support for Multiracial Individuals

    Is Valuing Equality Enough? Equality Values, Allophilia, and Social Policy Support for Multiracial Individuals

    Journal of Social Issues
    Volume 65, Number 1 (March 2009)
    pages 151-163
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.2008.01592.x

    Todd L. Pittinsky, Professor of Technology and Society
    State University of New York, Stony Brook

    R. Matthew Montoya, Assistant Professor of Psychology
    University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio

    We conducted a field study to investigate positive intergroup attitudes (i.e., allophilia) and equality values as potential antecedents of social policy support for multiracial individuals. Participants (N = 97) reported their social policy support for multiracial individuals in two ways—support for the recognition of “multiracial” as a distinct racial category (recognition) and support for multiracial individuals’ access to programs and policies (assistance). Results revealed that allophilia motivated those who held equality beliefs to support social policies for multiracial individuals. Implications of these findings for theories of positive intergroup relations, as well as the processes that may underlie progress for multiracial individuals, are discussed.

    Read or purchase the article here.

  • Mixed Race Students in College: The Ecology of Race, Identity, and Community on Campus

    Mixed Race Students in College: The Ecology of Race, Identity, and Community on Campus

    SUNY Press
    July 2004
    308 pages
    Hardback ISBN10: 0-7914-6163-7; ISBN13: 978-0-7914-6163-1
    Paperback ISBN10: 0-7914-6164-5; ISBN13: 978-0-7914-6164-8

    Kristen A. Renn, Associate Professor
    Michigan State University

    Portrays the diverse experiences and identities of mixed race college students.

    Kristen A. Renn offers a new perspective on racial identity in the United States, that of mixed race college students making sense of the paradox of deconstructing racial categories while living on campuses sharply divided by race and ethnicity. Focusing on how peer culture shapes identity in public and private spaces, the book presents the findings of a qualitative research study involving fifty-six undergraduates from a variety of institutions. Renn uses an innovative ecology model to examine campus peer cultures and documents five patterns of multiracial identity that illustrate possibilities for integrating notions of identity construction (and deconstruction) with the highly salient nature of race in higher education. One of the most ambitious scholarly attempts to date to portray the diverse experiences and identities of mixed race college students, the book also discusses implications for higher education practice, policy, theory, and research.

    Table Of Contents

    • Preface
    • 1. The Context of Mixed Race Students in American Higher Education
    • 2. The Ecology of Multiracial Identity on Campus—An Analytic Framework and Research Design
    • 3. Patterns of Multiracial Identity among College Students
    • 4. I’m Black—Monoracial Identity
    • 5. I’m Asian and Latina—Multiple Monoracial Identities
    • 6. I’m Mixed—Multiracial Identity
    • 7. I Don’t Check Any Boxes—Extraracial Identity
    • 8. It Depends—Situational Identity
    • 9. From Patterns to Practice—What Mixed Race Identity Patterns Mean for Educational Practice
    • Appendix A: Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity
    • Appendix B: Summary of Study Participants
    • Appendix C: Interview and Focus Group Protocols
    • Notes

  • Educational Policy, Politics, and Mixed Heritage Students in the United States

    Educational Policy, Politics, and Mixed Heritage Students in the United States

    Journal of Social Issues
    Volume 65, Number 1 (March 2009)
    pages 165-183
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.2008.01593.x

    Kristen A. Renn, Professor of Higher, Adult, & Lifelong Education
    Michigan State University

    This article describes local, state, and federal policies related to collecting, aggregating, and reporting data on student race and ethnicity in U.S. K-12 and postsecondary education. It traces data policy from the 1997 decision by the Office of Management and Budget to change from single-race reporting to a format that permits respondents to choose more than one race, to the October 2007 issuance of final guidance from the Department of Education. Taking a K-20 perspective, I consider how policies for data collection and reporting may affect educational and developmental outcomes for students, as well as local, state, and national education policy environments.

    Read or purchase the article here.

  • How Understanding Interracial Families Contributes to Our Understanding of Race and Family

    How Understanding Interracial Families Contributes to Our Understanding of Race and Family

    Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association
    Montreal Convention Center
    Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    2006-08-11

    22 pages

    Jessica Mills

    In family sociology, racial differences have long been viewed as a defining feature of family life. Yet, the treatment of the family/race relationship in mainstream sociology has had major limitations. Many family scholars today are challenging the conventional wisdom about race and the family.  Their approaches to the matter of racial differences in family life have begun to refocus the family field.  This paper will provide a brief retrospective and prospective view of contemporary thought, analysis, and supporting research in the family field. It will also synthesize current sociological work on interracial families and assess its usefulness for advancing both family studies and the field of race.

    Read the entire paper here.