Mixed Race Studies

Scholarly perspectives on the mixed race experience.

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  • Biracial Identity Development in Black/White Biracial Individuals

    Biracial Identity Development in Black/White Biracial Individuals

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

    21 pages

    Monique Porow

    An increase in the population of biracial individuals in the U.S. has caused the proliferation of theories of biracial identity development and maintenance. Presently theories on biracial identity development do not fully capture the complexity of biracial identity formation for the black/white biracial population in the twenty-first century. In my work I conceptualize identity categories for biracial individuals that reflect this complexity. I present a model of biracial identity development that reevaluates the weight given to specific influences on identity, and explores the complexity of various influences on racial identity. In this model I identify previous models of racial identity formation for biracial individuals and expand these models to include dynamics of this process that are neglected. This new model will elaborate on existing models of racial identity development, and will stress the two factors I believe influence the racial identity formation process most: an individual’s appearance and the neighborhood’s tolerance of a biracial identity. The model suggests that these two factors, along with other factors, contribute to biracial individuals choosing a black, white, or biracial identity, developing a marginal identity, fluctuating between a singular or biracial identity circumstantially, or an individual choosing not to adopt a racial identity at all. This work also attempts to add to the body of literature on biracial identity by explicitly identifying the ways in which culture and racial identity diverge in the black/white racial population.

    Read the entire paper here.

  • People of God, Children of Ham: Making black(s) Jews

    People of God, Children of Ham: Making black(s) Jews

    Journal of Modern Jewish Studies
    Volume 8, Issue 2 (July 2009)
    pages 237 – 254
    DOI: 10.1080/14725880902949551

    Bruce Haynes, Associate Professor of Sociology
    University of California, Davis

    Taxonomies inherited from the nineteenth century have shaped the discourse surrounding the racial identity and supposed roots of Ethiopian immigrants to Israel. Through their interactions with just a few colonial actors, some of whom were Christian missionaries, others who were Jewish Zionists, a small group of young Falashas developed an elite status in Ethiopia as the true lost Jews in Africa. While most historians specializing in the history of Ethiopia do not believe the Beta Israel are a “lost tribe” of the ancient Israelites, Ethiopian immigrants have altered their self-conceptions over the past hundred years and come to see themselves as both black and Jewish.  This essay offers an alternative reading of the Beta Israel narrative, and asserts that the transformation of their social identities are embedded in a political process of racialization tied to racial ideology, and both secular and religious institutions and the State. In the process of incorporation into western society, their social identities have been transmogrified from religious others in Ethiopia to co-religionists yet racial others in Israel.

    Read or purchase the article here.

  • Narrating the Racial Self: Symbolic Boundaries and the Reference Group Identification Among Biracial Black Jews

    Narrating the Racial Self: Symbolic Boundaries and the Reference Group Identification Among Biracial Black Jews

    Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association
    Marriott Hotel, Loews Philadelphia Hotel
    Philadelphia, PA
    2005-08-12

    45 pages

    Bruce Haynes, Associate Professor
    Sociology Depertment
    University of California at Davis

    Few studies of bi-racial or multiracial identity have considered the symbolic boundaries people use to establish their reference group identification to different social groups.  This analysis focuses on the ontological dimensions of social identification (Hart 1996) by considering the symbolic boundaries social actors use to emplot their life stories and claim membership in two distinct American ethno-racial groups, Blacks and Jews. The analysis seeks to answer two related questions: 1) How do self-identified Black and Jewish biracial individuals utilize symbolic boundaries in their personal narratives to claim membership in two publically recognized mutually exclusive groups? 2) To what degree traditional ethno/racial social boundaries have weakened as markers for social identification.  Although the content of any individual Black-Jewish identity is variable, many subjects report a “double-minority” status as both Black and Jewish, while others articulate identities as “Black Jews.”  The reproduction of Black and Jewish identity along traditional racial and ethnic group boundaries challenges both the presumed path towards the majority culture that is predicted by classic assimilation models, and romantic notions that the impact of race and the one drop rule has declined at the dawn of the twenty-first century.

    Introduction

    The following analysis uses the intersection of Jewish and Black reference group identification as a way to explore the degree to which traditional ethno/racial social boundaries have weakened as markers for social identification among self-identified bi-racial Black and Jewish Americans. The data for this study is drawn from eleven in-depth life history interviews of self-identified Black and Jewish bi-racial people; five men and six women were selected who range from 22 to 46 years of age.

    Self-identified bi-racial Black and Jewish Americans claim membership in two American ethno/racial groups that have historically been understood to be mutually exclusive. While holding a particular reference group identity is ultimately a matter of self-identifying with a specific group (Putnam 1993, 114), being both Black and Jewish requires making claims on both Black and Jewish collectives. Identity by definition carries consequences; otherwise it wouldn’t hold such salience to the orientations of social actors (Jenkins 1996)…

    Read the entire paper here.

  • Status Maximization or Identity Theory?: A Theorectical Approach to Understanding the Racial Identification of Multiracial Adolescents

    Status Maximization or Identity Theory?: A Theorectical Approach to Understanding the Racial Identification of Multiracial Adolescents

    Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association
    Marriott Hotel, Loews Philadelphia Hotel, Philadelphia, PA
    2005-08-12

    Matthew Oware, Associate Professor of Sociology
    DePauw University

    Previous research has found that there are multiple factors that influence the racial identification of mixed-race adolescents.  This paper examines whether the racial identification of mixed-race adolescents can be understood through the broader theories of Status Maximization or Identity theory. Status Maximization theory posits that mixed-race adolescents will attempt to identify as the highest racial status group they possibly can. Yet, due to the “one-drop” rule, mixed-race black-white adolescents will be limited to selecting only “black” as their primary identification when forced to select one race. Identity theory posits that the higher frequency or better quality contacts with parents or individuals in mixed-race adolescents’ peer networks affect the racial identification of mixed-race adolescents. I use the National Longitudinal Adolescent Health (Add Health) dataset to perform statistical analyses on mixed-race adolescents. I find that Asian-white and American-Indian-white adolescents do not status maximize, but that black-white adolescents do adhere to the one-drop rule when forced to choose one race. Also, several social-psychological variables are found to influence the racial identification of mixed-race adolescents, corroborating previous research. My research suggests that racial identification for Asian-white and American-Indian-white adolescents are both fluid and optional; this is not the case for black-white adolescents.

    Read the entire paper here.

  • Biracial Identity in the Media

    Biracial Identity in the Media

    Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association, TBA
    Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    2008-05-22
    18 Pages

    Iliana Rucker
    University of New Mexico

    Many scholars have studied racial representations and have determined that images of racial groups we see on television shape the way we view these racial groups (Gorham, 1999; Tamborini & Mastro, 2000). This paper looks at how biracial/multiracial characters in film are represented and the language or lack of language used in the representation. In this paper, I examine the language in the films Imitation of Life and Get on the Bus, particularly regarding the biracial characters and how this racially mixed representation is either silenced or given a voice. The importance of this topic lies in the influential aspect of media.  There are very few biracial characters in the media. Their race plays into the message that they are sending, and I am curious in seeing who has the power to name their identity.

    Read the entire paper here.

  • Dimensions of Self-Identification among Multiracial and Multiethnic Respondents in Survey Interviews

    Dimensions of Self-Identification among Multiracial and Multiethnic Respondents in Survey Interviews

    Research supported in part by contract HHS 0009430486 from the National Center for Health Statistics.

    Publication Date: 1997-12
    ISSN: ISSN-0193-841X

    Timothy P. Johnson
    University of Illinois at Chicago

    Jared B. Jobe
    National Center for Health Statistics

    Diane O’Rourke
    University of Illinois at Urbana

    Seymour Sudman
    University of Illinois at Urbana

    Richard Warnecke
    University of Illinois at Chicago

    Noel Chavez
    University of Illinois at Chicago

    Gloria Chapa-Resendez
    University of Illinois at Chicago

    Patricia Golden
    National Center for Health Statistics

    This paper reports findings from a laboratory study designed to investigate self identification among 69 multiracial and multiethnic women. Respondent reactions to two current questionnaire formats for collecting racial information, and a third version that includes a “multiracial” response option, were examined. Findings suggest that respondent’s racial identification varies considerably across question formats and that persons of mixed heritage prefer a racial identification question that provides them, at a minimum, with the opportunity to acknowledge their multi-cultural background. In addition, many respondents also expressed the desire to identify each of the specific groups that constitute their racial/ethnic background.

    Read the entire article here.

  • One Drop, No Rule: Identity Options among Multiracial Children in the U.S.

    One Drop, No Rule: Identity Options among Multiracial Children in the U.S.

    Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association
    Marriott Hotel, Loews Philadelphia Hotel
    Philadelphia, PA,
    2005-08-12

    Anthony Daniel Perez, Assistant Professor
    Chapel Hill Department of Sociology
    University of North Carolina

    This paper examines the links between family background characteristics and patterns of identification among multiracial children in the U.S. I improve upon previous studies of multiracial classification by expanding the identity choice set to include a broader and more thorough range of classificatory options. In undertaking this analysis, I examine the large, nationally representative 5% Public Use Microdata from the Census 2000 long form. I find that children living in two-parent households with one white parent and one non-white parent are almost equally likely to identify (or be identified) as white, non-white, or multiracial. I further note that: 1.) Patterns of identification vary widely by mixed race subgroup and socioeconomic status. 2.) Racial differences in identification vary by socioeconomic status. 3.) The pathways to “white passing” are related but distinct from pathways to multiracial identification.

    To read the entire paper, click here.

  • The Politics of Parenting in ‘Mixed’ Families: An Autobiographical Account

    The Politics of Parenting in ‘Mixed’ Families: An Autobiographical Account

    Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association
    Atlanta Hilton Hotel
    Atlanta, Georgia
    2003-08-16

    Nora Lester Murad, Founder and Executive Director
    Dalia Association

    This paper explores common themes in the varied experiences of parents in families that are “mixed” in terms of culture, race, or religion. These themes include identity, location and language, feelings of parental inadequacy, and social support/social sabotage. Drawing heavily on my journals and experience mothering two daughters in an international, bicultural, interfaith family, I highlight the political decisions we make as parents and their implications. I intend to counter the marginalization of mixed families by giving us voice and to use my personal experience as a lens on the changing racial and cultural landscape as it is influenced by conflict and love.  Throughout, I address the complex political and spiritual transformation that is possible through the experience of parenting in a mixed family.

    Read the entire paper here.

  • Kip Fulbeck: Part Asian, 100% Hapa

    Kip Fulbeck: Part Asian, 100% Hapa

    University of North Carolina
    FedEx Global Education Center
    2009-07-01 through 2009-10-31
    08:00 to 21:00 (ET Local Time)

    For this exhibition of portraits, artist Kip Fulbeck traveled the country photographing Hapa of all ages and walks of life. Once a derogatory label derived from the Hawaiian word for “half,” the word Hapa has been embraced as a term of pride for many whose mixed-race heritage includes Asian or Pacific Rim ancestry. Fulbeck’s work seeks to address in words and images the one question that Hapa are frequently asked: What are you? By pairing portraits of Hapa unadorned by make-up, jewelry and clothing along with their handwritten statements on who they are, Fulbeck has produced powerful yet intimate expressions of beauty and identity. “kip fulbeck: part asian, 100% hapa” is organized by the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, California. It is supported in part by the James Irvine Foundation and is part of the Global Education Distinguished Speakers Series.

    For more information, click here.

  • Miscegenating the Discourse: Mixed Race Asian American Art and Literature

    Miscegenating the Discourse: Mixed Race Asian American Art and Literature

    Jessica Hagedorn In Conversation with Wei Ming and Laura Kina
    As part of The President’s Signature Series 2009-2010

    2009-10-22 at 18:00 CDT (Local Time)
    DePaul University Art Museum
    2350 N Kenmore

    This event is co-sponsored by Asian American Studies, The Cultural Center, English, The President’s Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity, OMSA, and The Women’s Center.

    What does it mean to be a Mixed Asian American Writer/Artist?

    Mixed Race Studies scholar Wei Ming Dariotis, Assistant Professor Asian American Studies San Francisco State University, and Laura Kina, DePaul University Associate Professor Art, Media, & Design, Vincent dePaul Professor & Director Asian American Studies, will take on identity, categorization, and issues specific to Asian American mixed heritage populations in their dialogue with award winning writer, screenwriter and performer, Jessica Hagedorn, author of Dogeaters, Dream Jungle, The Gangster of Love, Danger And Beauty, and editor of Charlie Chan Is Dead: An Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Fiction and Charlie Chan Is Dead 2: At Home in the World. Her next novel, Toxicology, will be published by Viking Penguin in 2011.

    This event is free and open to the public.