Blended Nation: A Portrait of Mixed-Race America

Scholarly perspectives on the mixed race experience.

It was against this backdrop that the three races met and mingled along the western shore of Narragansett Bay. Long before the end of the eighteenth century, miscegenation had become a problem for New England settlers, who, if they had no clear idea of the nature of Africans, had even less understanding of the nature of the growing number of mulattos. Unlike blacks, who might be of African, Caribbean, or American birth, mulattos were usually born in the New World and were, therefore, not only racially distinct from Africans and Europeans but culturally distinct as well. The New England colonies recognized them as a separate group. Massachusetts made the first distinction between blacks and mulattos in 1693, Connecticut did so in 1704, and Rhode Island and New Hampshire followed in 1714. In addition to sexual relations between blacks and whites, Native Americans and blacks also came together and produced children. Greene believes the lowly status assigned both groups in white dominated New England served to erase any distinction between them, and, as they were common victims of oppression, they naturally drew together. In any event, along the eastern seaboard there was a mixing of Native Americans, whites, and blacks during the colonial era.

Rhett S. Jones, “Miscegenation and Acculturation in the Narragansett Country of Rhode Island, 1710-1790,” Trotter Review, Volume 3, Issue 1 (1989), 10. http://scholarworks.umb.edu/trotter_review/vol3/iss1/4/.

Blended Nation: A Portrait of Mixed-Race America

Blended Nation: A Portrait of Mixed-Race America

Yes! Magazine
2010-02-10

The fear and xenophobia in the aftermath of 9/11 got Mike Tauber and Pamela Singh thinking about how race and ethnicity are based on visual cues.

They began photographing a network of mixed-race friends in the spring of 2002, eventually working with organizations like Swirl, a national, multiracial organization that challenges notions of race; and the Mavin Foundation, an organization that raises awareness about the experiences of multiracial people.

Read the entire article here.
To view a photo essay that samples the book, click here.

Tags: Mike Tauber, Pamela Singh, photography, Yes Magazine

This entry was posted on Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 23:45Z and is filed under Articles, Arts, Book/Video Reviews, Family/Parenting, Identity Development/Psychology, New Media, Politics/Public Policy, United States. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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Mixed Race Studies

Blended Nation: A Portrait of Mixed-Race America

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