To-day there are no half-castes because there are no full-castes.
Cedric Dover. Half-Caste. London, 1937. Secker & Warburg.
Mixed Race Studies
Scholarly perspectives on the mixed race experience.
recent posts
- The Routledge International Handbook of Interracial and Intercultural Relationships and Mental Health
- Loving Across Racial and Cultural Boundaries: Interracial and Intercultural Relationships and Mental Health Conference
- Call for Proposals: 2026 Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference at UCLA
- Participants Needed for a Paid Research Study: Up to $100
- You were either Black or white. To claim whiteness as a mixed child was to deny and hide Blackness. Our families understood that the world we were growing into would seek to denigrate this part of us and we would need a community that was made up, always and already, of all shades of Blackness.
about
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University of Vermont
October 2012
65 pagesNoelle Brassey
A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate College of The University of Vermont In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Specializing in English
As a former UC Berkeley undergraduate and a University of Vermont graduate student, this is an educational autobiography of a self-identified Hapa, or mixed-race Asian American, through the lens of race and identity. Exploring what it means to be “white” and “privileged,” and realizing that these concepts—like identity—are fluid, this thesis adopts a dual methodology that includes personal narrative, as well as a meta-critical reflection. This thesis focuses on three memoirs: Bone Black and Wounds of Passion by bell hooks, and Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez, each of which explore themes of reclaiming voice and reconstructing identity with regards to race, class, and culture.
Read the entire thesis here.
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Identity Politics: the Mixed-race American Indian Experience
Journal of Critical Race Inquiry
Volume 2, Number 1 (2012)
25 pagesMichelle R. Montgomery
University of WashingtonThis paper builds a Critical Race Theory approach to consider how mixed-race American Indian college students conform to, or resist, dominant black/non-black ideology. Current research on multiracials in the U.S. lacks the perspectives of mixed-race American Indians on the heightened disputes of “Indianness,” tribal enrollment, and tribal self-determination. Also under-explored is how mixed-race American Indian persons perceive themselves in racial terms, how they wish to be perceived, and how economic and historical perspectives inform their choices about racial self-identification. This paper provides an overview of the identity politics of mixed-race American Indians at a tribal college and highlights the need for tribal colleges to embrace a growing mixed-race population through self-determination education policies.
Read the entire article here.
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The Manifestation of Race in Everyday Communication Interactions in New Zealand
Unitec New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand
October 2012
281 pagesElizabeth S. Revell
A thesis submitted to the Department of Communication Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of International Communication
This thesis examines the manifestation of race in everyday communication interactions in New Zealand using an unconventional, experimental methodology. Experimenting with a partial collaborative autoethnographic approach that involved reflexive diaries, interviews, and focus groups as data collection methods, the author and nine other co-participants took part in a collaborative autoethnographic exercise, that required them to focus, reflect on, and discuss together their perceptions of the way race was manifested in their day-to-day experiences, over the period of a month. Co-participants were encouraged to write evocatively of their experiences. The author used her mixed-race identity as an autoethnographic analytical tool as a measure towards resolving her ‘double consciousness’ (Du Bois, 1903). Her own voice, thoughts, and stories of her lived experiences are woven into the study, alongside more traditional analysis. In carrying out this investigation, the author sought not only to generate knowledge in the traditional academic sense, but to facilitate a disruptive, emancipative and emotionally engaging conversation on racism in New Zealand, between herself, her co-participants, and readers.
In answering the main research question about the manifestation of race in everyday communication interactions in New Zealand, the author found that in public contexts in New Zealand, race as a topic is taboo and racists are social pariahs amongst Western, educated, middle-class members of society. Consequentially, race is often manifested in a variety of subtle ways in everyday communication interactions, and is difficult to identify and challenge. The subtle way in which race is manifested in everyday settings masks an undercurrent of prejudice and hostility. Whether or not these hidden tensions will emerge problematically in the future remains to be seen, as New Zealanders negotiate and manage their biculturalism and multiculturalism.
In terms of the significance of race in New Zealand, the author concluded that New Zealand’s racial and ethnic identity is changing (browning), and that the longstanding New Zealand European (White) majority is decreasing in proportion and dominance. Some New Zealand Europeans are consciously and subconsciously trying to assert their authority, refusing to let the idea that a ‘true’ New Zealander is ‘White’ go because of a) a subconscious belief in the superiority of White skin and/or Western culture, and b) insecurity around what will happen to them and their lifestyle, if non-White ethnic and non-Western cultural groups continue to gain in proportion to White, Western groups. As a result, some non-White individuals are experiencing being subtly and overtly ‘othered’, excluded, disrespected, and negatively stereotyped. Being subjected to everyday racism has resulted in some non-White New Zealanders having a fractured sense of identity, and others having adopted the racist worldview of Whites.
In terms of resolving the dialectic of her mixed-race identity, the closure the author had hoped for was not achieved. Instead, she became more conscious of her own racist beliefs and actions, and convinced of the importance of continuing to challenge them.
Table of Contents
- ABSTRACT
- DECLARATION
- CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- TABLE OF CONTENTS
- CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
- MY “DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS”: A PERSONAL NARRATIVE
- First thing’s first: Who I am
- But: The dreaded question
- Fleshing out the issue
- Defining my research topic
- WIDER SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
- RESEARCH PURPOSE
- CONCEPTUAL DEFINITIONS
- “Race”
- “Everyday communication interaction”
- METHODOLOGY: A PARTIAL COLLABORATIVE AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC APPROACH
- THESIS OUTLINE
- MY “DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS”: A PERSONAL NARRATIVE
- CHAPTER 2: CONCEPTS AND CONTEXT
- CONCEPTUAL DEFINITIONS
- Concept 1: ‘Race’
- Concept 2: ‘Everyday communication interaction’
- CONTEXT
- Multiculturalism and biculturalism in New Zealand
- Recent signs of ethnic ‘unease’ in multicultural New Zealand
- Use of the term ‘race’ in New Zealand
- CONCEPTUAL DEFINITIONS
- CHAPTER 3– LITERATURE REVIEW
- RACE IN COMMUNICATION STUDIES
- The critical turn in communication studies
- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
- Critical Theory
- General theories of race and racism
- Theories and concepts from sociology (on the everyday social construction of race)
- Theories and concepts from social psychology (on contemporary racism)
- A REVIEW OF RELEVANT RESEARCH
- …on race and the everyday
- …on race and the everyday in New Zealand
- RACE IN COMMUNICATION STUDIES
- CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH DESIGN
- SITUATING AUTOETHNOGRAPHY ONTOLOGICALLY AND EPISTEMOLOGICALLY
- METHODOLOGY
- A qualitative approach
- Ethnography
- Autoethnography
- Partial collaborative autoethnography
- Co-participant selection
- DATA COLLECTION METHODS
- Solicited reflexive diaries
- Semi-structured interviews
- Semi-structured focus groups (briefing and debriefing sessions)
- METHODS OF ANALYSIS
- Thematic analysis
- Analysis and discussion in autoethnography
- ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
- CHAPTER 5: FINDINGS
- PARTICIPANT POSITIONALITIES
- Liz:
- Ameera:
- Yasmin:
- Rachel:
- Timothy:
- Heather:
- Lana:
- Luke:
- Zane:
- Natalie:
- EMERGENT THEMES
- Theme 1: Everyday living in a multicultural society
- 1a. NZ European dominance is eroding
- 1b. New Zealanders are managing this change well
- 1c. New Zealanders are not managing this change well
- Concluding notes for theme one
- Theme 2: References to ‘racisms’ past
- 2a. Ethnic inequality and redistribution
- 2b. Crying race
- 2c. Old racist attitudes
- 2d. The declining significance of race?
- Concluding notes for theme two
- Theme 3: Everyday awareness and negotiation of social hierarchy
- 3a. White superiority
- 3b. Negotiating the social ladder
- 3c. Legitimacy
- Concluding notes for theme three
- Theme 4: Conversational tact – Everyday speech conventions
- 4a. Racialised ‘neutral’ terms
- 4b. Racial stereotyping
- 4c. Censoring
- Concluding notes for theme four
- Theme 5: Everyday emotional reactions to races
- 5a. Anger/cumulative anger towards a race
- 5b. Disgust
- 5c. Instant connection
- 5d. Comfort/discomfort
- 5e. Fear
- 5f. Romantic attraction/indifference/repulsion
- Concluding notes for theme five
- Theme 6: Reacting to everyday racism
- 6a. Emotional reactions to everyday racism
- 6b. Dealing with everyday racism
- Concluding notes for theme six
- Theme 7: “Race matters to me because I look different”
- Concluding notes for chapter seven
- Theme 1: Everyday living in a multicultural society
- OVERALL CONCLUSION
- PARTICIPANT POSITIONALITIES
- CHAPTER 6 – DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
- THEMATIC DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
- Theme 1: Everyday living in a multicultural society
- Theme 2: References to ‘racisms’ past
- Theme 3: Social status
- Theme 4: Conversational tact – Everyday speech conventions
- Theme 5: Emotional reactions to races
- Theme 6: Reacting to everyday racism
- Theme 7: “Race matters to me because I look different”
- HOW IS RACE MANIFESTED IN EVERYDAY COMMUNICATION INTERACTIONS IN NEW ZEALAND?
- THE SIGNIFICANCE OF RACE IN NEW ZEALAND
- THEMATIC DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
- CHAPTER 7: CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
- RESOLVING MY MIXED-RACE DIALECTIC
- LIMITATIONS
- RECOMMENDATIONS
- SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
- REFERENCES
- APPENDICES
- APPENDIX A: PARTICIPANT INFORMATION FORM
- APPENDIX B: PARTICIPANT CONSENT FORM
- APPENDIX C: PROCEDURAL EXPLANATIONS
- APPENDIX D: GUIDELINE SHEET FOR DIARIES
- APPENDIX E: EXTRACT FROM A PARTICIPANT’S REFLEXIVE RESEARCH DIARY
- APPENDIX F: DEBRIEFING SESSION MAIN CO-PARTICIPANT SHEET
- APPENDIX G: DEBRIEFING SESSION CO-PARTICIPANT SHEET
Read the entire thesis here.
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Brazilian Telenovelas and the Myth of Racial Democracy
Lexington Books
March 2012
136 pages
Size: 6 1/2 x 9 1/2
Hardback ISBN: 978-0-7391-6964-3
eBook ISBN: 978-0-7391-6965-0Samantha Nogueira Joyce, Assistant Professor in Communication Studies
Indiana University, South Bend
Brazilian Telenovelas and the Myth of Racial Democracy, by Samantha Nogueira Joyce, examines what happens when a telenovela directly addresses matters of race and racism in contemporary Brazil. This investigation provides a traditional textual analysis of Duas Caras (2007-2008), a watershed telenovela for two main reasons: It was the first of its kind to present audiences with an Afro-Brazilian as the main hero, openly addressing race matters through plot and dialogue. Additionally, for the first time in the history of Brazilian television, the author of Duas Caras kept a web blog where he discussed the public’s reactions to the storylines, media discussions pertaining to the characters and plot, and directly engaged with fans and critics of the program.
Joyce combines her investigation of Duas Caras with a study of related media in order to demonstrate how the program introduced novel ideas about race and also offered a forum where varying perspectives on race, class, and racial relations in Brazil could be discussed. Brazilian Telenovelas is not a reception study in the traditional sense, it is not a story of entertainment-education in the strict sense, and it is not solely a textual analysis. Instead, Joyce’s text is a study of the social milieu that the telenovela (and especially Duas Caras) navigates, one that is a component of a contemporary progressive social movement in Brazil, and one that views the text as being located in social interactions. As such, this book reveals how telenovelas contribute to social change in a way that has not been fully explored in previous scholarship.
Table of Contents
- Chapter I – Episode 1: And Let There be White
- Chapter II – Black Flows: Duas Caras / The Legacy of Whitening and Racial Democracy
- Chapter III – “My Little Whitey” / “My Big, Delicious Negro:” Telenovelas, Duas Caras, and the Representation of Race
- Chapter IV – Deu no Blogão! (“It was in the Big Blog!”): Writing a Telenovela, a Blog, and a Metadiscourse
- Chapter V – Duas Caras as a New Approach to Social Merchandising
- Chapter VI – Conclusions
- References
- About the Author
- Index
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Critical Mixed Race Studies Website is Launched
Critical Mixed Race Studies Website
2013-02-20Laura Kina, Associate Professor Art, Media and Design
DePaul University
The new Critical Mixed Race Studies website has been launched!
Critical Mixed Race Studies is the transracial, transdisciplinary, and transnational critical analysis of the institutionalization of social, cultural, and political orders based on dominant conceptions of race. CMRS emphasizes the mutability of race and the porosity of racial boundaries in order to critique processes of racialization and social stratification based on race. CMRS addresses local and global systemic injustices rooted in systems of racialization.
Visit the site here.
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The Center for Children’s Books
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
February 2013Tad Andracki, CCB Outreach Coordinator
“Everyone deserves to see themselves represented in a book. And a good book at that.”
GSLIS doctoral student Karla Lucht visited the School of Library, Archival, and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia as part of the iSchool Doctoral Student Exchange Program in November 2012. The CCB decided to meet with Karla to discuss her trip and her research. Lucht describes her research as looking at the representations of mixed-race Asian Americans and Canadians in youth literature with a critical race theory lens.
Why do you see your research as important to the field of youth services and children’s literature? Why is it important?
To start with, there’s a gap in this research with lots of underrepresented groups, but with mixed-race people especially. Everyone deserves to see themselves represented in a book… and a good book at that. In the past, we’ve seen some books about mixed-race people, but a lot of them weren’t good. I’m trying to fill in those gaps.
What are some challenges you see in your particular field of research? What are some opportunities?
One primary challenge is just finding titles, especially using subject headings. The Library of Congress Subject Heading that’s closest to my work is Racially Mixed People–Fiction, which isn’t very descriptive. I’ve been sifting through books with that heading. I’m also trying other keywords—adoption, immigration, multiracial, multiethnic, multicultural–and then looking at the books to see if they have the content I’m interested in.
Another problem is that, especially in the late 1980s and the 90s, a lot of the YA books on this topic are a bit problematic and poorly written. You find books that really invest in Othering a character’s Asian side and putting whiteness on a pedestal. In those books, the character vists the Asian side of the family, and it’s always a big problem–the Asianness is “too weird” or something…
Read the entire interview here.