Mixed Race Studies

A Dialectic of Race Discourses: The Presence/Absence of Mixed Race at the State, Institution, and Civil Society and Voluntary and Community Sector Levels in the United Kingdom

Chinelo L. Njaka, Independent Researcher
London, United Kingdom

Social Sciences
Volume 11, Number 2, Special Issue “Multiracial Identities and Experiences in/under White Supremacy”
Published 2022-02-21
DOI: 10.3390/socsci11020086

For the twenty years that mixed race has been on the United Kingdom (UK) censuses, the main story of mixed race in the UK remains one notable for its nominal presence and widespread absence in national discourses on race and ethnicity, racialisation, and racisms. The article explores reasons for this through connecting the continued presence/absence of mixed race in public discursive spheres to the role that White supremacy continues to play at systemic, structural, and institutional levels within UK society. As technologies of White supremacy, the article argues that continued marginalisation of mixed race has a direct connection to systemic, structural, and institutional aspects of race, racialisation, and racisms. Using three case studies, the article will use race-critical analyses to examine the ways that mixed race is present and—more often—absent at three societal levels: the state, institution, and civil society and voluntary and community sector. The paper will conclude by exploring key broad consequences for the persistent and common presence/absence of mixed race within race and racisms discourses as a technology of political power. Working in tandem, the paper exposes that presence/absence continues to affect mixed race people—and all racialised people—living in and under White supremacy.

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Critical Mixed Race Studies Book Talk Series: Mixed-Race in the US and UK: Comparing the Past, Present, and Future

Critical Mixed Race Studies Association
2021-05-06, 13:30Z (09:30 EDT)

There is a photo of both authors in the upper right-hand corner of the flyer. Jennifer Patrice Sims (left) and Chinelo L. Njaka (right) are pictured outdoors from the waist up and standing in front of a sand-colored brick wall. Dr. Sims wears a pink cardigan sweater over a white collared shirt and glasses. Dr. Njaka wears a blue cardigan sweater over a white collared shirt with a ditsy floral print. They are both smiling.

Our next CMRS Book Talk is right around the corner! We’re featuring Mixed-Race in the US and UK: Comparing the Past, Present, and Future, by Dr. Jennifer Patrice Sims and our very own Chinelo L. Njaka. Join live and be part of the Q&A!

Mixed-Race in the US and UK: Comparing the Past, Present, and Future
By: Jennifer Patrice Sims and Chinelo L. Njaka
Recipient of the 2020 Mid-South Sociological Association Stanford M. Lyman Distinguished Book Award

Jennifer Patricia Sims, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Taking mixed-race people as her main focus, Dr. Sims’ research examines racial construction, perception, and identity. She is the editor of The Sociology Of Harry Potter (Zossima Press, 2012)

Chinelo L. Njaka, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) is the Founder/Director of Peckham Rights! and an independent social researcher. Dr. Njaka is also a United Nations fellow for People of African Descent. Her research examines racialisation processes across different national, institutional, and organizational contexts; with a focus on the African Diaspora in Europe and human rights.

To register, click here.

Dr. Jennifer Sims wins 2020 Mid-South Sociological Association Book Award

University of Alabama in Huntsville News
2020-10-19

Pictured Dr. Chinelo L. Njaka and Dr. Jennifer Sims with Bookcover Photo Credit Paul Wright

UAH Assistant Professor Dr. Jennifer Patrice Sims has won the 2020 Stanford M. Lyman Distinguished Book Award for her co-authored book Mixed-Race in the US and UK: Comparing the Past, Present, and Future (Emerald Publishing, 2020). The award is given annually by the Mid-South Sociological Association (MSSA) to “honor MSSA members whose recently published work makes a significant contribution to the field of sociology.”

The Association held its annual conference virtually October 14-17. Dr. Andrea Hunt, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of North Alabama and Chair of this year’s Book Award Selection Committee, presented the award at a virtual ceremony Friday evening. Dr. Hunt noted that six books were nominated this year, which she said is the largest amount received in the last several years. She described the 2020 nominations as “very very competitive. The scores were very close. In fact, there was a 0.28 difference between the first and second place scores.”

Speaking of Dr. Sims’ Mixed-Race in the US and UK specifically, Dr. Hunt quoted one member of the Selection Committee as saying the book “helps to open an emerging area in the study of race and demography and has created a new and interesting area for social scientists that will guide research for decades.”…

Read the entire article here.

Mixed-Race in the US and UK: Comparing the Past, Present, and Future

Emerald Publishing Limited
2019-11-23
193 pages
152 x 229mm
Hardback ISBN: 9781787695542
Ebook ISBN: 9781787695559

Jennifer Patrice Sims, Assistant Professor of Sociology
University of Alabama, Huntsville

Chinelo L. Njaka, Independent Social Researcher
Peckham Rights! United Kingdom

Contributing to an emerging literature on mixed-race people in the United States and United Kingdom, this book draws on racial formation theory and the performativity (i.e. “doing”) of race to explore the social construction of mixedness on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

In addition to macro- and micro-level theoretical frameworks, the authors use comparative and relational analytical approaches to reveal similarities and differences between the two nations, explaining them in terms of both common historical roots as well as ongoing contemporary interrelationships.

Focusing on the census, racial identity, civil society, and everyday experiences at the intersection of race, gender, class, and sexuality, Mixed-Race in the US and UK: Comparing the Past, Present, and Future offers academics and students an intriguing look into how mixed-race is constructed and experienced within these two nations. A final in-depth discussion on the authors’ research methodologies makes the book a useful resource on the processes, challenges, and benefits of conducting qualitative research in two nations.

Contents

• List of Tables and Figures
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1. Introduction: The Past, Present, and Future of Mixed-Race People in the United States and United Kingdom
• Chapter 2. Creating Mixed-Race: The Census in the US and the UK
• Chapter 3. Black, British Asian, Mixed-Race, or Jedi: Mixed-Race Identity in the US and UK
• Chapter 4. Mixed-Race Civil Society: Racial Paradigms and Mixed-Race (Re)production in the US and UK
• Chapter 5. “Sometimes it’s the first thing people ask:” Daily Experiences of Mixedness in the US and UK
• Chapter 6. “Yes, girl, yes. I want to have babies:” Mixed-Race Families Generation after Generation
• Chapter 7. Queering Critical Mixed Race Studies
• Chapter 8. Conclusion: Creating and Comparing a Mixed-Race Future
• Methodological Appendix: Conducting Qualitative Research on Both Sides of the Atlantic
• References
• Index

UAH professor publishes new book on mixed-race at home and abroad

University of Alabama in Huntsville
2019-11-21

Dr. Jennifer Patrice Sims, Assistant Professor of Sociology at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) recently published her second book Photo Credit Michael Mercier

Dr. Jennifer Patrice Sims, Assistant Professor of Sociology at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) recently published her second book, Mixed-Race in the US and UK: Comparing the Past, Present, and Future coauthored with UK-based scholar Dr. Chinelo L. Njaka. The book is the second in the Critical Mixed Race Studies book series by Emerald Publishing…

Read the entire press release here.