Mixed Race Studies

Scholarly perspectives on the mixed race experience.

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Tag: Jenée Desmond-Harris

  • America’s largest multiracial group doesn’t think of itself that way

    America’s largest multiracial group doesn’t think of itself that way Vox 2015-06-18 Jenée Desmond-Harris People who have both white and Native American heritage make up America’s biggest multiracial group. But they’re the least likely to embrace the label. This is one of the findings of a Pew Research Center study that took an incredibly detailed…

  • Study illuminates why multiracial Americans almost never call themselves white

    Study illuminates why multiracial Americans almost never call themselves white Vox 2015-06-15 Jenée Desmond-Harris Look up any article about President Obama that focuses on his role as the first black president. Go ahead, do it now. Scroll down to the comments. I promise you, you’ll find earnest inquiries asking why the president is considered black…

  • Was pro baseball’s first African-American player passing for white?

    Was pro baseball’s first African-American player passing for white? Vox 2015-04-11 Jenée Desmond-Harris William Edward White on the 1879 Brown baseball team. White is in the second row, seated and wearing a hat. (Source: Brown University Archives via Slate) A story about professional baseball’s little-known first black player (well, possible first black player) raises as…

  • 6 things I wish people understood about being biracial

    6 things I wish people understood about being biracial Vox 2015-03-11 Jenée Desmond-Harris, Race, Law, and Politics Reporter According to the results of a DNA test I took recently, my ancestors on my father’s side are mostly from West Africa (via Arkansas), and the ones on my mom’s side come from Europe. When strangers inquire…

  • The myth of race, debunked in 3 minutes

    The myth of race, debunked in 3 minutes Vox 2015-01-13 Jenée Desmond Harris You may know exactly what race you are, but how would you prove it if somebody disagreed with you? Jenée Desmond Harris explains. And for more on how race is a social construct, click here.

  • Researchers have been thinking about race all wrong

    Researchers have been thinking about race all wrong Vox 2014-12-15 Jenée Desmond-Harris Studies on race are a dime a dozen: researchers examine its relationship to everything from elementary school test scores to who’s most likely to develop diabetes to which groups are overrepresented in ethnic militias to who Americans vote for, and we read about…

  • How a biracial woman grew up thinking she was white

    How a biracial woman grew up thinking she was white Vox 2014-11-19 Jenée Desmond-Harris When Lacey Schwartz was accepted to Georgetown University, the school saw her photo and passed her name along to the black student association. The organization contacted her. The only issue: Schwartz had grown up in a Jewish household in Woodstock New…

  • 11 ways race isn’t real

    11 ways race isn’t real Vox 2014-10-10 Jenée Desmond-Harris It was surprising — and, to many, annoying — to learn that Raven Symoné, the brown-skinned girl who played the adorable youngest character on TV’s seminal black sitcom, The Cosby Show, doesn’t consider herself “African-American.” (In a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, she said she thought…

  • Race: More Than Skin Deep

    Multiracial people are the fastest growing demographic in the U.S., but for these Americans, race isn’t a black and white issue. HuffPost Live explores the experience of multiracial Americans and how outward appearance shapes their identities.

  • Beyond Biracial: When Blackness Is a Small, Nearly Invisible Fraction

    Beyond Biracial: When Blackness Is a Small, Nearly Invisible Fraction The Root 2014-05-12 Jenée Desmond-Harris, Senior Staff Writer and White House Correspondent In the past, these Americans would have been labeled “quadroons” or “octoroons.” Today their options are so much broader. What can they teach us about race in 2014 and in the future? Stephanie…