Mixed Race Studies

Raising Multiracial Children, Part 2: Anti-Blackness in Multiracial Families

EmbraceRace
2020-07-24

Hosted By:

Andrew Grant-Thomas, Co-Founder
Melissa Giraud, Co-Founder

Guest Speakers:

Dr. Victoria K. Malaney Brown, Director of Academic Integrity
Columbia University, New York, New York

Dr. Marcella Runell Hall, Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students
Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts

Dr. Kelly Faye Jackson, Associate Professor of Social Work
Arizona State University

In Part 2 of this conversation about raising multiracial kids, our guests – Drs. Victoria Malaney Brown, Marcella Runell Hall and Kelly Faye Jackson – return to discuss anti-Blackness and how anti-Black messaging shows up in multiracial families (including non-Black families). Referencing recent examples from social media, our guests breakdown three common myths that perpetuate anti-Blackness within multiracial families, and describe how these myths negatively impact the identity development of multiracial Black children specifically. We also talk about concrete steps that parents and caregivers can take now to actively reject White supremacy and anti-Blackness and build resilience as a multiracial family.

Be sure to check out the previous conversation in this pair, Raising Multiracial Children, Part 1: Examining Multiracial Identity.

Watch the video and read the transcript here.

Raising Multiracial Children, Part 1: Examining Multiracial Identity

EmbraceRace
2020-07-24

Hosted By:

Andrew Grant-Thomas, Co-Founder
Melissa Giraud, Co-Founder

Guest Speakers:

Dr. Victoria K. Malaney Brown, Director of Academic Integrity
Columbia University, New York, New York

Dr. Marcella Runell Hall, Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students
Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts

Dr. Kelly Faye Jackson, Associate Professor of Social Work
Arizona State University

Roughly one in seven U.S. infants (14%) are multiracial or multiethnic (Pew, 2017), but what does it mean to be multiracial? It’s complicated!

In Part 1 in this conversation about raising multiracial kids we speak with our guests – Drs. Victoria Malaney Brown, Marcella Runell Hall and Kelly Faye Jackson – about some of the complexities of identifying with more than one race, and about the pivotal role families play in shaping how multiracial children come to understand themselves and the world around them. This dynamic is especially complex in this historical moment as the United States comes to terms with its own White supremacist roots.

Our guests describe the challenges and strengths of identifying with more than one racial group, highlighting examples from recent research, and draw from their own personal experiences as multiracial individuals and parents of multiracial children. As always we end with your questions and comments.

Watch the video and read the transcript here.