{"id":26524,"date":"2012-11-18T18:33:27","date_gmt":"2012-11-18T18:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/wordpress\/?p=26524"},"modified":"2016-11-28T00:38:50","modified_gmt":"2016-11-28T00:38:50","slug":"covering-multiracial-america-requires-historical-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/?p=26524","title":{"rendered":"Covering Multiracial America Requires Historical Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

Covering Multiracial America Requires Historical Perspective<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Maynard Media Center on Structural Inequity<\/a>
\nMaynard Institute<\/a>
\n2012-11-14<\/p>\n

Nadra Kareem Nittle<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although people of mixed races have lived in the United States for centuries, authorities on multiracial identity say mainstream media continue to report on these people as if they are a new phenomenon.<\/p>\n

In 1619, the first slaves were brought to Britain\u2019s North American colonies. The following year, says Audrey Smedley<\/a>, professor emerita of anthropology and African American studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, the first \u201cmulatto<\/a>\u201d child was born. Thus, mixed-race people have a long history in this country, disproving the notion often mentioned today that miscegenation<\/a> will somehow magically cure racism.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most major stereotypes about multiracial people in America historically involved individuals whose heritage was black and white or Native American and white. Such people were largely thought to yearn for the same advantages as whites but found them off-limits because of the \u201cone-drop rule,\u201d which originated in the South and mandated that just a drop of black blood<\/a> meant they were of color.<\/p>\n

In the 21st century, newer stereotypes about multiracial people have gained popularity. Rainier Spencer<\/a>, founder and director of the Afro-American Studies Program and senior adviser to the president at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, says contemporary media coverage of mixed-race people isn\u2019t filled with tragic mulattoes<\/a> but with docile symbols of a colorblind America yet to reach fruition.<\/p>\n

\u201cMultiracial people are infantilized,\u201d Spencer says. \u201cThey [the media] don\u2019t treat them as fully capable agents. Mixed-race people are quiet and happy, and they don\u2019t complain. They\u2019re our postracial future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spencer, author of \u201cReproducing Race: The Paradox of Generation Mix<\/a>,\u201d cautions that these notions are dangerous. The stereotype that multiracial people represent a bridge between races that will soon eradicate bigotry ignores the fact that such people were in North America more than a century before U.S. independence and that racism remains a reality.<\/p>\n

This idea also lets the establishment off the hook, he says. \u201cIf mixed-race people are going to take us to a postracial destiny, then the power structure doesn\u2019t have to worry about it. It\u2019s very convenient.\u201d…<\/p>\n

…In 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau permitted declaring more than one race on census forms. In the subsequent decade, several published articles reported that the mixed-race population was increasing, especially among young people.<\/p>\n

But Heidi W. Durrow<\/a>, who grew up as the only daughter of an African-American father and a Danish mother, would like to see news stories about multiracial people that don\u2019t revolve around census figures…<\/p>\n

…Laura Kina<\/a>, a founding member of the Critical Mixed Race Studies biennial conference and associate professor of Art, Media and Design at DePaul University, has similar concerns. She considers the idea that mixed-race people are new to be a stereotype. \u201cThey go back a very long ways,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Kina is the daughter of an Okinawan father from Hawaii and a Spanish-Basque\/Anglo mother, according to her website…<\/p>\n

…Dominique DiPrima<\/a>, host of Los Angeles radio show \u201cThe Front Page,\u201d takes issue with the concept of multiracialism because she disputes the concept of race. \u201cI think the media should differentiate between culture, ethnicity and race,\u201d says DiPrima, daughter of Italian-American poet Diane di Prima and African-American writer Amiri Baraka…<\/p>\n

Read the entire article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Covering Multiracial America Requires Historical Perspective Maynard Media Center on Structural Inequity Maynard Institute 2012-11-14 Nadra Kareem Nittle Although people of mixed races have lived in the United States for centuries, authorities on multiracial identity say mainstream media continue to report on these people as if they are a new phenomenon. In 1619, the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,33,459,8,394,10,20],"tags":[4092,12753,65,64,41,12752,12751,6297,45],"class_list":["post-26524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-census","category-history","category-media-archive","category-socialscience","category-uk","category-usa","tag-audrey-smedley","tag-dominique-diprima","tag-heidi-durrow","tag-heidi-w-durrow","tag-laura-kina","tag-maynard-institute","tag-maynard-media-center-on-structural-inequity","tag-nadra-kareem-nittle","tag-rainier-spencer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26524"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50309,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26524\/revisions\/50309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}