Mixed Race Studies

Family Dynamics Between Arab Muslim parents, Western Parents and Their Bi-ethnic Children

California State University, Sacramemto
Spring 2011
75 pages

Yasmine Binghalib

THESIS Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in COUNSELING (Marriage, Family and Child Counseling)

Families made up of one an Arab Muslim parent, Western parent and their children were examined to find out what unique dynamics and issues they face. Bi-ethnic Arab and American participants completed a questionnaire about demographics and underwent an in-depth interview that explored their experiences as a bi-ethnic person and the dynamics within their families. Participants reported a variety of experiences, though certain themes were extrapolated from their responses. Participants either identified more strongly with their Western mother or their Middle Eastern father. Feelings of marginalization were identified as part of the bi-cultural Arab and American experience as well as some identity confusion. Participants also reported that they felt unable to disclose as much information about their life to their Middle Eastern fathers as they did their American mothers.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Acknowledgments
• 1. INTRODUCTION
  • Introduction to the Research
  • Rationale for Research
  • Statement of the Problem
  • Definitions
• 2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
  • Introduction
  • Introduction to Arabs and Islam
  • Introduction to Anglo Americans
  • Family Life
  • Marriages
  • Parenting
  • Summary
• 3. DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
  • Introduction
  • Purpose of the Study
  • Research Questions
  • Research Methods and Procedures
  • Sample Population
  • Research Design
  • Research Procedure
  • Analysis
  • Summary
• 4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
  • Introduction
  • Demographics of Participants
  • Family Characteristics
  • Summary
• 5. DISCUSSION
  • Introduction
  • Summary of Study
  • Discussion
  • Limitations
  • Recommendations for Further Research
• Appendix A. Informed Consent
• Appendix B. Questionnaire
• Appendix C. Interview Questions
• References

Read the entire thesis here.

In Conversation with Mix-d

the mixed project
2012-04-13

First to enter is Jeanette. Attired in an elegant blouse, she is ready for her close-up. Her sweet smile and murmur of ‘good morning’ gets immediate replies from the rest of us in the studio. Jeanette’s blue eyes will not get completely accustomed to the dim lighting, they are not as sharp as they used to be. Bradley Lincoln, her son, standing a few inches taller is leading her from behind and with a tender hand on her waist, he guides her to turn left into the studio.

The pair make their way to the sofas. After a long train excursion from Manchester, tea with milk for Bradley and water for Jeanette puts everyone at ease. Mother and son sit with the warm sun on their backs, facing Rhoda and Andy. Angela, Andy’s assistant is away from the studio today. Andy’s younger daughter, Emilia and I are sat parallel to the group, excited for the discussion to begin. Faint music can be heard playing from a distance. Bradley is usually the one asking the questions. In 2006, he founded Mix-d, an organisation that aims to elevate discussions on mixed race identity. Mix-d is today a place where all people of multiple heritage are able to express their feelings on the subject. This fantastic organisation has several ongoing projects, including an information pack offering helpful advice for parents and imminent parents of mixed race children. Last year they held the second Mix-d Face, the UK’s first modelling competition for people of mixed race and judged by Jade Thompson, the winner of Britain’s and Ireland’s Next Top Model.

Today, it’s Rhoda who will be asking the questions. Andy explains the project originated from several questions that kept resonating in his mind. “What impact, if any, does having an English father and a mother of Afro-Caribbean descent have on my children? How does the world’s view of my three children affect the way they see themselves?” Bradley nods in between Andy queries. “Okay, I get that.”

Andy concludes, “and it would be interesting to have a project where we could get people from different mixed backgrounds to share their life experiences and bring new faces and a new dimension to the discussion.” Bradley is the ideal candidate for this project. He has spent his life negating his own racial identity and brings this determination to helping others at various stages in their own understanding…

…Excerpts from Bradley and Jeanette’s testimony.

Rhoda Where are your parents from?

Bradley My Mum is white English, my Dad is black Jamaican.

Rhoda And how would they describe themselves?

Bradley My Dad describes himself as Jamaican. My Mum, how would you describe yourself?

Jeanette White English.

R How did you meet Bradley’s dad?

J I used to work in a pub. I worked at the bar and he came in quite often with his friends. I’d already been married. I already had three sons. I met Lloyd then.

B It’s all right, we can be honest. My Mum and Dad are not still together…

…R When you were growing up was there anybody or any media personality with whom you identified or were particularly proud of?

B Not necessarily proud of, but I remember going to my Dad’s and he used to have the Ebony magazine and I’d read it. And maybe I just felt more attuned to that styling, and thought I can’t bring it home because my brother is going to think that it’s racist so I didn’t bring it home but I used to look at it and see black people in a certain way. it was a very mild sensation, but…

R So it wasn’t anyone in particular, it was the notion of there being a clandestine black elite.

B Yeah, somebody who wasn’t white. I lived in a predominantly white environment and in school I remember not being represented in the curriculum even though I couldn’t articulate it. the small bit of work we did around black history which was very minimal. I didn’t feel like I could authentically be with this because I’m not fully black. I felt quite absent from lots of things but because I had a happy home life in lots of other ways I think that counter balanced it, but given the personality I have I was always searching for what truly represented me without having to give up my Mum or my Dad.

J I think also when Bradley’s father came over here from Jamaica he tried to pursue another lifestyle, he didn’t want to be seen as black. He tried to fit in into the white…to assimilate. So I think this is maybe why he didn’t navigate Bradley through some of the Jamaican culture because he himself had come from that and he didn’t want that any more, he didn’t want that in his background. He just wanted to be seen as someone who had lived in England for years and years. He didn’t want to take Bradley through all this, he just wanted to push all the Jamaican things to the background. Cos it was later on wasn’t it, when you got older started to investigate your Grandma and everything. It wasn’t up to your Dad that instigated that…

…R Are there are any personal thoughts you’d like to see included in the debate?

B I’d certainly like to see the discussion handed over to more younger people. Cos I’ve done some work in Europe, in the States and here and I find we can get locked into that victim or blaming other people, or victimhood, or looking for a problem. I find that lots of people seem to be looking for a problem. So they want to have a conversation but not to the end of finding an issue. Creating a space that gives them permission to talk about it. It seems that lots of academics enable the conversation by looking at the sociological and the psychological. Sociological is how it’s introduced in schools and how governments see mixed race. The psychological is the disconnect between the two, but the larger voice is the sociological voice. What I’d like to see is people who are mixed race from different backgrounds and experiences just talking about things from their own point of view, to kind of balance out the academic discussion. Cos the academic discussion is a different language. When I went into this project I wanted to look at the academic route but they’re actually just saying the same things. You can codify it and break it down. And they’re moaning and complaining and being intellectually superior to each other, which doesn’t actually involve the individual. It’s more of a cerebral exercise that they pass between each other. I’m more interested in nurturing the emotional side of this discussion, which then leads to the vocabulary of the psychological and the sociological so they can talk about it…

…R The things that define these kids is that they all sound the same.

B Yeah, that’s true. I was tired of academics talking in a certain way so I didn’t start this project til I was 36 so I’d seen lots of different discussions and I thought this is boring, everyone was saying much of the same things. I was trying to find a way to have this conversation with young people in a way they wanted to have this conversation. And that was quite freeing because nobody was doing that and people criticised it, academics criticised it and that’s what they do, but they critique to the point where they somehow find problems that aren’t there. But there is a way of still having this conversation, to have it in a way where being seen as mixed isn’t victimised. It’s a very middle line, that some will resist, but it exists and people say, yeah, that’s where I live, that’s how my mind works. But academics don’t like that.

Read the entire interview here.

Categorization of racial/ethnic identity for racialized and marginalized biracials in the mainland United States

California State University, Sacramento
Spring 2009
169 pages

Estrella Valdez

THESIS Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in SPECIAL MAJOR (Ethnic Studies)

There is no singular agreed-upon understanding of what it means to be identified as biracial in the mainland United States, especially when a person is the product of the union of two marginalized ethnicities. For decades, the hegemonic (white) group has set in place values and social forces that do not allow biracials to fully embrace all parts their ethnic identities. Marginalizing this group has not only led to a misunderstanding of their needs in social and institutional settings, but has caused confusion in the individual when they attempt to define who they are racially. This group of biracials is one of the fastest-growing segments of the United States population; they need to be understood and their needs met. In order to do this, changes in existing laws and socials forces must be addressed. Twelve women, all products of minority-minority unions, were interviewed for this study. Using a qualitative approach, biethnic/biracial participants used their own voices to offer first-hand accounts of their life experiences without persistent hegemonic influences or the influence of the researcher. An examination of the historical construction of race through miscegenation laws, the United States Census, existing studies on biracial self-identfication was also used to determine how and what processes and social conditions impact identity formation. What was ultimately learned from the results of the study is that social class and economics together-not just race serve as the catalyst for the division of society. Participants who had a more stable economic base were more comfortable with their racial self-identity; participants who were raised by a single parent did not have a very stable economic base and struggled more in the formation of their racial self-identity.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Acknowledgments
• List of Tables
• List of Figures
• 1. INTRODUCTION
  • Statement of the Problem
  • Racial Designations
  • Definition of Terms
• 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
  • Historical Construction of Race
    • Subjugation of People of Color
  • Relationship of Identity Formation in the United States
    • Literature Supporting the Role and Rule of Hypodescent as an Influence in Identity Construction
    • Literature Supporting the Effect of Miscegenation Laws as an Influence in Racial Identity Construction
    • Literature Supporting the Effect of the United States Census as an Influence in Racial Identity Construction
  • The Construction of Identity Formation
    • Literature Supporting the Influence of Social and Peer Forces in Racial Identity Construction
    • Literature Supporting the Influence of Parents as Forces in Racial Identity Construction
    • Literature Supporting the Individual as Force in Racial Identity Construction
  • Summary and Conclusion
• 3. METHODOLOGY
  • Introduction and Overview
  • Research Design
    • Criteria
  • Research Questions and Guiding Questions
  • Constraints
  • Data Analysis
  • Summary and Conclusion
• 4. PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
  • Narrative Portraits
    • Morar Suave
    • Mercy Lamb
    • Jenny Jones
    • Ella Bee
    • Hilary Mahler
  • Who Am I?
  • Discussion and Analysis
    • New Census Overview
    • The Multi-Group Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM)
    • Naming: Who am I?
    • How Do I Belong?
  • Where Do I Belong?
  • Where Do I fit With My Parents
  • Summary and Conclusion
• 5. CONCLUSION
  • Reason for the Study
  • Next Steps
• Appendix A. Research Subjects’ Bill of Rights
• Appendix B. Informed Consent
• Appendix C. Ethnic Self-Identification Inventory

Read the entire thesis here.

Racial/Ethnic Variation in Parenting Styles: The Experience of Multiracial Adolescents

Bowling Green State University
December 2011
57 pages

Amanda N. House

According to the 2009 American Community Survey, 2.4% of the U.S. population consists of individuals who identify as two or more races, or multiracial. Nearly half of this estimate captures children under the age of 18, and the multiracial population continues to grow. There is previous literature on racial identification and friendship networks among multiracials, though little attention has been paid to the family experiences of multiracial children and adolescents. Adolescence is often a difficult life stage, and multiracial adolescents may face more adversity than monoracial adolescents with added identity concerns. Parents may react to these unique challenges by adjusting their parenting behaviors. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 13,395), the present study examines parenting behaviors and parenting styles among monoracial and multiracial adolescents and extends this research by further dissecting the multiracial group. Results show that among levels of parental warmth, there are no significant differences between monoracial and multiracial adolescents. However, on average, Black adolescents report higher levels of parental control than multiracial adolescents. Among multiracial adolescents, no significant differences were found between multiracial White and multiracial non-White adolescents, or between multiracial Black and multiracial non-Black adolescents, with respect to levels of parental warmth or parental control. Results also show that Asian adolescents are more likely than multiracial adolescents to experience authoritarian parenting than to experience authoritative parenting. Among the multiracial group, multiracial White adolescents are more likely than multiracial non-White adolescents to experience neglectful parenting than to experience authoritative parenting. No significant racial differences were found between multiracial Black and multiracial non-Black adolescents with respect to parenting styles.

Read the entire dissertation here.

‘Perpetual others’: The role of culture, race, and nation in the formation of a mixed-race identity

University of Minnesota
June 2004
275 pages
Publication Number: AAT 3149283
ISBN: 9780496086603

Jacquetta Elizabeth Amdahl

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

The insistence upon a racial identity for multiracial blacks that is not singularly African American has been problematic throughout American history. The link between a racial identity that publicly acknowledges one’s ties to the African American community and the private ownership of one’s complete ancestry has been one that has been consistently tenuous for blacks of multiracial heritage. However, the first generation of openly multiracial African American artists have utilized their visibility in popular culture, as well as work they do within it, as spaces in which to forcefully assert this link. By consciously embracing and cultivating both public and private racial identities, they have distinguished themselves from the postracialist and even anti-black sentiments espoused by leaders and scholars within the Multiracial Category Movement (MCM).

This project explores the links between cultural expression, racial formation, and political agency through the investigation of the public lives and artistic expression of multiracial artists born between 1964 and 1970. These individuals were chosen because of their proximity to the Loving v. Virginia decision that overturned anti-miscegenation statutes. They are the first generation of officially recognized multiracial African Americans.

The project further examines the links between gender and race in representations of multiracial African Americans, as well as the history of the mixed race black population, and finally, the rise of the Multiracial Category Movement, and multiracial studies. Through these explorations, the inherently political nature of race is uncovered, and the public nature of racial identity is revealed. Finally, it concludes that the need for a fluid and expanded notion of African American identity, rather than the broadening of the definitions of whiteness, is the necessary answer to questions surrounding multiracial African American identities.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction: From African American to Multiracial? Racial Identity and Public Discourse
• Chapter 1: Reports from the ‘Third Space’: The Music and Visual Presence of Mixed Race Artists in Popular Culture
  • The Hughes Brothers
  • Lenny Kravitz
  • Vin Diesel
• Chapter 2:From Tragic Mulatto to Erotically Autonomous Black Woman: Halle Berry’s Journey to Monster’s Ball
• Chapter 3: From Blue Vein Societies to Black Power: The ‘Mulatto Elite’ and the Black/White Binary
  • The Beginnings of Separate but Equal
  • The New Negro
  • The Quest to Solve the ‘American Dilemma’
• Chapter 4: Beyond the Private Realm: The Multiracialist Struggle with Public Racial Identities
  • The Multiracial Category Movement (MCM)
  • Multiracial Studies
  • Postracialists
  • Critical Scholarship lhat Explores Multiracial Issues
• Epilogue: Still ‘A Family Affair’: Implications of a Multiracial African American Identity

Purchase the dissertation here.

Biracial vs. Monoracial Ethnic Identity: Differences in Trait Anxiety, Social Anxiety and Depression

The American University
2004
44 pages
Publication Number: AAT 1423925
ISBN: 9780496127542

Victoria Hope Coleman

Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology

This study compared monoracial (African-American and European American) with Biracial participants on measures of depression and anxiety. Results indicate that Biracial participants as a whole are no more likely to exhibit elevated anxiety and depression symptoms than monoracial groups. However, when Biracial participants were divided into two groups (i.e., those who identify as monoracial and those who identify as Biracial), it was noted that the Biracial group who identified as African-American reported significantly higher levels of depression and trait anxiety symptoms than Biracial individuals who identified as Biracial. An integrated identity (i.e., identifying oneself as Biracial) appears to be associated with less severe anxiety and depressive symptomatology. Within the African-American sample, gender differences in depression were observed, and low acculturation was found to correlate with higher fear of negative evaluation. A measure of the affective component of acculturation revealed significant differences in African-American and European-American populations. Further research is needed to examine the complexities of the Biracial identity process and identify strategies by which a Biracial individual can more easily navigate through it.

Purchase the dissertation here.

The Effect of a Biracial identity Development Program on Feelings of Alienation in Biracial Children

University of San Francisco
December 2004
94 pages
Publication Number: AAT 3156115
ISBN: 9780496168002

Robin E. Schulte

A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education Counseling Psychology Department In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree Doctor of Psychology

Research on biracial individuals has primarily been done on Black/White mixed individuals. This study examines the effects of a biracial identity development program on feelings of alienation for Asian/Caucasian and Latino/Caucasian children. A single-subject research design was conducted on three female participants, two of Asian/Caucasian descent and the third of Latino/Caucasian descent. The purpose of the research was to demonstrate whether a biracial identity development program would prevent a cultural identity crisis from forming. This was accomplished by measuring the participant’s levels of alienation. The program utilized concepts from social learning theory and incorporated various activities which included, role-modeling, the Kinetic Family Drawing, bibliotherapy, and family meetings. The social environment and cultural factors such as the race of peers, relatives, communities, and friends were examined. Results indicated that the program was not as effective as previously hypothesized. However, results also showed that this may have been due to the way the program outcome was measured.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• CHAPTER ONE: Introduction
  • Statement of the Problem
  • Procedures
  • Definitions
  • Implications of the Study
  • Significance of the Study
• CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
  • Intermarried Couples
  • Biracial Offspring
    • A Model of Ethnic Identity Development
    • Physical Appearance
  • Counseling Interracial Families and their Children
    • Principles of Working with Interracial Couples
    • Implications for Counselors Working with Biracial Child
  • Biracial Research
    • Biracial Identity Development
  • Therapy and Biracial Identity Development
  • Social Learning Theory
  • Alienation
  • Conclusion
• CHAPTER THREE: METHOD
  • Restatement of the Major Research Question
  • Research Design
  • Participants
  • Protection of Human Subjects
  • Procedures
  • Treatment
    • Week 1
    • Week 2
    • Week 3
    • Week 4
    • Week 5
  • Instrumentation
    • Structured Interview:
    • The MEIM
  • Reliability
    • Structured Interview:
    • The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure
  • Validity:
  • Data Collection
    • Structured Interview
    • Revised Version of the MEIM:
    • Alienation Log
  • Data Analysis
    • Structured Interview
    • Revised Version of the MEIM
    • Alienation Log
• CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS
  • Alienation Scores
    • Participant 1
    • Participant 2
    • Participant 3
  • Revised MEIM Scores
  • Social Validation Observations
    • Participant 1
      • Week 1-Baseline
      • Week 2
      • Week 3
      • Week 4
      • Week 5
      • Feedback Session
    • Participant 2
      • Week 1-Baseline
      • Week 2
      • Week 3
      • Week 4
      • Week 5
      • Feedback Session
    • Participant 3
      • Week 1-Baseline
      • Week 2
      • Week 3
      • Week 4
      • Week 5
      • Feedback Session
  • Summary
• SECTION FIVE: DISCUSSION
  • Limitations of the Study
    • Internal Validity
  • Recommendations
  • Implications for Practice
  • Conclusion
• APPENDICES
• REFERENCES

Purchase the dissertation here.

A Phenomenological Study of the Life Experiences of Biracial Adolescents

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
September 7, 2004
86 pages
Publication Number: AAT 3177441
ISBN: 9780542168468

Nicole Alease Tefera

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Psychology

The “biracial baby boom” (Root, 1996, p. xv) in the United States started approximately 25 years ago around the time the final laws against miscegenation were repealed by the United States Supreme Court 1967 decision (Loving v. Virginia, 1967). After the historical ruling, the number of children being born to parents with different racial backgrounds tripled from less than 400,000 in 1970 to 1.5 million in 1990 (Wright, 1994). The emergence of a racially mixed population is rapidly changing the face of the United States causing Americans to ask questions related to our identity such as: (a) Who are we?, (b) How do we see ourselves?, and (c) Who are we in relation to one another? These questions originate in a country that has maintained particular views of race and one that subscribed to race as a fixed construct, perceived itself as White, and has been dedicated to preserving racial lines. Therefore, the questions posed in relation to race and identity can only be expected to contribute to an identity crisis that this country is unprepared to resolve. Resolving the identity crisis may force Americans to reexamine our construction of race and the hierarchal social order it supports (Root, 1992).

During the past two decades, interracial marriages have produced biracial children, many of whom are now adolescents and young adults, located primarily in urban areas in the East, the Midwest, and the West Coast (Gibbs, 1987). According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there are approximately 6.8 million individuals in this country who identify as two or more races (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). However, no reliable estimates of Black-White youth are available. Based on the current statistics of Black-White marriages, it can only be hypothesized that these unions produce nearly one-fourth of biracial children in the United States of America. The dual racial identity of a biracial adolescent is likely to pose a challenge in the development of a cohesive, well-integrated self-concept.

This phenomenological study explored the life experiences of six biracial adolescents (Travis, Karen, Shelly, Michael, Erin, and Ayana) of European American and African American decent living in both the inner city and surrounding suburbs of a large urban city located in the Midwest. Data was analyzed horizontally and vertically to ascertain the meanings of being biracial, specifically during adolescence. Themes emerged with respect to the participants’ ethnic/racial identification, experiences in adolescence, social influences, and racial resemblance.

This study revealed tasks for identity formation and biracial identity development during adolescence. Participants in this study clearly struggled with normal adolescent identity formation while simultaneously attempting to integrate their dual racial heritage. As with identity formation models, peer influences were most influential in how participants’ identified themselves. Therefore, one can hypothesize that biracial identity development and identity formation are not mutually exclusive. With respect to clinical implications, this theory offers the assumption that treatment interventions should focus on helping the adolescent to effectively navigate through normal identity formation while simultaneously addressing conflict surrounding their dual racial/ethnic background.

Table of Contents

• Copyright.
• Signature Page.
• Acknowledgements
• Abstract
• List of Tables
• Chapter 1: Introduction
  • Statement of Topic
  • Rationale for the Study
• Chapter 2: Literature Review
  • Identity Formation in Adolescence
  • Racial/Ethnic Identity Development
  • Biracial Identity Development
  • Models of Biracial Identity Development
  • Review of Research on Biracial Youth and Young Adults
• Chapter 3: Methodology
  • Methodology and Participants
  • Procedures
  • Analysis
• Chapter 4: Presentation of Data Analysis
  • Participant #2: Travis
  • Participant #3: Karen
  • Participant #4: Shelly
  • Participant #5: Michael
  • Participant #6: Erin
  • Participant #7: Ayana
  • Composite Description of Participant Interviews
• Chapter 5 Summary, Implications, and Outcomes
  • Emerging Themes
  • Limitations of the Study
• References
• Appendix A: Demographic Questionnaire
• Appendix B: Study Participant (ages 12-17) Assent Form
• Appendix C: Study Participant (Age 18) Informed Consent Form
• Appendix D: Parent Informed Consent Form
• Appendix E: Interview Guide
• Appendix F: Advertisement

Purchase the dissertation here.

I Do Choose To Run: Personal boxes and the ethics of race

The Stanford Daily
2012-04-09

Miles Unterreiner

In an eloquently argued New York Times Sunday Review article on March 16th, entitled “As Black as We Wish to Be,” author Thomas Chatterton Williams advances a provocative and thought-provoking argument: “mixed-race blacks have an ethical obligation to identify as black — and interracial couples share a similar moral imperative to inculcate certain ideas of black heritage and racial identity in their mixed-race children, regardless of how they look.”
 
Is this a good argument? Do mixed-race individuals have an ethical obligation to identify as members of one race, rather than many or none? And is there a special obligation in the case of mixed-race African-Americans, given this country’s long history of racial discrimination?
 
I must respectfully disagree with Mr. Williams and answer all three with “no.”…

Read the entire opinion piece here.

A Heritage Celebration: Event recognizes both Hispanic and Native American roots with symposium and several performances

San Marcos Daily Record
San Marcos, Texas

2011-08-12

San Marcos — San Marcos will experience a unique, two-in-one heritage celebration in a combination of two nationally recognized heritage months — Hispanic and Native American — on Saturday, Oct. 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos, 211 Lee Street.

A Sunday Matinee will also take place at 3 p.m. the next day at the Texas Music Theater.

“We’re bringing attention to the fact that most Hispanics in Texas have Native American ancestors and can celebrate two national heritage months,” says Dr. Mario Garza, chair of the Indigenous Cultures Institute that is producing this event. “Most Hispanics can legitimately embrace a Native American identity because they still retain much of their indigenous culture like customs, foods and even their Native language.”…

…“Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez will be one of the speakers in our Indigenous-Hispanics Symposium,” said Dr. Lydia French, managing editor of Nakum, the Institute’s online journal. “Dr. Rodriguez is one of the major figures in the historic struggle against the Arizona legislature’s anti immigrant law SB 1070 and ban on ethnic studies programs.”…

…Dr. Nicole M. Guidotti-Hernández and Margaret E. Cantú-Sánchez will be joining Dr. Rodriguez as presenters on the “Education: The Indigenity Challenge” panel.  Dr. Guidotti- Hernández teaches Women’s Studies at the University of Arizona and her published articles include “Reading Violence, Making Chicana Subjectivities” and “Dora the Explorer, Constructing ‘Latinidades’ and the Politics of Global Citizenship.”

Cantú-Sánchez is pursuing her doctorate degree in English at the University of Texas at San Antonio and is developing her “mestizaje” theory, which proposes that a balance of cultural and institutional philosophies of human knowledge ensures a better grasp of one’s identity…

Read the entire article here.