Mixed Race Studies

He Checked That Box, But How Black is Obama?

Politic365: From Your Point of View
2013-07-12

William Reed, Head
The Business Exchange Network

“If you had a choice of color, which one would you choose, my brother?”

– Curtis Mayfield, 1969

In the official U.S. 2010 head count, President Barack Obama provided one answer to the question about his ethnic background: African American. Since the option was introduced in 2000, the census figures indicate that the country has 5.2 million multiracial individuals. Americans who check more than one box for race now make up 5 percent of the minority population. It’s of note that Obama didn’t check multiple boxes that were available on the form, or choose the option that allowed him to elaborate on his racial heritage. He simply ticked the box that said “Black, African American, or Negro.”

Though he checked the census “Black” box, is Obama “Black” like you and me? To date, he has paid no attention to Blacks and their economic challenges. African-American voters are rooted in the belief that Obama’s platform and persona represent “real Black Americans.” They both may have run the streets of Chicago; however, it’s doubtful Obama knows about the late Curtis Mayfield and what he represented. An American singer, songwriter and record producer best known for his anthem-like music, Mayfield recorded and produced “message music” during the 1960s and 1970s. “Choice of Colors” hit No. 1 on Billboard‘s R&B chart and reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Neither did Obama grow up under the influence of a weekly Jet and or Ebony magazine adorning the family living room coffee table. As opaque as Obama is to Blacks, a fellow Chicago businessman, the late John H. Johnson, made his fortune catering to us.

Obama has yet to show up in the East Room in a dashiki, but his being “Black” and being “there” has spawned “Obamania” among African Americans. Black voters love the fact that Obama checked the “Black” box, even though his mother was a white woman from Kansas. His father was a Black Kenyan. Obama’s biracial identity helped him build a sizable middle-class American following; it’s also opened up questions as to his authenticity as a Black man. “Obama and the Biracial Factor,” edited by Andrew J. Jolivette, is a book that explores the role of Obama’s mixed-race identity in his path to the presidency. It offers a broad and penetrating view of the importance of race in the ongoing development of American politics. It demonstrates how mixed-race identity reinforces rather than challenges white supremacy within popular discourse…

Read the entire article here.

Racism, White Supremacy and Biracial/Multiraciality (2011)

Tim Wise, Antiracist Essayist, Author and Educator
September 2011

Tim Wise

From my September 2011 talk at Spalding University in Louisville, KY. In this snippet, I respond to a question about how we should understand or think about biracial and multiracial folks’ experiences in a system of racism/white supremacy.

[Transcribed by Steven F. Riley]

I think it would be wise for people who are biracial and multiracial to never forget that this is a system of formal historical and institutional white supremacy. And I’m afraid sometimes, there are a lot incentives that the culture puts out there to biracial and multiracial people to forget that. Right. Because they’re not quite as Black or they’re not quite as Brown. And so there is a tendency for people to think that they really escape that system. Right. That they’re not really in that system. And look, and I think that every person ought to be able to claim whatever parts of and all parts of their identity. So if… look, if you’re Tiger Woods and you want to call yourself “Cablinasian,” which is what he did back in the early part of his career. He called himself Cablinasian because he wanted to honor Caucasian part, the Asian part, the Black part, the Native American part. Okay, here’s the deal… He was Cablinasian. He instited on that. He was not Black!

Okay. And then… when Tiger Woods did what Tiger Woods did… repeatedly, apparently, I went on the chat boards—sports chat boards, not political chat boards–sports chat boards. [Be]cause you can tell a lot about the culture based on the annonymous comments that folks post on sports boards. Forget politics, just read any post after a NBA game, after a NFL game, hell, read the comments after a storm goes through your community. Any story at all, folks will bring up race… with an “Anonymous,” just “Anonymous.” They never put their name and they have no avatar, it’s just that shadow-head and “Anonymous” and they put some nonsense. And so, I went on the chatboard after this Tiger Woods thing broke. And it was funny, everyone who had stuff to say about him, none of them said, “You know, this is just what Cablinasian men do.” [laughter] “What do you expect from a Cablinasian.” [laughter].

That’s not what they said, he was Black… as midnight, as soon as he did something that reminded the dominate group of the stereotype they had come to believe. So, multiracial, biracial folks: claim all of, claim every piece of it. Do not forget where one still sits on the trajectory of white supremacy. Because when once you forget that, there is real danger, real danger.

Listen to the clip here (00:02:14). Download the clip here (395 KB).

Trayvon Martin, my son, and the Black Male Code

The Associated Press
2012-03-24

Jesse Washington, National Writer/Race and Ethnicity

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — I thought my son would be much older before I had to tell him about the Black Male Code. He’s only 12, still sleeping with stuffed animals, still afraid of the dark. But after the Trayvon Martin tragedy, I needed to explain to my child that soon people might be afraid of him.

We were in the car on the way to school when a story about Martin came on the radio. “The guy who killed him should get arrested. The dead guy was unarmed!” my son said after hearing that neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman had claimed self-defense in the shooting in Sanford, Fla.

We listened to the rest of the story, describing how Zimmerman had spotted Martin, who was 17, walking home from the store on a rainy night, the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over his head. When it was over, I turned off the radio and told my son about the rules he needs to follow to avoid becoming another Trayvon Martin – a black male who Zimmerman assumed was “suspicious” and “up to no good.”…

Read the entire article here.

Understanding Ethnic-Racial Socialization and Cognition among Multiracial Youth: A Mixed Methods Study

University of Massachusetts, Boston
June 2013

Susan A. Lambe Sarinana

According to the 2010 census report, 9 million people (2.9% of the total population in the United States) identified as multiracial. Of the individuals who identified (or whose parents/guardians identified them) as multiracial, 4.2 million were younger than 18 years of age (www.uscensus.gov). Given that social scientists predict that the multiracial population is increasing so that up to one in five people might identify as multiracial by 2050 (Lee & Bean, 2004), it is critical that researchers examine various aspects of multiracial experiences, including the ways that multiracial youth understand complex concepts such as race, ethnicity, and culture.

This two-part study addresses the gap in literature on intergenerational ethnic-racial socialization processes within interracial families and ethnic cognition among multiracial adolescents. In Study 1, monoracial parents of multiracial children (ages 2-22) completed a survey about ethnic-racial socialization practices, colorblind attitudes, ethnic identity, parent psychological distress, and child psychosocial functioning, and demographic characteristics. Parental ethnic racial socialization beliefs and practices were related to ethnic identity, colorblind attitudes, and parents’ received socialization. In Study 2, multiracial 7th through 12th grade students completed a survey about their perceptions of parental ethnic-racial socialization, ethnic identity, psychosocial functioning, and demographic characteristics. In addition, multiracial adolescents participated in a semi-structured interview to assess Ethnic Perspective Taking Abilities (EPTA; Quintana, 1994). Results support the use of the EPTA model with multiracial youth to assess their understandings of race, ethnicity, and inter-group relations.

Download the entire dissertation here on 2015-06-01.

An African American’s Perspective on the Korean Wave

The Chosunilbo
Seoul, Korea
2013-07-09

Emanuel Pastreich, Associate Professor
Humanitas College, Kyunghee University

I received an unexpected email in February 2013, from a young woman who was studying public health at Harvard University. Mariesa Lee Ricks explained that her mother was Korean and that she had a great interest in Korean culture. Mariesa said that she hoped to find out how K-Pop and Korean social media can play a role in bringing positive messages to youth around the world.

Mariesa added that she hopes to visit Korea to carry out research. I wrote back to her telling her that I would be in Boston soon for a business trip and we agreed to meet up while I was there.

I did not recognize her at first. I was taken aback for a split second when she introduced herself because she turned out to be African American, and I had imagined a half-Korean, half-Caucasian woman who looked like my daughter Rachel. I was impressed that Mariesa did not display the slightest sense of discomfort or uncertainty in the few seconds that it took me to get over my embarrassment. She was clearly an extremely mature and composed woman with a strong sense of herself…

…That vision is linked to the critical role Mariesa’s Korean and African heritage has played in her cultural and intellectual development. Her Korean heritage was essential when she grew up in Atlanta. Her grandmother and mother maintained close ties with Korean culture and the Korean community, which was made easier by the burgeoning Korean population in the part of the city where they lived.

“My father’s family had a limited understanding of Korean culture, but fortunately my mother and grandmother were eager to introduce their culture, whether through funny stories from their childhood in Korea or through cooking kimchi jjigae (spicy Korean stew), for everyone, or teaching some Korean phrases,” she said. “So I developed an appetite to try new things and to explore new combinations of culture. That is the appeal of the Korean Wave for me.”

“Thanks in large part to my Korean heritage, I have developed an intense desire to honor my parents and family — a trait that has spurred me to be extremely aware of how my decisions and actions impact others,” she said. “At the same time, American values of individuality have allowed me to feel comfortable takings risks and exploring my own interests.”…

Read the entire article here.

A Postracial Society or A Diversity Paradox? Race, Immigration, and Multiraciality in the Twenty-First Century

Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race
Volume 9, Issue 2, Fall 2012
pages 419-437
DOI: 10.1017/S1742058X12000161

Jennifer Lee, Professor of Sociology
University of California, Irvine

Frank D. Bean, Chancellor’s Professor of Sociology
University of California, Irvine

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Southern states decreed that one drop of African American blood made a multiracial individual Black, and even today, multiracial Blacks are typically perceived as being Black only, underscoring the enduring legacy and entrenchment of the one-drop rule of hypodescent. But how are Asians and Latinos with mixed ancestry perceived? Based on analyses of census data and in-depth interviews with interracial couples with children and multiracial adults, I find that the children of Asian-White and Latino-White couples are much less constrained by strict racial categories. Racial identification often shifts according to situation, and individuals can choose to identify along ethnic lines, as White, or as American. Like their Irish and Italian immigrant forerunners, the Asian and Latino ethnicities of these multiracial Americans are adopting the symbolic character of European, White ethnicity. We appear to be entering a new era of race relations in which the boundaries of Whiteness are beginning to expand to include new non-White groups such as Asians and Latinos, with multiracial Asians and Latinos at the head of the queue. However, even amidst the new racial and ethnic diversity, these processes continue to shut out African Americans, illustrating a pattern of “Black exceptionalism” and the emergence of a Black–non-Black divide in the twenty-first century.

Read or purchase the article here. (Read for free until 2016-03-04!)

“The One and Only Cheerios”~ The “NEW” American Family?

Mixed Race Radio
Blog Talk Radio
2013-07-10, 16:00Z (12:00 EDT)

Tiffany Rae Reid, Host

Join us on Wednesday July 10th, 2013 as we explore the newest General Mills Cheerios commercial that recently debuted. We will discuss the backlash and speak with an all-star guest line-up while exploring what many of us have known for years: The “NEW” American family is mixed, blended, and splendid!

Listen to the episode here.

Earnest Harris Declares: NO MORE RACE

Mixed Race Radio
Blog Talk Radio
2013-07-03, 16:00Z (12:00 EDT)

Tiffany Rae Reid, Host

Earnest Harris, Producer/Director/Talent Manager/Writer
No More Race

Earnest Harris has written extensively on matters related to race relations, especially focused on moving beyond “racial” concepts and getting our society to a place where color and cultural differences might play less of  volatile role in how we work, play and deal with one another. His study and focus on this issue comes from seeing the unfortunate ways in which so many of our societal dealings, whether it be politics, dating, religion, neighborhoods and education are impacted by “racial” influencers. It has been his mission for most of those years as a journalist and writer to help bring people together and get beyond these superficial ways of living our lives.

An award-winning journalist, Earnest has written on this topic for New York Newsday, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Dallas Morning News, The Riverfront Times (St. Louis), National Review magazine, Politico, The Huffington  Post, Hispanic magazine and many others. He has also been a political columnist with the daily paper, The Austin American-Statesman, the editor-in-chief of a weekly newspaper in Washington, D.C., The American Weekly News, and the host of his own talk radio shows in Austin, Texas and St. Louis, Missouri.

Earnest has also directed and produced one feature film that was nationally distributed, “A Simple Promise,” and is currently working on several other films at the moment. Earnest also oversees Harris Management, a talent management company in Los Angeles, where he manages actors, directors and recording artists. Additionally, Harris taught communications for two sessions at the famed Lyndon Baines Johnson Graduate School for Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin as a Woodrow Wilson Program Instructor.

He is married and has two children.

Listen to the episode here.

Ethnic Identity Problems and Prospects for the Twenty-first Century – Fourth Edition

AltaMira Press
June 2006
436 pages
7 x 9 1/4
Hardback ISBN: 978-0-7591-0972-8
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-7591-0973-5

Edited by:

Lola Romanucci-Ross, Professor Emerita of Family and Preventive Medicine
University of California, San Diego

De George A. Vos (1922-2010), Professor Emeritus of Anthropology
University of California, Berkeley

Takeyuki Tsuda, Associate Professor of Anthropology
Arizona State University

In this thoroughly revised fourth edition, with ten new chapters, the editors provide thought-provoking discussions on the importance of ethnicity in different cultural and social contexts. The authors focus especially on changing ethnic and national identities, on migration and ethnic minorities, on ethnic ascription versus self-definitions, and on shifting ethnic identities and political control. The international group of scholars examines ethnic identities, conflicts and accommodations around the globe, in Africa (including Zaire and South Africa), Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, the United States, Thailand, and the former Yugoslavia. It will serve as an excellent text for courses in race & ethnic relations, and anthropology and ethnic studies.

Lola Flash: [sur]passing

Jefferson School African American Heritage Center
420 Commerce Street
Charlottesville, Virginia
Contemporary Gallery
Exhibition Dates: 2013-06-07 through 2013-08-30

For more than 20 years Lola Flash has been committed to deconstructing racism, sexism and homophobia through challenging photographic imagery. [sur]passing is a work in progress that confronts the phenomenon known as pigmentocracy. The term, coined by cultural critic Kobena Mercer in 1994, describes a hierarchy wherein a slave’s socio-economic position could be determined by their skin color. In [sur]passing, Flash analyzes the impact of this condition on contemporary society.

Posed in front of the varied yet undefined skylines of London, New York, and South Africa, Flash’s models, both male and female, represent an array of skin-color. Their youthful energy suggests they have transcended the pecking order that has historically been the source of contention throughout the African Diaspora.

According to Flash, these portraits represent a “new generation”—one that is above and beyond “passing.” They represent a fresh pride and strength; where ambiguity and blurred borders create individuality that elevates consciousness, and advances a plethora of complex and positive imagery of [black] people all over the world…

For more information, click here. View the [sur]passing gallery here.