Mixed Race Studies

Creole Performance in Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands

Gender & History
Volume 15, Issue 3, November 2003
pages 487–506
DOI: 10.1111/j.0953-5233.2003.00317.x

Rhonda Frederick, Associate Professor of African & African Diaspora Studies Program
Boston College

Mary Seacole’s autobiography has been read as a feminist performance as well as a paradigmatic Victorian travel narrative. While these assessments address important aspects of the memoir, neither affords the author’s Jamaicanness significant space in its analysis. This essay addresses the silences left when Wonderful Adventures is removed from its Jamaican context, then offers a reading of it from this perspective. Grounded in histories that document nineteenth-century Jamaican social categories, the article analyses Seacole’s book using Caribbean literary perspectives that explore raced, ‘coloured’ and geographically-located identities. The result is an interpretation of the memoir that offers insight into Jamaica’s Creole population, its status and colour politics, and identity concerns. All have been expertly shaped by Seacole’s rhetorical manoeuvres.

Read or purchase the article here.

Mahtani wins prestigious geography award

Inside UTSC
University of Toronto, Scarborough
2012-03-29

Minelle Mahtani won the Glenda Laws Award for geography, which is given to early and mid-career scholars for outstanding contributions to geographical research on social issues.
 
It is administered by the Association of American Geographers, and endorsed by the Institute of Australian Geographers, the Canadian Association of Geographers, and the Institute of British Geographers.
 
“Her contributions to geographic research on social issues build bridges between the academy and other centers of knowledge, like the policy, media and not-for-profit worlds. Her experience as a former national television news producer provides unique insights into critiques about media and minority representation as well as geographies of news consumption. She has also paid scholarly attention to geography’s expertise in an era of specialized knowledge economies, challenging the ivory tower to produce anti-racist geographies in the academy and challenging geographers to teach for inclusion,” the award presentation reads in part…

…Mahtani has also written about issues of race within the academy. She has written about the discrimination faced by women of colour geographers, and suggested that geography’s historical engagement with colonialism and imperialism works to ensure the domination of whiteness among faculty and students of geography.
 
Mahtani is especially interested in documenting the experiences of mixed-race Canadians, and has published a number of papers on mixed-race identities. She is an editor of the forthcoming book entitled Global Mixed Race to be published by New York University Press.
 
Mahtani brought her expertise on multiraciality to aid in the editing of Lawrence Hill’s memoir, Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada. In a recent visit to UTSC, Hill, author of the bestseller, Book of Negroes singled out Mahtani for encouraging him to consider the relationship between geography and identity.
 
Mahtani also designed the first course to be offered in geography and mixed race in Canada, entitled “Spaces of Multiraciality: Critical Mixed Race Theory”, taught in the department of Social Sciences here at UTSC.

Read the entire article here.

Dealing with Diversity: Media Course Study Guide

Kendall Hunt
2008
100 pages
Edition: 04
ISBN: 978-0-7575-4772-0

Author(s): Governors State University

This course was developed to help you recognize and appreciate the differences and the similarities among diverse groups and individuals in a multicultural society.

Living in the U.S.A. in the 21st century poses some of the most complex challenges this nation has ever faced. Our dependence on technology and fossil fuels, our addiction to 24/7 media, the changes in immigration, and the unparalleled quest to accumulate personal property have all created increased class stratification as well as segregation throughout our society. Global interdependence has brought the world closer together which means the impact of natural disasters, hunger, disease, and international conflicts now affects the whole planet.

Expected Student Outcomes

1. Recognize the societal implications of our nation’s changing demographics.
2. Explain the importance of understanding and respecting cultural differences.
3. Develop strategies to promote intercultural awareness between different groups and among individuals within these groups.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Class I: Introduction and Overview
Explores our own individual ethnic/racial, religious, and cultural backgrounds.

Class 2: Social Interaction Model
Discusses how to use a social interaction model (SIM) that maps how humans interact in culturally diverse settings.

Class 3: Negotiating Cultural Communication
Explores some of the varieties of communication styles that exist in the U. S. as well as in other cultures around the world. Video guests: Dr. Brad Allison, Superintendent of Schools for Albuquerque, New Mexico; Professor Gordon Barry, University of California at Los Angeles. Studio Guests: Dr. Gloria Delany-Barmann and Dr. Lourdes Kuthy, Professors in the Department of Educational and Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Illinois University; Dr.juliaYang, University Professor of Psychology and Counseling at Governors State University.

Class 4: The Changing Face of America and the World
Concentrates on the rapidly changing demographic trends in the United States and around the world. Video inserts and guests: Plaza De Los Angeles; Professor Alexander Astin, University of California at Los Angeles; Professor Gary Orfield, Harvard University; Justino Petrarca, attorney.

Class 5: Immigration, Social Policy, and Employment
The history of immigration laws in the U.S. Video guests: Marian Smith, Chief Librarian at the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS); Dr. Suarez-Orozco; David Duke, author; Professor Carlos Munozjr, University of California at Berkeley; Dr. Samuel Betances, Professor Emeritus at Northeastern Illinois University; Professor Marcelo Suarez-Orozco, Harvard University.

Class 6: Race: The World’s Most Dangerous Myth
Explores one of our nation’s most complex and pressing problems, the concept of race. Video guests: Dr. Michael Omi, Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California at Berkeley; racialist Arthur Jones of the American First Committee; Dr. Jerry Hirsch, Distinguished Professor in Psychology and Genetics at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana.

Class 7: Social Class Issues
The impact of social economics on the lives of families and individuals in the U.S; the plight of the homeless and what can be done about this growing problem. Video guests: Professor Lani Guinier of the Harvard Law School; Professor Peggy Macintosh,Wellesey University; Dr. Gary Orfield, Harvard University; Dr. Keri Kerber, Bridgewater State College, Connecticut. Studio guest: Dr. Mary Arnold, University Professor of Psychology and Counseling at Governors State University.

Class 8: Gender Issues
Examines the multifaceted issues surrounding gender in our society. Video inserts and guests: Video class discussion of Robert Bly’s book, Iron John; Professor Peggy Mclntosh.Wellesey College. Studio guest: Ms. Cindy Guerra from the National Organization ofWomen (NOW).

Class 9: Native Americans, Part I
Case study of Illinois’ Dickson Mounds Museum and the controversy surrounding it. In addition we hear from a variety of Native American students, professors, and administrators at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. Video Inserts and guests: Dickson Mounds Museum in Lewiston, Illinois;John Wilmer, Barry Eagle and joe Martin, Professor Guy Senese, Professor Louise Lockard, Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff. Studio guests: PamAlfonzo, Menominee Cultural Center in Chicago, and Antonia Sheeny, California ManPower.

Class 11: Hispanic/Latino Americans, Part I
The variety of cultural groups that are classified under the Latino/Latina label. Population projections.Video guests: Dr. Samuel Betances, consultant and Professor Emeritus of Northeastern Illinois University; Professor Ronald Gallimore, University of California at Los Angeles; Professor Carlos Munoz Jr., University, of California at Berkeley; Professor Marcelo Suarez-Orozco of Harvard University. Studio guest: Dr. Estella Lopez of Northeastern Illinois University.

Class 12: Hispanic/Latino Americans, Part 2
Hostos Community College of the City University of New York and its unique programs serving a mainly Latino community in New York City. Video guests: Ethno-musician Jesus “CHUY” Negrette; students and faculty at Hostos Community College; New York City Councilman Guillermo Linares. Studio guest: Dr. Estella Lopez of Northeastern Illinois University.

Class 13: African Americans, Part I
Examines the changing demographic and socioeconomic data of this group and how these data compare to those of other groups in our society. Video inserts and guests: Birmingham Civil Rights Museum; Tamarjacoby, author. Studio guest: Gary Flowers, National Field Director for Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

Class 14: African Americans, Part 2
Issues of social justice, ethnocentrism, education. Video inserts and guests: Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor and chair, Department of Black Studies, California State University, Long Beach; Dr. Lisa Deipit, Professor of Education at Georgia State University; the rebuilding of the Amistad at Mystic, Connecticut. Studio guest: Gary Flowers, National Field Director for Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

Class 15: Asian Americans
The many cultures that fall under the label of Asian Americans; dynamics of current immigration policy; case study of Koreans in the Chicago, Illinois area. Video inserts and guests: Dr. Michael Omi, Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California at Berkeley; Korean American community in Chicago; Professors Kwang Chung Kim of Western Illinois University and Shin Kim of the University of Chicago. Studio guests: Gloria Chu, an immigrant from China; Dr. Jagan Lingamneni, an immigrant from India; and Peter Pham, an immigrant from Vietnam.

Class 16: Arab Americans
Arab Americans as the new ethnic villains in our media and folk knowledge; ignorance of most Americans about the actual contributions and history of the varied groups making up this category. Video guest: Dr. Jack Shaheen, consultant on the media images/portrayals of Arabs. Studio guest: Rafeeqjaber, President of the Islamic Association for Palestine.

Class 17: European Americans
The impact of language and religion nationally as well as globally. Video guests: Carol & Isadore Ryzak, Polish Americans. Studio guest: Dominic Candeloro, Italian American.

Class 18: Creole and Mixed Ethnic Americans
What happens to individuals when they mix with others of different ethnic groups. Video guests: Dr. Joseph Logsdon, University of New Orleans an authority on Creole culture;”Mixed race” couple Reggie and Diane Alsbrook, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Studio guests: “Mixed race” couple Jane Hu (Chinese) and Eric Skotmyr (Norwegian American).

The idea of nature in “Benito Cereno.”

Studies in Short Fiction
Spring, 1993

Terry J. Martin

Although many critics have analyzed specific natural images in Melville’s Benito Cereno, no one has yet focused exclusively on the role of nature in the novella, nor looked fully at its problematic relation to Delano. Such an examination can both reveal much about Melville’s artistry and enhance our understanding of the protagonist’s special kind of self-delusion. Midway through the novella, Delano performs an act that is at once typical and revelatory of his ideology: overwhelmed by fears for his life and doubts about providence, he turns to nature for reassurance:

As [Delano] saw the benign aspect of nature, taking her innocent repose in the evening, the screened sun in the quiet camp of the west shining out like the mild light from Abraham’s tent–as charmed eye and ear took in all these, with the chained figure of the black, clenched jaw and hand relaxed. (96-97).

The personal qualities that Delano attributes to nature (i.e., its “benign[ity]” and “innocen[ce]”), together with the religious associations that the sight evokes, reveal a kind of Emersonian belief in the transcendent goodness and moral providence of nature. It is, in other words, God’s benignity that Delano sees suffused throughout the scene. Delano is not a thoroughgoing pantheist; he retains the idea of a personal God, noticeable especially when he later declares, “There is someone above” (77). Nevertheless, for Delano, just as for Emerson, this transcendent spirit is shadowed forth in phenomenal nature, and Delano would no doubt agree with Emerson that “particular natural facts are symbols of particular spiritual facts” (13). This belief in effect turns nature into a vast allegory of the divine spirit. For Delano, the mere appearance of benignity in nature warrants belief in the transcendent reality of benignity…

…Delano’s belief that nature possesses a transcendent moral order legitimates for him the interpretation of natural signs. To be sure, Delano’s behavior is no different from that of most of his contemporaries when he interprets, for example, the color of skin according to this ideal order. If all things signify. then surely white, being the opposite of black, must entail different spiritual characteristics as well. Indeed, Delano has only to look to nature” to find objective corroboration for his belief that whites are “by nature . . . the shrewder race” (75) and therefore naturally superior to blacks: the (apparent) dominance of the whites and servitude of the blacks on the San Dominick offers sufficient proof of Delano’s premise. But Delano has also observed what he takes to be the evident inferiority even of free blacks at home. Blacks have presented themselves as “good-humor[ed],” “easy,” “cheerful,” and “harmonious in every glance and gesture; as though God had set the whole negro to some pleasant tune” (83). They are, he thinks, fit “for avocations about one’s person,” like “natural valets and hair-dressers; taking to the comb and brush congenially as to the castanets, and flourishing them apparently with almost equal satisfaction” (83). Furthermore, blacks are, in Delano’s view, exempt “from the inflicted sourness of the morbid or cynical mind” (84). However, he also deems them essentially “stupid” (75), displaying the “docility arising from the unaspiring contentment of a limited mind, and that susceptibility of blind attachment sometimes inhering in indisputable inferiors” (84). For Delano, skin color is simply the seal that providence uses to stamp inferior goods.

Of course, who knows what happens when the races are “unnaturally” mixed? Delano conjectures about the effect: “It were strange, indeed, and not very creditable to us white-skins, if a little of our blood mixed with the African’s, should, far from improving the latter’s quality, have the sad effect of pouring vitriolic acid into black broth; improving the hue, perhaps, but not the wholesomeness’ (89). It will be seen from this that the racially crossed offspring are at a distinct disadvantage in Delano’s world, in which natural signs correlate with spiritual identity, because their identities are as uncertain as the effect of mingled magic potions. In fact, the mulatto represents a special semiotic problem for Delano precisely because the mulatto is neither black nor white and is hence unable to be interpreted with any degree of certainty. Delano is therefore even willing to consider the possibility that a mulatto with a regular European face is a devil (89). After all, a belief in the inherent allegorical qualities of matter requires that the mulatto be something less than white but greater than black, and devilishness at least presupposes intelligence gone astray…

Read the entire article here.

Hitting the Right Rhythm to Tell Marley’s Story

The New York Times
2012-04-06

John Anderson

Of all the friends, lovers, relatives and Rastas that the director Kevin Macdonald wrangled into his new documentary, “Marley,” one of his favorite finds was Dudley Sibley, a onetime recording artist and the janitor at the Jamaican recording studio where Bob Marley cut his musical teeth.

“He lived with Bob for 18 months in the back of Studio 1,” Mr. Macdonald said recently over breakfast in Manhattan. “No one ever thought to talk to this guy. My researcher in Jamaica said to me, ‘Oh, by the way, there’s this guy I’ve met who says he lived with Bob.’ I said, ‘Oh, yeah, yeah, I don’t believe that.’ But I met him. And he was for real.”

Making a definitive biographical film about Marley, the reggae superstar, who died of cancer in 1981, has always been problematic, plagued by a shortage of archival footage, disagreements over music publishing, and the fact that Marley had 11 children by seven women and never wrote a will…

…The people Mr. Macdonald set out to interview included “everyone who’s alive and was intimate with Bob,” he said. They included Neville Livingston, a k a Bunny Wailer of the original Wailers (later Bob Marley and the Wailers) and Marley’s relatives, black and white. (His absentee mixed-race father, Norval Marley, who was considered a white Jamaican, is a ghostly presence.) Anyone familiar with Bob Marley would assume that, if anything, the difficulties inherent in getting his inner circle to sign off on the same film would keep the full story from getting on screen for 31 years. But Mr. Macdonald said he got total cooperation. Ziggy Marley, Bob’s eldest son, said the family is happy with the result.

 “This is what we wanted it to be,” Ziggy Marley, a successful pop performer, said by phone. “I’ve never read one book about my father,” he said. “Who are they? They don’t know him.”

Rita Marley, Ziggy’s mother and Bob’s widow, concurred…

Read the entire article here.

Professor Andrew Jolivétte to be Featured Guest on Mixed Chicks Chat

Mixed Chicks Chat (Founders of the Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival)
Hosted by Fanshen Cox, Heidi W. Durrow and Jennifer Frappier
Website: TalkShoe™ (Keywords: Mixed Chicks)
Episode: 252-Professor Andrew Jolivétte
When: Wednesday, 2012-04-11, 21:00Z (17:00 EDT, 14:00 PDT)

Andrew Jolivétte, Associate Professor of American Indian Studies
Center for Health Disparities Research and Training
San Fransisco State University

Dr. Jolivétte is a mixed-race studies specialist with a particular interest in Comparative Race Relations, the Urban Indian Experience, People of Color and Popular Culture, Critical Mixed Race Studies and Social Justice, Creole studies, Black-Indians, and mixed-race health disparities. He has been an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of San Francisco and a Researcher with the University of California, San Francisco on issues of racial violence among African American and Latino/a youth in the Bay Area.

Dr. Jolivétte is the edtitor and contributor to the recent anthology tittled, Obama and the Biracial Factor, which is the first book to explore the significance of mixed-race identity as a key factor in the election of President Obama and examines the sociological and political relationship between race, power, and public policy in the United States with an emphasis on public discourse and ethnic representation in his election.

Selected Bibliography:

• Obama and the Biracial Factor: The Battle for a New American Majority (editor), 2012.
• Cultural Representation in Native America, 2006
• Louisiana Creoles: Cultural Recovery and Mixed-Race Native American Identity, 2006

Listen to the interview 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.