Biracial & Multiracial Identities in America
Hi Friends!
Welcome to Issue 37 of this newsletter! This week’s topic is Biracial & Multiracial Identities in America. In the past, I’ve referred to myself as “mixed-race” because I am Latinx and Black, but really, that doesn’t mean I’m mixed-raced at all. The first step in having conversations around race and oppression is understanding the language that we use, and I was mistaken when I interpreted my intersectional identity as a mixed-race identity. In short, Latinx or Hispanic is not a race, it’s an ethnicity. And race—while tied to ethnicity—is based more on phenotype (or your appearance) than anything else. Some might say language makes these conversations too difficult, but I say it makes it more specific, more nuanced, and more interesting. This week we talk about the complexities in identities that are biracial or multiracial from the way they are interpreted in the US Census to the way they are experienced. Let’s get into it.
Key Terms
Race: Many constructions of race are associated with phenotypic traits and geographic ancestry. The concept of "race" as a classification system of humans based on visible physical characteristics emerged over the last five centuries, influenced by European colonialism. The concept has manifested in different forms based on social conditions of a particular group, often used to justify unequal treatment. These false notions of racial difference have become embedded in the beliefs and behaviours of society, especially in Western nations. Race is strongly linked to skin colour.
Ethnicity: A social construct that divides people into smaller social groups based on characteristics such as shared sense of group membership, values, behavioral patterns, language, political and economic interests, history and ancestral geographical base. It is usually an inherited status based on the society in which one lives. Membership of an ethnic group tends to be defined by a shared cultural heritage, ancestry, origin myth, history, homeland, language or dialect, symbolic systems such as religion, mythology and ritual, cuisine, dressing style, art or physical appearance. By way of language shift, acculturation, adoption and religious conversion, it is sometimes possible for individuals or groups to leave one ethnic group and become part of another. The social construct that ethnic groups share a similar gene pool has been contradicted within the scientific community as evidenced by data finding more genetic variation within ethnic groups compared to between ethnic groups. The only classifications for ethnicity on the US census is “Hispanic” or “Non-Hispanic”.
Nationality: A legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a national, of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the state against other states.
Multiracial: Having two or more races.
Monoracial: Having one race.
Intersectionality: Intersectionality is a framework for conceptualizing a person, group of people, or social problem as affected by a number of discriminations and disadvantages. It takes into account people’s overlapping identities and experiences in order to understand the complexity of prejudices they face.
American Indian or Alaska Native: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.
Asian: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Black or African American: A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.
White: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.
Minority: Sociologist Louis Wirth (1945) defined a minority group as “any group of people who, because of their physical or cultural characteristics, are singled out from the others in the society in which they live for differential and unequal treatment, and who therefore regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination.” Note that being a numerical minority is not a characteristic of being a minority group; sometimes larger groups can be considered minority groups due to their lack of power. It is the lack of power that is the predominant characteristic of a minority, or subordinate group. For example, consider apartheid in South Africa, in which a numerical majority (the black inhabitants of the country) were exploited and oppressed by the white minority.
Person of Color: A person whose skin pigmentation is other than and especially darker than what is considered characteristic of people typically defined as white. A person who is of a race other than white or who is of mixed race
Marginalized: Marginalization is the act of relegating someone to an unimportant or powerless position, oppressing a person or a group, relegating them to the fringes of society.
Let’s Get Into It
From National Geographic's "The Changing Face of America"
In October 2013 I distinctly remember seeing the Nation Geographics cover image below with the words “The Changing Face of America.” In this issue, these faces are described as “disrupting our expectations” as we see hair that doesn’t align with our expectations on eye color or skin tone that seems mismatched with a certain shaped nose. This made a lasting impression on me because much like the faces in the photos I constantly have had my features questioned and scrutinized throughout my life. The bottom line is race is a social construct, it means nothing, but it means everything. It makes less and less sense as time passes and society becomes more integrated and cross culturalization becomes more common, yet we are still ruled by white supremacy. It’s a lot.
The US Census & Race
From National Geographic's "The Changing Face of America"
In 2015, Time Magazine wrote, “Half of all children in the U.S. will be nonwhite by 2020… and more than half the entire population by 2044.” Today, the US Census says America is 76% “White, alone” and 2.8% “Two or more races”. Getting accurate data when it comes to how Americans identify their race is tricky and often skewed. Let me share a little history to explain why.
Did you ever wonder why “Hispanic” was the only ethnicity on any census or on official US forms? In the 1930’s “Mexican” was listed as a race on the US Census while Mexican-Americans were often targeted and discriminated against, and Mexican-Americans didn’t want to check this box. Mexican-Americans and other Latinx groups like Puerto Ricans used their proximity to whiteness to challenge discrimination, claiming they too were fair enough to be considered “white” (remember race is mostly about how you look). In 1980, we see “Hispanic” pop up on the official US Census after various attempts at collecting this data. They asked people to categorize themselves as Puerto Rican or Cuban or Mexican, and that didn’t work well, barely anyone answered, but the, “Check here if you are Hispanic” question seemed to get the largest response. However, in a 2010 study, when when people were contacted who checked both “white” and “Hispanic” and asked if they considered themselves white, less than half of them identified that way. They just didn’t feel they fit into any other category.
When I was in college, I took a masters summer program at NYU called “The Cultural Imperative” where we went to Puerto Rico and learned about it’s colonization, economy, race relations and infrastructure. One of the most overwhelming issues is that over 70% of the population checked “white” on the census. They attributed this to many issues. One was a lack of culturally appropriate language — Latinos might say Mestizo, Indesito, Mulatto, Negro, Blanquito to differentiate between skin tones and characteristics. When race is diluted to only having the options of Black and white, especially in Latinx communities with ancestry comprised of European, Indigenous and African components, it’s often easier to check the box that says “white” than grapple with your family tree. We’ve also all been told and shown over and over that the lighter you are, the more privilege, power and security you have in America.
What Is Considered Mulitracial?
Whether biracial (two races) or multiracial (multiple races), the noteworthy element of these terms is first and foremost understanding what constitutes a race. Someone who is Korean and Chinese is most likely not biracial because both of their ethnicities can be categorized under the race “Asian.” But this can get far more complicated. What about someone who is Dominican and Argentinian? Both countries speak Spanish, though Dominicans are considered Hispanic and Argentinians are considered European. The real question is, what does this person look like? Are they dark skinned or fair? Do they have Indigenous features? Where were they born? What does the world see when they look at them without any context of their ancestry? This is why race can be complicated. The answer, based on the social construct of race, would be most closely tied to the color of their skin.
In and of itself, race is based on appearance alone. Bringing it back to my experience with race, my mom is Puerto Rican and my dad is Dominican. They are both from the Caribbean, speak similar dialects of Spanish and have similar ancestry — a mix of Spanish, Taino and African descendants. My dad is a little darker than me and my mom a little lighter. As a kid I grappled with this idea of what water fountain I would be allowed to drink from during segregation in the Jim Crow South as I learned about it in history class—was I light enough to call myself white or dark enough to be considered Black? As I got older my parents told me they always checked off “Black” on forms and I felt confused because we spoke Spanish at home so weren’t we just Hispanic? This is why I mentioned earlier that I am not multiracial, both of my parents are Black, so I am Black. A Black Latina. Labels can be exhausting, but as I said earlier, then can also be nuanced and useful.
I share my personal story around race and identity because race and identity is a personal thing. While we can scrutinize the key terms above and delve into history and genetics, unpacking specific geographical ties, identity is shaped from the outside in and the inside out.
Vox talked to 6 mixed-race people in this article and describes that while America is becoming more multiracial, we haven’t reached a “multiracial utopia free of racial strife”. “Multiracial people have long been targets of fear and confusion, from suspicions of mixed people “passing” as white under the Jim Crow system to accusations of not embracing one’s ‘race’ enough.”
The “What Are You” Question
Being asked “What are you?” does not feel good. Starting now, make a decision to stop asking people that question. I’ll drop some better options below, but before you even ask, check in with yourself:
Why do I want to know this person’s race, ethnicity or nationality?
Is this question useful or am I just being nosy (and rude) because I feel they are an “other”?
Is it an appropriate time and setting to ask this question?
Can I offer something about myself while asking something about them?
Once you’ve checked in with yourself, try:
Being specific: “What is your ethnicity?” or “How do you racially identify?” or “What is your nationality?” — and know the difference between ethnicity, race and nationality!
Offer information about why you’re asking: “I’m celebrating Lunar New Year with my husband. He’s Chinese. What’s your ethnicity?”
As we know better, we do better. Don’t make assumptions or feel entitled to someone else’s personal information. See ya next week!
