A Global Look at Mixing: Problems, Pitfalls and Possibilities

Abstract

The importance of studying mixed race in a global perspective is gaining momentum. The global economy, growing rates of immigration, and rapidly advancing information and communication technologies have brought diverse groups in closer contact in more areas of the globe, even those previously regarded as racially and ethnically homogenous. Intermarried couples and mixed race celebrities are often heralded in media reports as examples of a growing phenomenon where race, culture and color are argued to no longer matter, even when that is far from the reality. Amidst these widespread claims of a post-racial or colorblind world, the othering of certain groups and racialized discourse remains, and is often most clear in debates over the possibility or perceived threat of intimacy and sex with racialized Others. Mixing across established boundaries of race, ethnicity, religion or tribe is still dangerous, and these realities need to be studied globally. While countless academic studies and media reports have been devoted to investigating, documenting and/or explaining this phenomenon of mixed identities and relationships, many questions remain unanswered. Who can marry whom? What are attitudes toward "mixing?" How do the children of mixed couples identify? What differences matter? How are these differences articulated and what are the underlying reasons that these perceived differences matter, particularly when it comes to intimate and familial relations? And in an everchanging globalised world, is there a way to understand the experiences of mixed people and families in a global context, or is there too much difference-different histories, different populations and different contexts to find common ground?

“Tú, como eres negra, harás de lobo”. El debate pendiente sobre la cuestión de la raza en España.

“…El hecho de que prácticamente no hayamos encontrado diferencias entre las experiencias de estigmatización y discriminación vividas por individuos mixtos y los descendientes de parejas endógamas que comparten los mismos marcadores estigmatizadores (para un análisis más profundo véase Rodríguez-García et al, 2021b), no solo pone de manifiesto la persistencia de la idea de raza, sino que también desafía la noción idealizada de un futuro de mestizaje sin racismo, tal como proponían las teorías clásicas de la asimilación (Gordon, 1964). Paradójicamente, los procesos de mixticidad en España coexisten con la persistente estigmatización y discriminación de ciertos grupos, marcados en gran medida por sus diferencias visibles percibidas y construidas históricamente; siendo dos de las pervivencias más revista de recerca i formació en antropologia 48 importantes la estigmatización de la herencia negro-africana y del islam, como señalan también otros estudios (Chito Childs, 2014;DaCosta, 2020;Khanna, 2010;Lee y Bean, 2012;Rodríguez-García 2015;Rodríguez-Reche y Rodríguez-García, 2020;Rodríguez-García et al, 2021b;Song, 2014a;Spencer, 2011).…”

Is there evidence of ‘whitening’ for Asian/White multiracial people in Britain?

“…There is little doubt that young multiracial people today more strongly reflect superdiversity than does an older cohort of mixed people (Vertovec 2007;Alba & Duyvenduk 2017). While social attitudes toward interracial unions are much more positive in many multi-ethnic societies than in the past, White Europeans clearly find spouses of some ethnic and racial backgrounds more acceptable than others Childs 2014).…”

Understanding multiethnic and multiracial experiences globally: towards a conceptual framework of mixedness

“…With the worldwide increase in mixed families, there has been a need to address the similarities and differences in mixed people's experiences and in attitudes towards mixedness across the globe (e.g. Chito Childs 2014. Developing a conceptual framework is important for understanding mixed experiences from a multiple country and interdisciplinary perspective.…”