Perspectives and Research on the Concept of Race within the Framework of Multiracial Identity

Abstract

In recent years, according to U. S. Census reports, the number of people who classify themselves as "mixed race" is rapidly increasing. As a consequence, scholars have become increasingly interested in the nature of racial identity. Currently, scholars and laypersons tend to view the concept of race from a biological perspective, from a social-constructivist perspective, or from a mixture of the two. In this paper, we address several questions: How do political, religious, and legal experts classify various people (racially)? How do men and women (especially those of mixed ancestry) decide to what race they belong? Does one's own identity, be it monoracial or multiracial, influence one's perception of race as socially constructed or biologically determined? In order to understand how the concept of race is viewed in the U. S.-especially as the American landscape becomes increasingly complex-we reviewed 40 studies, conducted from 1986-2006, that explored the nature of racial and ethnic identity. This comprehensive review suggested that: 1. Americans often find it difficult to classify people of mixed ancestry. 2. Men and women (of mixed race) generally possess a complex view of race. They generally agree that race is, at least in part, a social construct. Nonethess, they are well aware that (at least in society's eyes) ancestry, appearance, "blood," and genetic make-up also play a part in one's racial classification. 3. Multiracials appear to be more flexible in "choosing" a racial identity than are their peers. How they choose to present themselves depends on their physical appearance, how accepting their family and friends are of their claims, and how profitable they think it will be to identify with various aspects of their racial heritage.

The Implications of Intersectionality on Southeast Asian Female Students’ Educational Outcomes in the United States: A Critical Quantitative Intersectionality Analysis

“…Thus, the quantified gender categorization in this study is limited in revealing inequalities among TGNC students, which is beyond the scope of this study. Furthermore, although the number of Americans who classify themselves as mixed race is increasing according to recent U.S. Census reports (Aumer, Hatfield, Swann, & Frey, 2011), this study has the limitation that it is not able to consider multiracial status in this analysis. Second, this study delimits the exploration of intersectionality by focusing on three identities: race or ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status.…”

An exploratory mixed methods study of multiracial Americans’ race choices on the 2020 census.

“…Social and historical context can also vary by geographic location. For example, in Hawai’i, which has the largest Multiracial population in the United States and has never had a White majority population, there is often pride in being Multiracial (Aumer et al, 2011; Meyers et al, 2020; Pauker et al, 2018). In sum, there are unique patterns of identification in different Multiracial groups related to their racial groups’ experiences in the context of the United States that could be one of many factors that influence how they identify themselves on the census.…”