Post What? The Liminality of Multi-Racial Identity

Abstract

This article, "Post What? The Liminality of Multi-Racial Identity," argues that the successes and failures of 21st-century satire reveal the myth of post-raciality while simultaneously dismissing racial essentialism. I focus on three critical moments: the commercial success of Mat Johnson's Loving Day, a text and forthcoming television show that examines the shifting self-identities of mixed-race individuals; the inability of a potential love interest on the television series, Louie, to accept a black woman as the ex-wife of the titular protagonist's phenotypically white daughters; and Barack Obama's self-designation as "black" on the census shortly after his election. I argue that the widespread reach of these instances, coupled with audience engagement and response, underscores the ways that the public realm frames a contemporary understanding of race as both meaningful and absurd.

Moving from Chasm to Convergence: Benefits and Barriers to Academic Activism for Social Justice and Equity

“…For example, Rollack (2012) uses liminality in her work with critical race theory and counter-narrative. Morgan (2016) explores the relationship between satire and racial identity.…”