“There Are Stereotypes for Everything”: Multiracial Adolescents Navigating Racial Identity under White Supremacy

Abstract

Despite the enduring popular view that the rise in the multiracial population heralds our nation’s transformation into a post-racial society, Critical Multiracial Theory (MultiCrit) asserts that how multiracial identity status is constructed is inextricably tied to systems and ideologies that maintain the white supremacist status quo in the United States. MultiCrit, like much of the multiracial identity literature, focuses predominantly on the experiences of emerging adults; this means we know little about the experiences of multiracial adolescents, a peak period for identity development. The current paper uses MultiCrit to examine how a diverse sample of multiracial youth (n = 49; Mage = 15.5 years) negotiate racial identity development under white supremacy. Our qualitative interview analysis reveals: (a) the salience of socializing messages from others, (b) that such messages reinforce a (mono)racist societal structure via discrimination, stereotyping, and invalidation, and (c) that multiracial youth frequently resist (mono)racist assertions as they make sense of their own identities. Our results suggest that multiracial youth are attentive to the myriad ways that white supremacy constructs and constrains their identities, and thus underscores the need to bring a critical lens to the study of multiracial identity development.

“Where’s My People?”: An Investigation of the Structure and Content of Black and Latinx College Students’ Ethnic-Racial Identity Narratives

“…For example, Briana cites how her Ugandan mother’s unfamiliarity with Black American culture contributes to her inability to connect with “POC” on campus and her sense of exclusion from and isolation from these groups. This finding supports recent work demonstrating how multiracial youth draw on the ethnic-racial experiences, identities, and messages of their parents into adulthood as they navigate their own ERI development (Jones & Rogers, 2022). Rosa talks about the anxiety and worry that is created because her peers at school do not share the expectations that her Latinx family has of her.…”

“…Researchers have identified the unique discrimination experiences in college of navigating a monoracist society that assumes (or enforces) monoracial as the default (Johnston-Guerrero et al, 2020;Jones & Rogers, 2022). While there are similarities and shared experiences between monoracial and multiracial youth as their ERI develop, Multiracial youths must also learn to contend with a particular form of discrimination: Identity denial or invalidation, which is the active (and sometimes passive) rejection of Multiracial youth's identities and repudiation of their membership in the groups with which they identify (Albuja et al, 2019;Franco et al, 2021;Jones & Rogers, 2022). Identity denial, like racial discrimination broadly, can lead to a host of negative outcomes for young people, such as lower life satisfaction, increased depressive and stress symptoms, lower self-esteem and motivation (Townsend et al, 2009), and even decreased physical health (Albuja et al, 2019).…”

“…While much of the research on ethnic-racial discrimination focuses on (or assumes) the experience from a monoracial perspective – that young people identify with a single racial or ethnic group (e.g., Black or Mexican), there is a burgeoning body of work that discusses multiracial identity (e.g., identifying as both Black and Mexican). Researchers have identified the unique discrimination experiences in college of navigating a monoracist society that assumes (or enforces) monoracial as the default (Johnston-Guerrero et al, 2020; Jones & Rogers, 2022). While there are similarities and shared experiences between monoracial and multiracial youth as their ERI develop, Multiracial youths must also learn to contend with a particular form of discrimination: Identity denial or invalidation, which is the active (and sometimes passive) rejection of Multiracial youth’s identities and repudiation of their membership in the groups with which they identify (Albuja et al, 2019; Franco et al, 2021; Jones & Rogers, 2022).…”

Promoting adolescent adjustment by intervening in ethnic-racial identity development: Opportunities for developmental prevention science and considerations for a global theory of change

“…Adolescents are bombarded with messages regarding race and ethnicity on a daily basis in the multiple contexts in which they find themselves, including virtual and in-person experiences (Rivas-Drake & Umaña-Taylor, 2019). Youth regularly engage with messages related to race and ethnicity from media (e.g., movies, music, and social media), exchanges with their peers, interactions with their family, and experiences in society more broadly (e.g., Jones & Rogers, 2022; Sladek et al, 2022; Tynes et al, 2019). Thus, the salience of race and ethnicity for adolescents in the United States makes this an important social identity on which young people are focused and trying to understand as they are questioning and exploring their identities and trying to gain a sense of clarity regarding who they are who they can become.…”

Brief report: Revealing the nuance: Examining approaches for research with adolescents who identify with multiple racial/ethnic groups

“…Another review of the literature demonstrated that multiracial youth have positive developmental outcomes when they perceive their social environment to be accepting of their multiracial/ethnic background (Csizmadia, 2011). Additional research drawing from Critical Multiracial Theory has demonstrated how adolescents report positive affirmations from peers about their mixed racial/ethnic background (Jones & Rogers, 2022). In a recent literature review, Ream (2023) reported mixed findings on developmental outcomes among multiracial individuals.…”