Multiracial Classification on the United States Census: Myth, Reality, and Future Impact

Posted in Articles, Census/Demographics, Media Archive, Politics/Public Policy, United States on 2009-10-16 19:28Z by Steven

Multiracial Classification on the United States Census: Myth, Reality, and Future Impact

Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales
Volume 21, Number 2 (2005)
Pages 111-134

Ann Morning, Associate Professor of Sociology
New York University

The 2000 census in the United States provoked a flurry of media attention in the months leading up to it, as well as in its aftermath. At issue was the new federal decision permitting Americans to identify themselves with more than one race on the census form. Advocated in large part by interracially-married couples and their offspring, this bureaucratic change in racial classification practices was widely interpreted in the press as having a wider significance for the nation as a whole. As one reporter put it, “the change is fueling a weighty debate about the meaning of race” (2000). Other articles spoke to the same thought-provoking effect of the new classification standards: the Washington Post ran “Mixed-Race Heritage, Mixed Emotions: In Census and Society, Question of Categories Yields Many Answers” (Fears, 2001), while Newsday asked, “Does It All Add Up? New Census Race Categories Raise Questions About How They’re Used” (Winslow, 2001). According to the latter, “the impact of racial classifications on the latest census has far-reaching implications– socially, politically, even statistically– that have sown anger, suspicion, uncertainty and excitement in varying quarters.”

This essay examines the expectations – both positive and negative- that characterized public discourse about the introduction of multiple-race reporting on the 2000 U.S. census. More importantly, I revisit these predictions in order to assess whether they have proved accurate. In so doing, the paper aims for a clear stock-taking of the impact of multiple-race reporting to date: which expectations have been borne out, which have not, and what unforeseen developments seem most likely to be the medium or long-term legacy of the revision of the federal racial standards?

I begin by recalling both the benefits and the drawbacks that commentators in the late 1990s and early 2000s expected from multiple-race classification. With the understanding that some predictions were too long-term to fully assess today, I nonetheless consider each and offer a prognosis. I then extend the discussion to consider two potential results of multiple-race reporting that have received less attention: its impact on essentialist or biological interpretations of race, and its implications for the classification of the Hispanic population. In conclusion, I argue that the most widely-publicized hopes and fears about multiracial classification are likely to prove minor outcomes, while the unanticipated consequences may well be more significant…

Read the entire article here.

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The Effects of Mixed-Race Households on Residential Segregation

Posted in Articles, Census/Demographics, Media Archive, Politics/Public Policy, Social Science, United States on 2009-10-16 17:58Z by Steven

The Effects of Mixed-Race Households on Residential Segregation

Journal Urban Geography
Issue Volume 28, Number 6, August 16-September 30, 2007
Online Date: 2007-11-27
Pages 554-577
ISSN: 0272-3638
DOI 10.2747/0272-3638.28.6.554

Mark Ellis
University of Washington

Steven R. Holloway
University of Georgia

Richard Wright
Dartmouth College

Margaret East
The University of Texas, Arlington

This paper investigates how household-scale racial mixing affects measurements of neighborhood-scale racial segregation. This topic is increasingly important as mixed-race households are becoming more common across the United States.  Specifically, our research asks two questions: What is the sensitivity of neighborhood racial segregation measures to levels of household-scale racial mixing? And what is the relationship between neighborhood racial diversity and the presence of mixed-race households? We answer these questions with an analysis that uses confidential long-form data from the 1990 U.S. census. These data provide information on household racial composition at the tract level. The results show that racial mixing within households has meaningful effects on measurements of neighborhood segregation, suggesting that patterns of mixed-race household formation and residential location condition understandings of neighborhood segregation dynamics. We demonstrate that mixed-race households are a disproportionate source of neighborhood diversity in the least racially plural neighborhoods. This article also reflects on the complications that mixed-race households pose for the interpretations of neighborhood-scale segregation and cautions against drawing conclusions about residential desegregation based on racial mixing in households.

Read or purchase the article here.

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New Faces in a Changing America: Multiracial Identity in the 21st Century

Posted in Africa, Anthologies, Books, Brazil, Census/Demographics, Media Archive, Politics/Public Policy, Social Science, South Africa, United States, Women on 2009-10-16 03:06Z by Steven

New Faces in a Changing America: Multiracial Identity in the 21st Century

SAGE Publications, Inc.
Paperback ISBN: 9780761923008
2001
432 pages

Edited by

Loretta I. Winters
California State University, Northridge

Herman L. DeBose
California State University, Northridge

How multiracial people identify themselves can have major consequences on their positions in their families, communities and society. Even the U.S. Census has recognized the rapidly increasing numbers of those who consider themselves multiracial, adding a new racial category to the 2000 Census form: two or more races.

New Faces in a Changing America: Multiracial Identity in the 21st Century examines the multiracial experience, its history and the political issues and consequences surrounding biracial and multiracial identity, bringing together top names in the field to give readers cutting edge views and insights gained from contemporary research.

This important new text follows the trail blazed by Maria Root, who contributes its opening chapter. An introduction places the issues of multiracial identity into context via a discussion of U.S. Census data and debates, providing an overview of the varied readings to come covering such topics as:

  • Race as a social, rather than biological, construction
  • The Multiracial Movement
  • Racial/Ethnic Groups in America and Beyond
  • Race, Gender & Hierarchy
  • Gang Affiliation and Self-Esteem
  • Black/White Interracial Couples and the Beliefs that Help Them to Bridge the Racial Divide

The book concludes with “The Multiracial Movement: Harmony and Discord,” by co-editor Loretta Winters, an epilogue putting the readings into perspective according to three models in the multiracial identity literature: the Multiracial Movement model, the Counter Multiracial movements model and the Ethnic Movement model.

Timely and comprehensive in its range of topics, this is an important resource for many audiences: students in Ethnic Studies, Race Relations and related courses; human service professionals including psychologists, counselors, social workers and school personnel and, importantly, multiracial individuals themselves.

Forward  
Introduction Herman L. DeBose
Acknowledgments  
PART I: RACE AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION  
1. Five Mixed Race Identities: From Relic to Revolution Maria P. P. Root
2. The New Multiracialism: An Affirmation or an End to Race as we Know It? Mary Thierry Texeira
PART II: THE MULTIRACIAL MOVEMENT  
3. New Faces, Old Faces: Counting the Multiracial Population (Click here to read.) Ann Morning
4. Multiracial Identity: From Personal Problem to Public Issue Kimberly McClain DaCosta
5. From Civil Rights to the Multiracial Movement Kim M. Williams
6. Census 2000: Assessments in Significance Rainier Spencer
7. Evolution of Multiracial Organizations: Where We Have Been & Where We Are Going Nancy G. Brown & Ramona E. Douglas
PART III: RACIAL/ETHNIC GROUPS IN AMERICA & BEYOND  
8. The Dilemma of Biracial People of African American Descent Herman L. DeBose & Loretta L. Winters
9. Check All That Apply: Trends & Perspectives Among Asian Descent Multiracials Teresa Williams-Leon
10. Beyond Mestizaje: The Future of Race in America Gregory Velazco y Trianosky
11. Colonization, Cultural Imperialism, and the Social Construction of American Indian Mixed Blood Identity Karren Baird-Olson
12. “Race,” “Ethnicity,” and “Culture” in Hawai’i: The Myth of the “Model Minority” State Laura Desfor Edles
13. Multiracial Identity in Global Perspective: The United States, Brazil, and South Africa G. Reginald Daniel
PART IV: RACE, GENDER & HIERARCHY  
14. Does Multiraciality Lighten? Me-too Ethnicity & the Whiteness Trap Paul Spickard
15. The Hazards of Visibility: “Biracial Women,” Media Images, and Narratives of Identity Caroline A. Streeter
16. Masculine Multiracial Comedians Darby Li Po Price
PART V: SPECIAL TOPICS  
17. Gang Affiliation & Self-Esteem: The Effects of a Mixed Heritage Identity Patricia O’Donnell Brummett & Loretta I. Winters
18. Black/White Interracial Couples & the Beliefs That Help Them to Bridge the Racial Divide Kristyan M. Kouri
Epilogue: The Multiracial Movement: Harmony & Discord Loretta I. Winters
Index  
About the Editors  
About the Contributors
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Mixed Heritage – Identity, Policy and Practice

Posted in Census/Demographics, Family/Parenting, Media Archive, Reports, Social Science, United Kingdom on 2009-10-16 02:11Z by Steven

Mixed Heritage – Identity, Policy and Practice

Runnymede Trust
ISBN-10: 0-9548389-6-3
ISBN-13: 978-0-9548389-6-6
EAN: 9780954838966
40 pages
September 2007

Edited by Jessica Mai Sims

Although they are often invisible in debates on race and ethnicity, the 2001 census reveals that the ‘Mixed’ population is the third largest ethnic category in the UK, with predictions that it will become the single largest minority group recognised by the Census by the end of 2020.

Over the summer months we have developed our thinking on this area of study through a seminars, roundtables, and conferences by partnering with the CRE, CLG, and London South Bank’s Families and Social Capital Research Group. Through this partnership we have established the following series of activity that forms that basis for future work on mixed heritage, which seeks to challenge the prevalent understandings and assumptions of the people who are thought to comprise of this group.

Table of Contents

  • Foreword – Rob Berkeley
  1. Statistics: The Mixed Category in Census 2001 — Charlie Owen
  2. The Diversity of ‘the’ Mixed Race Population in Britain — Miri Song
  3. Gendering Mixed-Race, Deconstructing Mixedness — Suki Ali
  4. Thai-British Families: Towards a Deeper Understanding of ‘Mixedness’ — Jessica Mai Sims
  5. Meeting the Educational Needs of Mixed Heritage Pupils: Challenges for Policy and Practice — Leon Tikly
  6. Mixed Heritage: Perspectives on Health and Welfare — Mark R. D. Johnson
  7. Adoption and Fostering Issues: ‘Judgement of Solomon’ — Savita de Sousa & John Simmonds
  8. ‘Mixed’ Families: Assumptions and New Approaches — Chamion Caballero
  9. It’s Time for Foundation — Sharron Hall
  10. I loathe the term ‘mixed race’… — Linda Bellos
  11. People in Harmony — Jill Olumide
  • Biographical Information on Contributors
  • Bibliography

Read the entire document here.

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