Plus ça Change? Multiraciality and the Dynamics of Race Relations in the United States

Plus ça Change? Multiraciality and the Dynamics of Race Relations in the United States

Journal of Social Issues
Volume 65, Number 1 (March 2009)
pages 205-219
DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.2008.01595.x

Frank D. Bean, Chancellor’s Professor
School of Social Sciences
University of California, Irvine

Jennifer Lee, Associate Professor, Sociology
School of Social Sciences
University of California, Irvine

The issue of race has long cast a shadow on the founding mythology of the United States, but today some scholars argue race is declining in significance, as evidenced by the rise of interracial unions and the fact that the offspring of such unions can now officially acknowledge their mixed-race backgrounds. However, the sizeable growth of the Asian and Latino populations in the United States through immigration complicates the issue. Seemingly neither black nor white, the new immigrants are generating increased diversity and raising questions about whether today’s color line replicates the old Black–White demarcation.  The research results introduced in this article suggest the contemporary color line in the United States more reflects a Black/non-Black division than a White/non-White one.

Read or purchase the article here.

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