More than the Sum of My Parts: Multiracial Teen Identity Development and Experiences of Appeasement and Objection in a Mono-Racialized Context

More than the Sum of My Parts: Multiracial Teen Identity Development and Experiences of Appeasement and Objection in a Mono-Racialized Context

University of Minnesota
2013
321 pages

Brynja Elisabeth Halldórsdóttir Gudjonsson

Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

This dissertation examines multiracial student cultural awareness and how their experiences provided them insight into their current educational environment. The multiracial students in this study had significant self-awareness and cultural literacy due to their early identity formation and their continued navigation of disparate cultures. Because these students have received little attention in academic research, this dissertation explored multiracial identity in adolescents and the student experiences in a secondary educational context. This ethnographic study explores the students’ experiences through participant observations, in-depth interviews of students, teachers and school administrators, ethnographic reflections and field notes. The dissertation found that students encountered pressures in the school environment which affected their interactions in the school setting with teachers and peers. These encounters could be racially charged, although at times they could be so subtle that adults might not have recognized them as racially charged. In spite of these difficulties the students found supportive teachers and academic success. Based on the study’s findings the dissertation proposed a new lens through which to view multiracial student behavior. Since students were sensitive to others expectations, they mold their behavior to conform to these expectations. Through appeasement and objection the student actively chose how to react to others’ perceptions of them. Appeasement and objection in response to expectations could have stressful impacts on students as they sublimated portions of their identities in order to better fit into their environments.

Table of Contents

  • Abstract
  • Acknowledgements
  • Dedication
  • List of Tables
  • Table of Figures
  • Chapter 1
    • Categories of Self
    • Historical Understanding of Mixed Race Individuals
    • Racial Mixing and History
    • Definition of Modern Multiracial Identity
    • Schooling in Central City
    • Racism Entrenched in Schools
    • Research Questions
    • Methodology
    • Author Subjectivity
    • Data Discussion
    • Conclusions and Further Research
  • Chapter 2 “My grandmother told me:” Race, History, School and Multiracial Identity Theory
    • In White and Black: Race and Dichotomy in U.S. Social Systems
    • Whiteness: Conception, History and Meaning
    • Black Identity: History and Context
    • Urban Education and Student Experience
    • Equal Education?
    • Multiracial Identity and Schooling
    • Multiracial History
    • Official Categorization of Multiracial and Multi-ethnic People
    • Identity Theory and the Multiracial Student
    • Contemporary Multiracial Identity Models and Theory
    • Conclusion and Research Questions
  • Chapter 3: The Elusive Methodology of Critical Ethnography
    • Objective
    • The Ethnographic Frame
    • Embedding Ethnographers
    • Methods
    • Analysis
    • Cultural Politics in the Research
    • School Population
    • Sample Selection
    • Conclusion
  • Chapter 4: This Examined Life An Exploration of Identity Creation and Projection for Multiracial Teens
    • Sorting the M&M’s: Seeing Multicultural and Multiracial Students at MWHS
    • Getting to Know You: Seeing Identity Changes
    • The Opportunity to Choose
    • Asking Permission: Finding Mixed Race Students
    • School Choice
    • “What are you?”
    • Friendship Groups
    • Foreclosure of Categorizing
    • Conclusion
  • Chapter 5 “You think you’re special light-skind’ed bitch:”Student Interactions and School Curriculum
    • “You don’t just belong:” Finding Place in Social Groups in and out of School
    • Complex Problems with Simple Answers: Student Classroom Experiences
    • “Our history is still not their history too:” Student Connection to School Curriculum
  • Chapter 6 “Ear-hustling” and Unsavory Experiences: Micro-aggressions are the Hidden Racial Interactions in School
    • Who is Listening? And What Do They Hear?
    • Micro-aggressions
    • Not Enough: Stepping Outside of the Expected Limits
    • Power and Control: Student Misbehavior and Punishment
    • Sit here not there: How negative attention affects students
    • Punishment: How Did it Affect Multiracial Students?
  • Chapter 7 “To thine ownself be true:” Appeasement, Objection and Cultural Compliance
    • Additive Parts: Making up Identity
    • More than Code-switching: When Linguistic Analysis is not Enough
    • Act More White and Play School
    • Assimilation or Acculturation
    • Appeasement or Objection: How Mixed Students Reflect Expectations
    • Repercussions of objection and appeasement
  • Chapter 8 Beyond All of the Pieces: What was Missing and Next Steps
    • Recommendations
    • The Matter of Power and Punishment
    • Directions for Future Research
    • The Last Pieces of the Puzzle
  • References
  • Appendix A: Research protocols
    • Observation protocol
    • Student questions:
    • Teacher questions:
  • Appendix B
    • Male participant coding rubric
    • Female participant coding rubrique

Read the entire dissertation here.

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