A Biracial Identity or a New Race? The Historical Limitations and Political Implications of a Biracial Identity |
Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society
Volume 3, Number 4 (Fall 2001)
pages 83-112
Minkah Makalani, Assistant Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies
University of Texas, Austin
Over the past fifteen years in the United States, there has emerged a concerted push to racially reclassify persons with one Black and one white parent as biracial. Advocates of racial reclassification are calling for the establishment of a biracial identity that is both socially and officially recognized. They are joined by a cohort of scholars, many of whom are themselves biracial identity advocates, who argue that such an identity is more appropriate for persons of mixed parentage than a Black one. Social scientist have dominated these discussions, concerned primarily with the experiences and identity of people of mixed parentage. They maintain that a biracial identity would better recognized the complete racial background of persons of mixed parentage and offer a more mentally healthy racial identity than a Black racial identity. Moreover, the exalt a biracial identity as a positive step in moving society beyond issues of race and towards the realization of a color-blind society.
Focusing on the scholarship advocating a biracial identity for people with one Black and one white parent, I argue that such an identity has no historical basis, and would have a negative political impact on African Americans…
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Tags: Minkah Makalani, Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics Culture and Society