Mixed Race Studies

Scholarly perspectives on the mixed race experience.

The peoples of Europe are of such mongrel origin that any attempt at classification according to only two characteristics (colour of eyes and hair) would exclude two-thirds of the population in any region studied; the addition of a third characteristic (cranial formation) would leave us with a still smaller fraction of the population presenting the required combination of all three characteristics; and with the inclusion of stature and nasal index, the proportion of «pure» types would become infinitesimal.

We may take it then that there are no pure human races; at the very most it would be possible to define a pure race in terms of the incidence of one selected somatic characteristic, but never in terms of all or even of the majority of hereditary traits. Nevertheless there is a widespread belief that there was a time in antiquity when racial types were pure, that miscegenation is of relatively recent date, and that it threatens humanity with a general degeneration and retrogression. This belief lacks the slightest support from science. The mixing of races has been going on since the very beginning of human life on earth, though obviously the improvement of communications and the general increase in population has stimulated it in the last two centuries. Migration is as old as the human race, and automatically implies cross-breeding between groups.

Juan Comas, Racial Myths (Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 1951), 12-13.

There is nothing more American than passing, the act of projecting a racial identity other than that assigned.

There is nothing more American than passing, the act of projecting a racial identity other than that assigned.

Lydia Nichols, “Review: “Krazy” by Michael Tisserand,” Know Louisiana: The Digital Encyclopedia of Louisiana and Home of Louisiana Cultural Vistas, Winter 2016 (December 2, 2016). https://www.knowlouisiana.org/46243-2.

Tags: George Herriman, George Joseph Herriman, Know Louisiana, Lydia Nichols, Michael Tisserand

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 3rd, 2016 at 02:10Z and is filed under Excerpts/Quotes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Pages
Categories
- Africa (404)
- Anthologies (293)
- Anthropology (1,163)
- Articles (8,690)
- Arts (1,264)
- Asian Diaspora (1,414)
- Audio (466)
- Autobiography (1,057)
- Barack Obama (717)
- Biography (1,040)
- Book/Video Reviews (734)
- Books (2,100)
- Brazil (514)
- Campus Life (462)
- Canada (468)
- Caribbean/Latin America (1,403)
- Census/Demographics (1,072)
- Chapter (45)
- Communications/Media Studies (487)
- Course Offerings (158)
- Definitions (43)
- Dissertations (446)
- Economics (112)
- Europe (548)
- Excerpts/Quotes (946)
- Family/Parenting (619)
- Forthcoming Media (56)
- Gay & Lesbian (167)
- Health/Medicine/Genetics (763)
- History (3,428)
- Identity Development/Psychology (2,106)
- Interviews (694)
- Judaism (191)
- Latino Studies (496)
- Law (946)
- Letters (11)
- Literary/Artistic Criticism (1,466)
- Live Events (662)
- Louisiana (247)
- Media Archive (12,295)
- Mexico (235)
- Mississippi (80)
- Monographs (1,442)
- My Articles/Point of View/Activities (52)
- Native Americans/First Nation (671)
- New Media (451)
- Novels (248)
- Oceania (212)
- Papers/Presentations (233)
- Passing (1,238)
- Philosophy (201)
- Poetry (95)
- Politics/Public Policy (1,797)
- Religion (489)
- Reports (64)
- Slavery (793)
- Social Justice (341)
- Social Science (2,989)
- Social Work (194)
- South Africa (138)
- Statements (9)
- Teaching Resources (136)
- Texas (65)
- Tri-Racial Isolates (100)
- United Kingdom (1,066)
- United States (8,760)
- Videos (564)
- Virginia (219)
- Wanted/Research Requests/Call for Papers (145)
- Women (1,386)
Calendar of Posts

April 2024

M T W T F S S

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30

« Mar
Links
Meta

Mixed Race Studies

There is nothing more American than passing, the act of projecting a racial identity other than that assigned.

Pages

Categories

Calendar of Posts

Links

Meta