Seeking Race Transcenders to Participate in Racial Identity Study |
Seeking Race Transcenders to Participate in Racial Identity Study
Carlos Hoyt, a Ph.D. student at Simmons College in Boston, is currently seeking individuals who are commonly identified as black or African American (including biracial or black-multiethnic), but who do not define themselves according to the social construct of race. Hoyt’s study will give race transcenders the opportunity to describe the factors and paths that led to a sense of self beyond black, bi- or multiracial identity and to an identity orientation that is non-racial.
Race transcenders are aware that society racializes them as black or African American and they are well aware of the effects of race and racism in society, but they do not subscribe to racial categorization or racial identity as part of their sense of self. This is analogous to someone raised in a religious faith who, at some point, chooses to renounce religion altogether. Others might know this person as a member of a family or community in a particular religious category, but the individual chooses an identity that does not include such categorization; she or he has become non-religious. The following quotation gives a clear illustration of the race transcendent orientation.
“My journey has taken me past constructions of race, past constructions of mixed race, and into an understanding of human difference that does not include race as a meaningful category (Spencer in Penn, 2002, p.10).”
If you feel that you are a race transcender and would like to share the story of how you arrived at that sense of self, please contact Carlos at hoyt.carlos@gmail.com and/or visit www.RaceTranscenders.com for more information.
Tags: Carlos Hoyt