Biracial in America?

By Patrick Branley

Group Members:

Molly Trayner

Jessica Beech

Amanda Breckner

Sarah DelTorto

Biracial families are becoming more and more common. In the 2000 census, “Nearly 7 Million (2.4 %) of Americans described themselves as multiracial” (Burrello, 2000). And it is surprising that many of the statistics in regards to race and ethnicity fail to include biracial people. At the same time, it is somewhat predictable. Society has had the idea that a biracial person “sides” or identifies more with the minority parent—or that they should. Today, mixed-race people are fighting this idea. That makes a lot of sense considering the “students moving through college right now includes the largest group of mixed-race people ever to come of age in the United States” (Saulny, 2011).

Unfortunately, society is very big on creating judgements based solely on what they see, which can oppress those who identify as multicultural and do not necessarily appear to be. We choose to make assumptions about people without even knowing them, or trying to. It is due to assumptions and societal beliefs that have pressured biracial individuals to “take sides.” In the recent past and still to some today, the thought was that you were whatever you appear to be. For example, if you have dark skin, you would be black, despite half of you being white (or any other race). We can look as far back as the days surrounding the civil war. Mixed-race people were automatically black. This relates directly to the present idea of some that one should identify with the minority parent. 

The acceptance of biracial people has increased and become far more visible, especially with celebrities like Halle Berry and Mariah Carey. The biggest “win” for biracial people was with President Barack Obama, who is a biracial individual. If you’ll notice, though, we rarely hear it in the media. Obama is our first black president. Yes, he is black, but it is also white. The fact that he is biracial is forgotten, much like biracial individuals in general. 

It is true that biracial children may experience identity issues. It is difficult to feel as though you belong to two (or more) separated groups and still never be completely accepted in each community. Cultures are different. One of the students interviewed in Susan Saulny’s New York Times article said, “‘I think it’s really important to acknowledge who you are and everything that makes you that’” (Saulny, 2011). This quote rings very true on this subject. We don’t know everything about biracial children, families, and adults, but we first must want to know. There is so much that could be so interesting to see. Biracial people bridge a gap between two or more races. We receive a unique perspective from their outlooks on many different topics. The idea of different cultures combining is an intriguing one that we should want to learn about. Its all about acceptance. Too many things in this world aren’t looked deeply enough into, which leaves us with several unanswered questions. 

For the visual effect, this is one picture of what a biracial family looks like. Because biracial families all look different, this is not something that every biracial family would identify with.

http://nodeinthenoosphere.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-does-race-mean.html 

This picture depicts a family with a black father and a white mother and three little children that are everything in between. All these children are biracial, but will they all be perceived this way? Do you think that their different appearances could potentially effect their relationships as siblings and as a family in general? What do you think each child might be considered by society, when their race is called into question?

Work Cited:

Saulny, S. (2011, January 29). Black? white? asian? most young americans choose all of the above. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/us/30mixed.html?pagewanted=all

Burrello, K. (2000). What are the strengths of interracial marriages?. Retrieved from http://www.diversitydtg.com/article/basics/what-are-the-strengths-of-interracial-families

References:

http://nodeinthenoosphere.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-does-race-mean.html

http://racerelations.about.com/od/raceconsciousparenting/a/RaisingBiracialChildrentoBeWellAdjusted.htm

http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/rvp/pubaf/chronicle/v11/f13/rockquemore.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/16/interracial-marriage-stat_n_1280511.html