“I wish I didn’t look so White”: examining contested racial identities in second-generation Black–White Multiracials

Abstract

ABSTRACT Multiracials are one of the fastest growing populations in the United States. However, we are still learning how the children of Multiracial individuals understand their racial identity. I interviewed 30 “second-generation” Black–White Multiracials, who have one Black–White parent and one White parent, on the meanings they assign to racial categories, phenotypes, and their racial identity. Many cite reflected appraisals as non-Black for why they do not identify as Black, but orientation toward Blackness differs from those who identify as Multiracial. Between these two groups of Multiracials, I find distinctive responses to racial contestation consistent with differing stigmatization of racial groups, salience of racial identity, and identification as a person of colour. These findings indicate differing responses to similarly reflected appraisals and highlight the need to investigate Multiracials of multiple generational statuses to understand the varying meanings of a Multiracial identity to Multiracials.