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Biracial identity development includes self-identification in, and psychological connectedness with two racial groups. Biracial identity development is described as a process across the life span that is variable based on individual family structure, geographic location, opportunities for exploration, etc.
Contents
Background
Racial identity development is important because it defines an individual’s attitudes about self-identity, and directly affects the individual’s attitudes about other individuals both within their racial group(s) and others. Racial identity development often requires individuals to interact with concepts of inequality and racism that shape racial understandings in America.
Research on biracial identity development has been influenced by previous research on racial and ethnic identity development. Most of this initial research is focused on Black racial identity development (Cross, 1971) and Minority identity development (Morten and Atkinson, 1983).
Like other identities, mixed race people have not been easily accepted in the United States. Numerous laws and practices prohibited interracial sex, marriage, and therefore, mixed race children. Below are some landmark moments in mixed race history.
Miscegenation laws
Anti-miscegenation laws or miscegenation laws enforced racial segregation through marriage and intimate relationships by criminalizing interracial marriage. Certain communities also prohibit having sexual intercourse with a person of another race. These laws have since been changed in all U.S. states - interracial marriage is permitted. The last states to change these laws were South Carolina and Alabama. South Carolina made this change in 1998 and in 2000, Alabama became the last state in the United States to legalize interracial marriage.
"One Drop Rule"
The one-drop rule is a historical social and legal principle of racial classification in the United States. The one drop rule asserts that any person with one ancestor of African ancestry is considered to be Black. This idea was influenced by concerns of Blacks passing as White in the U.S. deeply segregated south. In this time, classification as Black rather than mulatto or mixed became prevalent. The "One Drop Rule" was used as a way to make people of color, especially multiracial Americans feel even more inferior and confused and was put into effect in the 1920s. No other country in the world at the time had thought of or implemented such a discrimitory and specific rule on its citizens The One drop rule in a way was taking the Jim Crow Law to a new extreme level to make sure it stayed in power and was used as another extreme measure of social classification.
Hypodescent
The anthropological concept of hypodescent refers to the automatic assignment of children of a mixed union between different socioeconomic or ethnic groups to the group with the lower status. As Whites are historically a dominant social group people of Black/White ancestry would be categorized as Black using this concept.
The U.S. Census
Before 2000 United States Census respondents were only able to select one race when submitting census data. This means that the census contained no statistical information regarding particular racial mixes and their frequency in the U.S. before this time.
Demographics
The population of biracial people in the U.S. is growing. A comparison of data from the 2000 and 2010 United States Census indicates an overall population increase in individuals identifying with two or more races from 6.8 million people to 9 million people (US Census Data, 2010). In examining specific race combinations, the data showed that, "people who reported White as well as Black or African American—a population that grew by over one million people, increasing by 134 percent—and people who reported White as well as Asian—a population that grew by about three-quarters of a million people, increasing by 87 percent" (US Census Data, 2010). In 2004, one in 40 persons in the United States self-identified as a multiracial, and by the year 2050, it is projected that as many as one in five Americans will claim a Multiracial background, and in turn, a Multiracial or Biracial identity (Lee & Bean, 2004).
Early theories
When initial racial identity development research is applied to biracial people, there are limitations, as they fail to recognize variance in developmental experiences that occur within racial groups (Gibbs, 1987). This research assumes that individuals would choose to identify with, or choose to reject, one racial group over another dependent on life stage. Also, initial racial identity development research does not address real-life resolutions for people upholding multiple racial group identities (Poston, 1990). These assumptions display the need for biracial identity development that focuses on the unique aspects of the experience of biracial identity development.
Stonequist's Marginal Person Model
Stonequist’s Marginal Person Model (1937) was the first to address biracial identity development. This study discusses pathology in Black families through comparison of Black minority samples to White majority samples. Stonequist claims that developing a biracial identity is a marginal experience. He suggests that biracial people belong in two worlds and none all at the same time. That they experience uncertainty and ambiguity which can worsen problems people face identifying with their own racial groups and others (Gibbs, 1987). A primary limitation of this model is that it is largely internal and focused on development within biracial individuals. The model does not discuss factors such as racism or racial hierarchy, which can worsen feelings of marginality for biracial persons. It does not address other functions of marginality that could also affect biracial identity development such as conflict between parental racial groups, or absence of influence from one racial identity (Hall, 2001). The model fails to describe the experience of biracial people that exhibit characteristics of both races without conflict or feelings of marginality (Poston, 1990).
Modern theories
To address the limitations of Stonequist’s Marginal Person Model, researchers have expanded biracial identity development research based on relevant and current understandings of biracial people. Most concepts of biracial identity development highlight the need for racial identity development across the life span. This type of development recognizes that identity is no more static a cultural entity than any other, and that this fluidity of identity is shaped by the individual’s social circumstances and capital (Hall, 2001).
Poston’s Biracial Identity Development Stages
Poston’s (1990) presents a 5-stage model for biracial identity development. This model was developed from research on biracial individuals and information from relevant support groups. Rooted in counseling psychology, the model adapts Cross’ (1987) concept of reference group orientation (RGO), which includes constructions of racial identity, esteem, and ideology.
Root’s Resolutions for Resolving Otherness
Root’s Resolutions for Resolving Otherness (1990) address the phenomenological experience of otherness in a biracial context. With footing in cultural psychology, Root suggests that the strongest conflict in biracial identity development is the tension between racial components within oneself. She presents alternative resolutions for resolving ethnic identity based on research covering the racial hierarchy and history of the U.S., and the roles of family, age, or gender in the individual’s development. These alternatives for resolving otherness are not mutually exclusive; no one resolution is better than another. They include assessment of socio-cultural, political, and familial influences on biracial identity development.