Mixed Race Studies

Where We Live Affects Our Bias Against Mixed-Race Individuals, Psychology Study Finds

NYU News
New York University
2016-03-14

Press Contact: James Devitt | (212) 998-6808

Whites living in areas where they are less exposed to those of other races have a harder time categorizing mixed-race individuals than do Whites with greater interracial exposure, a condition that is associated with greater prejudice against mixed-race individuals, a new experimental study shows.

For decades, research has shown that Whites with lower interracial exposure show greater prejudice against Blacks, but the new study finds they also show a greater prejudice against mixed-race individuals—the fastest growing racial group in the United States.

“Our findings show that White individuals with lower interracial exposure tend to exhibit greater prejudice against mixed-race individuals,” explains Jonathan Freeman, an assistant professor in New York University’s Department of Psychology and the study’s lead author. “The results suggest that this bias arises in individuals with lower interracial exposure because they visually process racially ambiguous faces in a more difficult and unpredictable fashion, and this unstable experience translates into negative biases against mixed-race people.”

A video outlining the research may be viewed here.

The study’s other authors included Kristin Pauker, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Diana Sanchez, an associate professor of psychology at Rutgers University.

The research, which appears in the journal Psychological Science, considered two national samples totaling approximately 350 subjects. It determined subjects’ interracial exposure by matching Census data with their zip codes. To gauge subjects’ responses, the researchers relied on an innovative mouse-tracking technique that uses an individual’s hand movements to reveal unconscious cognitive processes. Unlike surveys, in which individuals can consciously alter their responses, this technique requires respondents to make split-second decisions about others where an unconscious—and more honest—preference can be uncovered through their hand-motion trajectory…

Read the entire article here.

A conversation on what it means to be mixed race

New Day Northwest
KING TV 5
Seattle, Washington
2016-03-30

Margaret Larson, Host

The last Census report taken in 2010 showed that the population identifying themselves as multi-racial grew by 32% over the census in 2000.

One local author is raising awareness with a new book called ‘Raising Mixed Race: Multiracial Asian Children In a Post-Racial World‘.

Sharon Chang visited New Day NW to talk about what it means to be mixed race in our current culture.

To learn more about Sharon or buy her book, visit her blog.

Watch the interview here.

“Born With It” – Screening and Discussion with filmmaker Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour, Jr.

University of Southern California
East Asian Studies Center
University Park Campus
Leavey Auditorium (LVL) 17
Tuesday, 2016-03-29, 16:15-17:45 PDT (Local Time)

Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr., Filmaker

“Born With It” follows the story of a 9-year-old Ghanaian-Japanese boy, Keisuke. Keisuke begins at a new school in rural Japan and contends with discovering his own identity as well as earning the acceptance of his classmates. The film highlights the experience of mixed race individuals and their families in Japan.

For more information, click here. View the flyer here.

Book Review – Raising Mixed Race: Multiracial Asian Children in a Post-Racial World

Mixed Race Feminist Blog
2016-03-18

Nicola Codner
Leeds, Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Raising Mixed Race: Multiracial Asian Children in a Post-Racial World, Sharon H. Chang, Routledge, 2016, 264pp, £27.99, ISBN 978-1612058481

I was really excited to finally get my hands on a copy of this excellent book which focusses on how to navigate successfully raising Asian multiracial children in today’s world. The main argument of the book is that in order to do this parents must analyse their own understanding of racial issues, and seek to expand their knowledge and awareness in this area so they can adequately support their offspring. Considering the content of the book, the mention of ‘a post-racial world’ in its title can only be taken as tongue-in-cheek since the writer argues throughout the text that the world is anything but this and sets about exposing how white racism continues to be pernicious and pervasive, simply mutating over time rather than weakening in power.

The book is split into an introduction followed by 8 chapters and is based on an interview study conducted by the author with multiracial Asian parents. The study explored multiracial Asian parents’ approaches to parenting in conjunction with their attitudes regarding race. Chang, who is an activist, writer and scholar, is multiracial Asian herself, as is her husband. The study highlighted parents often neglect appropriate conversations around race with their children and thus do not support them in developing good self-esteem and coping skills when it comes to dealing with racism…

Read the entire review here.

Helping mixed-race Asian kids navigate a world that isn’t post-racial

The Seattle Times
2016-03-16

Jerry Large, Columnist

Sharon H. Chang is author of “Raising Mixed Race: Multiracial Children in a Post-Racial World.” (Courtesy of Sheila Addleman)

Seattle author writes about the challenges of raising multiracial Asian children in America and helping then overcome racial biases.

If you have mixed-race kids, teach mixed-race kids or know any mixed-race kids, you should read Sharon Chang’s book. Chang is a local writer and mom who saw a vacuum and tried to fill it with information she wishes her own parents had.

The book is “Raising Mixed Race: Multiracial Asian Children in a Post-Racial World,” and yes, that last phrase is meant tongue in cheek. This definitely is not a post-racial world, and one of the strengths of Chang’s book is that it helps people see how race continues to shape our lives.

Chang grew up in Southern California, the daughter of a Taiwanese father and white American mother. She’s lived in Seattle for 16 years and is married to a man who grew up on Vashon Island. His father is white and his mother is from Japan, so they’ve had lots of conversations about growing up mixed and not having anyone explain how people might react to them, or why.

How does a kid feel when relatives, or strangers, openly comment on their features — “That’s a good nose” or “Too bad about the eyes”? What does a parent say when a child says, “Mommy, I want blond hair”?…

Read the entire article here.

The Brain Likes Categories. Where Should It Put Mixed-Race People?

Shots: Health News from NPR
National Public Radio
2016-03-15

Katherine Du

Humans like to place things in categories and can struggle when things can’t easily be categorized. That also applies to people, a study finds, and the brain’s visual biases may play a role in perceptions of mixed-race people.

The study, published in Psychological Science on Monday, asked people to sort images of people as either white or black, but it included multiracial faces in the mix, too. There has been much less research into attitudes about mixed-race people, even though they are the fastest-growing racial group in the United States.

The 235 study participants, who all self-identified as white, signed up through the online survey site Mechanical Turk and provided their ZIP codes. The researchers then used U.S. Census data to determine their level of exposure to other racial groups…

…”Where you live influences how easily you process biracial faces which may, without your awareness, be affecting your attitudes toward them,” according to Diana Sanchez, an associate professor of psychology at Rutgers and an author of the study…

Read the entire article here.

A Perceptual Pathway to Bias: Interracial Exposure Reduces Abrupt Shifts in Real-Time Race Perception That Predict Mixed-Race Bias

Psychological Science
Volume 27, Issue 4, 2016
pages 502–517
DOI: 10.1177/0956797615627418

Jonathan B. Freeman, Assistant Professor of Psychology
New York University

Kristin Pauker, Assistant Professor of Psychology
University of Hawaii, Manoa

Diana T. Sanchez, Associate Professor of Psychology
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick

In two national samples, we examined the influence of interracial exposure in one’s local environment on the dynamic process underlying race perception and its evaluative consequences. Using a mouse-tracking paradigm, we found in Study 1 that White individuals with low interracial exposure exhibited a unique effect of abrupt, unstable White-Black category shifting during real-time perception of mixed-race faces, consistent with predictions from a neural-dynamic model of social categorization and computational simulations. In Study 2, this shifting effect was replicated and shown to predict a trust bias against mixed-race individuals and to mediate the effect of low interracial exposure on that trust bias. Taken together, the findings demonstrate that interracial exposure shapes the dynamics through which racial categories activate and resolve during real-time perceptions, and these initial perceptual dynamics, in turn, may help drive evaluative biases against mixed-race individuals. Thus, lower-level perceptual aspects of encounters with racial ambiguity may serve as a foundation for mixed-race prejudice.

Read or purchase the article here.

Seeking Participants: Experiences of People who have Biological Parents of Different Racial Backgrounds

University at Albany, State University of New York
2016-03-14

Michael Gale

Experiences of racism have been found to be inversely linked to health and mental health among racial minority individuals, including those who identify as biracial or multiracial. Mixed race theorists have suggested that biracial adults with an integrated racial identity (i.e. viewing one’s own racial backgrounds as complementary and non-conflicting) may experience less pronounced ill-effects in association with encounters with racism. Thus, the goal of this study is to promote understanding and awareness of discrimination against biracial and multiracial individuals in the interest of anti-racism advocacy.

The study is expected to take about 20-30 minutes. To participate in this study, you need to:

• Identify as biracial or multiracial or
• Have biological parents who have different racial backgrounds from one another and
• Be at least 18 years of age

To thank you for participating, you may choose to enroll in a drawing where you will have a chance to win a $25 Target gift card. One drawing will be held for every 20 participants up to 400 participants (20 gift cards). Your responses will be anonymous and confidential, and you may withdraw at any time with no penalties.

To participate in the study, click here.

If you have any questions, please contact Michael Gale at mgale@albany.edu, or his dissertation chair, Dr. Alex Pieterse, at apieterse@albany.edu.

This study is approved by University at Albany’s Institutional Review Board. All information that you provide will be anonymous. If you have questions about your rights as a participant, you may contact the Office of Regulatory Research Compliance at the University at Albany at 1-866-857-5459 or hsconcerns@albany.edu.

“Mulatto: It’s Not a Cool Word”

The Atlantic
2016-03-04

Nadine Ajaka, Associate Producer for Video

Evoking the Mulatto is a multimedia project examining black mixed identity in the 21st century, through the lens of the history of racial classification in the United States. It was created by the filmmaker Lindsay Catherine Harris, and features compelling interviews with young Americans as they reflect on the complex process of defining themselves. This is the first of four episodes—Harris writes on the website: “Evoking the Mulatto begins with a delicate and poignant portrait of the young biracial body in contemporary society in respect to these legacies, navigating identity within and beyond a black/white binary in the hope of blossoming into a broader discussion on our humanity, the right to our own bodies and our own identities.” To explore the entire project, visit evokingthemulatto.com.

The Lucky Seven Interview, with Adebe DeRango-Adem

Open Book: Toronto
2016-02-28

Grace O’Connell, Senior Editor

The metaphor of striking out to explore unknown land is a particularly apt one for the act of writing, so the title Terra Incognita (Inanna Publications) fits Adebe DeRango-Adem’s new collection of poetry perfectly.

Exploring racial discourse in both contemporary and historical contexts, Terra Incognita teases out cultural memory and the impact of social and racial histories on the personal experience. Questioning what these forces mean for the creation (and imposition) of identity, Adebe’s deft verse mimics the physical and spiritual movement of those seeking identity within and beyond social and political borders.

We’re thrilled to welcome Adebe as our March 2016 writer-in-residence at Open Book!

Check out our conversation with Adebe, part of our Lucky Seven series, where she tells us about seeing eye to eye with your words, good advice from Ta-Nehisi Coates and the insurgency of a great book.

Open Book:

Tell us about your new book, Terra Incognita.

Adebe DeRango-Adem:

Titled after the Latin term for “unknown land” — a cartographical expression referring to regions that have not yet been mapped or documented — Terra Incognita is a collection of poems that explores various racial discourses and interracial crossings both buried in the grand narratives of history and the everyday experiences of being mixed-race. In my most recent book, the quest for the meaning of identity in the interracial context becomes part of the quest to unearth the territory of those who cross borders — racially, ethnically, culturally and geographically…

Read the entire interview here.