Mixed Race Studies

Race and Social Problems: Interview with Dean Larry E. Davis

The Social Work Podcast
2008-03-24

Jonathan B. Singer, Assistant Professor of Social Work
Temple Univerisity

Interview with
Larry E. Davis, Dean and Donald M. Henderson Professor of Social Work and Director of the Center on Race and Social Problems
University of Pittsburgh
 
[Episode 36] Today’s podcast is on Race and Social Problems. On January 15, 2008, I spoke with Dr. Larry E. Davis, Dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh, the Donald M. Henderson Professor, and Director of the Center on Race and Social Problems. In our conversation, Dean Davis defined racism, the role of race in understanding social problems, and about how issues of race may or may not change as the percentage of whites in the United States continues to decrease discussed. We talked about some of the racial and gender issues in the current election and talked about how race is different from gender as a point of diversity. We also talked about race and social work, and what social workers can do to fight racism. We ended our conversation with a discussion of the Center on Race and Social Problems and what the Center is doing to fight racism.

1. Beginning of the interview and definition of Race and Social Problems: [01:58]
2. “The major definition of race has been color” [02:31]
3. Mulattos and Octaroons [3:30]
4. The New Ingredient in the Identity of Black Biracial Children [4:49]
5. “African Americans are a multi-racial people.” [5:13]
6. “America may have biracial children, but there are no biracial adults.” [5:37]
7. What makes race a social problem? [9:36]
8. How will issues of race change now that Hispanics are the majority minority group? [11:06]
9. There is less than a percentage point difference between the number of African American and Hispanics in the United States according to the 2000 Census [11:59]  (Note: In the 2000 US Census, 75.1% of Americans identified as White. 12.5% identified as Hispanic or Latino. 12.3% identified as Black or African American.)
10. Why should social workers be concerned about race? [15:00]
11. How can race be a more defining issue for America than gender? [18:19]
12. Will people vote with their racial or gender identities in the presidential election? [21:47]
13. Is it detrimental to the Democrats to have two traditionally oppressed groups represented in the front-runners? [24:10]
14. Dean Davis defines and discusses his concept “Psychological Majority” [26:43]
15. What can social workers do to fight racism? [31:25]
16. Should other schools of social work have a center on race and social problems? [36:29]
17. Center on Race and Social Problems lecture series [38:26]

Listen to the podcast here (Due to large file size, right-click and save to your computer).  Running Time: 00:45:17.

Singer, J. B. (Host). (2008, March 24). Race and social problems: Interview with Dean Larry E. Davis [Episode 36]. Social Work Podcast. Podcast retrieved April 17, 2010, from http://socialworkpodcast.com/2008/03/race-and-social-problems-interview-with.html

Faces of the Future: An Exploration of Biracial Identity Development and Racial Identification in Biracial Young Adults

Smith College School for Social Work
Northampton, Massachusetts
2009
119 Pages

Dana L. Benton

A project based upon an independent investigation, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work.

This research study examines how biracial young adults experience the process of racial identification and racial identity development. The purpose of this study was to contribute to the growing body of knowledge budding around this topic. This study utilized a mixed methods approach to explore the racial demographics and quality of relationships in bi racial young adults social networks across their life span; experiences with ascribed and self declared racial identifications, as well as, thoughts, feelings and attitudes about being biracial. The experiences of N=53 biracial young adults, 18 to 35 years of age, were collected through an anonymous, online survey created by the research. The results of this study suggest that (1) Racial self identification in biracial people can vary across person, time and place (2) Social Factors and Racial Group Membership can be important to biracial peoples racial identity development and racial self identification (3) Inquiry into a biracial persons racial identification can evoke a variety of emotions (4) Biracial people’s attitudes about being biracial can range from negative to positive. This study considers these findings and offers clinical practice as well as research implications for future best practices.

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
CHAPTER IV FINDINGS
CHAPTER V DISCUSSION
REFERENCES

APPENDICES
Appendix A: Human Subjects Committee Approval Letter
Appendix B: Informed Consent Form
Appendix C: Recruitment Tool
Appendix D: Referral List
Appendix E: Questionnaire
Appendix F: Figure 1: Age of Respondents
Figure 2: Gender of Respondents
Appendix G: Figure 3: Respondent U.S. Region Reared In
Figure 4: Respondents Country Reared In
Appendix H: Figure 5: Educational Level of Respondents
Figure 6: Income Level of Respondents
Appendix I: Figure 7: Change in Racial Self Identification
Appendix J: Table 1: Racial Composition of Social World
Appendix K: Figure 8: Race of Biological Parents
Figure 9: Quality of Parental Relationship
Appendix L: Figure 10: Quality of Relationships with Extended Family
Figure 11: Familial Acceptance & Participants’ Mixed Race Ancestry
Appendix M: Table 2: Respondents’ Racial Identifications (1)
Table 3: Respondents’ Racial Identifications (2)
Appendix N: Table 4: Respondents’ Racial Identifications (3)
Table 5: Respondents’ Monoracial Identifications
Appendix O: Table 6: Comparison of Racial Self Identifications
Appendix P: Figure 12: Emotional Responses & Racial Inquiries
Figure 13: Emotional Responses & Ascribed Racial Identifications
Appendix Q: Table 7: Grouping of Racial Self Identification Options

Read the entire project here.

“… But … But I am Brown.” The Ascribed Categories of Identity: Children and Young People of Mixed Parentage

Child Care in Practice
Volume 13, Issue 2 (April 2007)
pages 83 – 94
DOI: 10.1080/13575270701201169

Annabel Goodyer, Principal Lecturer in Social Work
London South Bank University

Toyin Okitikpi

This paper explores the concept of the categorisation of social groups by looking at the issue of ascribed categories of identity for children and young people of mixed parentage. Our exploration of the knowledge-base in this area reveals that children and young people have clearly expressed views about their racial identity and that these views are broadly consistent across research studies. In essence, children and young people’s expressed views are that they are not mixed-race, black or white, but are in fact brown. The emerging sociology of childhood and the government’s current child participation agenda emphasise the centrality of children and young peoples’ perspectives on the provision of services that seek to support them. Through this perception, which places children and young people’s own understandings of their racial identity at the forefront of the analysis, we added fresh understandings to the existing data concerning ascribed categories of identity for children and young people of mixed parentage.

Read or purchase the article here.

The racial canons of American sociology: Identity across the lifespan as biracial alternative

The American Sociologist
Volume 31, Number 1 (March, 2000)
pages 86-93
Print ISSN: 0003-1232; Online ISSN: 1936-4784
DOI: 10.1007/s12108-000-1006-z

Ronald E. Hall, Professor of Social Work
Michigan State University

The fabric of American sociology is woven from societal belief and tradition. Sociology is thus, to some extent, a manifestation of canons. While research has concluded no single model of racial identity based in fact, sociologists apply racial canons in conformation to cultural tradition and Western belief systems. Traditions and beliefs are reflected in sociological research, literature, and various theoretical constructs. In the aftermath, racial canons pertaining to the identity of biracial Americans assume the force and merit of fact.

In the search for knowledge and scientific evidence the weight of canons is not irrelevant to the direction of sociological conclusions. Assumed truths may be expressed directly or indirectly to explain certain social phenomena. This allows for particular bodies of knowledge to be implicitly defined by canons. Occasionally, more explicitly, canons define a social phenomenon. For example, the canons of race category define the theory of racial identity by specifying what kinds of attributes designate race. In this instance sociologists frequently make use of what is perceived as universal fact. Racial canons are presented as if there were general agreement about their validity, even though this validity cannot be demonstrated (Bennett, 1996)…

Read or purchase the article here.

In Their Siblings’ Voices: White Non-Adopted Siblings Talk About Their Experiences Being Raised with Black and Biracial Brothers and Sisters

Columbia University Press
May 2009
248 pages
5 tables
Cloth ISBN: 978-0-231-14850-4
Paper ISBN: 978-0-231-14851-1

Rita J. Simon, University Professor Emerita
Department of Justice, Law and Society
American University, Washington, D.C.

In Their Siblings’ Voices shares the stories of twenty white non-adopted siblings who grew up with black or biracial brothers and sisters in the late 1960s and 1970s. Belonging to the same families profiled in Rita J. Simon and Rhonda M. Roorda’s In Their Own Voices: Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories and In Their Parents’ Voices: Reflections on Raising Transracial Adoptees, these siblings offer their perspectives on the multiracial adoption experience, which, for them, played out against the backdrop of two tumultuous, politically charged decades. Simon and Roorda question whether professionals and adoption agencies adequately trained these children in the challenges presented by blended families, and they ask if, after more than thirty years, race still matters. Few books cover both the academic and the human dimensions of this issue. In Their Siblings’ Voices helps readers fully grasp the dynamic of living in a multiracial household and its effect on friends, school, and community.

Social Work Response to the Needs of Biracial Americans

Surjit Singh Dhooper, Assistant Professor of Social Work
University of Kentucky

Journal of Ethnic And Cultural Diversity in Social Work
Volume 12, Issue 4 (April 2004)
pages 19 – 47
DOI: 10.1300/J051v12n04_02

The number of interracial marriages is rising. The offspring of these marriages are a special group that is experiencing the complexities and frustrations of multiracial existence. Over six million Americans identified themselves as biracial in the 2000 census. These people are different from biracial Americans of the past. They do not want to disown any part of their ancestry and are resisting the societal practice of forcing them to identify with only the racial community of one parent. This paper examines the social realities and worldviews of these Americans and identifies their major needs. It discusses these and suggests a social work response at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels of practice.

Read or purchase the article here.

Beyond Race: Examining the Facets of Multiracial Identity Through a Life-span Developmental Lens

Journal of Ethnic And Cultural Diversity in Social Work
Volume 18, Issue 4 (October 2009)
pages 293-310
DOI: 10.1080/15313200903310759

Kelly F. Jackson, Assistant Professor of Social Work
Arizona State University

Using a social work developmental lens, this qualitative study explored some of the numerous social and environmental factors that shape a multiracial individual’s cultural identity. Results from transcript analysis portray the cultural identity of multiracial persons as significantly influenced by (1) personal experiences of racism and discrimination; (2) social interactions and relationships with peers and family; and (3) the racial climate of the school and community. The findings from this study support more fluid, ecological models of multiracial identity development that are more effective at explicating some of the highly complex and influential contextual factors that impact a multiracial person’s cultural identity development.

Read or purchase the article here.

Eurocentrism in Social Work Education: From Race to Identity Across the Lifespan as Biracial Alternative

Journal of Social Work
Volume 5, Number 1 (April 2005)
pages 101-114
DOI: 10.1177/1468017305051238

Ronald E. Hall, Professor of Social Work
Michigan State University, East Lansing

• Summary: Consequent to Eurocentric hegemony, race has been erroneously validated as the standard identity construct by social work education as well as much of Western science. For example, the approach utilized in this study includes reference to the literature of biologists and medical personnel who contend that race is scientifically meaningless.
• Findings: The findings suggest that for those who are biracial, living in the midst of race constructionists encourages a life of identity conflict. That conflict is more often irrelevant to monorace subjects who by skin color are assigned to a single race category. This is an important notion for those, such as social workers, working in the human services.
• Applications: The application proposes a human development across the lifespan construct to serve as an ecological alternative to the pathologizing influences of race. Although race and other Eurocentric constructs may have had their place at one time, the rapidly changing demographic dynamics of Western populations, including Britain, Europe and the Americas, and the inconceivable pace at which diversity is becoming the norm necessitate a commensurate change in policy, practice and theory. Identity across the lifespan in preparation of social workers for the 21st century is a viable alternative.

Read or purchase the article here.

A Contested Identity: An Exploration of the Competing Social and Political Discourse Concerning the Identification and Positioning of Young People of Inter-Racial Parentage

British Journal of Social Work
Volume 36, Number 8 (2006)
pages 1309-1324
DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bch390

Ravinder Barn, Professor of Social Policy and Social Work
Royal Holloway, University of London

Vicki Harman, Lecturer in the Centre for Criminology and Sociology
Royal Holloway, University of London

The development of racial and ethnic identity of minority ethnic children and young people in contemporary multi-racial Western society remains an important academic concern. More recently, a relatively new debate about the identity and ‘correct’ labelling of children of inter-racial relationships has been brewing in British academic literature. Nowhere is this more vociferous and intense than in the field of social work. This paper identifies two competing perspectives vying for position in this ideological and political battle. It is argued that whilst overall consensus may not be possible or even desirable, it is important to explore these ideological positions as they play a key role in influencing social work policy and practice.

The Report on an Investigation into the Colour Problem in Liverpool and Other Ports or simply, The Fletcher Report of 1930 was a report sponsored by the Liverpool [England] Association for the Welfare of Half-Caste Children in December, 1927.  The report, released on 1930-06-16, was written by Muriel E. Fletcher a 1920 graduate of the University of Liverpool’s School of Social Science.  She was at that time employed as a probation worker and given the task to investigate the socioeconomic plight of ‘half-castes’.  The social research played particular attention to the family structure of the [so-called] “half-caste” population in Liverpool¹.

The Fletcher Report was written in response to the social tension created by the increased population of black (African) seamen who, via colonization—were deemed British citizens—and their “half-caste” (‘mixed-race’) children of their unions with white (English) women.  This tension culminated with the Liverpool anti-Black riots of 1919.   The report was based on a mere fraction the authors’ purported sample size and had little, if any, concern for the actual well-being of  ‘mixed-race’ children and their families. The report was imbued with the racist “hybrid degeneracy” pseudoscience of the day.  Besides the fact that the Fletcher Report stigmatized ‘mixed race’ individuals for decades, the report owns another ignominious spot in race relations in that it embedded the pejorative term “half-caste” into the British lexicon.

The report is available at the Library of the University of Liverpool (Reference Number: D7/5/5/5).  See: http://sca.lib.liv.ac.uk/ead/html/gb141unirelated-p4.shtml#uni.10.09.01.05.05.02

¹Mark Christian, “The Fletcher Report 1930: A Historical Case Study of Contested Black Mixed Heritage Britishness,” Journal of Historical Sociology, Volume 21 Issue 2-3, (2008):  213 – 241.