Mixed Race Studies

Negotiating Coloured Identity Through Encounters with Performance

University of the Western Cape
November 2005
148 Pages

Gino Fransman

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MA in the Faculty of Arts University of the Western Cape

In this study theatre, as staged performance and as text, will be used as an exploratory and discursive tool to examine the negotiation of Coloured identity in the ‘New South Africa’. I investigate debates on Coloured identity while also drawing on theories of the performativity of identity. The role of performance in negotiating this identity is foregrounded; this provides a context for a case study which evaluates responses by Coloured and Black students at the University of the Western Cape to popular Coloured identity-related performances. These include Marc Lottering’s ‘Crash’ and ‘From the Cape Flats With Love’, and Petersen, Isaacs and Reisenhoffer’s ‘Joe Barber’ and ‘Suip’. These works, both as texts and as performance, will be used to analyse the way stereotypical representations of Coloured identities are played with, subverted or negotiated in performance. I attempt to establish how group stereotypes are constructed within the performance arena, and question whether attitudes can be negotiated through encounters with performance.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Chapter One
  • Setting the Scene
• Staging, de-staging and re-staging the Coloured:
  • Chapter Two
    • Staging the Coloured––An Inter-disciplinary Approach
    • Comedy and Reflexivity
  • Chapter Three
    • De-staging the Coloured
    • The Theatre in Action: Using Stereotype
  • Chapter Four
    • Framing the Performances
    • The Performances as Texts
    • ‘Joe Barber’ – The Script
    • ‘Suip’ – The Script
  • Chapter Five
    • The Performances: Re-staging the Coloured
    • Conveying Meaning and Method
    • ‘From the Cape Flats With Love’
  • Chapter Six
    • The Case-Study: Methodology and Discussion
    • The Sample
    • Ethics Statement
    • The Participants as Spectators/Audience
    • Audiences and Venues
    • Special Features of the Performances Useful for the Investigation
    • Methods of Data Collection
  • Chapter Seven
    • Conclusions
• Bibliography
• Appendix A:
  • Images
  • Marc Lottering ‘From the Cape Flats With Love’
  • ‘Crash’ Promotional Material
  • ‘Joe Barber’
  • ‘Suip’ Promotional Material
• Appendix B:
  • Sample Questionnaire

Introduction

Where is the theatre now located in the ‘New South Africa’? To what extent has the focus shifted to “the representation of present struggle” (Orkin, 1996:61), rather than the struggle for a democracy enshrined within a constitution? How does this contribute to establishing an emergent national identity, and simultaneously affect specific group identities? These questions are key to the discussions that follow, as the national identity encompasses different groups assembled under one banner: the ‘New South Africa’. These groups, in turn, are all subject to group negotiations of identity.

In the study that follows, theatre as staged performance and as text will be used as exploratory and discursive tools to investigate the negotiation of identities. The aim is to explore this theme by examining the responses to four popular Coloured identity-related staged performances; Marc Lottering’s ‘Crash’ (2004) and ‘From the Cape Flats with Love’ (2001), as well as Petersen, Isaacs and Reisenhoffer’s ‘Joe Barber’ (1999) and ‘Suip’ (1996). These works, both as performance and as text, will be used to investigate the way stereotypical representations of Coloured identities are played with, subverted or negotiated in performance. In this work I attempt to establish how meanings are constructed within the performance arena. I also examine how they have been negotiated by using the responses of a selected group of students at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), as a case study, in order to explore current student attitudes.

The primary focus of the thesis examines Coloured identity as a construction still represented as a stereotype at times, but also as fluidly reflecting the changing South African society. The readings of the performances, as well as the performances as texts, illustrate occasions where this fluidity, or lack of fluidity in stereotypical instances, is represented on the stage. On the other hand the case study provides a student audience response to representations of Coloured people on the stage in South Africa. The slippages between being a cultural insider and investigating that very culture often manifest themselves, within the scope of this work and beyond its constraints. It is the difficulty of maintaining the theoretical trend that Coloured identity is fluid, which makes identifying these manifestations in the performances and case study so fascinating. The thesis explores this tension as far as possible within a limited scope for detail…

…Chapter One: Setting the Scene

‘Coloureds don’t feel included in mainstream South African society’… this sense of exclusion could in some ways explain why they had ‘no real stake in obeying the rules of this society’. (Ted Leggett, Institute of Security Studies- South Africa: 2004)

I am a Coloured. At least that is what I call myself. In South Africa today, ten years after democracy, it is surprising that this statement requires qualification. No qualification, in our democratic country, is required for someone stating, “I am Black,” or “I am White.” Yet, Coloured identity is mired in questions of, amongst others, belonging, status, and power. The contradictions implicit in claiming a Coloured identity are explored here, as my own claiming of the term places me in opposition to ‘being named’. To myself, it means one thing, but to someone else, it could carry an entirely different meaning when it is ascribed to me, and thus imposes a way of being onto the term Coloured.

Richard van der Ross, one of the former rectors of UWC (which was established in 1960 as a Coloured or ‘Bush’ College), states that at first, those now called Coloured were simply referred to as “from the Cape”. He says:

In time, however, through education and general development, the group has become aware of its situation and oppression, and has sought to shake off its feelings and position of inferiority… They base their claims on the long line of descent taking them back, in some cases, to the original inhabitants of the land of their birth… the new group which has emerged has been known by many names. (2005:94)

 In the 1600s, slaves of mixed parentage had already been afforded more privilege than Black slaves. Following this rationale, boys born of mixed slave parents were preferred over the descendants of Black slaves, as “the masters thought they learned rapidly” (2005:35). Following a progression of ascribed names, Robert Shell (quoted in Van der Ross) says the identification of the group occurred “after the abolition of the slave trade (1808) [when] the convenient name coloured was introduced into the South African vocabulary, where it stubbornly persists” (2005:98).

Van der Ross outlines an intricate web of inter-group mixing, from slaves, colonists, locals, exiles and freed slaves. That these groups are all represented in his framework does not indicate that inter-mixing necessarily occurred amongst all of these groups in a single family line. For the purposes of this study, the combinations of these do “not mean that all the components are to be found in any individual [C]oloured person. There may be no more than two” (2005:98).

Read the entire thesis here.

The Ethics of Mixed Race Studies

The University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
May 2009
215 pages
Publication Number: AAT 3363443
ISBN: 9781109229738

Justin Ponder

Minstrel passing: Citizenship, race change, and motherhood in 1850s America

Saint Louis University
2009
116 pages
Publication Number: AAT 3383188
ISBN: 9781109452945

Roshaunda D. Cade, Writing Coordinator, Academic Resource Center
Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri

A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Saint Louis University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the egree of Doctor of Philosophy

This dissertation explores how mixed race slave mothers in American literature of the mid-Nineteenth Century combine the performances of blackface minstrelsy and racial passing in order to perform minstrel passing and access the freedoms of citizenship. Minstrel passing seeks to gain the advantages of the other through performances of deception, and it gains more liberties for the performer than either passing or minstrelsy do alone. While minstrel passing does not grant freedom, it grants the freedom to behave like and be treated as a citizen. During this era, motherhood defined female citizenship. But instead of solely resigning women to the domestic sphere, motherhood emboldens women to try things they have never done before. For these slave women, motherhood pushes them to seek the benefits of citizenship.

I argue that in the following the texts, Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), Harriet Beecher Stowe; Clotel (1853), William Wells Brown; The Bondwoman’s Narrative (2002), Hannah Crafts; Pudd’nhead Wilson (1894), Mark Twain, these bids for citizenship happen largely through the acts of blackface minstrelsy, racial passing, and minstrel passing. Because these performances privilege self-definition, they become tools in the feminist arsenal of autonomy and create space for feminist citizenship. Each of these novels deals with mixed race slave mothers minstrel passing their way into freedom. Additionally, the complexity of the minstrel passing situations intensifies in each novel, revealing the complicated nature of the mid-Nineteenth Century moment.

The mid-century collision of increasingly confusing racial definitions, the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, the emergence of blackface minstrelsy as a national form of entertainment, and the Women’s Rights Movement created a unique atmosphere for American women, black and white. To that end, the 1850s offered a variety of ways for women to accommodate citizenship. I maintain that this era created a space for mixed race slave mothers to perform racial deception, in order to exercise autonomy and define their own spheres, and find the freedom to enjoy the privileges of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness inherent in U.S. citizenship.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: CREATING CITIZENSHIP IN 1850s AMERICA
• CHAPTER 2: CREATING CITIZENSHIP THROUGH MOTHERHOOD, MINSTRELSY, AND PASSING IN HARRIET BEECHER STOWE’S UNCLE TOM’S CABIN
  • Introduction
  • Stowe’s Search for Mother
  • Accidental Feminism
  • Citizenship
  • Eliza, George, and Harry: Minstrel Trio
  • Conclusion
• CHAPTER 3: SECURING LIBERTY AND CITIZENSHIP THROUGH PASSING AND MINSTRELSY IN WILLIAM WELLS BROWN’S CLOTEL
  • Introduction
  • Growing up with Currer
  • Althesa’s Attempts at American Liberty
  • Clotel’s Migration from Black Female Slave to Free White Man
  • Conclusion
• CHAPTER 4: MOTHERHOOD AND DECEPTION AS FREEDOM IN THE BONDWOMAN’S NARRATIVE BY HANNAH CRAFTS
  • Introduction
  • Searching for Mother
  • White Womanhood
  • Othermothering
  • Little Orphan Hannah
  • Conclusion; or, White Womanhood Revisited
• CHAPTER 5: MULATTA MAMA PERFORMING PASSING AND MIMICKING MINSTRELSY IN MARK TWAIN’S PUDD’NHEAD WILSON
  • Introduction
  • Mark Twain and Motherhood
  • Privilege, Citizenship, and Race
  • Roxy as Racial Passer
  • Roxy as Blackface Minstrel
  • Conclusion
• CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION: MINSTREL PASSING INTO AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP
• Works Cited
• Vita Auctoris

Purchase the dissertation here.

Race and health care: problems with using race to classify, assess, and treat patients

University of Texas
May 2010
64 pages

Atalie Nitibhon

Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Public Affairs

Though racial classifications may serve as a mechanism for identifying and correcting disparities among various groups, using such classifications in a clinical setting to detect and treat patient needs can be problematic. This report explores how medical professionals and researchers use race in health care for purposes of data collection, risk assessment, and diagnosis and treatment options. Using mixed race individuals as an example, it then discusses some of the problems associated with using race to group individuals, assess risk, and inform patient care. Finally, it discusses how certain components of personalized medicine, such as genetic testing, Electronic Health Records, and Rapid Learning Systems could help address some of the concerns that arise from the application of race in a health care setting.

Table of Contents

• Chapter 1: Introduction
  • What is Race?
• Chapter 2: Race and Health Care
  • Data Collection/Health Statistics
  • Risk Assessment
  • Diagnosis/Treatment
• Chapter 3: The Case of Mixed Race
• Chapter 4: Addressing the Issue
  • Genetic Testing
  • Genetic Testing Policy
    • Privacy and Security
    • Accuracy
    • Medical Education
    • Access
    • Research
  • Electronic Health Records and Rapid Learning Systems
  • Electronic Health Records Policy
  • Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records
• Chapter 5: Conclusion
• References
• Vita

…Chapter 3: The Case of Mixed Race

As mentioned during the previous discussion entitled “What is Race?”, no such thing as “pure race” exists, so it stands to reason that everyone is, to some degree, “multiracial” or of “mixed race.” However, for the purposes of this discussion, the terms “multiracial,” “mixed race,” and “mixed heritage” refer to individuals with parents who are classified as being from two distinct racial or ethnic categories. Mixed heritage individuals described by such a definition provide an excellent example of some of the problems associated with relying on race to classify individuals, assess risk, or inform patient care.

Racial identification, either on the part of the individual or by an external actor (e.g., a medical professional) is an area of concern, particularly in terms of the reliability of using race to assess health risk. For example, an individual who has one black parent and one Hispanic parent may self-identify as only one or the other. If she identifies as black and does not think to share the racial or ethnic identities of both of her parents with the medical professionals administering care, how comprehensive will the patient assessment be? Or, if a patient has one Asian parent and one white parent, but a medical professional identifies her as Hispanic, what effects does that external misidentification have on the adequacy, accuracy, and equitability of the physician’s assessment of the patient? Furthermore, patients do not inform health care professionals that they believe they have disease X, thus allowing the clinician to then administer exams to confirm that diagnosis. Instead, patients present a list of symptoms to their physician, and then expect a diagnosis and treatment. While most physicians will follow proper medical protocol in assessing and diagnosing a patient, her beliefs and biases, however well-meaning they may be, could influence the type of treatment the patient receives. Thus, if the physician believes the Asian/White patient to be Hispanic, the physician’s perceptions about Hispanics in the health care setting may subconsciously influence her assessment and care of the patient…

…In general, the absence of options for multiethnic or multiracial individuals reveals part of the problem in using race as a risk assessment tool: it neglects to account for the extent of genetic variation that underlies the concept of race. Thus, not only does it disregard a number of people who do not fit neatly into any of the given categories, but it may also misgauge the genetic contributions of individuals who do select a specific race or ethnicity with which they identify socially….

…The 2000 Census marked the first time individuals had the option to “mark one or more” race; the resulting data reveal that nearly 7-million individuals self-identified as multiple races. Another study projects that individuals who self-identify as mixed race will make up 21 percent of the population by 2050. The growing number of individuals who self-identify as multiracial indicates that the “traditional” methods of grouping people according to race need reassessment. Similarly, the manner in which medical professionals consider race to inform patient care needs reassessment. Nonetheless, inclusion of the option to mark one or more on the Census does not mean that mixed heritage individuals are a new “phenomenon.” Recalling the idea that nobody is purely one race, it stands to reason that doctors have been treating “mixed heritage” patients for quite some time now. In some respects, that illustrates the notion that the actual “race” of an individual is irrelevant; the only way to treat the patient is to treat the patient…

Read the entire thesis here.

Meridians: Mapping Metaphors of Mixed Race Indentity

University of Florida
August 2004
238 pages

Shane Willow Trudell

A dissertation presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in partial fulfullment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy

Although mixed race identity traditionally has been equated with conflict, the conflict is not necessarily lived but may be more accurately viewed as a conflict of language, a conflict of metaphors. Traditionally, metaphors of mixed race identity have reflected notions of opposition and hierarchy; at the same time, mixed race individuals have searched for Utopian spaces in which conflict and tragedy are alleviated and race is imagined as a unifying, rather than divisive, idea. This study looks at the treatment of mixed race women in twentieth century novels, beginning with Jean Toomer’s Cane (1925) and then jumping to the end of the century—to Fran Ross’s Oreo (1975), Danzy Senna’s Caucasia (1998), and Jenoyne Adams’s Resurrecting Mingus (2001)—to study texts written during and after the Black Power Movement. It begins with an analysis of metaphors of blackness and whiteness that developed in the nineteenth century and then questions the ways these metaphors have traditionally complicated possibilities for mixed race identity, resulting in replications of the tragic mulatto and adherence to the one-drop rule. Subsequently, the analysis moves to contemporary metaphors of mixed race identity to explore their limits and possibilities and the ways in which these metaphors are implicated by questions of gender. The texts under analysis respond to the same set of problems, including the longing for Utopian spaces of wholeness and harmony within mixed race identities and non-traditional families. Additionally, these texts contain a latent struggle over questions of history, family, and racial identity. They long to articulate Utopian visions while they are confined within the historical moments and literary formulas in which they were written, and they struggle to negotiate postmodern questions of identity, self, wholeness, and harmony—both individual and communal—while bound by literary and social conventions that resist the Utopian visions they hope to articulate. Each text attempts to envision Utopian social, political, familial and individual spaces where the “play” of identity—the possibility of negotiation and individualization—may be manifested, Utopian visions of harmony may be realized, and new metaphors may be articulated.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• PREFACE
• ABSTRACT
• CHAPTER
• 1. CARTOGRAPHIES OF RACIAL IDENTITY
  • Intimate Cartography
  • Mapping Past Paths and New Directions
  • Mapping the Contemporary Landscape
  • Mapping Metaphors
  • Mixed Metaphors
  • Playing With the Map
  • Mapping the Path Ahead
• 2. THE IVORY TOWER AND THE KETTLE BLACK: NINETEENTH CENTURY METAPHORS OF RACE
  • Race Crystallized
  • Climbing the Ivory Tower
  • Climbing into the Kettle Black
  • Continued Crystallization
• 3. LINES OF CONTACT AND COHERENCE: MERIDIANS IN THE WORK OF JEAN TOOMER
  • Points of Departure
  • Dividing Lines
  • Transcending the Divide
  • Points of Contact
• 4. TRAVELING THROUGH FRAN ROSS’S OREO, NO ORDINARY COOKIE
  • The Frontier: Where Two Come Together
  • TraveHng Beyond the Boundaries
  • “She Got Womb”
  • Travelers, Questers, and Cookies
  • Traveling in/as Twos
• 5. RE-VISIONS OF DIFFERENCE IN DANZY SENNA’S CAUCASIA
  • Disappearing: The Skin We’re In
  • Bodies at Play: Performing (and Being) Race(d)
  • Appearing in the Mirroring
  • Longing and Belonging
  • Appearing in Motion and Blurring the Lines
  • Reappearing beyond Recognition
• 6. HOME LIFE: CONFLICTED DOMESTICITY IN JENOYNE ADAMS’S RESURRECTING MINGUS
  • Home Bound
  • Divided Houses
  • Cracking the Mirror
  • Coming Home
• 7. MERIDIANS ON THE MAP OF IDENTITY
• WORKS CITED
• BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Read the entire dissertation here.

The Guineas of West Virginia

Ohio State University
1952
139 pages

John P. Burnell, Jr.

A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirments for the Degree Master of Arts.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Methodology
2. Geographical and Social Setting
3. History and Origin
4. Who Is A Guinea?
5. Social Participation
6. Attitudes and Beliefs
7. Summary and Conclusions

Bibliography
Map (See back folder)

Sociologists are becoming increasingly aware that there exists in the United States an “outcast element” the study of which has been neglected. This element is comprised of groups of people who are generally thought to be of tri-racial origin, that is, Negro, Indian and white. The whites tend to relegate these people to the status of Negroes, a status which most of them resent.

To mention but a few of these hybrid groups which have been reported on to date, there are those in parts of Tennessee and Kentucky referred to as “Melungeons“; in North Carolina, “Indiana of Robeson County” in the southern part of Ohio, “Carmel Indians”.  Dr. Brewton Berry has applied the generic term “mestizos” to the racial hybrids of South Carolina, who are known there by various opprobrious names such as, “Brass Ankles”, “Red Legs”, “Buckheads”, and “Turks”.  In Delaware the hybrids are known as “Moors” and “Hantichokes”; in Alabama, Louisiana, and parts of Mississippi, “Creoles” and “Cajuns“, and in Virginia, “Issues”.

The writer1s interest in the racial hybrid grew out of a general interest In race relations per se, and a firm conviction that only as these various, often socially and geographically isolated, groups are investigated and reported upon will the sociologist be in a position validly to generalize about them.

The purpose of this study was to observe and describe one of these groups, thereby contributing to the knowledge of racial hybrids which is being amassed.   The group chosen for this purpose resides in the state of West Virginia, more specifically in the northeastern part of this state In Barbour and Taylor counties.

The people who constitute this group are generally considered by the white population as being a mixture of white, Negro, and Indian ancestry. Locally, they are referred to as “Guineas“, or “Guinea niggers”, both terms being of a derogatory nature.  Although the Guineas are for the most part very white in appearance, as will be noted in a later chapter devoted to a description of their physical characteristics, the whites in the area resist accepting them as social equals largely on the basis that “one drop of Negro blood makes a Negro“.   In spite of a substantial number of whites acknowledging “Indian blood”, and many more, not being quite certain as to what racial strains have gone into the make-up of these people, it seems to matter very little, for as one white Informant summed it up: “That one drop of nigger blood never washes away” The Guineas then, are referred to as “colored people.” In the areas where they reside and by virtue of this classification are subject to differential treatment by white society.

This particular group of people was chosen for study because: (1) they were conveniently located to the writer’s home; (2) the writer is a resident of the state in which they are located, and therefore it was felt that rapport could be more easily attained; and (3) only a modicum of information concerning these people Is to be found in the literature.

It must be pointed out from the very beginning that the primary object of going out into the field was to observe these people In their real life situation with a view toward describing that situation.

Lack of time and finances acted as definite limiting factors to the scope and comprehensiveness of the field work and largely contributed to limiting this study to a descriptive level.   It is hoped, however, that a more extensive and comprehensive piece of work, free from such limitations, will soon be forthcoming.   Moreover, it must be emphasized that the foregoing limitations, especially lack of finances, restricted most of the data gathered to Barbour County, even though many Guineas are to be found scattered throughout the southern part of Taylor County. To defray the expenses of the writer it was necessary for him to procure employment, and a position which permitted freedom of movement during daylight hours was found in Phillppi, the county seat of Barbour County thereby making this community a convenient center of operation.  It was felt by the writer that the latter limitation was not as much a hindrance to the study as It may at first appear because: first, there seem to. be more Guineas, or at least more people who are defined by the local populace as “Guineas”, residing in Barbour than in Taylor county; and second, they are more concentrated within specific areas in Arbour county.  Since several trips were made into Taylor county, some data which were gathered there pertaining to the Guineas has been utilized within the text. However, wherever any of these data appear, specific reference to Taylor county has been made.

It will be noted by the reader that the terms “white” and “Guinea” appear throughout the text. The writer uses the term “Guinea” as a means of identifying the people who are the aubject of this paper, but does not wish to convey the derogatory connotations generally associated with this term. In some cases the term “hybrid” is used interchangeably with Guinea. The term white applies to all of those people who are not considered either Negro or Guinea.

The methodology utilized in this study is explained in the following chapter…

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Black Seminole Involvement and Leadership During the Second Seminole War, 1835-1842

Indiana University
May 2007
228 pages

Anthony E. Dixon

A Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History Indiana University

This thesis examines the involvement, leadership, and impact of the Black Seminoles during the Second Seminole War. In Florida, free Blacks, runaway slaves, and Blacks owned by Seminoles collectively became known as Black Seminoles. Black Seminoles either lived in separate communities near Seminole Indians, or joined them by cohabitating or intermarriage. Throughout this cohabitation, Blacks became an integral part of Seminole life by taking positions as advisers, counselors, and trusted interpreters to the English (who were rapidly advancing plantation society into territorial Florida).

By the advent of the Second Seminole War, Black Seminoles, unlike their Seminole Indian counterparts were not given the opportunity to emigrate westward under the United States government’s Indian Removal Policy. The United States government’s objective became to return as many Black Seminoles, if not all, to slavery. Therefore, it became the Black Seminole’s objective to resist enslavement or re-enslavement (for many) on American plantations.

The Introduction explains the objective and focus of this study. Moreover, it explains the need and importance of this study while examining the historiography of the Second Seminole War in relation to the Black Seminoles. The origins and cultural aspects of the Black Seminoles is the topic of chapter one. By examining the origins and cultural aspects of the Black Seminoles, this study establishes the autonomy of the Black Seminoles from their Indian counterparts. Chapter two focuses on the relationship and alliance between Seminole Blacks and Indians. Research concerning Black Seminole involvement throughout the war allows chapter three to reconstruct the Second Seminole War from the Black Seminole perspective. A biographical approach is utilized in chapter four in order to understand the Black Seminole leadership. This chapter examines the lives of the three most prominent Black Seminole leaders during the war. The overall impact of the Black Seminole involvement in the war is the focus of chapter five. Chapter six summarizes this study and provides the historiography of the Second Seminole War with a perspective that has remained relatively obscure.

It is clear that from the onset of the war, the United States government, military, and state militias grossly underestimated both the determination and the willingness of the Black Seminole to resist at all cost. Throughout the war, both United States’ military and political strategies were constructed and reconstructed to compensate for both the intensity with which the Black Seminoles fought as well as their political savvy during negotiations. This study examines the impact of the Black Seminoles on the Second Seminole War within the context of marronage and subsequently interprets the Second Seminole War itself as a form of slave rebellion.

Table of Contents

• Title Page
• Acknowlegements
• Abstract
• Table of Contents
• Table of Illustrations
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Origins and Cultural Character of the Black Seminole
• Chapter 2: Seminole and Black Seminole Alliance
• Chapter 3: Black Seminole Early Resistance and Involvement During the Second Seminole War
• Chapter 4: Black Seminole Leadership During the Second Seminole War
• Chapter 5: The Impact of the Black Seminoles on the Second Seminole War
• Conclusion
• Bibliography

Table of Illustrations

• Afro-Seminole Creole Language
• Annual Distribution of Runaway Slaves

Read the entire dissertation here.

Ethnic Identity of Biethnic Mexican American/European Americans Raised in Texas

Texas Tech University
May 2005
73 pages

Kristal L. Menchaca

A Thesis in Human Development and Family Studies Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science

The primary purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of Mexican American/European American biethnic individuals raised in Texas. The present study looked at the applicability of Poston’s (1990) five-stage model of biracial identity development to the experiences of 8 Mexican American/European Americans.

Results indicated that Poston’s (1990) model was applicable to this cohort. The respondents gave responses indicating progression through the five stages of Personal Identity, Choice of Group Categorization, Enmeshment/Denial, Appreciation and Integration. These responses were narrations of current involvement or memories of childhood experiences. Also, Poston’s (1990) suggestion that biracial individuals experience confusion and maladjustment because of their ethnicity was also applicable to the biethnic individuals in this study.

Other themes that influenced identity development of the respondents and also considered salient to their experiences were family experiences and what it means to be Mexican American and European American, separately. Respondents were aware of family’s experiences with discrimination. There was an overall positive meaning assigned to being Mexican American and European American, however, it was not as strong for the latter.

Table of Contents

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• ABSTRACT
• CHAPTER
  • I. INTRODUCTION
    • Statement of the Problem
  • II. LITERATURE REVIEW
    • Mexican Americans in Texas
    • Definition of Terms
    • Identity Development
    • Model of Biracial Identity Development
    • Biracial Identity Development
    • Purpose of Current Study
  • III. METHODS
    • Qualitative Research
    • Phenomenology
    • Participants
    • Measures
    • Ethnicity Survey
    • Autobiographical Interview Probe
    • Procedures
  • IV. RESULTS
    • Data Analysis
    • Personal Identity
    • Choice of Group Categorization
    • Enmeshment/Denial
    • Appreciation
    • Integration
    • Confusion/Maladjustment
    • Family Experiences
    • What it Means to be Mexican American
    • What it Means to be European American
  • V. DISCUSSION
    • Personal Identity
    • Choice of Group Categorization
    • Enmeshment/Denial
    • Appreciation
    • Integration
    • Confusion/Maladjustment
    • Family Experiences
    • What it Means to be Mexican American
    • What it Means to be European American
    • Conclusions
    • Strengths of Study
    • Limitations of Study
    • Recommendations for future research
• REFERENCES
• APPENDICES
  • A. TABLE ONE
  • B. EMAILS FOR RECRUITMENT
  • C. CONSENT FORM
  • D. ETHNICITY SURVEY
  • E. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL INTERVIEW PROBE

Read the entire thesis here.

Biracial identity development in minority/minority individuals: A relational model

Alliant International University, San Francisco Bay
May 2009
383 pages
Publication Number: AAT 3358398
ISBN: 9781109176018

Michelle Grady

There are a growing number of biracial individuals in America, and while some studies have examined their experiences, few have focused on the experiences of biracial minority, minority individuals, whose parents are from different racial minority groups. This study qualitatively explored, through the use of in-depth interviews, the biracial identity development experiences of 6 biracial minority, minority individuals, between the ages of 25 and 34. Interview questions were informed by the literature on biracial identity development, in particular a previous study by Kich (1982), and by Josselson’s (1992) relational theory of identity development. Transcripts were used to create a biography for each respondent; the biographies were analyzed to identify themes and factors influencing biracial identity development. A major theme which emerged included respondents’ tendencies, in childhood, to develop a stronger racial identification with the side of the family they felt more emotionally connected to. Over the course of the respondents’ lives, conflicts about identity emerged and receded, in response to environmental and relational experiences. Relationships with peers and extended family members evoked an awareness of being racially different in respondents. Peer acceptance or rejection strongly influenced respondents’ biracial identity development both positively and negatively during their childhood and adolescence. A relational model of biracial identity development was proposed which was based on themes that emerged, as respondents described their identity development. Stages of biracial identity development were characterized by a search for a sense of belonging, acceptance, and validation, as well as, over time, an increased need for self-definition and consolidation of personal identity. Respondents experienced racism, rejection, and subjective experiences of being different. Acceptance from peers and extended family, communication with family members about their biracial experience, and being taught about both cultures, were longed for experiences that seemed to contribute to a positive experience of identity, when they occurred. Recommendations for future research include further exploration of the usefulness of Josselson’s relational identity development theory for understanding biracial identity development.

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Parent and Child Influences on the Development of a Black-White Biracial Identity

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
2009-10-07
286 pages

Dana J. Stone Harris

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Human Development

In this qualitative study, the interactive process of exploring and developing shared, familial meanings about biracial identity development was investigated from the perspectives of both parents and children in Black-White multiracial families. Specifically, this study examined how monoracial parents and their biracial children describe the influence parents have on the biracial children’s identity development process from the biracial individuals’ youth into adulthood. Monoracial parents and their children were also invited to share how they negotiated the uniqueness of a biracial identity in both the parents’ and the children’s social arenas. Data were obtained through in-person, semi-structured interviews with 10 monoracial mothers and 11 of their adult (ages 18 to 40) biracial children. The data were analyzed using phenomenological methodology. The analysis of participants’ experiences of biracial identity development revealed four major themes: that family interactions and relationships contribute to the creation of identity for biracial individuals, that mothers intentionally worked to create an open family environment for their biracial children to grow up in, that parents and children affect and are affected by interactions with American culture and society throughout their development, and finally that growing up biracial is a unique experience within each of aforementioned contexts. While there were many shared experiences among the families, each family had its own exceptional story of strength and adjustment to the biracial identity development process. Across cases, the overarching theme was one of togetherness and resiliency for the mothers and their adult children. Data from this study has important implications for research and practice among a number of human service professionals.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• LIST OF TABLES
• LIST OF FIGURES
• DEDICATION
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
  • BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE
  • JUSTIFICATION: BLACK-WHITE INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES
  • STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
  • PURPOSE STATEMENT
  • CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
  • DEFINITIONS OF KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS
  • RESEARCH QUESTIONS
• CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
  • IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
  • RACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
  • BIRACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
  • RACIAL SOCIALIZATION: THE ROLE OF FAMILIES
  • INTERRACIAL COUPLES: ATTITUDES AND EXPERIENCES
  • INTERRACIAL PARENTS AND RACIAL SOCIALIZATION
  • THE PRESENT STUDY
• CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
  • PHENOMENOLOGICAL INQUIRY
  • SAMPLE
  • PROCEDURES
  • MEASURES
  • ROLE OF THE RESEARCHER
  • DATA ANALYSIS
  • TRUSTWORTHINESS
• CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS
  • INTRODUCTION OF THE PARTICIPANT FAMILIES
    • Participant Demographics: Mothers
    • Participant Demographics: Biracial Adults
    • Descriptions of Participant Families
  • MULTIGENERATIONAL FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
    • Family Constellations and Parental Dating Practices
    • Supportive and Close Parent-Child Relationships
    • Supportive Siblings: Sharing the Biracial Experience
    • Grandparents and Great-Grandparents
  • FAMILIAL INFLUENCES ON THE BIRACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
    • Raising Biracial Children: An Intentionally Unique Responsibility
    • Racially Labeling Children
    • Acknowledging Potential Challenges for Biracial Children
    • Family pride: We are Comfortable and Proud to be an Interracial Family
  • NEGOTIATING OUR RACIAL IDENTITY WITH THE “OUTSIDE” WORLD
    • Friendships
    • Neighborhoods and Local Communities
    • Trying to Fit Me into a Box: Pressure to Choose Black or White
    • Fighting Discrimination and Racism as a Family
    • The Impact of Racially Historical Events
  • THE EXPERIENCE OF GROWING UP WITH A UNIQUE RACIAL HERITAGE
    • How I Describe My Racial Identity
    • The Color of My Skin Matters
    • “The Biggest Issue I’ve had is Hair”
    • Stuck in the Middle and “The Best of Both Worlds”
    • Resiliency: My Racial Identity Makes me a Stronger Person
  • SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
• CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
  • OVERVIEW
  • REFLEXIVITY AND PERSONAL PROCESS
  • DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS
    • Mother’s Perceptions of their Influence on Biracial Identity Development
    • Biracial Children Describe the Influence of their Parents and Families
    • Biracial Identity from Childhood into Adulthood
    • Negotiating Biracial Identity in the Social Arenas of Mothers and Children
  • LIMITATIONS
  • PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS
    • Mental Health Implications
    • Treatment Suggestions
    • Social and Political Implications
    • Community
    • Social Change
  • RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
  • FINAL CONCLUSIONS
• REFERENCES
  • APPENDIX A: ADVERTISEMENT FLYER
  • APPENDIX B: RECRUITMENT EMAIL/LETTER
  • APPENDIX C: IRB APPROVAL LETTER VIRGINIA TECH
  • APPENDIX D: IRB APPROVAL LETTER UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
  • APPENDIX E: INFORMED CONSENT
  • APPENDIX F: INTERVIEW GUIDES
  • APPENDIX G: DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONNAIRES
  • APPENDIX H: THEMES DRAFT 1
  • APPENDIX I: THEMES DRAFT 6
  • APPENDIX J: EMAIL LETTER FOR MEMBER CHECKS

LIST OF TABLES

• TABLE 1 SUMMARY OF THEMES
• TABLE 2 MOTHER DEMOGRAPHICS
• TABLE 3 BIRACIAL ADULT DEMOGRAPHICS

LIST OF FIGURES

• FIGURE 1 VINCENT FAMILY GENOGRAM
• FIGURE 2 NELSON FAMILY GENOGRAM
• FIGURE 3 SIMON FAMILY GENOGRAM
• FIGURE 4 EDWARD FAMILY GENOGRAM
• FIGURE 5 RULE FAMILY GENOGRAM
• FIGURE 6 COLLINS FAMILY GENOGRAM
• FIGURE 7 JACOBS FAMILY GENOGRAM
• FIGURE 8 OLSON FAMILY GENOGRAM
• FIGURE 9 MONROE FAMILY GENOGRAM
• FIGURE 10 BROOKS FAMILY GENOGRAM

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