Mixed Race Studies

Scholarly perspectives on the mixed race experience.

In this work, the terms “colored” and “negro” have been used indiscriminately, but I have made the more extended use of the former, since the type of the pure negro is rarely met with. The race is so hopelessly mixed that it is difficult to arrive at a clear definition, and the term “colored” will probably serve as well as the awkward phrase, “persons of African descent.”

Of the original African type few traces remain, and the race is largely a cross between the African and the white male; for no considerable crossing of negroes with white females has ever taken place. The instances where white women have married colored men are very rare and the few cases that occur cannot possibly have affected the traits and tendencies of the race. On the other hand, the infusion of white blood, through white males, has been widespread, and the original type of the African has almost completely disappeared. A small settlement near Mobile, Ala., a few years ago was asserted to have preserved the purity of the race: but I am informed by Dr. D. T. Rogers, the health officer of Mobile, that this is no longer true. It is therefore a question of great importance to know what influence, favorable or otherwise, the infusion of white blood has had on the physical, moral and mental characteristics of the race. It is of further importance to ascertain, if possible, whether there is a decided tendency towards a mixture of the two races, and if so, whether this tendency is in the direction of lawful marriage or of concubinage and prostitution.

Frederick L. Hoffman, “The Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro,” Publications of the American Economic Association, Volume 11, Numbers 1/3 (Jan. – Mar. – May, 1896): 177-178. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2560438.

The Mixed-race MilkBite™

Posted in Articles, Communications/Media Studies, Media Archive, Social Science, United States on 2012-04-20 02:11Z by Steven

The Mixed-race MilkBite™

Brad’s Blog: musings on sociology, religion, higher ed, and whatever else is going on in my life
2012-04-16

Bradley Koch, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Georgia College & State University

Here are a few commercials for the new MilkBite™ from Kraft. They play on stereotypes about mixed-race individuals.

There are other spots on Kraft’s YouTube page, most playing on these same themes. The problem with a marketing campaign like this is that it trivializes the experience of people with multiple racial/ethnic identities who are still often met with derision and confusion. The first ad above perpetuates the self-fulfilling prophecy about “confused” identities. As a child, I remember my own parents telling me that they didn’t have a problem with interracial couples but worried about how others might react to their children. The second ad exotifies (exoticizes?) mixed-race identities…

Read the entire essay here.

Tags: Brad's Blog, Bradley Koch, Kraft, MilkBite™

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Mixed Race Studies

The Mixed-race MilkBite™

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