Mixed Race Studies

Call For Participants: Are You a Multiracial Musician?

University of St. Thomas, Minnesota
School of Education
St. Paul, Minnesota
2021-03-07

Ilah Raleigh, M.M., Education Leadership Ed.D. Doctoral Candidate; Arts Education Leader & Performing Artist

Dear Multiracial Musicians:

I am conducting research on the contributions of multiracial artists in the contemporary commercial music (CCM) genres of country, hip-hop, and/or reggaetón. The purpose of my study is to investigate the historic and contemporary events, trends, and developments in American contemporary commercial music (CCM) which are ignored, erased, and misunderstood. This research has potential value to students, educators, and scholars of music, music education, and critical mixed race studies.

I am recruiting research participants who meet the following criteria:

• 18 years or older.
• Multiracial ancestry and/or parentage, though they do not have to self-identify as racially and/or ethnically mixed.
• Musical artists working in the genres of country, hip-hop, and/or reggaetón. This can include vocalists, emcees, deejays, instrumentalists, composers and/or producers.
• At least three years of pre-professional training or professional experience in the music industry.

Please note: Participation in this study is voluntary and participants may withdraw at any time during the study. Research participants will not be compensated for their participation. Survey data will be destroyed if a potential participant chooses to not participate.

Please follow the link here to a pre-screening recruitment survey.

Questions? Contact ilah.raleigh@stthomas.edu. To learn more, visit my professional website.

Ilah Raleigh, M.M. (Principal Investigator)

Learning to be different: A white mother of biracial children experiences racism

University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)
December 2004
194 pages
Publication Number: AAT 3154007
ISBN: 9780496146376

Jennifer Ann Greer Johnson

A Dissertation Submitted to the Education Faculty of the University of St. Thomas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree Doctor of Education

This qualitative autoethnographic study examines the experiences of an inner-city assistant principal in a multiracial high school who is also a Caucasian mother of biracial children of African American and Caucasian descent. The narratives throughout this study illustrate encounters with prejudice, discrimination, and racism in public and private places. The stories are analyzed through the lens of racial formation theory and Critical Race Theory. Results indicate that the identity of a mother of biracial children is complex as she straddles two cultures, that of the black and white community. An Ethnic Identity Development Model illustrates the struggles of rearing biracial children while working in an urban high school. This autoethnographic study illustrates the mother’s identity shift as she learns to be different in both worlds.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• ABSTRACT
• LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES.
• PREFACE
• CHAPTER 1: JUMPING THE BROOM
  • A journey into difference
  • Evolution of the study
  • Autoethnography
  • Data collection and analysis
  • Validity and ethics
  • Organization of the Dissertation
• CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
  • Interracial Relationships
  • Biracial Identity
  • Class Issues
  • Racial Formation Theory
  • Critical Race Theory
• CHAPTER 3: AWAKENINGS
  • Is she adopted?
  • Their father is Black.
  • Children are not supposed to be out in the sun
  • Intraracial Discrimination
  • We can only choose one
  • Would you buy a warranty on a Cadillac?
  • Another Awakening
  • Is that your child?
  • I will never be with another white woman again!
  • His mouth fell open, and he stared at my children and then at me
• CHAPTER 4: HAIR: POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF RACE
  • What is this, the next Shirley Temple?
  • Do you use this on your hair?
  • I decided that you need to do something with Jacqueline’s hair
  • Everyone stopped and stared at me
  • Shampoo and conditioner for one colored girl
  • I have to get their hair “right” in the eyes of the Black community
• CHAPTER 5: WILL MY CHILDREN HAVE A PLACE AT THE TABLE?
  • I was raised in a strict Catholic household
  • The Archbishop’s Letter
  • Racism is a sin
  • For my children’s sake, great changes need to be made
• CHAPTER 6: WILL MY CHILDREN BE LEFT BEHIND?
  • Appointment as Assistant Principal
  • “Are those your children?”
  • I circled ‘White’ even though my son does not look White
  • “She does not like you”
  • “So you’re kickin it with a black man”
  • You’re just picking on me because I am Black
  • Does anyone speak another language?
  • Mama, will you still like us even though your skin is white and mine is brown?
  • Let’s not just give people the boots, let’s give them the straps
  • Most of the International Baccalaureate students are white
• CHAPTER 7: A MOTHER’S STRUGGLE
  • “Second-Hand Racism”
  • Racism at school and the workplace
  • Rearing my children
  • Ethnic Identity Development Model
• REFERENCES
• BIBLIOGRAPHY

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

• TABLE 1 Changing Racial Combinations of Interracial Marriages in Minnesota.
• TABLE 2 My Journey in a Racialized Society
• FIGURE 1 2000 Census Self-Identification Questionnaire
• FIGURE 2 Ethnic Identity Development Model (Fluid)

Purchase the dissertation here.