Identity problems in biracial youth

While there is little data on the number of biracial children in the US, there is a consensus among demographers that we are experiencing a “biracial baby boom.” According to the 1990 U.S. Census, there were approximately 800,000 interracial families with about one million biracial children in the country (Herring, 1995). Biracial youth have a very unique problem that most of their peers never experience: racial identity. These biracial youth have difficulties identifying who they are in our society.

Historically, children of mixed parentage were identified with the parent of color; if one parent was black, then the child was considered black. While such simplification may have been adequate in the past, studies are showing that more and more biracial children in today’s society are experiencing identity problems.

What is racial identity?

Bradshaw (1992) claims that developing a healthy self-esteem and an integrated sense of self is more complex for the biracial person than the monoracial person. Since healthy identity development is crucial to the formation of a normal personality, the issue of identity of children of mixed heritage is critical (Milan & Keiley, 2000). According to Forde-Marzui (1994), identity grows on the three levels of all human development:

• Physical
   
• Psychological
   
• Cultural:
  The nurturing of self-identity is a prime function of the family. An example of that is that in our society, the developmental needs of Black children are significantly different from those of white children. Black children are taught, from an early age, highly sophisticated coping techniques to deal with racist practices perpetrated by individuals and institutions. Some studies show that only a black family can transmit the emotional and sensitive subtleties of perception and reaction essential for a black child’s survival in a racist society.

Racial identity problems arise when biracial children have to face choosing one racial group and rejecting the other in order to develop an identity. We live in a society that sees things as black and white, with no gray areas. Tiger Woods, who is part African American and part Asian, says that society does not give these children a chance to embrace every aspect of their heritage. Forde-Mazrui (1994) also points out that, although American society has historically defined biracial people (from black and white parents) as black, it is questionable whether black people, as a rule, view biracial people in this way. He says that, in fact, biracial children can experience rejection and alienation from black people as well as from white people.

Wardle (1989) says that today, parents assume one of three positions as to the identity of their interracial children. Some insist that their child is “human above all else” and that race or ethnicity is irrelevant, while others choose to raise their children with the identity of the parent of color. Another growing group of parents is insisting that the child have the ethnic, racial, cultural and genetic heritage of both parents.

According to Wardle (1989), experts do not agree as to what the biracial child identity should be. Some believe an interracial child should have the identity of the parent of color because historically that has been the case, and also because society “sees” these children as having the identity of the parent of color. However, others have argued that the identity of any child is based on an accurate presentation of his or her true background - a child should know, for example, that his “white” mother has a Scottish heritage while his “black” father claims African, Native American and Asian roots.

Legal definitions of race

Government forms do not have a “biracial” category. Biracial organizations are seeking to have a status of biracial children formally recognized and included in the U.S. Census. Courtney (1995) says that job applications, survey forms, college-entrance exams, all ask individuals to check only one box for race. She says, “For most of my life, I have marked black because my skin color is the first thing people notice. One of the greatest things parents of biracial children can do is expose them to both of their cultures. But what good does this do when in the end society makes us choose? Having a separate category marked “biracial” will not magically put an end to the pressure to choose, but it will help people to stop judging us as just black or just white and see us for what we really are – both.”

Ramona Douglass, president of the Association of Multiethnic Americans (whose parents are Italian and African-American/Native American), says her organization is lobbying for a “multiracial” designation on government forms not because she and others are trying to “step out of our African-American heritage,” but because historically, the U.S. has been racist in its classifications. “I am not simply an African-American,” she says. “I am a mixture of all my heritages. I see no reason to deny any part of myself."

Their battle is far from being won. Not surprisingly, the notion of drastically altering the nation’s racial demographics is meeting opposition from civil rights organizations and major segments of the African-American community. There is concern that political strength will be diluted if the tens of thousands of biracial individuals now considered Black are recategorized as a separate ethnic group (Norment, 1995). Townsel (1996) also supports this by saying that the leaders in the black community are outraged because it would threaten affirmative action and EEO programs since the data collected through the census are used to monitor these programs. Dr. Halford Fairchild, associate professor of psychology and Black studies at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., is biracial as well and agrees that the government’s classifications have a legacy steeped in racism. But he emphasizes that a multiracial designation on census forms could have the negative effect of reducing the size of the Black population, “which could have dire political consequences.”

The National Association of Black Social Workers has influenced the American court system by arguing that biracial children should be treated as completely black. Consistent with this view, courts and adoption agencies usually categorize biracial children as black when considering placement. The primary justification for this treatment is that, in the eyes of American society, a biracial child is black and, therefore, must identify positively with being black and must be able to cope with discrimination toward her as a black person. The NABSW also opposes placing biracial children with white parents. The NABSW argues that society and those around such children will treat them as Black and, consequently, these children also need to identify positively as Black and cope with racial prejudice. As a result, the NABSW concludes that when an adoption or custody proceeding concerns a biracial child, a court or adoption agency should favor placing the child with Black parents (Forde-Mazrui, 1994).

She also warns the court that, by treating a biracial child as black, the courts decide first, that the biracial child should identify herself as one and only one race, and second, that this race should be black. For a biracial child, who needs exposure to both racial backgrounds, and who needs to accept both cultural heritages, choosing an all-black identity may contribute to a certain degree of identity confusion and self-rejection.

Recommendations to educators

Biracial youth need the regular positive youth development offered to other youth such as support, empowerment, mentoring, etc., however, they need additional attention. Educators should have programs that meet the needs of affirming identity for these youths (McDonough, 1998).

In order to work effectively with children and their families, people in the helping professions must be sensitive to a wide variety of issues and factors that contribute to a child’s behavior and well being. Children of mixed racial or ethnic parentage also have unique needs — but often the professionals who work with these children in day care centers, schools, or social service or health care settings lack the training or awareness to provide the best possible services, support, and encouragement to these children and their families (Wardle,1989).

While most young families are under considerable stress, interracial families often have the additional stress of dealing with negative racial comments or downright harassment from other children and adults, or, in some cases, overcoming the loss of economic and emotional support from disapproving family members. Professionals who are not sensitive to the unique needs of these children and their families can also add to this stress.

Wardle (1989) provides specific things that family educators can do to work effectively with interracial children and families:

• Support the parent's right to be part of a mixed marriages. Provide support, counseling and referral based on the individual needs of the family or child.
   
• Educators should not automatically assume that an interracial child has the identity only of the parent of color. Many interracial parents are still searching for a true identity for their children, and a caring professional can give them an opportunity to examine their options by providing them with resources.
   
• Provide parents and children with tools, such as the right words, to defend and protect themselves from others who don’t appreciate differences and help families feel proud of their mixed heritage.
   
• Do not automatically attribute a child’s problems to his or her mixed heritage. Children have many developmental tasks to accomplish, including developing a healthy self-concept, and any of these can cause problems for the child. Explore causes that are not related to identity first.
   
• Support interracial families, and encourage programs serving such families, to provide a variety of books, music, dolls, art materials and other materials that reflect a rich variety of the family backgrounds. For instance, preschool classrooms should have black, white, and biracial dolls, and posters that don’t divide the world into only white, black, Hispanic and Native American people.

REFERENCES

Bradshaw, C. 1992. "Beauty and the Beast": On Racial Ambiguity in Racially Mixed People in America, Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Forde-Mazrui, K. (1994). Black identity and child placement: the best interests of black and biracial children. Michigan Law Review, 92(4), 925-967.

Courtney, B., (1995). Freedom from choice; being biracial has meant denying half my identity. Newsweek, 125(7), 16.

Gordon, Milton M. 1978. Human Nature, Class, and Ethnicity. New York: Oxford University Press.

Herring, R. (1995). Developing biracial ethnic identity: A review of the increasing dilemma. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 23, 29-38.

Jaret, C. & Reitzes, D. (1999). The importance of racial-ethnic identity and social setting for blacks, whites, and multiracials. Sociological Perspectives,42(4), 711.

Luke, C., Carrington, V., (2000). Race Matters. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 21, 5.

McDonough, K. (1998). Can the Liberal State Support Cultural Identity Schools? American Journal of Education, 463(1).

Milan, S., & Keiley, M. (2000). Biracial youth and families in therapy: Issues and interventions. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. 26 (3) 305.

Norment, L. (1995). Am I black, white or in between? Is there a plot to create a ‘colored’ buffer race in America? Ebony 50 (10), 108.

Saenz, R., Hwang, S., Aguirre, B. & Anderson, N. (1995). Persistence and change in Asian identity among children of intermarried couples. Sociological Perspectives, 38(2) 175.

Townsel, L. (1996). ‘Neither black nor white.’ (mixed race people demand new census race category). Ebony, 52(1), 44.

Wardle, F. (1989). Children of mixed parentage; how can professionals respond? Children Today, 18 (4) 10.

Charlotte Nitardy is candidate in the administrative licensure program for school superintendents and a doctoral student in the Department of Work, Community, and Family Education. She holds an M.Ed. in human resource development.