“There Are Stereotypes for Everything”: Multiracial Adolescents Navigating Racial Identity under White Supremacy
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Background and Literature Review
2.1. MultiCrit and the Multiracial Construct
2.2. Multiracial Identity Development in a (Mono)racist Context
Racial Socialization: The Multiracial Experience
2.3. The Present Study
- What types of messages do multiracial adolescents report receiving from others about their racial identity?Given previous research highlighting dynamics of monoracism, discrimination, and invalidation, and their role in maintaining white supremacy (Franco and O’Brien 2018; J. Harris 2016), we anticipated that these messages would be predominantly negative and reflect dominant ideologies of white supremacy and a monoracial construction of race.
- What are the primary sources (e.g., peers, parents) of the identity-relevant messages that multiracial adolescents report?Drawing on an ecological identity theories and prior research (Rogers 2018; Williams et al. 2020; Jones et al. 2021a), we anticipated that the sources of identity-relevant messages would reflect an adolescent’s developmental orientation toward peers and a broader world outside the home (rather than familial sources).
- How do multiracial adolescents react to the messages they receive from others?Given that meaning-making and agency are integral to identity development (McLean and Syed 2015; Rogers 2018; Williams et al. 2020) we also anticipated that adolescents would respond to messages in a variety of ways. In particular, we expected to see patterns of resistance as youth challenge restrictive and dehumanizing messages that question, invalidate, or undermine their identities (e.g., Rogers and Way 2018).
3. Method
3.1. Participants
3.2. Data Collection
3.2.1. Operationalizing Multiracial Identification
3.2.2. Multiracial Identity Socialization: Listening for Subjective Experience
4. Coding and Analysis
4.1. Coding Scheme
4.2. Coding Reliability
4.3. Positionality and Coding Team
5. Results
5.1. Stereotype Messages
5.1.1. Negative Stereotypes
People definitely do think you’re stupid ‘cause you’re Mexican. Like, I have experienced that, like people think that “oh, you know, like you’re Mexican, Mexicans are dumb” you know things like that, “oh like, you’re illegal” you know. Like, yeah, along those lines.
So, in like middle school and elementary, that’s when I was more surrounded with, um, Caucasian people, you know. And I did get before, like, it was like I think St. Patrick’s Day, and, you know, some people know, like you know, I’m Irish. But um, they’re like, “Oh, you’re Irish?” And I was like, “Yeah”, and then they’re, “why aren’t you like wearing green?” you know. And I was like “I don’t know”, and they’re like, “Oh, what else are you?” and I’m like, “Oh, I’m Mexican”, and they’re like “Ew”. Yeah, and then they’re like, walked away, and I was like “okay”, you know. Like, it was just like, wow.
Um, people think Mexicans, like, you know Donald Trump, like how he puts out there, you know, Mexicans are rapists and like, they’re mostly illegal and stuff like that…I feel like, that, from just that it definitely did give an even worse reputation to how people view Mexicans.
Like, I remember, um, I was talkin’ to one of my friends [...] he was telling me about his dad, how his dad was like “you know you should be careful around him because you know, he might, you know, like steal your phone or something” and it’s just like, you know, I’ve never, I hadn’t met his father up until that point.
I feel like the Black kids like—they’re putting a stereotype on us of like a lot of Black people don’t go to college or finish high school and I feel like it’s a lot of Black or Hispanic that, now in this generation that would finish college and high school and I want to be one of them people that does that and doesn’t just give up.
‘Cause, like, sometimes, like, they’re like, “Oh, a white person, I don’t wanna”, like, you know, they like, ‘cause like the white privilege and stuff like that. So they might not have those, like, existing, like, barriers of like, “Oh, that person like has that, like, history in their ancestors” and stuff like that.
5.1.2. Superficially Positive Stereotypes
Uh, I think, I feel like I’d talk about how it’s like—I don’t want to say it’s fetishized but kind of like people are like “oh I want mixed babies” [...] I hate it when people say that, just because like—Like all the time, like, random like white girls in the hallway will be like, “What’re you mixed with?” Like, “Oh my god, I really want mixed babies”. I’m like, what?
It’s, I don’t know, I find it funny…I don’t know I just find it funny. But they wanna be… ‘cause I guess there’s like this term called “light-skinned”, I guess. And everyone gets, like, they like light skin and stuff or something like that. That’s just stupid…It’s like light skin I guess is Black, but you’re light skin, I don’t know. I guess, I find it stupid because it’s just another way to separate people because, I don’t know, it’s like going back to like slavery and only light-skinned people worked inside houses and Black people worked outside. It’s just another way to separate and discriminate, I guess.
Like if I were to do a school assignment and I just got this teacher, I one hundred percent think that she would expect me to fill out the assignment because like I’m not disrespectful in class of course, but like if I don’t do the assignment I feel like she’d be surprised because I seemed like a good kid to her, but I’m really just not that good of a kid.
Um, like in school people when they see me, I’m a white kid and wear Converse and white people clothes, and I listen to a lot of rap and I hang out with a lot of Black kids, like I’m a white hoodlum, but people just assume because I’m white that I get good grades, I’m a good kid and do what I’m told, you know all that stuff. […] I wish I could be white and just be white without having any baggage.
5.2. Invalidation Messages
A lot of people have a hard time understanding you can be two different things or more. So like, I have this happen all the time. “You said you were German, right?” I’m like yeah, I’m also Mexican. “But I thought you said you were German!” And they’ll be like, “You’re Mexican, right?” I said German also! “But you’re Mexican!”
When I told my friends that I was Asian they started laughing…And to me it, it gets me really upset when they sit there and they laugh and, you know, Asian people, they look at us ‘cause our eyes are small. And they look at me like, “You’re not Asian ‘cause your eyes aren’t small” and then I told them that doesn’t matter the way you look. It’s all different and you shouldn’t be laughing at them, at anyone, ‘cause of the way they look. And it, that hurt me like, you’re—I’m tryin’ to like tell you what I am and you’re laughing. It’s, it’s hurtful.
sometimes people can be ignorant like to the fact that, about mixed people like because if you look a certain—because like there’s like a lot of things that African-Americans have to deal with like injustices and stuff in society, so like if you don’t appear to be African American they don’t consider you [African American] ‘cause you don’t deal with the same like—like I appear to be like light-skinned so I get like I don’t have to deal with um, like discrimination a lot but I still am, you know like half African American, so like they sometimes people don’t consider me it.
Um, well a lot of people don’t like believe me. They’re like, “Oh, she’s probably like one of those people that say I’m one eighteenth, like, Native American, like, Cherokee Princess”. Something like that. But like, I tell ‘em like, “No, that’s not like”, so, that’s bad. I think people like don’t believe me or like they need like some sort of proof because I’m like also, I’m like mixed, so, they don’t, they need, they feel like they, that I need to like, I’m just tryin’ to hide my whiteness and like cover it with something else. So, I’m like “I’m not white”.
5.3. Affirmation Messages
6. Discussion
6.1. The Socializing Influence of White Supremacy: A MultiCrit Developmental Perspective
6.2. Whiteness in the Multiracial Experience
7. Limitations and Future Directions
8. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
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RaciaIdentity Labels | Parents’ Racial Backgrounds | Parent Reported Adolescent Race | Self-Identified Adolescent Race | Sample Interview Quote |
---|---|---|---|---|
Multiracial Labels | 34 (69%) | 40 (82%) | 33 (67%) | |
“Mixed”/“Biracial” 1 | NA | NA | 13 | Mixed biracial child... I’m a lot ofstuff. |
Black, Hispanic | 4 | 5 | 6 | Just half Black and half, um, El Salvadorian, Iguess. |
Hispanic, White | 8 | 9 | 3 | Um, white with minorityHispanic. |
Asian, White | 5 | 5 | 3 | Oh, um, well, uh, Korean, Japanese andGerman. |
Asian, Hispanic | 0 | 2 | 3 | Well Asian first, Chinese, and Mexican, those are the two mainones. |
Black, White | 10 | 8 | 2 | I’m Black, Black andWhite. |
Hispanic, Native American, White | 0 | 0 | 1 | I’m European and, like, Latina, and a little NativeAmerican. |
Black, West Asian | 0 | 0 | 1 | Lebanese-Ugandan. |
Native American, White | 1 | 1 | 1 | I’m a quarter Native American on my mom’s side… then like 75% is probably mostlyWhite. |
Asian, Hispanic, White | 1 | 2 | 0 | - |
Black, Hispanic, White | 0 | 2 | 0 | - |
Black, Native American, White | 1 | 2 | 0 | - |
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic | 1 | 1 | 0 | - |
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, White | 1 | 1 | 0 | - |
Black, Hispanic, Native American | 1 | 1 | 0 | - |
Black, Hispanic, Native American, White | 1 | 1 | 0 | - |
Monoracial Labels | 5 (10%) | 9 (8%) | 16 (33%) | |
Black/African American | 2 | 5 | 5 | I consider myself AfricanAmerican. |
Hispanic | 2 | 2 | 5 | Overall, I would say I’mMexican. |
White | 1 | 2 | 3 | Um…white. |
Asian | 0 | 0 | 2 | Um, I would probably sayJapanese. |
Native American | 0 | 0 | 1 | Mostly Native before anythingelse. |
One Parent Not Reported 2 | 10 (20%) | NA | NA | |
Hispanic, NR | 3 | - | - | - |
White, NR | 3 | - | - | - |
Black, NR | 2 | - | - | - |
Asian, Hispanic, NR | 1 | - | - | - |
Black, Hispanic, NR | 1 | - | - | - |
Interview Questions | |
---|---|
1. | How would you describe yourself in terms of your ethnic or racial background? |
2. | What are you some of the good things about being [racial label from above]? |
3. | What are some of the things that are hard about being [racial identity]? |
4. | What do you think other people think about your [racial identity]? What do you think about that? How does it make you feel when you think about what others think of you? |
5. | Do you ever feel like people expect you to act a certain way or do certain things just because you are [racial identity]? Can you tell me about a time when you felt that way? Can you think of a time when you were treated differently because of your race? |
6. | Try to imagine that you weren’t [racial identity]. How do you think things would be different? Would anything change? |
7. | If you had to write an essay about what you think it means to be [racial identity], what are some of the things you’d write about? |
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Jones, C.M.; Rogers, L.O. “There Are Stereotypes for Everything”: Multiracial Adolescents Navigating Racial Identity under White Supremacy. Soc. Sci. 2022, 11, 19. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11010019
Jones CM, Rogers LO. “There Are Stereotypes for Everything”: Multiracial Adolescents Navigating Racial Identity under White Supremacy. Social Sciences. 2022; 11(1):19. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11010019
Chicago/Turabian StyleJones, Courtney Meiling, and Leoandra Onnie Rogers. 2022. "“There Are Stereotypes for Everything”: Multiracial Adolescents Navigating Racial Identity under White Supremacy" Social Sciences 11, no. 1: 19. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11010019