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Genealogy
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The Manifestation and Contestation of White Privilege in Multiracial Families
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The Manifestation and Contestation of White Privilege in Multiracial Families

A special issue of Genealogy (ISSN 2313-5778).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2025) | Viewed by 13245

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Chandra D.L. Waring

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Sociology, College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA
Interests: race; intersectionality; multiraciality/mixedness; qualitative research methods

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Genealogy invites the submission of articles related to “The Manifestation and Contestation of White Privilege in Multiracial Families”. This issue will define the idea of ‘white privilege’ and examine how the recognition of white privilege materializes in overt and covert ways in multiracial families, as well as how white privilege is challenged in multiracial families by family members and/or by other members of society. The purpose of this Special Issue is to determine how the recognition of white privilege is morphing as more societies become more multiracial or mixed. We welcome articles from any country.

We invite contributors to examine the ways in which white privilege impacts any and all members of multiracial families, including family members who are white-appearing and therefore have access to (some) white privilege, but might not identify as white. We define multiracial families broadly, including interracial couples, monoracial parents raising multiracial children, and families with transracial adoptees. We also welcome research that explores when family members, such as partners or multiracial children or adults, call attention to and/or resist white privilege in multiracial families. Additionally, we are interested in studies in which white privilege is restricted as a result of a white person being in an interracial relationship and/or multiracial family. Therefore, this Special Issue will tackle the following questions to explore the many angles of how white privilege impacts multiracial family members, although other submissions are welcome and encouraged:

How do multiracial children and adults benefit from the unearned privileges of their white parent and/or other relatives? How is this manifestation of white privilege different to traditional white privilege?

Are there ways in which people of color in interracial relationships benefit from having a white partner? Are any benefits shaped by whether the couple has children?

How is the white privilege of white partners altered or experienced differently as a result of being in an interracial relationship and/or multiracial family? How is this shaped by other identities, such as gender, socio-economic background, sexual orientation, etc.?

How are relationships in multiracial families shaped by family members calling attention to or resisting white privilege? How are these dynamics also influenced by power (i.e., parent/child relationships), gender (i.e., sister/brother relationships), and the racial composition of the family (i.e., Black/white multiracial family vs. Asian/white multiracial family)?

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400-600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor (chandra_waring@uml.edu) or to the Genealogy editorial office (genealogy@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purposes of ensuring a proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo a double-blind peer-review process.

Dr. Chandra D.L. Waring
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Genealogy is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • multiracial/mixed
  • white privilege
  • race
  • families

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review, Other

6 pages, 171 KiB  
Editorial
The Manifestation and Contestation of White Privilege in Multiracial Families: A Disruption
by Chandra D. L. Waring
Genealogy 2025, 9(2), 51; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy9020051 - 2 May 2025
Viewed by 213
Abstract
“Genealogy is the retrieval of vital and familial data from records of various types, and its ordering into meaningful relationship patterns” (Durie 2017, p [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Manifestation and Contestation of White Privilege in Multiracial Families)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Review, Other

18 pages, 323 KiB  
Article
The De/Construction of Identity: The Complexities of Loss and Separation for Mixed-Race Britain
by Rhianna Garrett
Genealogy 2025, 9(2), 44; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy9020044 - 9 Apr 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 636
Abstract
In the 2017 Danzy Senna novel, New People, the mixed-race protagonist is described as a white ‘passing’ mixed-race woman who interprets the death of her adopted Black mother as a symbol of the death of her Black identity. The book’s themes parallel ongoing [...] Read more.
In the 2017 Danzy Senna novel, New People, the mixed-race protagonist is described as a white ‘passing’ mixed-race woman who interprets the death of her adopted Black mother as a symbol of the death of her Black identity. The book’s themes parallel ongoing multiracial political debates that explore the extent to which mixed-race people with proximity to whiteness perceive individual agency in identity negotiations. This paper examines how mixed-race people in Britain discuss the experience of loss and separation, thereby demonstrating how loss and separation interact with their sense of self. Employing a content and thematic analysis of 19 stories from the British-based organisation Mixedracefaces, my findings show that the mixed-race respondents saw their racially marginalised family members as critical connections to their own. Thus, a process of identity de/construction was instigated when they experienced a loss that perpetuated and/or challenged monoracism. I argue that we must disrupt oppressive monoracial paradigms of ‘race’ that uphold monoracial whiteness and prevent mixed-race identity agency. Through mixed-race counterstories, we can reveal further generational histories of struggles, resistance, love, and refusal in Britain. I intentionally provide a safe space for the millions of mixed people looking for connection through this experience. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Manifestation and Contestation of White Privilege in Multiracial Families)
21 pages, 331 KiB  
Article
“They’re Only a Quarter”: A Duoethnographic Exploration of Multiracial Fatherhood
by Jacob P. Wong-Campbell and Brendon M. Soltis
Genealogy 2025, 9(2), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy9020031 - 23 Mar 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 514
Abstract
In this duoethnography, we examine our own experiences of multiracial fatherhood to disrupt metanarratives about race, multiraciality, and privilege. By synthesizing critical multiracial theory and critical race parenting, we advance three propositions of critical multiracial parenting to attend to the permanence of (mono)racism, [...] Read more.
In this duoethnography, we examine our own experiences of multiracial fatherhood to disrupt metanarratives about race, multiraciality, and privilege. By synthesizing critical multiracial theory and critical race parenting, we advance three propositions of critical multiracial parenting to attend to the permanence of (mono)racism, the shifting salience of multiraciality across time and space, and the possibilities of expansive pedagogical approaches to challenge racial rigidity. We weave together and disrupt each other’s narratives by presenting two scenes of multiracial fatherhood, complicating our understanding and assumptions of White privilege, multiracial identity, and generational proximity to an interracial union. Our hope is that our duoethnography is not a beginning nor an end; rather, we call on readers to continually add their voices to disrupt and complicate how whiteness works in family systems and multiraciality discourses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Manifestation and Contestation of White Privilege in Multiracial Families)
20 pages, 294 KiB  
Article
“My Dad Is Racist as Hell:” Navigating Racism, Monoracism, and White Privilege by Proxy in Multiracial Families
by Chandra D. L. Waring
Genealogy 2025, 9(1), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy9010020 - 19 Feb 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1030
Abstract
While the dominant narrative of multiracial families in society is that they are atypical, the implicit narrative is that they are racially progressive. In this article, I show how multiracial people with different backgrounds, although all have white ancestry, experience family life in [...] Read more.
While the dominant narrative of multiracial families in society is that they are atypical, the implicit narrative is that they are racially progressive. In this article, I show how multiracial people with different backgrounds, although all have white ancestry, experience family life in nuanced ways that include racial discrimination and unearned privileges. While research has documented racism and monoracism in multiracial families, scholars have yet to analyze how inequality interacts with the unearned privileges that accompany a white parent. This study explores how 30 multiracial people experience racism, monoracism, and white privilege by proxy in their family lives. First, I center my respondents’ experiences with racism and monoracism, and how these experiences are shaped by the role of the family member (i.e., parent, grandparent, etc.). Second, I explain how white privilege by proxy is influenced by the intersectional identities of my participants’ white parent. Lastly, I outline how and under what conditions this form of privilege can be restricted or revoked. These findings present a new narrative of multiracial family life that more accurately reflects the intersectional and complex realities of multiracial people. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Manifestation and Contestation of White Privilege in Multiracial Families)
17 pages, 260 KiB  
Article
The Impact of White Supremacy on First-Generation Mixed-Race Identity in Post-Apartheid South Africa
by Jody Metcalfe
Genealogy 2024, 8(1), 28; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy8010028 - 11 Mar 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 6581
Abstract
South African white supremacy has been shaped by over 400 years of settler colonialism and white minority apartheid rule to craft a pervasive and entrenched legacy of privilege and oppression in the post-apartheid context. This paper explores the constructions of white supremacy, specifically [...] Read more.
South African white supremacy has been shaped by over 400 years of settler colonialism and white minority apartheid rule to craft a pervasive and entrenched legacy of privilege and oppression in the post-apartheid context. This paper explores the constructions of white supremacy, specifically its role in shaping the perceptions of first-generation mixed-race identity in South Africa, through semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Through a critical race theory and an intersectional lens, this paper unpacks the personal, political, and social impact of white supremacist structures on the identity construction of first-generation mixed-race people in post-apartheid South Africa; specifically, societal- and self-perceptions of their identity within power structures with which they interact. Moreover, this paper aims to understand how first-generation mixed-race people understand their connections to white privilege. Ultimately this paper argues that although first-generation mixed-race people experience relative privilege, their access to white privilege and acceptance within structures of whiteness is always conditional. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Manifestation and Contestation of White Privilege in Multiracial Families)

Review

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21 pages, 301 KiB  
Review
The Double-Edged Nature of Whiteness for Multiracial People with White Ancestry in the US and UK
by Miri Song
Genealogy 2025, 9(2), 46; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy9020046 - 22 Apr 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 316
Abstract
The privileges of Whiteness have been theorized and debated for some decades. Because White privilege has been manifested, historically, in myriad forms, it has been possible to treat the privileges of Whiteness as a given, even when its changing manifestations are acknowledged. The [...] Read more.
The privileges of Whiteness have been theorized and debated for some decades. Because White privilege has been manifested, historically, in myriad forms, it has been possible to treat the privileges of Whiteness as a given, even when its changing manifestations are acknowledged. The continuing growth of multiracial people with White ancestry in the US (and other societies) provides an opportunity for scholars to rethink what we mean by White privilege, and how the workings of White privilege for multiracial people and families may differ from those associated with traditional understandings of Whiteness. One of the important questions posed in this special issue concerns the question of how multiracial people may benefit from the unearned privileges of their genealogical and lived proximity to Whiteness, including a White appearance, White relatives and networks, and White spaces. The key question I address in this review article is this: How is White ancestry and proximity to Whiteness and White people experienced by part-White multiracial people, and how does it differ from traditional forms of White privilege? First, I review various bodies of literature to address this question, and second, I draw upon examples from my research on racially mixed people with White ancestry in both the US and Britain. I argue that although many multiracial people benefit from their White ancestry (in a variety of ways), not enough attention has been given to the double-edged and negative aspects of Whiteness for multiracial people with White ancestry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Manifestation and Contestation of White Privilege in Multiracial Families)
13 pages, 271 KiB  
Review
Critical Adoptee Standpoint: Transnational, Transracial Adoptees as Knowledge Producers
by SunAh Marie Laybourn
Genealogy 2024, 8(2), 71; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy8020071 - 3 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1792
Abstract
Drawing on Asian adoptee-authored research, this article conceptualizes a critical adoptee standpoint. It underscores the significance of adoptees as knowledge producers and offers new insights into family dynamics, racialization processes, and adoptee personhood. Through three conceptual themes derived from adoptee-authored research, it illuminates [...] Read more.
Drawing on Asian adoptee-authored research, this article conceptualizes a critical adoptee standpoint. It underscores the significance of adoptees as knowledge producers and offers new insights into family dynamics, racialization processes, and adoptee personhood. Through three conceptual themes derived from adoptee-authored research, it illuminates the intersectional power dynamics shaping adoptees’ lived experiences and challenges traditional adoption narratives. This approach repositions adoptees as agentic subjects who have cultivated a group consciousness that transcends traditional boundaries of belonging. While focused on Asian adoptees, the essay ultimately calls for broader recognition of adoptees’ contributions to adoption discourse and a more comprehensive understanding of a critical adoptee standpoint in both academic and advocacy settings and among the broader adoptee population. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Manifestation and Contestation of White Privilege in Multiracial Families)

Other

20 pages, 343 KiB  
Essay
The “Whites” Who Loved Me: How Bridgerton Facilitates Digital Lynching
by Tré Ventour-Griffiths
Genealogy 2025, 9(2), 45; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy9020045 - 14 Apr 2025
Viewed by 876
Abstract
Although the opening series of Bridgerton, a nineteenth-century mixed romance, was celebrated for the casting of Black characters, its use of white–Black inter-marriage is part of UK–US storytelling traditions that treat mixed relationships as worthy of screentime only if they involve a [...] Read more.
Although the opening series of Bridgerton, a nineteenth-century mixed romance, was celebrated for the casting of Black characters, its use of white–Black inter-marriage is part of UK–US storytelling traditions that treat mixed relationships as worthy of screentime only if they involve a white person—what Derrick Bell in 1980 coined as ‘interest convergence’: when Black people are only allowed to progress with the interests of white peoples. Discussing Bridgerton as part of a wider anti-Black brand of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion [EDI], this paper argues that the way its Black characters are used and abused on screen is like a digital lynching. Here, white characters use Black people (i.e., to give them children) while simultaneously keeping them mentally dependent on the white family. While there is not a physical death, the place of Black partners in this so-called alt-London is nothing short of a zombification of Black humans. Additionally, this paper encourages readers to think about how the near-exclusive use of white-centring mixed love as representative of all mixed romance is racist. In other words, even in fantasy, Black men are written out of Blackness, forced to take on the culture of their partner. As this “fantasy” occurs in a world “made white” by colonialism, characters like Simon Bassett and Marina Thompson do not “pass” for white, but their world is one where few “see” colour except when Black folks upset white spaces. Those who choose not to “see” are most in fear of losing power, as novelist Toni Morrison writes in Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination “it requires hard work not to see”. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Manifestation and Contestation of White Privilege in Multiracial Families)
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