"The philosopher Lewis Gordon provides an analysis of the structural power enacted through race and gender that links the dialogue between them. Gordon points out that from a white point of view, the assumed race of the human race is white. To be non-white is to be racialized in an anti-black world. To be raceless is to be 'pushed up toward whiteness. Gordon also notes that for centuries the Western tradition has configured the gender of the human race as male. So although power may be defined as genderless and raceless, the default values for power are male and white.
Gordon contends that a hierarchy of sexual desirability naturally follows from this view of gender and race. Given the traditional Western view of power as white and male, white women can be constructed as black by their gender. This might help to explain why pairings of white women with black men are more common than pairings of black women with white men, a phenomenon that flies in the face of early exchange theories. White women and black men are not so distant from each other in social location."
Thursday, July 10, 2008
American default modes: white men
From page 72 in psychologist Maria Root's book, Love's Revolution: Interracial Marriage. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001:
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
New Feature: Ask "Mixed Race America"
About a week ago, my friend "T" was talking to me on the phone and asked if I knew of a resource on the internet where you could ask a question about race. She had been to various blogs (including this one) but felt a bit shy just asking a question out of the blue. So I decided, with "T's" permission, to start a feature that I'm calling
"Ask Mixed Race America"
Here's the catch, though: I'd like YOU, dear readers, to be the respondents, not me.
Lets face it: I'm no expert. I mean, I may have some expertise in my academic field (in particular since I'm immersed in all texts related to the Japanese American Internment/Incarceration I could probably whip out some facts and figures for you and/or breakdown some analyses for you that you may not have known or ever thought about) but in terms of talking about race in America, about mixed-race issues in America? I'm about as expert as the next person (OK, maybe I'm being a *bit* on the humble side--because I do teach courses on race and American culture, so I have done a fair amount of thinking and teaching and listening about this subject).
At any rate, "T" can always get my opinion, but what she can't get is YOURS, so here is her question:
I don't want to give away too much about "T's" personal circumstances, but for clarification, "T" has two young children and identifies as mixed-race (specifically Filipino, Japanese, and white).
If you would like to share your opinion with "T," feel free to leave it in the comment box--but as with all comments on this blog, please try to be respectful while also speaking your truth. Resources are always helpful/appreciated. And if you, yourself, have a question you'd like to see posted for the readers of "Mixed Race America" feel free to write to me at mesa80635@mypacks.net.
[P.S. Today is "T's" birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY!]
"Ask Mixed Race America"
Here's the catch, though: I'd like YOU, dear readers, to be the respondents, not me.
Lets face it: I'm no expert. I mean, I may have some expertise in my academic field (in particular since I'm immersed in all texts related to the Japanese American Internment/Incarceration I could probably whip out some facts and figures for you and/or breakdown some analyses for you that you may not have known or ever thought about) but in terms of talking about race in America, about mixed-race issues in America? I'm about as expert as the next person (OK, maybe I'm being a *bit* on the humble side--because I do teach courses on race and American culture, so I have done a fair amount of thinking and teaching and listening about this subject).
At any rate, "T" can always get my opinion, but what she can't get is YOURS, so here is her question:
"I did a blog search on single moms, and came across a few sites authored by various women, and the ones I find most inspiring are written by African American moms. I find myself making judgments about African American single moms. They are strong. They're resilient. They are proud and focused on themselves and what's important and don't let the fathers of their children get them down as much as others do. I know these are my judgments,and they're not based on a thorough search or reading of single parenting blogs,but for whatever reason, I find what they have to say more inspiring than non-African American moms. There's a part of me that recognizes that there are more single parents of African American decent than other races, and that feels like they approach it more from a perspective of empowerment and strength than from a victim's
perspective. I feel whiny, in comparison. I read other blogs that feel whiny, too.
So is this racism or judgment? And I believe it's harmful to have these judgments. Is it? Because I know there are African American moms that are victimy and who struggle outwardly and inwardly, and they don't have it all figured out. They probably don't want me coming along saying, "Oh, your ethnic group has this single parenting thing down, don't you?" I am sure to offend someone with beliefs like that. But if I am looking for examples of strength in single parenting, I find it within that community more easily than in others."
I don't want to give away too much about "T's" personal circumstances, but for clarification, "T" has two young children and identifies as mixed-race (specifically Filipino, Japanese, and white).
If you would like to share your opinion with "T," feel free to leave it in the comment box--but as with all comments on this blog, please try to be respectful while also speaking your truth. Resources are always helpful/appreciated. And if you, yourself, have a question you'd like to see posted for the readers of "Mixed Race America" feel free to write to me at mesa80635@mypacks.net.
[P.S. Today is "T's" birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY!]
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Tuesday's History Lesson: 1983 report on the findings of the aftermath of the Japanese American Internment
The following excerpt is taken from page 111 in the book Achieving the Impossible Dream: How Japanese Americans Obtained Redress by Mitchell T. Maki, Harry H.L. Kitano, and S Megan Berthold. Urbana & Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1999:
"The commission [Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, abbreviated to CWRIC] released its unanimous findings in February 1983 in a 467-page report entitled Personal Justice Denied. The major finding of this report concerned the nature of the incarceration:
The CWRIC documented the extensive economic and intangible losses Japanese Americans suffered. The commission estimated that the total losses of income and property incurred by Japanese Americans came to between $810 million and $2 billion in 1983 dollars. The commission also recognized the 'physical illnesses and injuries,' 'psychological pain,' and 'unjustified stigma' resulting from the camp experience."
[Update--July 9, 2008: For further information on the Japanese American Internment/Incarceration, see my post from April 11 (which will give you a link to the DENSHO site)]
"The commission [Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, abbreviated to CWRIC] released its unanimous findings in February 1983 in a 467-page report entitled Personal Justice Denied. The major finding of this report concerned the nature of the incarceration:
The promulgation of Executive Order 9066 was not justified by military necessity. . . The broad historical causes which shaped these decisions were race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership. Widespread ignorance of Japanese Americans contributed to a policy conceived in haste and executed in an atmosphere of fear and anger at Japan. A grave injustice was done to American citizens and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry who, without individual review or any probative evidence against them, were excluded, removed and detained by the United States during World War II.
The CWRIC documented the extensive economic and intangible losses Japanese Americans suffered. The commission estimated that the total losses of income and property incurred by Japanese Americans came to between $810 million and $2 billion in 1983 dollars. The commission also recognized the 'physical illnesses and injuries,' 'psychological pain,' and 'unjustified stigma' resulting from the camp experience."
[Update--July 9, 2008: For further information on the Japanese American Internment/Incarceration, see my post from April 11 (which will give you a link to the DENSHO site)]
Monday, July 7, 2008
Monday's Mixed-race Musings
I realized that when I wrote about the beginning of a mixed-race America, namely that you get here through inter-racial relationships, I didn't really talk about the politics of interracial dating/marriage/procreation.
So I thought I'd return to this topic since this blog is called "Mixed Race America" and because I suspect that a few readers are interested in these topics.
What I wrote about on July 1 was the hostility that certain gendered/raced pairs encounter by members of a majority culture and members of their own ethnic communities. There's a lot to be said about the politics of interracial dating.
First thing I'll say is that it's complicated. To try to have an in-depth and honest conversation about interracial dating requires an ability to get beyond cliches of "Love sees no color" as well as charges of selling out the race or desiring white privilege through interracial relationships (that's for those people who are a member of a racial minority dating a member of the current racial majority).
Second, I think it's rare for people to make decisions of an intimate nature on pure politics. In other words, I know that people have preferences and are motivated by political factors. But the truth is, finding someone you truly connect with is difficult. We place A LOT of demands on our life partner. And I don't just mean people who have lists--like only dating people of a certain height, income, educational level, size, car, who like dogs, who are vegetarian, etc...etc.... We expect our life partners to be our soul mates, our best friends, our financial partners, our cheerleaders, our coaches, a parent to our children, a representative and literal union of our families, and a general public face to our personal commitment. That is asking A LOT. And we haven't even gotten to any lists or deal breakers or preferences. Which is why I think it's good to be as open minded as possible about your life partner.
For instance, I had a friend in college, a white Jewish man of the Jewish conservative persuasion who was very identified with Jewish culture and who only dated Jewish women (preferably women who were also conservative, although he was open to dating reform minded women as long as they were willing to keep kosher.)
"S" and I used to talk about interracial or in his case cross-religious dating--and while he wasn't against it for others, he didn't see it in his future--the cross-religious dating/marriage. His faith and his culture were very important parts of his life, and he wanted to have a life partner that reflected his religious and cultural beliefs.
Fast forward seven years. I ran into "S" randomly in an ice cream parlor in Boston during a time when I was no longer living there and when he was visiting friends. It turns out that "S" had gotten married and was living in Chicago. His wife? She is an African American woman and a Christian. They have an interracial, interfaith marriage and will raise the children with both faiths/cultures. Although I know that this is problematic for some, I have to admit that I was happy that "S" had found a woman he loved and that he was willing to revise some of his convictions based on that love.
Are we influenced by the dominant culture? Absolutely. Do we internalize racist beliefs? Yes. Should we work against these ingrained tendencies of wanting white privilege? Well, if you want to live and practice an anti-racist lifestyle, then sure. Can you help who you fall in love with? No and yes. You probably can't help who you are attracted to and who you fall in love with, but for some, the social pressure and stigma may be too great--or your personal politics and convictions may not allow you to take envision certain life partners.
There are interracial pairs that are more accepted than others in U.S. society. In general, white men dating women of color of almost any background (but certainly I'd rank Asian women at the top of that acceptable list) are going to find less censure than white women dating men of any race (and I'd put possibly black or Asian men at the top of the taboo list). And people of color dating one another across racial lines does not seem to engender as much scrutiny by larger society, but may find quite a bit of disapproval from within their ethnic communities. A lot of this has to do with media images, power, privilege, a history of women being used as pawns in a game of ownership and control of resources, overseas wars, and some other things too long to get into in this single post. And I haven't even gotten to queer unions and same-sex couples who cross various color and religious lines.
What I want to leave you with is a single and unremarkable observation: consenting adults should be free to love and partner with whomever they choose. We can question the motivations and the history and the ingrained assumptions and beliefs behind interracial unions in general. But telling people that they are sell-outs or bananas or Uncle Toms or coconuts (why is fruit always used for these racially denigrating descriptions?) just doesn't seem productive and doesn't get to the real issues about how people meet and decide to couple.
Finally, let me leave you with the voices of two people who speak from first-hand experience and first-person perspectives about interracial unions and mixed-race matters.
CVT, a regular commenter on this blog, decided that he wanted a forum for his own musings on race and other things, so he started Chop-tensils. And in an odd coincidence, we both ended up blogging about interracial relationships on July 1. Please head over to Chop-tensils--it's worth a read for CVT's insights and observations, and I know he'd love a lively discussion, especially on the interracial dating stuff he just posted.
For a fictional look at living in a mixed-race world, let me introduce you to Jason Sublette, a mixed-race fiction writer living in "the South." Jason has an excellent short story published in an on-line journal, Green Hills Literary Lantern called "Laws of Motion." Check it out--I suspect that Jason's voice will be one we will continue to hear about (and in larger forums) in years to come.
So I thought I'd return to this topic since this blog is called "Mixed Race America" and because I suspect that a few readers are interested in these topics.
What I wrote about on July 1 was the hostility that certain gendered/raced pairs encounter by members of a majority culture and members of their own ethnic communities. There's a lot to be said about the politics of interracial dating.
First thing I'll say is that it's complicated. To try to have an in-depth and honest conversation about interracial dating requires an ability to get beyond cliches of "Love sees no color" as well as charges of selling out the race or desiring white privilege through interracial relationships (that's for those people who are a member of a racial minority dating a member of the current racial majority).
Second, I think it's rare for people to make decisions of an intimate nature on pure politics. In other words, I know that people have preferences and are motivated by political factors. But the truth is, finding someone you truly connect with is difficult. We place A LOT of demands on our life partner. And I don't just mean people who have lists--like only dating people of a certain height, income, educational level, size, car, who like dogs, who are vegetarian, etc...etc.... We expect our life partners to be our soul mates, our best friends, our financial partners, our cheerleaders, our coaches, a parent to our children, a representative and literal union of our families, and a general public face to our personal commitment. That is asking A LOT. And we haven't even gotten to any lists or deal breakers or preferences. Which is why I think it's good to be as open minded as possible about your life partner.
For instance, I had a friend in college, a white Jewish man of the Jewish conservative persuasion who was very identified with Jewish culture and who only dated Jewish women (preferably women who were also conservative, although he was open to dating reform minded women as long as they were willing to keep kosher.)
"S" and I used to talk about interracial or in his case cross-religious dating--and while he wasn't against it for others, he didn't see it in his future--the cross-religious dating/marriage. His faith and his culture were very important parts of his life, and he wanted to have a life partner that reflected his religious and cultural beliefs.
Fast forward seven years. I ran into "S" randomly in an ice cream parlor in Boston during a time when I was no longer living there and when he was visiting friends. It turns out that "S" had gotten married and was living in Chicago. His wife? She is an African American woman and a Christian. They have an interracial, interfaith marriage and will raise the children with both faiths/cultures. Although I know that this is problematic for some, I have to admit that I was happy that "S" had found a woman he loved and that he was willing to revise some of his convictions based on that love.
Are we influenced by the dominant culture? Absolutely. Do we internalize racist beliefs? Yes. Should we work against these ingrained tendencies of wanting white privilege? Well, if you want to live and practice an anti-racist lifestyle, then sure. Can you help who you fall in love with? No and yes. You probably can't help who you are attracted to and who you fall in love with, but for some, the social pressure and stigma may be too great--or your personal politics and convictions may not allow you to take envision certain life partners.
There are interracial pairs that are more accepted than others in U.S. society. In general, white men dating women of color of almost any background (but certainly I'd rank Asian women at the top of that acceptable list) are going to find less censure than white women dating men of any race (and I'd put possibly black or Asian men at the top of the taboo list). And people of color dating one another across racial lines does not seem to engender as much scrutiny by larger society, but may find quite a bit of disapproval from within their ethnic communities. A lot of this has to do with media images, power, privilege, a history of women being used as pawns in a game of ownership and control of resources, overseas wars, and some other things too long to get into in this single post. And I haven't even gotten to queer unions and same-sex couples who cross various color and religious lines.
What I want to leave you with is a single and unremarkable observation: consenting adults should be free to love and partner with whomever they choose. We can question the motivations and the history and the ingrained assumptions and beliefs behind interracial unions in general. But telling people that they are sell-outs or bananas or Uncle Toms or coconuts (why is fruit always used for these racially denigrating descriptions?) just doesn't seem productive and doesn't get to the real issues about how people meet and decide to couple.
Finally, let me leave you with the voices of two people who speak from first-hand experience and first-person perspectives about interracial unions and mixed-race matters.
CVT, a regular commenter on this blog, decided that he wanted a forum for his own musings on race and other things, so he started Chop-tensils. And in an odd coincidence, we both ended up blogging about interracial relationships on July 1. Please head over to Chop-tensils--it's worth a read for CVT's insights and observations, and I know he'd love a lively discussion, especially on the interracial dating stuff he just posted.
For a fictional look at living in a mixed-race world, let me introduce you to Jason Sublette, a mixed-race fiction writer living in "the South." Jason has an excellent short story published in an on-line journal, Green Hills Literary Lantern called "Laws of Motion." Check it out--I suspect that Jason's voice will be one we will continue to hear about (and in larger forums) in years to come.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Declare your Independence
Two-hundred and thirty-two years ago, the Declaration of Independence was printed -- a document that started a literal revolution (although of course, there were things that were already in place before the printing and eventual signing even happened and before the big fighting broke out).
So in honor of July 4th, rather than just grilling some meat (or veggies for my non-meat eating friends) on the BBQ, why don't we each try to declare our independence from a tyrannizing force in our lives. I have already written about inner conflicts in a previous post, so what I will declare is that I'm putting my writing demons to bed. I am going to stop procrastinating and worrying about how much reading and research I have done. And I'm going to write. That's my job. It's a luxury and privilege I have--to engage intellectually with the ideas I'm working on. And rather than see them as a struggle, I should try to see them as ... well I'm coming up with a blank right now, but I'll try to see them as something other than a struggle (if you fellow writers in the blogosphere have any ideas about soothing writing demons and the perils of procrastination, I'm all ears).
Finally, let me leave you with the melodies of country western singer Kareem Salama. He was just featured this morning on the BBC Newshour (I love NPR). What could be more American than an Oklahoma born and bred Muslim-American country western singer being featured on the BBC on the Fourth of July?
["A Land Called Paradise"]
So in honor of July 4th, rather than just grilling some meat (or veggies for my non-meat eating friends) on the BBQ, why don't we each try to declare our independence from a tyrannizing force in our lives. I have already written about inner conflicts in a previous post, so what I will declare is that I'm putting my writing demons to bed. I am going to stop procrastinating and worrying about how much reading and research I have done. And I'm going to write. That's my job. It's a luxury and privilege I have--to engage intellectually with the ideas I'm working on. And rather than see them as a struggle, I should try to see them as ... well I'm coming up with a blank right now, but I'll try to see them as something other than a struggle (if you fellow writers in the blogosphere have any ideas about soothing writing demons and the perils of procrastination, I'm all ears).
Finally, let me leave you with the melodies of country western singer Kareem Salama. He was just featured this morning on the BBC Newshour (I love NPR). What could be more American than an Oklahoma born and bred Muslim-American country western singer being featured on the BBC on the Fourth of July?
["A Land Called Paradise"]
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Inner conflicts
We all have them--those inner conflicts--the struggle inside ourselves between right and wrong, or more often than not just two different positions that seem antithetical (maybe they're not, maybe it's just a change in perspective or language that one needs).
Here are a few of mine right now--feel free to share your own:
*From both an ethical and environmental pov, it's better to eat less meat or eat no meat (certainly mammal flesh but I'd also add poultry and fish into this list), and yet I LOVE steak. I know I am contributing to the deaths, sometimes cruel and inhumane, of animals, but I continue to enjoy my ribeye steak rare.
*I really do enjoy playing golf, but I find the whole institution of golf to be sexist/elitist/racist/homophobic.
*I have no tolerance for intolerant people. I am bigoted towards bigots.
*I need to finish editing an article that is past its due date (I did get an extension, but as July 1 recedes into the distance, I recognize that I should get busy) yet here I am, spending time thinking of what I'm going to blog about.
Here are a few of mine right now--feel free to share your own:
*From both an ethical and environmental pov, it's better to eat less meat or eat no meat (certainly mammal flesh but I'd also add poultry and fish into this list), and yet I LOVE steak. I know I am contributing to the deaths, sometimes cruel and inhumane, of animals, but I continue to enjoy my ribeye steak rare.
*I really do enjoy playing golf, but I find the whole institution of golf to be sexist/elitist/racist/homophobic.
*I have no tolerance for intolerant people. I am bigoted towards bigots.
*I need to finish editing an article that is past its due date (I did get an extension, but as July 1 recedes into the distance, I recognize that I should get busy) yet here I am, spending time thinking of what I'm going to blog about.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Link Love for Anti-Racist & Multiracial Families
There are a few blogs that I have been meaning to plug for a while because I think that they're smart, interesting, and most importantly, they are great resources for parents and families (and quite frankly for anyone interested in our next generation--so that includes all educators and social justice activists and child advocates).
You are going to think that I'm getting paid to plug Tami, but the truth is, she is just fabulous and recently she's taken over as editor of Anti-Racist Parent (or ARP for short). It's a great site for anyone interested in anti-racist education--for adults and for children (truthfully, we all need to educate ourselves before we can educate kids--and the further truth is, we ALL need continuing ed when it comes to issues of anti-racism--persons of color and non-persons of color both need to keep open minds and try to have open dialogue, as painful as it can be sometimes).
ARP has an on-going feature where they answer letters from readers--and this one, "How Can White People Join the Anti-Racist Discussion," is a must read. Both the letter and the response are very honest, direct, heartfelt, and spot on.
A great educational tool is to get kids to think about giving back. And what better way to give back than to the teachers who are trying to do good work in the world. Rice Daddies--a blog of Asian American Dads, or largely Asian American Dads--is sponsoring a diversity challenge on the site DonorsChoose.org--a website that matches teachers in need of resources with donors who want to help out sorely underfunded teachers (I think they are largely public school teachers, although I'm sure there are a few independent school teachers in the mix). Anyway, if you are interested in helping teachers with multicultural education, stop by the "Rice Daddies Empowerment in Diversity Challenge" where you can read proposals from teachers and choose one (or more) to help fund. And if you're a parent, you can get your children involved, which seems like a double-bonus--help a teacher and help your child learn the value of giving back.
Finally, there's the Mixed Heritage Center (MHC). I've given a plug for them in a previous post, but I really want to encourage people to check out their site. In just six months it has truly grown and expanded and it really IS a great resource for mixed heritage topics and resources. And if you are a political junkie like me, you'll see that in their "links" section they have many devoted to mixed-race presidential candidate Barack Obama.
You are going to think that I'm getting paid to plug Tami, but the truth is, she is just fabulous and recently she's taken over as editor of Anti-Racist Parent (or ARP for short). It's a great site for anyone interested in anti-racist education--for adults and for children (truthfully, we all need to educate ourselves before we can educate kids--and the further truth is, we ALL need continuing ed when it comes to issues of anti-racism--persons of color and non-persons of color both need to keep open minds and try to have open dialogue, as painful as it can be sometimes).
ARP has an on-going feature where they answer letters from readers--and this one, "How Can White People Join the Anti-Racist Discussion," is a must read. Both the letter and the response are very honest, direct, heartfelt, and spot on.
A great educational tool is to get kids to think about giving back. And what better way to give back than to the teachers who are trying to do good work in the world. Rice Daddies--a blog of Asian American Dads, or largely Asian American Dads--is sponsoring a diversity challenge on the site DonorsChoose.org--a website that matches teachers in need of resources with donors who want to help out sorely underfunded teachers (I think they are largely public school teachers, although I'm sure there are a few independent school teachers in the mix). Anyway, if you are interested in helping teachers with multicultural education, stop by the "Rice Daddies Empowerment in Diversity Challenge" where you can read proposals from teachers and choose one (or more) to help fund. And if you're a parent, you can get your children involved, which seems like a double-bonus--help a teacher and help your child learn the value of giving back.
Finally, there's the Mixed Heritage Center (MHC). I've given a plug for them in a previous post, but I really want to encourage people to check out their site. In just six months it has truly grown and expanded and it really IS a great resource for mixed heritage topics and resources. And if you are a political junkie like me, you'll see that in their "links" section they have many devoted to mixed-race presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Mixed Race America--how does it begin?
I don't know if anyone has noticed, but I added this handy little widget on my blog that allows me to see how people arrived at this site. And as I suspected, most people get here by doing a google search--many of them typing in words and phrases related to mixed race people and subjects and/or inter-racial relationships.
[aside--one of the more disturbing combinations that I've found used a google search and the words "Michelle Obama looks like a monkey" and it deposited this person on my post "Now introducing: Michelle Obama" and I'd like to hope that this person learned something--namely how accomplished and poised and intelligent and beautiful Michelle is--because when I saw this google search I got ANGRY and felt a surge of RAGE that someone actually thought to type this combination of words into a google search--I mean, I know racism is alive and well but seeing it in google form just pisses me off to no end! And it reminded me of "The Land of the Not-So-Calm's" post about finding someone who found her site by typing "how do i return children i've adopted"--which is another google search phrase you never want to see]
So, since I know many of you non-regular readers may well expect, want, and wish to see a blog called "Mixed Race America" talk more directly about people who identify as "mixed-race" or "mixed-race" issues (beyond the everyday issues of race in America and the corollaries that go with it), let me start by talking about how we get to racial mixtures, namely inter-racial relationships.
[Second aside--I do research on race and mixed-race issues, and I've written about these topics elsewhere in this blog (and in my professional life) so I want to acknowledge that I'm not trying to reinforce the idea of pure "races" by talking about "mixed-race" because in many ways we are ALL part of a mixed-race America (or mixed-race world for those visitors outside the Americas). But because in the U.S. we are largely guided by the racial pentagram (white-black or Caucasian-African American- Asian American-American Indian or Native American-Hispanic (or my preference) Latino) and because anti-miscegenation (a pejorative term in our day and age) was a guiding force in American life, I am going to treat mixed-race as a real entity, in a sort've "common-sense" way. So while once upon a time a Japanese American and Filipino immigrant were seen to be in an inter-racial relationship (and while we may think of them as such today in certain circles) most likely this couple would be seen to be in an inter-ethnic relationship--as would an Irish American married to a Greek or a Jamaican American married to a person from Kenya.]
Although I don't like to get into many personal details on this blog, I will acknowledge that I've only dated one Chinese American man in my life. Which means that almost all of my dating habits have been inter-racial (and some inter-ethnic)--and many of them have been with white men.
I'm acutely aware of demographics and politics related to being an Asian American woman dating a white man. While I was an undergrad at Santa Barbara I received plenty of dirty looks and a few comments by Asian American men when I was seen walking with white guys (whether they were romantically linked to me or not). Another friend, who is Filipina, received the same kind of treatment by African American female peers when she and her African American boyfriend now husband (who is actually mixed-race himself: his mother is white-Jewish and his father is black) were seen walking across campus. And then there are the hard looks I've received here in "The South" when I've left the small circle of my university town--most recently it happened about 20 minutes from where I live at a Citgo gas station at midnight. Southern Man and I were returning from a party in a semi-rural area and we stopped at a gas station since prices were about a dime less than in town, and when I got out of the car, I swear that it felt like everyone was staring at us--not necessarily in a hostile way but in a way in which I felt on display--as if my boyfriend and I were a living and walking example of miscegenation--although there was a car with African American patrons, all other cars (and oddly enough it was a fairly happening spot at midnight) were white--and no cars appeared to have people of different races inside.
I understand that in terms of the Asian American men and African American women at my alma mater, the racial and gender pairing of my friend and myself was an affront to a sense of racial solidarity. Probing further, I'd also say that there is a fear, perhaps more on the part of the Asian American female-white male pairing that an attention to racism and an anti-racist perspective will be lost (since I think that may be what is motivating charges of "selling out your race"). For the patrons at the gas station, I wonder if it has to do with fear of change--that seeing an inter-racial couple is a signal that there is a sea change going on in terms of society and culture. Because the real fear is never the couple itself but the family they will create -- the mixed-race children that will come from the inter-racial couple--or even when thinking of adoption, the fact that the child, regardless of his/her race, will be raised by parents who look different from one another--who come from different cultures, different perspectives.
The truth is, stats for inter-racial couples and mixed-race people are still pretty small when looking at a national picture. I don't have the stats at my fingertips, but I think it's less than 10% of the population checked off more than one box on the 2000 census in terms of race/ethnicity. And I think inter-racial relationships make up about the same percentage (just under 10%). If anyone out there has hard numbers I'd be interested--they are buried in my research files somewhere, so hopefully I'll trip across them and post them soon.
Anyway, the more telling statistic is that every ten years, the number of children living in households where their parents are not of the same race has doubled. In 1970 it was 460,000, in 1980 it was 996,070, and in 1990 it was 1,937,496--and I'm sure it more than doubled by 2000. So what we do know is that people who self-identify as mixed-race and being in mixed-race families exponentially increases every 10 years. Which means mixed-race families and children and people -- those who are choosing a mixed-race identification -- will continue to grow as we get to the next census count in 2010.
[aside--one of the more disturbing combinations that I've found used a google search and the words "Michelle Obama looks like a monkey" and it deposited this person on my post "Now introducing: Michelle Obama" and I'd like to hope that this person learned something--namely how accomplished and poised and intelligent and beautiful Michelle is--because when I saw this google search I got ANGRY and felt a surge of RAGE that someone actually thought to type this combination of words into a google search--I mean, I know racism is alive and well but seeing it in google form just pisses me off to no end! And it reminded me of "The Land of the Not-So-Calm's" post about finding someone who found her site by typing "how do i return children i've adopted"--which is another google search phrase you never want to see]
So, since I know many of you non-regular readers may well expect, want, and wish to see a blog called "Mixed Race America" talk more directly about people who identify as "mixed-race" or "mixed-race" issues (beyond the everyday issues of race in America and the corollaries that go with it), let me start by talking about how we get to racial mixtures, namely inter-racial relationships.
[Second aside--I do research on race and mixed-race issues, and I've written about these topics elsewhere in this blog (and in my professional life) so I want to acknowledge that I'm not trying to reinforce the idea of pure "races" by talking about "mixed-race" because in many ways we are ALL part of a mixed-race America (or mixed-race world for those visitors outside the Americas). But because in the U.S. we are largely guided by the racial pentagram (white-black or Caucasian-African American- Asian American-American Indian or Native American-Hispanic (or my preference) Latino) and because anti-miscegenation (a pejorative term in our day and age) was a guiding force in American life, I am going to treat mixed-race as a real entity, in a sort've "common-sense" way. So while once upon a time a Japanese American and Filipino immigrant were seen to be in an inter-racial relationship (and while we may think of them as such today in certain circles) most likely this couple would be seen to be in an inter-ethnic relationship--as would an Irish American married to a Greek or a Jamaican American married to a person from Kenya.]
Although I don't like to get into many personal details on this blog, I will acknowledge that I've only dated one Chinese American man in my life. Which means that almost all of my dating habits have been inter-racial (and some inter-ethnic)--and many of them have been with white men.
I'm acutely aware of demographics and politics related to being an Asian American woman dating a white man. While I was an undergrad at Santa Barbara I received plenty of dirty looks and a few comments by Asian American men when I was seen walking with white guys (whether they were romantically linked to me or not). Another friend, who is Filipina, received the same kind of treatment by African American female peers when she and her African American boyfriend now husband (who is actually mixed-race himself: his mother is white-Jewish and his father is black) were seen walking across campus. And then there are the hard looks I've received here in "The South" when I've left the small circle of my university town--most recently it happened about 20 minutes from where I live at a Citgo gas station at midnight. Southern Man and I were returning from a party in a semi-rural area and we stopped at a gas station since prices were about a dime less than in town, and when I got out of the car, I swear that it felt like everyone was staring at us--not necessarily in a hostile way but in a way in which I felt on display--as if my boyfriend and I were a living and walking example of miscegenation--although there was a car with African American patrons, all other cars (and oddly enough it was a fairly happening spot at midnight) were white--and no cars appeared to have people of different races inside.
I understand that in terms of the Asian American men and African American women at my alma mater, the racial and gender pairing of my friend and myself was an affront to a sense of racial solidarity. Probing further, I'd also say that there is a fear, perhaps more on the part of the Asian American female-white male pairing that an attention to racism and an anti-racist perspective will be lost (since I think that may be what is motivating charges of "selling out your race"). For the patrons at the gas station, I wonder if it has to do with fear of change--that seeing an inter-racial couple is a signal that there is a sea change going on in terms of society and culture. Because the real fear is never the couple itself but the family they will create -- the mixed-race children that will come from the inter-racial couple--or even when thinking of adoption, the fact that the child, regardless of his/her race, will be raised by parents who look different from one another--who come from different cultures, different perspectives.
The truth is, stats for inter-racial couples and mixed-race people are still pretty small when looking at a national picture. I don't have the stats at my fingertips, but I think it's less than 10% of the population checked off more than one box on the 2000 census in terms of race/ethnicity. And I think inter-racial relationships make up about the same percentage (just under 10%). If anyone out there has hard numbers I'd be interested--they are buried in my research files somewhere, so hopefully I'll trip across them and post them soon.
Anyway, the more telling statistic is that every ten years, the number of children living in households where their parents are not of the same race has doubled. In 1970 it was 460,000, in 1980 it was 996,070, and in 1990 it was 1,937,496--and I'm sure it more than doubled by 2000. So what we do know is that people who self-identify as mixed-race and being in mixed-race families exponentially increases every 10 years. Which means mixed-race families and children and people -- those who are choosing a mixed-race identification -- will continue to grow as we get to the next census count in 2010.
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