Multiracial Identity: An International Perspective

178 Pages·2000·1.81 MB·English

by  Mark Christian (auth.)

Multiracial Identity
Also by Mark Christian
BLACK ORGANISATION AND IDENTITY IN LIVERPOOL: A Local, National and
Global Perspective (editor with William Ackah)
Multiracial Identity
An International Perspective
Mark Christian
Honorary Fellow
Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work
University of Liverpool
and
Visiting Fellow
Institute of Commonwealth Studies
University of London
Foreword by
Diedre L. Badejo
Chair
Department of Pan-African Studies
Kent State University
Consultant Editor: Jo Campling
First published in Great Britain 2000 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
Acatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-40360-8 ISBN 978-0-230-50174-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230501744
First published in the United States of America 2000 by
ST. MARTIN’S PRESS, LLC,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-23219-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Christian, Mark, 1961–
Multiracial identity : an international perspective / Mark Christian.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-23219-1 (cloth)
1. Racially mixed people. 2. Identity (Psychology) I. Title.
HT1523 .C48 2000
305.804—dc21
00–020121
©Mark Christian 2000
Foreword ©Diedre L. Badejo 2000
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2000 978-0-333-71664-9
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made
without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written
permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright
Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P0LP.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained
forest sources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00
For
Louis, Cabral, and Shelley –
who unerringly represent the millions of scattered seeds in
the African Diaspora
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Contents
List of Tables ix
Foreword by Diedre L. Badejo xi
Acknowledgements xix
Glossary xxi
1 Theorising Multiracial Identity 1
Toward a definition of identity 1
Multiracial identity as a term in the 1990s 4
Historical theories of ‘mixed race’’ persons 6
Contemporary US theories in multiracial identity 11
Contemporary UK theories in multiracial identity 14
Conclusion 18
2 Speaking for Themselves (I): Definitions of the
Racial Self and Parental Influence 21
Black settlement in the city of Liverpool, UK 22
How the Liverpool, UK respondents define themselves
in a racial sense 23
Parental influence in the construction of a racialised
identity 41
Conclusion 56
3 Speaking for Themselves (II): Inside and Outside
of Blackness in Liverpool, UK 59
Shades of Blackness 60
Is wanting to change one’s physical appearance an issue? 79
Conclusion 84
4 South Africa and Jamaica: ‘Other’ Multiracial
Case Studies 87
South Africa and the social construction of ‘coloureds’ 88
Jamaica in context 93
The colour-coding hierarchy 95
Conclusion 98
5 Assessing Multiracial Identity 103
White supremacy and multiracial identity 104
Social status and multiracial identity 107
vii
viii Contents
Nomenclature default and multiracial terminology 111
Conclusion 116
6 Conclusion 121
Notes 125
Bibliography 135
Index 153
List of Tables
1.1 The ethnic composition of Britain’s population,
from the 1991 census data 15
2.1 How the respondents define themselves by racial
origin 40
2.2 How the respondents view the term ‘half-caste’ 41
2.3 Parental influence on the mixed origin
respondents 55
ix