Everything about Mixed-race totally explained
The terms
multiracial and
mixed-race describe people whose parents are not the same
race, or the descendants of such mixed people.
Multiracial also describes a
society or group that's composed of people from more than one racial or ethnic group.
What makes a person multiracial?
» See also Admixture
According to
Michael Levin, most people can be clearly identified as belonging to one race or another, meaning that most people can trace at least 75% of their ancestors to the same geographic region associated with a major racial group. However Levin insists that anyone with fewer than 75% of their ancestors originating from the same broad geographic region should be considered multiracial:
Hybrid populations with multiple lines of descent are to be characterized in just those terms: as of multiple descent. Thus, American Negroids are individuals most of whose ancestors from 15 to 5000 generations ago were sub- Saharan African. Specifying 'most' more precisely in a way that captures ordinary usage may not be possible. '> 50%' seems too low a threshold; my sense is that ordinary attributions of race begin to stabilize at 75%. An individual, half of whose ancestors are East Asian and half Caucasian, is to be categorized as just that, of half northeast Asian and half Caucasian ancestry. Nothing in continental cladistics precludes mixed ancestry, any more than the concept of a breed of dog excludes mixtures.
Meanwhile the company
DNAPrint Genomics analyzes DNA to determine the exact percentage of Indo-European, sub-Saharan, East Asian, and Native American heritage someone has and assigns the to the categories White, Black, East Asian, Native American, or mixed race accordingly. According to U.S. sociologist Troy Duster and ethicist Pilar Ossorio:
Some percentage of people who look white will possess genetic markers indicating that a significant majority of their recent ancestors were African. Some percentage of people who look black will possess genetic markers indicating the majority of their recent ancestors were European.
Words for this concept, including from other languages, used in English
In the
English-speaking world many terms for people of various multiracial descents exist, some of which are pejorative or are no longer used.
Mulato and
mestizo are used in
Spanish and
métis in
French for people of multiracial descent, and these terms are also in certain contexts used in the English-speaking world. In
Canada, the
Métis are a people of mixed white and
First Nation descent. Terms like "mulatto" for people of partly African descent and "mestizo" for people of partly Native American descent are still used in English, but mostly when referring to the past or to the demography of
Latin-America. "
Half-breed" is a now old-fashioned and pejorative term used for people of partial Native American ancestry.
Mestee, once widely used, is now used mostly for members of old mixed-race groups, such as
Melungeons,
Redbones,
Brass Ankles and
Mayles.
In English, the terms "
miscegenation and "
amalgamation" have been used for "race-mixing", but these terms are now often considered offensive and are becoming obsolete.
Place in society
Societal acceptance of
interracial marriages and the children born from interracial relationships varies widely from person to person and region to region, and over time. In
Nazi Germany, harsh race laws were enacted to establish racial purity, although
Nazi soldiers in
Scandinavia (a few countries considered by the Nazis to have a mostly "Nordic" population) interbred with local women. Scandinavians and Anglo-Saxons were considered to be equal to Germans in the Nazi worldview. In the United States, especially the
South, marriage between
African Americans and
European Americans has historically been looked down upon and legislated against through
anti-miscegenation laws. These
state laws were declared unconstitutional by the
U.S. Supreme Court in 1967 in
Loving v. Virginia. As recently as 2003,
Taylor County High School in
Taylor County, Georgia has held separate prom celebrations for black and white students; however, some similar phenomena occur equally because of cultural differences and not specific prohibitions on marriage or dating. However, recent data suggests that multiracial marriages are becoming increasingly common in the United States, including the South.
Censuses notwithstanding, any count of numbers of mixed-race people is subject to dispute. People may identify themselves as members of one single racial category despite having (potentially many) ancestors belonging to other categories, for various reasons. For instance, genetic studies of
Afro-Caribbean people show an ancestry that's on average 10% European and 90% African. Also, a considerable portion of the U.S. population identified as
Black actually have some
Native American or
European American ancestry. Some of these categorization phenomena occur due to current or past cultural stereotyping or segregation.
Multiracial individuals are often
stereotypically presumed to have struggles with
identity crises, perhaps due to having a sense of identity that's very different than people who claim to be of just one race. Most multiracial people can't or don't identify with just one group.
Latin America
Mestizo is the common word used to describe multiracial people in
Latin America, especially people with and
Amerindian and
Spanish or other European ancestry. Mestizos make up a large portion of Latin Americans including a majority in some countries.
In Latin America, racial mixture was officially acknowledged from colonial times, resulting in an official nomenclature for every conceivable mixture present in the various countries. Initially, this classification was used as a type of caste system, where rights and privileges were accorded depending on one's official racial classification. Official caste distinctions were abolished in many countries of the
Spanish-speaking
Americas as they became independent of
Spain, but several have remained in common usage to this day.
Race and racial mixture have played a significant role in the politics of many Latin American countries. In some countries, notably
Mexico,
Puerto Rico,
Dominican Republic,
Colombia,
Panama,
Belize, and other Latin countries, a majority of the population can be described as multiracial.
The Mexican philosopher and educator
José Vasconcelos authored an essay on the subject,
La Raza Cósmica, celebrating racial mixture.
Venezuelan president
Hugo Chávez, who is himself of Spanish, indigenous and African ancestry, has made positive references to the mixed race ancestry of most Latin Americans from time to time.
Brazil
According to the 2000 official census, 38.5% of Brazilians identified themselves as
pardo skin color. That option is normally marked by people that consider themselves multiracial (
mestiço). The term
pardo is formally used in the official census, but isn't used by the population. In Brazilian society, most people that are multiracial call themselves
moreno, light-
moreno or dark-
moreno. These terms are not considered offensive, and focus more on skin color than on ethnicity (it is considered more like the others human characteristics such as being tall or short).
The most common multiracial groups are between African and European (
mulato), and Amerindian and European (
caboclo or
mameluco). But there are also African and Amerindian (
cafuzo), and East-Asian (mostly Japanese) and European (
ainocô). All groups are more or less found throughout the whole country. Most of the Brazilian multiracials, however, have three origins: Amerindian, European and African.
Since multiracial relations in Brazilian society have occurred for many generations, today, some people find it difficult to trace their own ethnic ancestry, and there's a high level of integration between all groups. However, there's a great social and economic difference between European descendants (found more among the upper and middle classes) and African, Amerindian and multiracial descendants (found more among the middle and lower classes).
South Africa
Multiracial South Africans are commonly referred to as
coloureds. According to the 2001 South African Census, they're the second largest miniority (8.9%) after white South Africans (9.2%).
Malaysia and Singapore
Malaya's population comprises many ethnic groups, with the Malays making up the majority, close to 60% of the population. By constitutional definition, Malays are Muslim who practice Malay norms and culture. Therefore, technically, a
Muslim of any race who practices Malay norms and culture can be considered a Malay and have equal rights when it comes to Malay rights as stated in the constitution. About 25% of the population are Malaysians of
Chinese descent. Malaysians of
Indian descent comprise about 8% of the population. About 90% of the Indian community are Tamils but various other groups are also present, including Malayalis, Punjabis and Gujaratis. There are also various non-Malay peoples who are designated as indigenous, mostly in
East Malaysia. These make up about 7% of the population.[citationneeded]
Non-Malay indigenous groups make up more than half of the state of Sarawak's population, constitute about 66% of Sabah's population, and also exist in much smaller numbers on the Peninsula, where they're collectively known as Orang Asli. The non-Malay indigenous population is divided into dozens of ethnic groups, but they share some general cultural similarities. Other Malaysians also include those of, inter alia,
European,
Middle Eastern,
Cambodian,
Thai and
Vietnamese descent. Europeans and Eurasians include British who colonized and settled in Malaysia and some Portuguese. Most of the Middle Easterners are Arab descent. A small number of Cambodians and Vietnamese settled in Malaysia as
Vietnam War refugees.
Population distribution is uneven, with some 20 million residents concentrated on the Malay Peninsula, while East Malaysia is relatively less populated.
Due to the rise in labour intensive industries, Malaysia has 10 to 20% foreign workers with the uncertainty due in part to the large number of illegal workers, mostly
Indonesians. There are a million legal foreign workers and perhaps another million unauthorized foreigners. The state of
Sabah alone has nearly 25% of its 2.7 million population listed as illegal foreign workers in the last census. However, this figure of 25% is thought to be less than half the figure speculated by NGOs. Interracial partnerships are also on a steady rise in Malaysia, most notably in the cities, eg.
Kuala Lumpur.
According to government statistics, the population of Singapore as of September 2007 was 4.68 million, of whom 3.7 million were Singaporean citizens and permanent residents (termed 'Singapore Residents').[57] Chinese formed 75.2% of 'Singapore Residents', Malays 13.6%, Indians 8.8%, while Eurasians and other groups formed 2.4%.
In 2006. the crude birth rate stood at 10.1 per 1000, a very low level attributed to birth control policies, and the crude death rate was also one of the lowest in the world at 4.3 per 1000. The total population growth was 4.4% with Singapore residents growth at 1.8%. The higher percentage growth rate is largely from net immigration, but also increasing life expectancy. Singapore is the second-most densely populated independent country in the world after
Monaco, excluding
Macau and
Hong Kong, which are special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China. In 1957, Singapore's population was approximately 1.45 million, and there was a relatively high birth rate. Aware of the country's extremely limited natural resources and small territory, the government introduced birth control policies in the late 1960s. In the late 1990s, the population was ageing, with fewer people entering the labour market and a shortage of skilled workers. In a dramatic reversal of policy, the Singapore government introduce a "baby bonus" scheme in 2001 (enhanced in August 2004) that encouraged couples to have more children.[58]
In 2006, the total
fertility rate was only 1.26 children per woman, the 3rd lowest in the world and well below the 2.10 needed to replace the population. [59] In 2006, 38,317 babies were born, compared to around 37,600 in 2005. This number, however, isn't sufficient to maintain the population growth. To overcome this problem, the government is encouraging foreigners to immigrate to Singapore. These large numbers of immigrants have kept Singapore's population from declining.
The Philippines
There has been Chinese presence in the Philippines since the ninth century; although large scale migrations of Chinese to the Philippines only started during the Spanish colonial era, when the world market was opened to the Philippines. It is estimated that among Filipinos, 10% have some Chinese ancestry and 2% are “full-blooded” Chinese.
According to a genetic study which included 28 genotyped individuals from the Philippines, 3.6% of the population is of European descent A large part of this European introgression is very likely of Spanish origin.
Filipinos with a mix of Spanish ancestry,
Spanish mestizos, are particularly visible in show business, and some leaders in Philippine business and commerce are of Spanish descent.
India
India has more than two thousand ethnic groups, and every major religion is represented, as are four major families of languages (
Indo-European,
Dravidian and
Tibeto-Burman languages) as well as a language isolate (the Nihali language spoken in parts of Maharashtra). Further complexity is lent by the great variation that occurs across this population on social parameters such as income and education.
United Kingdom
In 2000,
The Sunday Times reported that "
Britain has the highest rate of
interracial relationships in the world". Census data shows the population of
England (as a sub-section of the
UK) to be 1.4% mixed-race (2001), compared with, for example, 1.4% in the U.S. and therefore are the same (2002 estimates; see below). However, the U.S. figure largely doesn't include mixed-race people who have a black parent. Also, as most of the English population is of one race (white) — more so than in the US — there are fewer
opportunities for interracial relationships in England. In support of the report's conclusions, it can be calculated that 14.4% of English residents not identified as
white are mixed-race, compared with 7.5% in the U.S.
In England many multi-racial people are from the [[BritishWest Indies|British Caribbean]. Some, like Formula One driver,
Lewis Hamilton are referred to or describe themselves as 'black', but the majority of mixed race Britons identify themselves as 'mixed race' as indicated by the 2001 census. Many people are partly
Welsh or partly
Italian or partly of
Irish Descent but such people can't be described as 'mixed race' as they come from the same racial background (for example: Caucasian). The correct term for such people is 'mixed ethnicity', not 'mixed race'. The
2001 UK Census included a section entitled
Mixed to which 1.4% (1.6% by 2005 estimates) of people responded, which was split further into
White and Black Caribbean,
White and Black African and
Other Mixed.
Cities/ Regions with notable Multiracial/ Mixed Race populations
Canada
Multiracial Canadians, in 2006 totalled 1.5% of the population, up from 1.2% in 2001. The mixed race population grew by 25% since the previous census. Of this, the most popular combinations were
multiple visible minorities (for example, both black and South Asian), followed closely by
white-black,
white-Latin American,
white-Chinese and many other smaller mixes.
Another 1.2% of Canadians are Metis (descendants of a historical population who were partially
Aboriginal and
European, particularly
French,
Scottish, and
Irish ethnic groups.
see also Métis people (Canada)
This brings a total mixed population of up to 3%, greater than that of the
United Kingdom, and the
United States, in terms of percentage.
United States
The proportion of multiracial children in the United States is growing. Interracial partnerships are on the rise, as are transracial adoptions. In 1990, about 14% of 18- to 19-year-olds, 12% of 20- to 21-year-olds and 7% of 34- to 35-year-olds were involved in interracial relationships (Joyner and Kao, 2005). Given the variety of the familial and more general social environments in which multiracial children are raised, along with the diversity of their appearance (vis-a-vis their component races and their family members), it can be difficult to make generalizations about multiracial children's challenges or opportunities. The racial
social identity of children and that of their parents in the same multiracial family may vary or be the same. Some multiracial children feel pressure from various sources to "choose" or to assimilate into a single racial identity, while others whose identity or lifestyle is perceived to be closer to some of their component races than others may feel pressure not to abandon one or more of their ethnicities. Still other children grow up without race being a significant issue in their lives.
Categorization and censuses
Some multiracial individuals feel marginalized by U.S. society. For example, when applying to schools or for a job, or when taking standardized tests, Americans are sometimes asked to check boxes corresponding to
race or
ethnicity. Typically, about five race choices are given with the instruction to "check only one." Many other such surveys include an additional "other" box, but this unfortunately groups together individuals of many different multiracial types (ex: European Americans/African-Americans are grouped with Asian/Native American Indians).
There remain many circumstances in which biracial individuals are left with no real response when asked for demographic data. But multiracial people won a victory of sorts after years of effort when in 1997, the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) changed the federal regulation of racial categories to permit multiple responses, resulting in a new format for the 2000
United States Census, which allowed participants to select more than one of the six available categories, which were, in brief: "
White," "
Black or African American," "
Asian," "
American Indian or Alaskan Native," "
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander," and "Other." Further details are given in the article:
Race (US Census). The OMB made its directive mandatory for all government forms by 2003.
In contrast, the
United Kingdom Census 2001 offered specific mixed-race categories: "Mixed White and
Black Caribbean", "Mixed White and
Black African", "Mixed White and
(South) Asian", and "Other Mixed", as well as "Other ethnic group".
Formal recognition of legitimacy
In the past, laws based on racial classifications restricted the free choice of a marriage partner of the other sex in the United States, in
Nazi Germany and in
South Africa under Apartheid. Such laws were enforced in many individual states of the United States until 1967, in Nazi Germany from 1935 until 1945, and in South Africa under Apartheid from 1948 until it was repealed in 1985. Such laws targeted marriages between
whites and people of other races. In 1935, Nazi Germany enacted a law that was part of the
Nuremberg Laws which prohibited marriage between Germans and
Jews, which were classified as a separate race, as well as
Gypsies and blacks.. In South Africa, the
Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act prohibited marriage between whites and non-whites (which were classified as Black, Asian and
Coloured).
In the United States, the various state laws were known as
anti-miscegenation laws.
Such laws in all states applied to marriages between "
Caucasians" and
African Americans ("negroes" and/or "mulattoes"), and in some states also to marriages between white Americans and
Asian Americans and/or
American Indians.
By the 1920s, the various Asian groups that had arrived in the United States were all judged to American courts to be non-white. In several states, Asian Americans were prohibited from marrying whites. In anti-miscegenation laws of several states,
Chinese Americans and
Japanese Americans were classified as members of the "
Mongoloid race",
Filipino Americans as members of the "
Malay race" and
Indian Americans were classified as
"Hindus" or "Hindoos".
Hispanic Americans of partial African and/or Native American descent were in certain states in theory legally forbidden to marry whites, but often they were regarded to be white. On the other hand, the state of California took no legal steps against marriages between
Mexican Americans and
Punjabi immigrants, although it prohibited the Punjabis from marrying white Americans.
In 1947, the
Mexican American Andrea Perez and
African American Sylvester Davis were refused a marriage licence because their marriage would have violated
California's
anti-miscegenation laws, which prohibited marriage between whites and non-whites. Perez was judged to be white. However, in a landmark decision the
California Supreme Court in
Perez v. Sharp (1948) repealed California's anti-miscegenation laws because they ran counter to the
Constitution of the United States.
In 1967, the
United States Supreme Court ruled in
Loving v. Virginia that all remaining anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional, after years of legal challenges by plaintiffs and civil rights organisations, and since then such laws have had no legal force. In 2000, Alabama was the last state to officially remove its unenforceable anti-miscegenation laws from its state statute.
Types of mixed-race people
Africa-origin
African Diaspora
Afro-Asian
Afro-European
Afro-Latin American
Basters
Griqua
American-origin
Atlantic Creole
Black Indians
Caboclo
Cholo
Chestnut Ridge people
Colored (America)
Hapa
Latin America's races
Louisiana Creole people
Lumbee
Marabou
Melungeon
Mestee
Redbone
We-Sorts
Zambo
Asian-origin
Burgher people
Gypsy
Shan
Sri Lankan Moors
Turkic peoples
European-origin
Afrikaners or Boers 'South Africa'
Black Dutch (non-African diasporic)
Black people in Ireland
British Mixed
Castizo
Canarian people
Coloured Southern Africa
Eurasians
Isleños
Réunion Creoles
Oceania-origin
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Fijians
Indigenous Papau New Guineans
Māori
Other types
Creole peoples
Creoles of color
Half-breed
Mixed-Bloods
Race of the FutureFurther Information
Get more info on 'Mixed-race'.
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