University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

College student multiracial identity development during a sociopolitical moment hinged upon identity politics

(USC Thesis Other)

College student multiracial identity development during a sociopolitical moment hinged upon identity politics

PDF

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content Running Head: COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY

COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT DURING A
SOCIOPOLITICAL MOMENT HINGED UPON IDENTITY POLITICS
by
Victoria Alexander

A Thesis Presented to the
Faculty of the Rossier School of Education
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
Master of Education
Postsecondary Administration and Student Affairs
December 2019

Thesis committee:
Charles H.F. Davis III, Ph.D.
Shafiqa Ahmadi, J.D.
Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D.
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY ii

Abstract

Currently, one in seven U.S. children is born of an interracial union, generating a
multiracial population of about 7% of the total U.S. population. 5.6% of the U.S. population is
comprised of multiracial people who are 18 years old or younger, alone. Despite this incredibly
diverse and quickly growing population, only 1% of peer-reviewed journals in education focus
on Multiracial students. Multiraciality requires diligent research to understand the social and
racial identity development of multiracial college students, specifically within the contexts of
college campus environments following the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. This study will
examine the social, psychosocial, phenotypical, political, and economic factors which contribute
to multiracial student identity development. The research conducted in this study will utilize a
narrative inquiry methodological approach to generate complex and nuanced narratives of four
multiracial college students on a predominantly white, socially polarized, highly selective,
private university campus. The information gathered will aid researchers and practitioners in
recognizing the gaps in understanding and support for multiracial students, and how to most
intentionally fill those gaps.

Keywords: Multiracial, Biracial, College, Student, Identity, Social Polarization, post post-
racial

COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY iii

Table of Contents

Definition of Terms............................................................................................................. 1
Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 3
Statement of the Problem .......................................................................................... 4
Study Significance .................................................................................................... 5
Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................. 6

Chapter 2: Literature Review ............................................................................................ 7
The Social Construction of Racial Classification ..................................................... 7
Congruence of Racial and Social Identity ................................................................ 9
Evidence of Sociopolitical and Racial Polarization .................................................. 11
Categorizations of Multiraciality .............................................................................. 11
Multiraciality in Higher Education ........................................................................... 13
Conceptual and Theoretical Framework ................................................................... 17
Racial Identity Models .............................................................................................. 17
Wijeyesinghe’s (2012) Intersectional Model of Multiracial Identity Development ...... 18

Chapter 3: Research Design, Methodology, and Methods ............................................... 21
Qualitative Research and Narrative Inquiry Approaches ......................................... 21
Data Sources and Procedures .................................................................................... 22
Site Selection ............................................................................................................ 22
Participant Selection ................................................................................................. 23
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY iv

Data Collection Procedures ....................................................................................... 24
Data Analysis Procedures ......................................................................................... 24
Quality Assurance and Trustworthiness ................................................................... 27
Limitations ................................................................................................................ 27
Role of the Researcher .............................................................................................. 28

Chapter 4: Narratives ........................................................................................................ 30
Sarah ......................................................................................................................... 31
Woman of Color – Kind Of ................................................................................. 32
Women’s Marching ............................................................................................. 34
Anthony..................................................................................................................... 36
Orange County Black ........................................................................................... 37
Comfortable in Blackness .................................................................................... 39
Dante ......................................................................................................................... 40
Assimilation to Whiteness ................................................................................... 41
Performing Race and Class .................................................................................. 44
Advantages ........................................................................................................... 46
Alexis ........................................................................................................................ 47
Pocahontas Hair ................................................................................................... 48
Responsibility ...................................................................................................... 49
Solidarity .............................................................................................................. 50
Chapter 5: Discussion, Implications, and Conclusion ...................................................... 52
Discussion of Findings .............................................................................................. 52
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY v

Physical Appearance ................................................................................................. 54
Racial Ancestry ......................................................................................................... 55
Spirituality................................................................................................................. 56
Geographic Location ................................................................................................. 58
Early Experiences and Socialization ......................................................................... 59
Education .................................................................................................................. 67
Media Exposure ........................................................................................................ 69
Political Awareness and Orientation ......................................................................... 70
Sociopolitical/Sociohistorical Context...................................................................... 73
Affluence................................................................................................................... 75
Situational Differences.............................................................................................. 76
Implications for Research and Practice ..................................................................... 77
Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 80

Appendix A: Interview Protocol ....................................................................................... 82
Appendix B: Figures and Tables....................................................................................... 84
Figure 1. Institutional Student Demographics .................................................................. 84
Figure 2. Multiracial Identity Factor Galaxies .................................................................. 84
Figure 3. Social Identity Chart .......................................................................................... 87

References ......................................................................................................................... 88
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 1

Definition of Terms

Below are definitions of key terms used throughout this thesis:
Race: Socially constructed groups based on physical and social differences considered
socially significant (American Sociological Association).
Ethnicity: Shared culture, such as language, ancestry, practices, and beliefs (American
Sociological Association).
Race Options in the U.S. Census: White, Black or African American, Asian, American
Indian and Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, or some other race (US
Census Bureau, 2018).
Ethnicity Options in the U.S. Census: Hispanic, Non-Hispanic. (US Census Bureau,
2018).
Black: A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa. Black
includes people who indicated their race(s) as African American, Kenyan, Nigerian, or Haitian
(US Census Bureau, 2018).
White: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle
East, or North Africa (US Census Bureau, 2018).
Asian: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast
Asia, or the Indian subcontinent (US Census Bureau, 2018).
“Other” or “Some Other Race:” All other responses not included in the white, Black,
American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander race
categories described above. Respondents reporting entries such as Multiracial, mixed, interracial,
or a Hispanic or Latino group (for example, Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Cuban) in response to the
race question are included in this category (US Census Bureau, 2018).
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 2

Hispanic: An ethnic categorization used to describe a person of Spanish, Cuban,
Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish speaking culture or origin
regardless of race (US Census Bureau, 2018).
Latinx: An ethnic categorization used to describe a person having origins in any of the
Latin American countries such as Mexico, Central, and South America, and in the Caribbean,
Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Puerto Rico. Latinx people can be of any race. Latinx
is used as opposed to Latino/a to be inclusive of gender identity (US Census Bureau, 2018).
Multiracial: 1) Those whose parents are each of a different race, 2) those with one
Hispanic and one non-Hispanic parent, and 3) those with at least one parent who identifies as
Multiracial (Livingston, 2017).
Predominately White Institution (PWI): colleges and universities in which white
students account for 50% or greater of enrollment (Asbury, Kamili, Anderson, Jacobs, Wilson, &
Okazawa-Rey, 1996).
Racism: A system of advantage based on race and supported by institutional structures
that create and sustain benefit for the dominant group, and structure discrimination, oppression,
and disadvantage for target racial groups (Bell, 2007).
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 3

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

The Multiracial population in the U.S. is growing at a rate three times as fast as the U.S.
population as a whole (Livingston, 2017). The number of Multiracial children has more than
tripled in the last 25 years, making this growing community a critical opportunity for various
systems to understand and provide targeted attention and support for Multiracial college students
(Livingston, 2017). Despite this significant and expeditiously growing population, less than 1%
of leading peer-reviewed journals in education include an explicit focus on Multiracial students,
minimizing the importance of Multiraciality in academic discourse (Museus, Sarinana, & Ryan,
2015). The U.S. Census found that one in seven U.S. infants (children under one-year-old) are
born of an interracial couple; nearly tripling the rate of Multiracial births in 1980 (Livingston,
2017).
Racial identity and racial salience are closely tied to social identity development and the
formation of social groups (Tajfel, 1979). Even on diverse campuses, many students spend
significant amounts of time interacting within racially homogeneous social groups, which may
affect the racial and social identity development of Multiracial students who may not neatly fit in
monoracial categories (Milem, Chang, & Antonio, 2005). Current racial and sociopolitical
climates on U.S. college and university campuses are often politically, socially, and racially
polarized, making tensions around choice of group membership and identity a controversial
decision with psycho-social repercussions (Doolan, 2017). Students live and learn in complex
ecologies where race is a central organizing concept of student culture and life (Renn, 2015).
Therefore, questions surrounding the contemporary racial identity development of Multiracial
college students need to be considered by higher education scholars and practitioners.
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 4

Furthermore, this study will be conducted in an era facing the notable increase in overt and
covert forms of discrimination since the 2016 Presidential election.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, more than six hundred cases of
intimidation and harassment of minoritized communities have been reported since Election Day,
2016, as well as a rise in the number of organized hate groups (Yan, Sgueglia, & Walker 2016).
Political polarization is linked to people’s information environments including their political
environments, social identities, how they view themselves and others around them (Political
Polarization, 2014). While Multiracial students are negotiating and exploring their racial
identities they are often also asked to publicly identify, legitimate, and educate others about their
racial identities and often feel pressure to demonstrate a fixed social and racial identity means to
prove this identity to others (Renn, 2015).

Statement of the Problem
Within higher education, “Multiracial students are doing the work of identity
development on campuses not set up to accommodate those who do not fit into previously
defined [racial] categories” (Renn, 2000, p. 405). Many colleges and universities support the
identity development of monoracial students, using cultural centers and monoracially-focused
programming. However, those Multiracial students who exist between (or outside of) strong
affinities to, and identification with, monoracial groups often remain without account or
accommodation (Renn, 2000). As a result, the onus of responsibility for developing their
identities without, and perhaps in spite of, support for previously defined monoracial student
support systems is shifted from the institution’s existing support systems to the individual
student (Renn, 2000). Given the diversity inherent in the Multiracial population, and the various
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 5

patterns of racial identification, locating factors is complicated further when considering
different operations of developing racial identity (Renn, 2016). These questions surrounding
identity development patterns need to be clarified by researchers and understood by practitioners
before moving forward in designing practices to meet the needs of Multiracial students (Renn,
2016). Understanding the experience of Multiracial students is crucial to fill in the gaps of
identity and research to support and understand these students on an institutional and system
level, especially when considering the unique place white/non-white Multiracial students occupy
in a racially polarized sociopolitical moment.

Study Significance
The existing higher education and identity development literature has yet to fully expand
upon how Multiracial people develop their racial identity during the current sociopolitical of
heightened racial tension and contemporary identity politics. By further understanding the factors
by which Multiracial identity is being developed by college students within the present
sociohistorical moment, higher education practitioners may better understand how racial and
sociopolitical identities interact and influence the racial identity development of Multiracial
college students. Further, student affairs professionals can be better equipped to support
Multiracial college students in their identity development.
Therefore, my study seeks to expand racial identity development models that engage
Multiracial identities broadly (Wijeyesignhe, 2001) and student racial identities (Renn, 2000,
2004) in particular. Collectively, these models suggest Multiracial identity can be fluid and
influenced by a variety of factors that vary in saliency based on various contextual factors. My
study advances what is known about Multiracial identity development by situating Multiracial
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 6

students’ experiential realities within the post-2016, pre-2020 election moment. Further, my
study engages Multiracial students at a period, I argue, has reinvigorated the presence of identity
politics. By identity politics, I am referring to what Hayes (2016) suggests as marginalized
groups’ aims for greater self-determination and political by understanding their distinctive nature
and challenging externally imposed characterizations.

Purpose of the Study
The primary purpose of my exploratory qualitative study is to understand the ways in
which Multiracial students’ racial identities are influenced by the sociopolitical polarization felt
on college campuses since the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. The results of this study will be
useful to colleges and universities as they assist Multiracial students in exploring their racial
identities, developing their sociopolitical ideologies, and finding a greater sense of social
belonging within and beyond monoracial social groups. My study is broadly guided by the
following research questions:

1. How do Multiracial students, whose racial identities are within a white/Non-white
binary, perceive the polarized contemporary sociopolitical moment’s influence on their
racial development in college?
2. Does a shift in the sociopolitical moment affect the factors by which white/Non-white
Multiracial college students form and negotiate their racial identity?

COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 7

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, I provide a review of the literature concerning Multiraciality and race
broadly, beginning with the social construction of racial classification. Second, I discuss racism
as a system of power grounded in white supremacy, as it exists in the United States. Third, I will
describe the position and changing definitions of whiteness within social hierarchies of
dominance used in the U.S. Fourth, I will expand definitions of race to include Multiraciality and
how social designations of Multiraciality have changed over time. Then, I will describe the shift
in sociopolitical atmosphere present in the United States following the 2016 Presidential election
and its repercussions for college students of color. I will conclude Chapter 2 by describing the
theoretical framework used to generate the perspective of this study: 1) Understanding the
struggle to build a Multiracial identity theory (Rockquemore, Brunsma, Delgado, 2009), 2) how
racial identity impacts social identity (Tajfel, 1979), 3) Wijeyesinghe’s (2012) Intersectional
Model of Multiracial Identity Development.

The Social Construction of Racial Classification
Racial categorization began as a means to conserve the purity of whiteness (Brown,
2015). Historically, some race scientists, also known as eugenicists, theorized that Multiracial
children of Black and white parentage were genetically inferior; a “mongrel class of people” that
would lead to the destruction of both [Black and white] races, and sought statistical evidence in
the form of census data to support their theories (Brown, 2015). It is critical to understand that
race is a social construct; race is used as a classification system, developed and maintained to
justify the supremacy of a dominant group (Sarich, 2018). Social constructivism is the view that
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 8

some aspect of the world is an artifact of social practices, or an institutionalized way of
categorization (Blackburn, 2016). There is no scientific evidence to support race as a genetic
definer between humans (Brown & Armelagos, 2001). Although there are small genetic
differences resulting from evolution to environmental differences as a result of human migration,
these variations should not be confused with the belief in discrete genetic racial classifications
(Brown & Armelagos, 2001). Advances in science since the 1960s continue to demonstrate that
there is more genetic variation within a group socially designated as a race than between groups
socially identified as different races (Bailey, 2018). Du Boisian scholar, Linda Martín Alcoff
(2006) suggests that we must re-see race and, by doing so, begin to transform its meanings.
The social construction of race is closely linked with biological determinism and racial
essentialism (Byrd & Hughey, 2015). Biological determinism describes the idea that race is
genetically inherited, while racial essentialism suggests that race determines social behavior
(Byrd & Hughey, 2015). Similar to race, biological determinism and racial essentialism are tools
used to support the supremacy of the dominant racial group and legitimize racism (Byrd &
Hughey, 2015). Bell (2007) describes racism as “a system of advantage based on race, supported
by institutional structures that create and sustain benefit for the dominant group, and structure
discrimination, oppression, and disadvantage for target racial groups.” Multiracial individuals
who are racially ambiguous, are often misplaced in racial categorizations because of false
assumptions linked to biological determinism and racial essentialism by the idea that people of
one racial group all share certain physical features or social behaviors within a stereotypically
subscribed domain (Byrd & Hughey, 2015). Examples of racial essentialism and biological
determinism faced by many Multiracial people include microaggressions like, “You don’t look
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 9

Black,” “You speak so white,” “That must be because of your white side,” etc. (Byrd & Hughey,
2015).
A microaggression is an intentional or unintentional communication that is hostile,
derogatory, or prejudicial toward any group (Sue, 2010). Though racial essentialism and
biological determinism do not reveal biological or behavioral truths, they certainly index lived
experiences and sociopolitical realities (Alcoff, 2006).
In United States terms, white people make up the dominant racial group, though what it
means to be white has changed throughout U.S. history through the changing definition of
whiteness (Yancy, 2004). At certain points in U.S. history, Italians, Greeks, and Irish people
were considered non-white. Spaniards, though Hispanic, are also European and are considered
white. People from the Middle East and northern Africa were or are considered white based on
the U.S. Census, but are often considered non-white socially. Jewish people, though a religious
minority are considered to be racially white per the U.S. Census. This is a specifically U.S.
phenomenon, as race and the nomenclature around race operate differently based on country and
culture. (Leonardo, 2009).
The criteria of using white/Non-white Multiracial students is due to my desire to question
whether one’s proximity to whiteness, but not necessarily full ownership of whiteness at all
times, affects the ways they negotiate their racial identities and how they are racialized by others.
Whiteness as property describes white racial- group membership as a basis of racialized privilege
or a type of status in which white racial identity provides societal benefits to those who present
or pass as white (Harris, 1993).

Congruence of Racial and Social Identity
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 10

Racial identity and racial salience are closely tied to social identity development and the
formation of social groups (Tajfel, 1979). Tajfel’s (1979) Social Identity Theory suggests that
race is a building block of personal social identity, and assists other identity factors in classifying
individuals as within their in-group, or as an outsider. The college experience is a highly social
environment, and can often be racialized and self-segregated (Inside Higher Ed, 2017). Current
racial and social climate on college campuses, and in America generally, can be politically,
socially, and racially polarized, making tensions around choice of group membership and
identity a controversial decision (Doolan, 2017).
While many colleges and universities have diversified in recent years, many students
continue to spend significant amounts of time interacting within racially homogeneous social
groups, which may affect the racial and social identity development of Multiracial students who
may not neatly fit in monoracial categories (Milem, Chang, & Antonio, 2005). Multiracial
people may feel certain anxieties when interacting in predominately monoracial groups and can
experience a particular form of double consciousness (Du Bois, 1903) due to the racialized social
groups on college campuses. Double consciousness, as described by Du Bois (1903) describes
“the gift of second sight;” seeing how others see oneself, a doubled vision that sees oneself
through the distorted views of others. These anxieties built around a Multiracial consciousness
may lead to shifts in behavior and coping mechanisms to deal with a transitional sense of racial
identity and social place. (Museus, Sarinana, & Ryan, 2015). Dewey (1938), emphasizes that
education is a result of personal and social experience; individuals are understood as both
independent entities and in connection to others, constantly situated within a social context
(Dewey, 1938).

COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 11

Evidence of Sociopolitical and Racial Polarization
Social polarization describes the widening of divisions between social groups in terms of
circumstance and opportunity (Woodward, 1995). Growing racial, ideological, and cultural
polarization within the American electorate has increased following the 2016 presidential
election (Abramowitz & McCoy, 2019). Using data from American National Election Studies
surveys, explicit appeals to racial and ethnic resentment exploited social divisions that have been
growing within the electorate for decades because of demographic and cultural changes in
American society (Abramowitz & McCoy, 2019). Sociopolitical polarization is linked to
people’s information environments including their political environments, social identities, how
they view themselves and others around them, and changes and to broader sociological
personality traits (Political Polarization, 2014). Because the racial identity of monoracial college
students may be less clearly defined than monoracial peers, developing a consistent racial and
social identity, specifically in an increasingly polarized sociopolitical environment may be
difficult or situational. This study will examine how the current sociopolitical environment
generated since the 2016 Presidential election has affected the racial, and thus social, identity
development of Multiracial college students within a non-white/white binary.

Categorizations of Multiraciality
The ontology of Multiraciality has also shifted over time, as there are many ways that
Multiraciality has been defined historically. Hypodescedence refers to the assignment of children
of an interracial union between different ethnic or racial groups to the group with the lower
social status (Kottak, 2009). For example, in American culture, white people are historically the
dominant social group, thus people of Multiracial Black/white ancestry would be categorized as
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 12

Black, using this concept. During the twentieth century, the “One-Drop” Rule was utilized to
relegate anyone who had known Black racial ancestry, speculated Black racial ancestry, or
phenotypically appeared to have any sub-Saharan African ancestry to Black (Renn & Lunceford,
2004). Terms like mulatto, quadroon, and octoroon were used to delegate half-Black, one-quarter
Black, and one-eighth Black people, respectively (Renn & Lunceford, 2004). Racial separatist
models, like the “One-Drop Rule” were used to discourage interracial relationships in tandem
with anti-miscegenation laws which weren’t abolished federally in the U.S. until Loving v.
Virginia (1967), and on a state level in all states until 2000 in Alabama (Karthikeyan, & Chin,
2002).
Racial self-identity can also be affected by the generational progression of an
individual’s Multiraciality, or the place in one’s family tree where the most recent interracial
union appears, also known as the General Locus of Multiraciality (Alba, Prewitt, Morning, &
Saperstein, 2018). For example, in the generational histories of many Black families, there have
been white or Native American unions contributing to the family tree, but whether or not an
individual in this family may identify as Multiracial may depend on how many generations have
passed since the interracial union took place. Beyond classical categorizations of Multiraciality
exists Multiracial Transcendent Identity, which is the idea that Multiracial individuals exist
beyond a means of traditional racial classification (Lou & Lalonde, 2015).
Racism, and Multiraciality, can often leave Multiracial individuals on the borders of or
between monoracial groups. Monoracism is defined as “a social system of psychological
inequality where individuals who do not fit within monoracial categories may be oppressed on
systemic and interpersonal levels because of underlying assumptions and beliefs in singular,
discrete racial categories” (Johnston & Nadal, 2010). Although the definition of monoracism can
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 13

be supported through the historical treatment of Multiracial people, it is important to note that
monoracism would describe monoracial people of color to be monoracist and racially
minoritized people do not have the social power to be racist (Goa, 2018). Racism is a system of
(dis)advantage based on a racial hierarchy of dominant (i.e., white and white-passing) and
subordinated racial groups; racially minoritized people cannot be racist as they cannot benefit
from this system (Goa, 2018). For the purpose of this study, I use Multiracial othering to
describe actions associated with monoracism. In addition, I argue that some forms of Multiracial
othering stem from a Multiracial person’s perceived proximity to whiteness by being perhaps
more white-passing than some of their monoracial peers. White-passing is a phenomenon by
which individuals who are non-white, through socially constructed meaning, possess the ability
to access and claim cultural or symbolic elements as well as phenotypical features associated
with whiteness (e.g., “tame” hair, light skin, and light eyes) (Chakroun, 2018). To be sure, this
white-adjacent frame is part and parcel of white supremacist structures in which non-white races
are positioned in subordination relative to whiteness (Johnston, & Nadal, 2010).

Multiraciality in Higher Education
The American Multiracial population over 18 years old is about 2.6%, while the
population under 18 years old is about 5.6%, illustrating a growing number of Multiracial
identifying students reaching college-age in the coming years (Humes, Jones, & Ramirez, 2011).
How educators and administrators fully serve, support, and engage this growing population,
specifically during a sharply polarized sociopolitical era focused closely on social identity has
yet to be widely established (Renn, 2015). Moments such as these, I argue, have been made more
pronounced for Multiracial college students, when centering the sociopolitical nature of what it
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 14

means to negotiate, develop, and perform a Multiracial identity in America following the 2016
Presidential election, as students live and learn in complex ecologies where race is a central
organizing concept of student culture and life (Renn, 2015).
The growing group size and visibility of the Multiracial population calls us to question
how race and Multiraciality are framed, analyzed, interrogated, and understood in order to
incorporate this group identity in ways that do not minimize the unique experiences of
individuals that make up the collective (Bullock, 2010). Brunsma, Delgado, and Rockquemore
(2013) describe the concept of Multiraciality as existing between or separate from monoracial
identity as being within a “liminal space.” As biracial and Multiracial students explore their
identities, they may experience a unique form of double consciousness in which they struggle
between how they choose to identify and how they are identified by others, not only with white
people as the original double consciousness suggests, but also with monoracial peers of the
Multiracial individual’s non-white racial group (Du Bois, 1903). Because there are many
different types of Multiracial identification and varieties of Multiracial experiences, there has
been some debate as to whether Multiracial-identified individuals actually form an identity
group. Some have questioned whether the experience of liminality in and of itself can be a valid
defining characteristic for group formation, particularly since it is not unique to Multiracial-
identified individuals as variance exists in groups categorized as monoracial as well (Daniel,
2002).
Similar to liminality is the concept of Multiraciality as a border identity where
Multiracial people may (a) have both feet in both groups and merge multiple perspectives
simultaneously, (b) sit on the border between groups and identify using a Multiracial center-point
(c) situationally navigating between and through borders, (d) creating a home base in one
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 15

identity and making forays into others (Renn, 2003). Border identities are also a part of a matrix
of domination model in which racial groups exists within the system of racism with Multiracial
people being positioned not as the privileged group (white) nor as the targeted group (monoracial
non-white), but as a border social group between the two (Collins, 2015). The matrix of
domination model does not, however, position all Multiracial people to have similar racialized
experiences given their individual racial ancestry or perception. For example, surveys suggest
that whites perceive less social distance between themselves and Asians than between
themselves and Black people, expressing more willingness to have Asians as their neighbors than
Black people, rating them higher in intelligence and viewing them as less dependent on welfare
(Bobo, 2001). Studies examining the racial labeling of biracial Asian/white children by their
parents suggest that the perceived lack of social distance between whites and Asians as compared
to Black people makes it more acceptable for Multiracial Asians to self-identify as white than
Multiracial people from other minority groups (Xie & Goyette, 1997). A study of self-identity
among Multiracial students indicates that Multiracial Asian adolescents consider ‘white’ to be a
more acceptable racial identity choice for them than Multiracial Black adolescents did for
themselves; forty percent of Multiracial Asian students identified as ‘white’, while none of their
Multiracial Black counterparts identified as ‘white’ (Lopez, 2003).
In addition to the differences in choice of group membership for Multiracial students,
studies have consistently shown that Multiracial Black women are more likely than Multiracial
Black men to identify with multiple racial groups (Harris, David, & Sim 2002). Although the
reasons for this pattern are not completely understood, scholars agree that, for Multiracial Black
women, it is likely because of the higher sensitivity of women towards outward presentations of
race as a social metric of white supremacist colonial standards of beauty present in the U.S., and
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 16

thus access to social capital via beauty for women who more closely align to that standard
(Russell, Wilson, & Hall 1992). For Multiracial Black men this monoracial identity pattern is
suggested to be linked to perceptions of Black masculinity as hyper-masculine which is often an
attractive identity option for Black boys and men, particularly during adolescence and college-
age. (Russell, Wilson, & Hall 1992). Multiracial Asian women are also more likely to identify
with multiple racial groups than their men counterparts who more often identify as white. This is
also suggested to be closely linked to white supremacist colonial beauty standards for women
and perceptions of a lack of masculinity in Asian men, leading them to more often identify with a
more masculine perception of white male identity, specifically in college-age men (Xie &
Goyette 1997).
In addition to racial categorization, the social relations within and across categories of
racial difference inform how racial identities are experienced and performed. Social relations are
partially governed by social identities, which broadly refer to a person’s sense of who they are,
and their belonging to the social world, based on their group membership(s) (Tajfel, 1979). In
order for group members to increase their self-image, individuals often choose to enhance the
status of the groups in which they belong. This type of group identity leads to the formation of
in-groups and out-groups, and an “us vs them” mentality (Tajfel, 1979). Social identity theory
suggests that in addition to enhancing the status of their own group, individuals will discriminate,
either implicitly or explicitly, against other out-groups (Tajfel, 1979). From the conceptual lens
of social identity, Multiracial individuals may be perceived to be either within the in-group,
within the out-group, on the outskirts of either, or existing between in the in-group and the out-
group of racial categories, thus complicating social and racial group membership.

COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 17

Conceptual and Theoretical Framework

Racial Identity Models
There are many monoracial identity development models, however the ways in which
racially minoritized monoracial identity is developed, via stages of accepting and/or rejecting
dominant culture, does not always align with the racial development of students with a
Multiracial background (e.g., Atkinson, Morten, & Sue, 1979; Atkinson & Sue, 1993; Cross,
1987, 1995; Helms, 1990, 1995). Multiracial students have unique lenses in which they view the
world, which can lead them to diverge from paths taken by their friends and family members
(Harris, 2014).
Multiraciality scholars Rockquemore, Brunsma, and Delgado (2009) suggest that
researchers study Multiracial identity development using three racial categories: 1) racial identity
is how an individual identifies themselves 2) racial identification is how individuals are racially
identified by others 3) racial categorization relates to the racial categories available in a specific
era in time (Rockquemore et al., 2009). Shifting identities occur across the life course of
Multiracial people, as well as across contexts, and these shifts do not necessarily signal a specific
‘phase’ of identity development used in many other conceptual frameworks of multiracial
identity scholarship (Rockquemore & Brunsma 2002). I will use Rockquemore et al.’s (2009)
three categories of racial identity to understand the nuance of Multiracial identity development as
a means to conceptualize internal and external perceptions of an individual’s racial identity
within specific time periods and their contexts.
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 18

In this thesis, I argue that Wijeyesinghe’s (2012) Intersectional Model of Multiracial
Identity (IMMI) is best suited to locate the factors and the saliency of each factor contributing to
the racial identity development of Multiracial college students. Wijeyesinghe (2012) notes,

As we look to the future, it is important to acknowledge that we are just beginning to
grapple with how such an analytic framework may be applied to the day to day life in the
classroom and used to dismantle inequality and promote social justice within that
classroom, higher education, and larger society.

As such, I also argue that the IMMI (2012) model can be expanded upon as far as identity
development factors and saliency of factors to more closely describe the effect of the polarized
sociopolitical moment of the post-2016 Presidential election on Multiracial college students.

Wijeyesinghe’s (2012) Intersectional Model of Multiracial Identity Development. In
the year 2000, the year that interracial unions became legal in the constitutions of all 50 states,
the U.S. Census provided respondents the option to select more than one race via the option
“select all that apply” (Renn, 2008). In the Census previous to this, individuals were made to
choose from just one of five racial categories (American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black
or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and white) (Jones & Smith,
2001). This stratification of racial identity options allowed for further insight into Multiraciality
and the creation of Wijeyesinghe’s (2001) Factor Model of Multiracial Identity Development.
Wijeyesinghe’s (2001) model includes eight factors: racial ancestry, cultural attachment, early
experience and socialization, political awareness and orientation, spirituality, social and
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 19

historical context, physical appearance, and other social identities. This model differs from
previously mentioned models by positioning the factors which help shape Multiracial identity as
a galaxy model (See Appendix B, Figure 2) (Wijeyesinghe, 2001). The galaxy models allow the
factors to be conceptualized as planets orbiting around the individual, with varying distances and
saliencies (Wijeyesinghe, 2001). Wijeyesinghe’s (2001) model also differs from other models by
including the factor “other social identities” allowing for intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989) to
frame the unique experiences of Multiracial individuals with multiple marginalities
(Wijeyesinghe, 2001). For the galaxy model to be best understood, the laws of this galaxy must
be as such: the individual remains at the center of the galaxy and the gravitational field, each
planet is not in a fixed orbit, and as the individual experiences different situations the
gravitational pull of that situation may affect the location of the planets in relation to the galaxy’s
center.
Wijeyesinghe updated her 2001 model in 2012, following an increase in the amount of
and representation of Multiracial identifying people in the U.S., with the Wijeyesinghe’s
Intersectional Model of Multiracial Identity Development (2012) to identify factors contributing
to Multiracial identity development of study participants. The IMMI includes all eight of the
factors included in the 2001 model with the addition of: the region of the country where an
individual lives (geographic region) and different situations or environments that an individual
encounters (situational differences). The situational differences faced by Multiracial individuals,
as described by Wijeyesinghe (2012) is not a factor in the same way as the aforementioned
factors, but instead a shift in racial identity patterns that foregrounds certain identity patterns and
backgrounds others. The IMMI is best suited for this study because it allows for individuals to 1)
exist in more than one stage within and across temporal dimensions, 2) recognize the role of race
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 20

and racism, and 3) allows for other social identities (e.g., gender, sexuality, class) to play a role
(Wijeyesinghe, 2001, 2012).
Additionally, the IMMI is one of the most recently created racial identity development
models, which is important due to this study’s focus on the current sociopolitical moment which
requires recently created and studied identity models. The IMMI includes the following factors
used to develop the racial identity of Multiracial individuals: racial ancestry, cultural attachment,
early experience and socialization, political awareness and orientation, spirituality, social and
historical context, physical appearance, geographic location, situational differences, and other
social identities (Wijeyesinghe, 2012).
Though these factors certainly contribute to Multiracial identity development, I argue that
they are not quite specific, exhaustive, or relevant enough to the unique sociopolitical
atmosphere of the current era in which a clearly defined sociopolitical identity is a cornerstone of
social engagement on college campuses which tend to be sharply polarized and comprised of
largely monoracial groups. In the discussion section of this thesis, I will describe new directions
for the Wijeyesinghe Intersectional Model of Multiracial Identity Development (2012): which
factors are not specific enough to the nuance of today's Multiracial college students, and which
factors have yet to be fully considered.
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 21

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN, METHODOLOGY, AND METHODS

The following chapter contains the research methods that I employed to explore the lived
experiences of selected Multiracial college students and how they develop their racial identity
within the unique contexts of college and a polarized sociopolitical environment hinged upon
identity. First, I examine the importance of qualitative modes of inquiry and the rationale for its
utilization. Second, I discuss the methodological approach of narrative inquiry and why it is
particularly suited for this study. Next, the selection of participants and sites are discussed, along
with a description of the procedures for data collection and analysis. Finally, the chapter
concludes with a set of strategies that were utilized to ensure the trustworthiness of this study, as
well as the positionality or role of the researcher.

Qualitative Research and Narrative Inquiry Approaches
Qualitative research is particularly useful for generating a nuanced and complex
understanding of Multiracial students’ experiences in today’s collegiate environment because it
allows for the exploration of lived experiences, the social meaning attributed to those
experiences, and how an individual makes sense of their place in the social world (Creswell,
2013). Creswell (2013) states that qualitative research questions explore a phenomenon through
questions that ask what or how. The primary research questions in this study engage how
Multiracial students are influenced to develop their racial identities within the contexts of a
university campus comprised of predominantly monoracial groups during an era of heightened
sociopolitical polarization following the 2016 Presidential election. As Creswell (2013) suggests,
qualitative inquiry is appropriate in research that seeks to explore such a complex phenomenon.
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 22

This study specifically utilizes narrative inquiry methods to collect and analyze data.
Rooted in the social sciences and humanities, this method examines human experiences and
behaviors of a small number of participants to generate complex and nuanced narratives
(Creswell, 2013). Dewey (1938), in his principle of experiential continuum, states that “the
quality of one’s experience has two related and important elements: first, the initial experience,
whether positive or negative; and second, the influence of this initial experience on subsequent
experiences” (p.25). This is specifically relevant to social and racial identity development and
exploration of Multiracial people in monoracial groups because it recognizes that past
experiences affect present development. (Clandinin and Connelly, 2000).
Clandinin (2013) discusses four key terms central to the narrative inquiry methodological
approach: living, telling, retelling, and reliving. Participants live out and tell their lived
experiences to the narrative inquirer, and they collaborate to make meaning of them (Clandinin,
2013). The narratives that emerge from this process of meaning-making are constructed
chronologically and contextually, with a focus on turning points and realizations, similar to the
encounter phase of Cross’ (1971) Nigrescence, Poston’s (1990) enmeshment/denial phase, or
Kim’s white identification and sociopolitical awakening stages (Clandinin, 2013). Considering
the goal of the narrative inquiry process is to gather detailed accounts of nuanced human
experience, the interview process is similar to a conversation in which both parties contribute to
negotiate the meaning of narratives offered by the participant (Reissman, 2008).

Data Sources and Procedures

Site Selection
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 23

This study will take place at Golden Coast College (GCC), a large, private, highly
selective, and predominately white research institution. In institutional research data, GCC does
not account for Multiracial students in their publicly reported student demographics, neither do
they account for the races of international students who make up 13.9% of undergraduate
students and 10.6% of graduate students (see Figure 1.)
GCC was primarily chosen due to study feasibility resulting from my access to the
institution as a researcher. Additionally, GCC was chosen due to the documented presence of
student resource/cultural centers and student organizations specifically related to racially
minoritized students on campus. GCC has three racially focused cultural centers within their
Division of Student Affairs: one for Black students, one for Asian American and Pacific Islander
students, and one for Latinx students. According to the information provided on the cultural
centers’ websites, none of the cultural centers at GCC have an explicit focus or sub-focus on
Multiraciality. The presence of a variety of monoracial cultural centers on GCC’s campus may
provide additional lenses into how Multiracial students behave in monoracial social groups and
how cultural centers can support the identity development of Multiracial students.

Participant Selection
Aligning with the purpose and practice of narrative inquiry, to make sense of the lived
experience of a small number of participants four students were selected as research participants
(Creswell, 2013). Criterion sampling was used to ensure that participants can contribute to the
exploration of the research questions, and provide information-rich and relevant responses
(Patton, 2015). The criterion used in this study are as follows: the participant must be a college
student and must be Multiracial with one white parent or grandparent and one non-white parent
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 24

or grandparent. I chose to include both undergraduate and graduate students due to access and
availability of participants who were willing and able to participate and fit the participant
criteria.
The criteria of using white/Non-white Multiracial students is due to my desire to question
whether one’s proximity to whiteness, but not necessarily full ownership of whiteness at all
times, affects the ways they negotiate their racial identities and how they are racialized by others.
My study also relies on the assumption that Multiracial people feel external pressure to more
clearly define a monoracial identity and perform in ways that align with their chosen or
delegated racial identity.

Data Collection Procedures
Data was collected using semi-structured interviews, which allow for an emergent design,
or an active view (Creswell, 2013; Holstein & Gubrium, 1995). A semi-structured interview
process enabled me, as the researcher, to be responsive to how the data received during the
process could shape the procession of the interview and construct robust meaning and data
(Creswell, 2013). Participants were notified of the purpose of this study, that their participation is
voluntary, and that they could stop the interview at any time (Creswell, 2013). Each 45-minute
interview included a series of predetermined questions as well as some follow up questions used
to generate a deeper understanding of the participant’s responses.

Data Analysis Procedures
Following each interview, I listened to each recording three times and manually
transcribed each interview. I then read each transcript three times while noting my thoughts and
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 25

observations about each of the participants’ responses. Through listening to, transcribing, and
reading the transcriptions of each interview I was able to gain more holistic understandings, hone
in on tonal shifts, and begin data analysis procedures. By bracketing key points and recurring
themes I pieced together storylines and contributing factors of identity development for each
participant, while also noticing the similarities between their narratives. Narrative configuration
is described by Polkinghorne (1995) as the process of gathering individual moments into a
coherent storyline. By enacting the process of narrative configuration, I was able to make sense
of the transcriptions and better understand the context(s) behind each response.
This study utilizes narrative analysis as a means to analyze the data gleaned from
interviews. Narrative analysis broadly refers to “the family of methods for interpreting texts that
have in common a storied form” (Reissman, 2008, p. 11). There are various analysis orientations
available within the scope of narrative analysis. However, to analyze for interaction, continuity,
and space, Clandinin and Connelly’s (2000) three-dimensional space approach was utilized. This
approach allows for the creation of “a metaphorical three-dimensional narrative inquiry space,
with temporality along one dimension, the personal and social along a second dimension, and
place along a third” (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000, p. 50). This multidimensional approach allows
for the analysis of personal conditions such as feelings, reactions, and dispositions, social
conditions like familial and cultural expectations, exploration of past and present behavior and
development, and how time and place interconnect to shape experiences (Clandinin & Connelly,
2000).
Once responses were bracketed and relegated to certain dimensions, axial coding was
utilized to generate key-words and phrases. Axial coding was used to break down central themes
and relate themes to one another (Strauss & Corbin, 1990, 1998). An axial coding paradigm was
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 26

used to include categories related to (1) the phenomenon under study, (2) the conditions related
to that phenomenon (3) the mechanisms directed at managing or handling the phenomenon and
(4) the consequences related to the phenomenon and the chosen mechanisms. The phenomenon
under study was the racial identity development of Multiracial students. The conditions related to
this phenomenon were person, time, place, and culture or sociopolitical moment. The
mechanisms directed at managing this phenomenon were identity development and negotiation
for Multiracial college students. Lastly, the consequences of these mechanisms were located in
shifts in racial development factors and social behavior as well as shifts between the personal
saliency of Wijeyesinghe’s (2012) factors of Multiracial development as well as factors located
outside of Wijeyesinghe’s and those I elucidate upon within the original IMMI model. Factors
within Wijeyesinghe’s model that I have analyzed to not require elucidation for today’s contexts
and Multiracial students are racial ancestry, spirituality, physical appearance, and geographic
location. The one factor I believe to be so non-specific and outdated it warrants being
consolidated within another factor is cultural attachment. The factors that I have analyzed to
require greater specificity are early experiences and socialization to include speech, parental
modeling, relationships with multi/monoracial peers, and political awareness and orientation to
include broader personal experience with discrimination beyond race. Factors I use to analyze
data that are not described in Wijeyesinghe’s (2012) model are media exposure, affluence, and
education. Situational differences are not factors, but experiences that cause a shift in racial
identity patterns that foregrounds certain identity patterns and backgrounds others
(Wijeyesinghe, 2012). Using these factors and themes, personal narratives have been generated
to describe the lived experiences of the participants in relation to their Multiraciality in
predominately monoracial social groups, and whether they have noticed shifts in their racialized
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 27

experiences and identity since the 2016 Presidential election. Additionally, I chose pseudonyms
for each participant, which will be used in their narratives and the published version of this
study.

Quality Assurance and Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness is defined by Lincoln and Guba (1986) as the extent to which qualitative
research is authentic and credible. I will employ the validation strategy of member checking to
ensure the quality and trustworthiness of this study. Member checking will be completed during
the interview using follow up questions and clarifying questions to ensure that each participant
and I generate accurate and reflective meaning from their narratives. Participants are also co-
constructing and making meaning of their lived experiences, generating a more credible narrative
analysis (Creswell, 2013). Member checking will help to clarify tone, interpretation, and any
biases that may be held by the researcher (Creswell, 2013).

Limitations
While member checking methods will be employed to ensure the quality and
trustworthiness of the study, there remain some limitations. Foremost, utilizing criterion
sampling, though necessary for participant relevancy, excludes people who may be Multiracial
but are unaware or do not identify as such (Patton, 2015). Additionally, using a small number of
participants via narrative inquiry also excludes some students who may want to participate,
though this study is not meant to serve as a generalization of all Multiracial people. Data
collection and analysis may be impacted by my own researcher positionality and biases I may
hold, though this is mitigated by member checking (Creswell, 2013).
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 28

Role of the Researcher
Any human research poses challenges that may influence design and findings. These
challenges can be addressed by the disclosure of factors that have the potential to influence
research design and analysis (Creswell, 2013). This disclosure is specifically important in
qualitative research, especially in narrative inquiry which requires collaboration on meaning-
making between the researcher and participants (Patton, 2015). For this reason, it is crucial that I
critically examine my personal history with Multiracial identity to be aware of any influence on
the study. I am Multiracial, Black/white, and identify situationally between monoracial Black,
and Multiracial. I grew up the oldest of eight Multiracial children, with both parents present. The
town I grew up in was 60% Black and Latinx and 29% white, but was very self-segregated,
contributing to feelings of confusion and guilt when pressured to choose a fixed racial identity
(Poston, 1990). Factors contributing most strongly to my own racial identity development are
early experiences and socialization, political awareness and orientation, social and historical
context, physical appearance, and other social identities (Wijeyesinghe, 2001).
My positionality in this study will be useful to create meaning concerning the experiences
of my participants and create a foundation of trust and understanding, provided I do not bias or
change their own held meanings of their experiences. My positionality influences my hypothesis
that a white/non-white Multiracial student’s proximity to whiteness affects the racial identity
development of these students. I believe this is affected by a variety of factors but is inherently
driven by racism and white supremacy which I believe strives to preserve white purity and
exclude people who are not perceived to be purely white, racially. I also believe that racism and
white supremacy serve to pin non-white groups against one another to maintain a social
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 29

hierarchy which positions whiteness at the apex; this creates division between and amongst
races, which may lead Multiracial people to not exist fully within racial in-groups like their
monoracial peers may be able to.
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 30

CHAPTER 4: NARRATIVES

This chapter will first provide an overview of the theoretical framework used to
conceptualize the data gathered from each participant. Then, the narratives of each participant
will be presented using information gathered from each interview. Finally, each factor
contributing to the identity development of each participant, which exist outside of Wijesinghe’s
(2001) Multiracial factors, will be discussed.
This narrative inquiry study is comprised of four participants: Sarah, Anthony, Dante,
and Alexis. Each participant is a full-time student at Golden Coast College, Sarah and Dante are
both undergraduates; Alexis and Anthony are both Master’s students. Racially, Sarah is white
and Asian, Dante is white and Asian, Anthony is white and Black, and Alexis is white and Black.
During data collection via semi-structured interviews, I inquired about early experiences and
socialization, relationships with monoracial and Multiracial peers, parental relationships and
modeling, educational environments, feelings of belonging, experience with discrimination,
language, political awareness, formal education, and any shifts in racial identity since the 2016
Presidential election.
Using the responses to my questions and the co-constructed meaning generated during
the interviews, I have created galaxy models for each of the participants using a slightly
elucidated version of Wijeyesinghe’s (2012) Intersectional Model of Multiracial Identity (IMMI)
containing three factors not mentioned in Wijeyesinghe’s (2000) work but are apparent in the
narratives of the participants, as well as slightly altered versions of the original factors (See
Appendix B, Figure 2). The galaxy models allow the factors to be conceptualized as planets
orbiting around the individual, with varying distances and saliencies (Wijeyesinghe, 2001, 2012).
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 31

Factors within Wijeyesinghe’s model that I have analyzed to not require elucidation for today’s
contexts are racial ancestry, spirituality, physical appearance, geographic location, and
situational differences. The one factor I believe to be so non-specific and outdated it warrants
being consolidated within another factor is cultural attachment. This decision is explained in the
analysis section. The factors that I have analyzed to require greater specificity are early
experiences and socialization to include speech, parental modeling, relationships with
multi/monoracial peers, and the consolidation of the factor of cultural attachment, and political
awareness and orientation to include broader personal experience with discrimination beyond
race. Factors I use to analyze data that are not described in Wijeyesinghe’s (2012) model are
media exposure, affluence, and education. The reasoning behind these adjustments to
Wijeyesinghe’s (2012) IMMI is detailed in the analysis section of this thesis.

Sarah
Sarah is biracial Asian and white, and identifies as Multiracial. Sarah’s last name is of
Irish origin, she has white racially presenting skin, straight black hair, freckles, and is often
assumed to simply be white. Growing up in affluent parts of San Francisco and London, most of
her peers were white, with a few Asian friends as well. Sarah cites that her parents’ affluence
allowed her to grow up in a high-income area and attend a very well-funded school. While living
in London for two years and attending an international school, her exposure to people from
around the world, including Multiracial and multiethnic peers, allowed her to have deeper
exposure to other races and other Multiracial people. She does note, however, that her social
groups as a child and now are predominately white, with some Asian peers, and some
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 32

white/Asian multiracial peers. Sarah attributes this to attending schools with affluent student
bodies.
Sarah attends a highly selective, private, predominately white university. She is
incredibly active in the historically and predominately white fraternity and sorority ecosystem.
Even her sorority sisters are surprised when they meet her dark-skinned Asian mother. Sarah
grew up with both of her parents in the home, who are still married to one another. Sarah has one
younger brother who presents more phenotypically Asian than she does, and she notes that he is
racialized and treated differently than she is despite the fact that she and her brother are similar
in nearly every other way.

Woman of Color – Kind Of
Sarah offers that her mother is very proud of her heritage and is a strong advocate for
other women of color. During Sarah’s interview was the first time she referred to herself as a
woman of color, and even said “a woman of color – kind of” because she does not feel it is her
place to claim that identity. When I asked her about her “kind of” distinction, Sarah explained,

I think this is the first time I’ve ever called myself a woman of color. it’s something I
tend not to identify with because I feel like it’s not fully my place to take that. With racial
relations, especially in the context of politics now, the way you’re perceived can be
negative and you are disadvantaged by institutional racism, and I feel like because I don’t
always appear that way [as a person of color] and people think I’m white I haven’t felt
that disadvantage. So, when I claim being a woman of color I don’t feel like I can claim
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 33

that fully because I haven’t experienced the disadvantage that comes with that. I don’t
identify as fully white ever, its just 50/50.

Sarah feels most connected to other people who are Multiracial, whether they share her
specific racial mix or not. Because she and her younger brother look differently, she feels that he
is more accepted as Asian or Multiracial, and she struggles with identifying as Asian or as a person
of color; she attributes this solely to the phenotypically Asian features her brother has that she does
not. She mentions that her brother is treated more as a person of color because he has darker skin,
coarser hair, and a generally more Asian phenotypical presentation.
When Sarah meets new people, she doesn’t tend to bring up race. The only exception to
this is when she meets new Asian people. To facilitate connection to other Asian students at her
undergraduate institution, Sarah often offers that her mother is Asian. Sarah feels that Asian
people in the U.S. don’t allow her to claim her Asian raciality, often telling her she “isn’t really
Asian.” She attributes that to not looking phenotypically Asian, and not being able to speak
Hindi. Sarah cites not speaking Hindi as a contributing factor to her feelings of disconnection to
her Asianness, and wishes that her mother had taught her. Sarah also references other aspects of
Asian culture like religion, spirituality, and food, which her family did not incorporate into her
upbringing, further disconnecting her from their culture and identity. She does mention that her
younger brother does look more phenotypically Asian, is accepted as such more often, and feels
more connected to that part of himself.
Asian culturally-based student resources and organizations do not appeal to Sarah and
make her feel out of place. She continually sights her appearance as a determining factor
contributing to her inability to connect fully to her Asian raciality. When speaking about her
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 34

exposure to other Multiracial people, Sarah mentions that she had many Multiracial friends and
classmates, but had not met another person with one Indian or South Asian parent before coming
to college. Sarah felt that the Multiracial people she was able to meet growing up shared similar
experiences to hers. “I find that not just half-Asian and half-white, but a lot of Multiracial kids
that are half-white and half-‘other culture’ tend to have similar experiences growing up,” she
says. “Education tends to be valued very highly, and hard work. We tend to be more liberal.”
Sarah’s mother was born in India, but spent most of her life in Canada and has dual
citizenship in Canada and India. Because her mother grew up in Canada, she has a more
westernized experience than other Asian immigrants in the US. Sarah has visited her family in
India and has not noted a general disconnect from her family but does feel situationally
disconnected when they speak Hindi or talk about religion and other Asian cultural artifacts that
she is not familiar with. Because she does not phenotypically present as Asian, she is not
discriminated against or stereotyped in the same ways other Asian people are. When considering
attending events catered toward Asian students Sarah states “I feel out of place because I look
very white. I don’t think I would be unwilling to go but it’s not something I would actively seek
out.” Sarah does note that she is never made to feel like she doesn’t belong or that she isn’t Asian
enough when she is with her Asian family, or in India, though she does feel that way when she
interacts with Asian people on GCC’s campus.

Women’s Marching
Sarah feels more connected to her Asian background as she gets older, citing that the
2016 Presidential election allowed her to feel more passionate about the social advancement of
people of color and women. She recognizes racial and gender-based social hierarchies and has
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 35

become more interested in politics during the current Presidential administration. Sarah notes
that race and political affiliation have become much more salient social identities since the 2016
U.S. Presidential election. Sarah often cites the institutional racism engrained into U.S. laws that
would have made her parent’s marriage illegal, and the social implications that still exist about
interracial relationships. She is proud to be a physical representation of interracial love and
family. Based on her gender she has a personal stake in social issues, citing the Women’s
Marches, Me Too, and women’s empowerment, but does not feel she has a personal stake in
racial justice in the U.S. as she does not feel she has ever been racially disadvantaged. She is,
however, adamant about combating racism wherever it appears, regardless of if it affects her
personally. The only time she volunteers her racial identity is if she is asked or if she is speaking
to an Asian person, which allows her to connect to that person through a shared identity.
Sarah identifies as Multiracial and biracial, and will specify that she is white and Indian if
asked or if it comes up. Though Sarah is aware that Indian people are racially classified as Asian,
she also notes that experiences of Indian and Southeast Asian people can differ significantly
from the racialization of Chinese, Korean, and many other Asian groups. For this reason, Sarah
specifies that she is Indian, and does not often verbally identify as Asian. While in college, Sarah
quickly became interested in politics and interned with the U.S. Congress and with California
Senator Kalama Harris. Sarah mentions,

I was drawn to her. She is half-Black, half-Indian so I always kind of felt like “Yay”
because you don’t see a lot of Indian women in politics which is something I felt like I
had started to see more and more and something I was really excited about.

COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 36

Anthony
Anthony is from Watts, California. He graduated with his Associate’s degree from a
California community college, transferred to a highly competitive public four-year university,
and is currently studying in a prestigious and private law school in California. Growing up,
people told him he would never make it to college at all. Anthony identifies as Black because
“it’s easier” and he does not want to distance himself from his Blackness. His father is Black and
his mother is biracial white/Black and is very light-skinned. Anthony also mentions that he
identifies as Black because he does not like when other Black people over-explain what they
might be mixed with as a means to separate themselves from their Blackness. His racial identity
formation is highly impacted by his upbringing. His parents did not stay together, and his father
went to prison when Anthony was twelve and is still serving his sentence.
Anthony has 12 half-siblings and one full sibling, though he has the darkest complexion
of all of his siblings. His father remarried a light-skinned Mexican woman, who Anthony refers
to as a “white Mexican.” The Mexican norms introduced to his family through this union were
particularly impactful for Anthony as he perceived colorism within his family’s Mexican culture,
and how it negatively impacted him as a darker skinner family member. Anthony noticed that he
was treated differently than his lighter-skinned siblings and that they were treated more
favorably, stating,

I felt like there was more favoritism shown toward my brothers and sisters that are
lighter. People would comment on certain things within the family and outside as well. I
remember growing up and being at school and my mom or my uncle would come pick
me up and people would ask ‘Is this your family member?’ It was painful as a kid to have
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 37

to experience that because it made me feel like there was something different about my
family compared to other families.

Orange County Black
After Anthony’s parents separated his father remained in Watts, which is primarily Black
and low-income, and his mother moved to Orange County which is primarily white and affluent.
When Anthony was with his Mother’s side of the family, in a predominately white school and
neighborhood, he was aware that he was one of the few Black people but felt in some ways
connected to that whiteness because of his partially white family. Anthony shares, “I went to
school in Orange County and so the school I went to was predominantly white and I was like one
of three Black kids there. It was made known.”
When with his father’s side of the family, Anthony felt he fit in phenotypically but “felt
whiter” than the Black people around him because of where he was growing up and the ways
that area had made his childhood different than that of the people in Watts in terms of education
and affluence. Anthony explains,

It was really marked when I would go back to visit my dad’s side of the family in Watts. It
was obvious, they [peers] were like “You got this light-bright, high-yellow momma over
here, you’re living in Orange County.” So, it was like certain things marked us as not being
Black enough and I know that had an effect on me.

Anthony feels his mother and her family were often alienated from the Black community
and even his Black family. Anthony’s paternal grandmother is adamant about her dislike for
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 38

white people, and often unintentionally made him feel as if there were something wrong with
him or his mother.
Growing up, Anthony was taught by media, popular culture, and some personal
experiences that Blackness was negative. Watts was over-policed, his Black father was in jail,
and the media portrayed Black people negatively which was a harsh contrast to his mother’s
access to whiteness, affluence, and more positive representations. Anthony was taught by these
messages that Blackness was bad, and began to subscribe to this notion. Similarly, these
messages also taught Anthony what type of person he was supposed to be, who he was supposed
to be friends with, and who he was supposed to be attracted to, which added another layer to his
racial development. As a kid, most of Anthony’s friends were white, and these white friends
tended to see him as “an exception” as though he weren’t “really Black.” While in undergrad
Anthony took an African-American Studies course to connect more to his Blackness, allowing
him to feel more comfortable with his racial identity as a Black person, stating,

I started off as a geology major then switched to anthropology where I took an African-
American Studies course just because I wanted to know something about my experience
and I fell in love with it. It really helped me feel comfortable and strong in myself as a
Black person.

In undergrad, he became involved with Black student organizations and found it
liberating to be part of a Black community, which he hadn’t always felt a connection to. Anthony
did not engage with very many student organizations at his undergraduate institution that were
not related directly to his race or his studies as these predominately white spaces made him feel
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 39

alienated. Anthony sites that though the intentionally Black spaces were beneficial for his time as
an undergraduate, more diversity in predominately white spaces would have allowed him to
experience a more beneficial college experience by being able to see more people that looked
like him.

Comfortable in Blackness
In undergrad, and currently in grad school, most of Anthony’s friends are Black. He often
code-switches, as he has for most of his life, between speaking in ways socially ascribed to
whiteness and vernacular socially ascribed to Blackness. He does not do this with intention, it
comes naturally, though he is aware when he has done it. Anthony feels other people perceive
him as Black but he is often referred to as “light-skinned,” but still Black. Among his white
friends he sometimes receives messages like “You’re not like other Black people, you’re the
exception.” Anthony considers himself to be very racially open-minded; as a kid most of his
friends were white, as an adult most of his friends are Black, and he is married to a white man
with which they have adopted two Afro-Latino children which Anthony says look like him.
Presently, Anthony does not feel the societal pressures he used to feel to act or be a
certain way because of his race and feels free to do what feels right for him. He says he would
never hate or dislike white people as a group but does become frustrated with certain behaviors
perpetuated by or associated with white people and whiteness. When considering race in the U.S.
on a macro-scale Anthony states, “Race is much more on the surface now, people are much more
comfortable talking about it which is a good thing. I feel like we’re past the point of people
thinking we’re past race as an issue.”
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 40

Anthony believes that in this current sociopolitical era, we have disproved myths of post-
racialism that were more common during the Obama Presidential administration, and racism is
more prevalent now, which has affected the solidarity of Black communities.

Dante
Dante identifies as Multiracial if asked, and will specify that he is white and Asian. He
always states both races, never only one. He identifies his mother as Italian, although she is a
third-generation American, and part Czech. His father is a first-generation Pilipino immigrant.
Dante has spent nearly all of his life in an upper-middle to upper-class lifestyle, with some
periods of more luxury depending on his parents’ business successes. Dante grew up in an
affluent area of Los Angeles and attended high school at an all-boys, private, Jesuit, boarding
school, college prep academy. He states that his high school was predominately white, and
estimated the racial diversity to include 15-20% Asian and 10% Black and Latinx combined. He
also mentioned that most of the Black students were there as athletes and most of the Black and
Latinx students received financial assistance to be able to attend this school. Dante states that
though there were a significant amount of Asian people at his high school, social circles were
based on where you lived and he “fit in with the Pasadena crowd” which was white and affluent.
When speaking about where he fit into social groups he states,

My friend group and my social circles in high school were very white. Very white. My
high school was regional, so it attracts people from the entire LA area. The social circles
were kind of based off where you lived. I grew up in an area where there weren’t a lot of
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 41

kids from that area that went to my high school so I kind of fit in with the Pasadena
crowd and that friend group and that area was extremely affluent and very white.

Assimilation to Whiteness
Dante mentions that his closest tie to Asian culture is his dad, stating,

Visiting the Philippines was a very enlightening experience for me. I would like to learn
more from my dad about it but I do feel primarily connected through my dad to my Asian
culture and I don’t think my dad is very invested in it either. My dad, I think, wants to
assimilate as American and he doesn’t feel a strong connection to the Pilipino culture on
a social level. In certain degrees he does, in terms of values like family and religion my
dad is very much aligned with his Pilipino side but in terms of business practices he
rejects them and since I have the connection through him I have the same family values
and I also don’t feel the social connection.

Currently, Dante is a sophomore at a highly selective, private, predominately white
institution. Dante does not engage at all with the Asian culturally based groups and has no
interest in learning more about Asian culture or identity. He states that he did not want to join the
co-ed business school fraternities, which are not culturally or racially designated because they
tend to have predominately Asian membership. Dante believes that Asian people often rely so
heavily on Asian culture or interests to connect to one another that he would not feel connected
to Asian people in the same way because he does not share those cultural interests. For example,
Dante articulated this in the following way:
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 42

I don’t feel like I fit in with them. I don’t fit in with them at all, I would say. It’s funny
because I was considering joining the professional Greek organizations on campus. When
I was first coming here I was looking at the business fraternities and a big reason why I
ultimately chose not to was because I felt like it was completely an Asian community and
that the Asian identity was a huge part of those groups and I didn’t feel like I fit in with
that. The fact that their Asian identity is so central to their culture and the way that they
interact with each other, the things they talk about, the hobbies and activities that they do,
I don’t connect with that. That hasn’t been my experience growing up, that hasn't been
my childhood and that’s just not where I connect culturally.

Dante’s father is a first-generation Pilipino immigrant and, according to Dante, tries to
assimilate to white American standards. His father can speak Tagalog but only does so with his
parents and family from the Philippines and never to Dante or in the house.
Dante does, however, demonstrate a strong desire to engage with his white identity. He
mentions that Italians have amazing food, fashion, and culture that is expressive; whereas Asian
culture is passive. Dante is taking an Italian language course to be able to speak Italian more
fluently and plans to spend time living in Milan. He states that he is much more interested in
engaging with his white side and wondered briefly if that may be attributed to racial hierarchies
that place Asian cultures lower than white cultures. When speaking about his social tendencies
he states, “When it comes to social activities I would say I identify more with the white side.” He
also mentions that he identifies academically as Asian, and notes that this may have to do with
the stereotypes associated with Asian students and academic success. When reflecting on why he
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 43

may be more interested in his whiteness than his Asianness, in relation to racial stereotypes,
Dante states, “There definitely could be an underlying race component to it but I would try to
say, or I would like to think that there is not.”
Dante’s Multiraciality makes him feel unique. He states that he does not feel
disadvantaged by racism in the ways other racial minorities may, saying,

It’s not something that I think about every day the way that say somebody who is African
American, or Latino, or based on sexual orientation, or Muslim would have it kind of
weighing on them every single day. It's not like that at all.

Dante does note that his younger sister presents more phenotypically Asian than he does,
and is accepted more as Asian by others. Dante also notes that he believes Asian people do
identify him as part Asian. He is very white-passing but is sometimes asked about his racial
background. When asked, he enjoys having the inquiring person guess. However, Dante does
state that he becomes angry if they guess that he is Hispanic or Latino, saying,

I’ll ask them what they think and they’ll say ‘I don’t know, um, white and something?’
and then I will tell them I’m Italian and Pilipino. They’ll say ‘Oh that’s so cool!’ so it’s
not usually a negative experience to me. One thing that does piss me off sometimes is
when people think that I’m Hispanic because I think that it’s a little bit ignorant and I feel
so disconnected from that and that can annoy me.

COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 44

Dante does recognize and bring up the social hierarchy that places Latinx identity lower
than white and Asian identity and rejects that people may assume he is Hispanic or Latino based
on his appearance or his last name. When asked how he feels about the historical colonization of
the Philippines and the possibility that there may be some Spanish ancestry members in his
lineage, especially considering his last name is of Spanish origin, he rejects this completely and
would never identify as being racially or ethnically Spanish, even distantly, stating “If you were
to ask any Pilipino, none of them would say they were Hispanic.”

Performing Race and Class
Similar to the cultural assimilation described earlier, Dante often finds himself
consciously performing race and class. Dante says he socially subscribes to white norms but
demonstrates more Asian characteristics in the classroom as far as aptitude and work ethic in his
classes. Social class and perceived affluence have had a large effect on Dante’s social
performance. Dante explains,

When I’m with a predominantly white community I just feel like I--, it’s difficult to
explain, I become more white in the way that I talk about what I’m doing, who I’m going
out with, what kind of things I like to do for fun, my upbringing. I feel like I will white-
wash a little bit on a socioeconomic level. I feel like I try harder when I’m around white
people.

Dante mentions that his family has fluctuated in income over the years, sometimes having
no savings and maxed out credit lines. However, they outwardly maintained the lifestyle they
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 45

had grown accustomed to: living in the home Dante calls a mansion, attending private prep
schools, wearing high-end clothes, and going on luxury vacations. Dante refers to this lifestyle as
that of an unstable 1%er after his father lost his job, stating,

From my seventh or eighth grade through my sophomore year of high school we were
still going to private school, we were still living in this mansion, but we were really low-
income. Savings, gone. Credit, gone. Assets, gone. Now, we are very high income which
enables us to participate in the lifestyle that the top bracket of our country participates in,
we just have no underlying stability behind it. No wealth. No savings. Literally no
savings, we go through everything every month.

Even now, Dante finds himself performing a somewhat dishonest persona of affluence.
He also finds himself performing whiteness more when communicating with white peers via the
way he speaks and what he chooses to speak about. Dante mentions that his father, a first-
generation Pilipino immigrant, tries hard to assimilate to white American culture. Dante has
himself exhibited similar behaviors so often and for long that it comes naturally and no longer
requires active decision, though he does sometimes recognize when he is doing it. When asked if
he was tired of constantly performing affluence and whiteness by altering his behavior, Dante
responds,

No because I feel like it is me. I feel like it is me. It doesn’t feel forced, it's just something
that I observe within myself, if that makes sense. Sometimes I am aware that I am doing
it but I’ve been doing it for so long that I am not actively making the decision anymore.
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 46

We discussed whether he used to actively make that decision to act in ways that would
signal affluence and whiteness and has done it for so long that it has become a habit. To this, he
responded, “Maybe, yeah, that would be a big personal psychoanalysis.” While discussing
Dante’s performative whiteness and affluence, we also discussed his perceptions of Asian racial
performance and how he tends to reject these behaviors while acknowledging that the behaviors
he associates with Asian people project stereotypical beliefs. “I will freely say I believe the
Pilipino culture is very passive and I think that it doesn't encourage a lot of independent thought,
it doesn't encourage entrepreneurship,” he continued, “I am very comfortable saying those
things, and that is stereotypical, but that’s what my experience is.”

Advantages
Dante offers that he does not consider race when making new friends but does tend to
insert himself into spaces that are completely or predominately white. He has no close Asian
friends and is not interested in engaging with communities that may more closely reflect his
Asianness or Multiraciality. When asked whether he considers race when making new friends,
Dante responds, “Not overtly. I guess in the social circles I choose to be in I guess it could be the
race element that underlies that choice.” Additionally, he lists a preference for dating white
women over women of other races, stating “I have preferences but I wouldn’t discriminate based
on race.” He does, however, note that the current U.S. Presidential Administration has created a
hostile environment for Asian people and immigrants. He attributes this to an American fear of
national superpowers overseas and competition for success between Asian and white people in
the US, stating,

COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 47

It has become a lot more hostile for Asian people for sure. More hostile for recent
immigrants too. We place the blame of the shortcomings of the American economy on
Asian superpowers. It brings back this anti-foreigner, us versus them type of rhetoric that
we saw during World War II.

Dante, however, does not see himself as being affected by these attitudes, as he does not
see himself as “disadvantaged like other minorities are.” He does not actively speak out against
racism or anti-immigrant sentiment if he encounters it because he has never been personally
offended by it, and any racism directed at himself or Asians generally isn’t perceived by him as
threatening or insulting.

Alexis
When asked “What are you?” as she is often, Alexis responds that she is bi-racial. If she
is asked to specify she will say she is Black and white, however, she feels she looks Black and
does not like when people who are Multiracial explain everything they are mixed with just to
seem different. Alexis’ mother is white, and her father is Black, from Barbados. Her father does
not claim or connect with Blackness and spoke about Blackness and other Black people
negatively due to a childhood of abuse from his Black family members. However, Alexis was
raised by her mother and did not engage with her father often, generating a resentment towards
her father which evolved into a resentment of Black men generally. Alexis is from an affluent
upper-middle-class family and attended private school where she was often the only Black
person in class, which often made her feel out of place and like she didn’t belong.

COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 48

Pocahontas Hair
Alexis was raised in a predominately white, middle to upper-middle-class area, which she
cites as being confusing for her. Alexis mentions that she subscribed to white norms as a child
and explains that she was not immune to dominant white American cultural expectations to favor
whiteness via behavior, beauty, and speech, explaining,

Growing up with all white people made me perpetuate a lot of anti-Black ideas that I
don’t like to see in other people now. Within institutionalized racism, we are conditioned
to think and feel certain ways that are often anti-Black. We are taught that to be
acceptable we have to be white or as close to white as possible.

As a young girl, Alexis told her mother she wanted “Pocahontas hair:” hair that was long
and straight. When her mother challenged this by encouraging her to love her curly hair, she said
her mother could never understand because she was white and she had straight hair. Hair is a
very salient identity point for Alexis. She often feels that people perceive her race differently
depending on the style of her hair: when it is left curly she is perceived as Black or biracial,
when it is in braids she is perceived as Black, and when it is straight she is perceived as biracial
or Latina.
Growing up, Alexis feels she was not accepted, and perhaps resented, by what Black
peers she did have, potentially due to her speech and behavior which they called “talking or
acting white,” her “good hair,” or her family’s affluence. Because of this, and a variety of other
social factors, most of her friends were white. As a teen, she began to feel more comfortable
when she entered private school due to the high number of international students which made her
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 49

feel like less of an “other.” She consistently felt valued in high school primarily because she was
a talented athlete and was reinforced by her mother that “they don’t care about the color of your
skin, they only care about the color of your money.” At this school, Alexis was able to connect
more with other Black female students in ways she did not at her nearly exclusively white public
middle school.
While in undergrad, at a predominately white university in Pennsylvania, Alexis was
faced with rejection from her Black peers. She ran Division 1 track and field on a predominately
Black team but was treated unkindly by and alienated from her Black women teammates. She
knew that her undergraduate institution had a Black student organization but track and school
were so time-consuming that she did not engage with the Black community or student
organizations. She continued to subscribe to white cultural norms, manipulated her curly hair to
be straight, and had a predominately white group of friends. Race wasn’t something she paid
much attention to in undergrad, as her racial identity was not yet salient to her, and she did not
feel it impacted her as negatively as it did some of her other Black peers, stating, “Of course I
know I’m Black so that is always salient but I hadn’t faced racial issues that affected me or my
family so I didn’t take as much responsibility as I do now.”

Responsibility
Since coming to California for her Master’s degree in 2017, Alexis has taken more
responsibility to combat racism, regardless of whether or not it affects her personally. She is
currently a member of the Black Alumni Association and consistently attends events and
programming intended as Black spaces. During her first semester as a Master’s student in Higher
Education Administration, Alexis took a class focused on race in education, which allowed her to
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 50

connect more with her own experiences as a Black student in educational environments. Through
class discussions she was able to find solidarity around the social issues that plague American
educational systems, inspiring and educating her to be able to confront these issues.
Since entering this sociopolitical moment, and finding solidarity in her Blackness, Alexis
has unlearned the white-centric norms she once held and now loves her Blackness and the
Blackness of others. This shift in her relationship to Blackness has also affected her love life. She
now is only interested in dating Black men, stating “A non-Black person could never fully
understand me and I don’t want to be questioned.” Alexis finds that people who do not know her
well sometimes treat her differently when they learn her mother is white; white people seem
more comfortable with her, and Black people will occasionally become hesitant around her.
Alexis has not experienced explicit racist comments toward her but does notice frequent
microaggressions. When thinking about more overt racist remarks, Alexis does mention one
incident, stating “Once, at work, one of my coworkers said she didn’t believe Black people
should be allowed to buy houses in white neighborhoods.”
She notices that white people, when they know she is biracial, will seem to test the limits
on what she will allow them to say around her in terms of racial jokes, stereotypes, or
microaggressions. In the past, she would not confront these aggressions, but when they stung her
emotionally she would “take them home” with her. Now, she is “not afraid to be that angry
Black woman” and challenges microaggressions whenever she recognizes them, which brings
her peace.

Solidarity
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 51

During the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, Alexis cut ties with many of her family
members because they supported the election of Donald Trump, stating, “I cut off a lot of my
white family because they voted for Trump. They told me they loved me and my brothers but I
don’t feel like they care about people who look like me that aren’t related to them.”
Alexis notes that race and political affiliation have become more common topics of
conversation, and inform the way people engage with each other. Alexis asks people where they
stand on sociopolitical topics as a means to get to know people much more quickly than in
previous sociopolitical moments. Since the beginning of this U.S. Presidential administration,
she has felt more racial saliency than she has in the past and finds solidarity in the anger and
shared experience she feels as part of the Black community, stating,

I am more angry than I used to be. This administration is undoing the history people
worked so hard for. The administration justifies racism, and division. It’s been divisive
between races but I feel like it has brought Black people closer together. I think people’s
political affiliation has a lot to do with their morality.

She also notes the spike in hate crimes and racial narratives occurring since the
Presidential election, stating “it has never been good, but it is worse than ever.”
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 52

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION, IMPLICATIONS, AND CONCLUSION

In this chapter, I first discuss my findings in relation to and across the narratives offered
by my participants. Specifically, I engage several emerging themes regarding socioeconomic
status, household and family structure (i.e., parental modeling and sibling relations), educational
experiences, peer relations, media exposure, cultural attachment, experiences with
discrimination, and Multiraciality in today’s sociopolitical context. Then, I discuss implications
for future research and practice on Multiracial identity in college. In particular, I broadly
advocate for colleges and universities to increase their support of racial identity development
among Multiracial students.
This study examines how multiracial college students navigate the process of racial
identity development and racial self-identification within the contexts of college and university
campuses during a sociopolitical moment of polarization following the 2016 Presidential
election. The criteria of using white/Non-white Multiracial students specifically is due to my
desire to question whether one’s proximity to whiteness, but not necessarily full ownership of
whiteness at all times, influences the ways Multiracial people develop and negotiate their racial
identities. Given the polarized sociopolitical moment following the 2016 Presidential election,
where race and other social identities are reoccurring foci of policy decisions and overall climate,
my study also relies on the assumption that Multiracial people feel external pressure to more
clearly define a monoracial group and perform in ways that align with their chosen or delegated
racial identities.

Discussion of Findings
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 53

In this thesis, I argue that Wijeyesinghe’s (2012) Intersectional Model of Multiracial
Identity (IMMI) is best suited to locate the factors and the saliency of each factor contributing to
the racial identity development of Multiracial college students. However, I suggest that the
IMMI (2012) model be expanded upon as far as identity development factors and saliency of
factors to more closely describe the effect of the polarized sociopolitical moment of the post-
2016 Presidential election on Multiracial college students. This reconfiguration of the IMMI
(2012) will be particularly useful for generating a nuanced and complex understanding of
Multiracial students’ experiences in today’s collegiate environment because it allows for the
exploration of lived experiences, the social meaning attributed to those experiences, and how an
individual makes sense of their place in the social world (Creswell, 2014).
Though Wijeyesinghe’s original 2011 factors certainly contribute to Multiracial identity
development, I argue that they are not quite specific or exhaustive enough to the unique
sociopolitical atmosphere of the current era in which a clearly defined sociopolitical identity is a
cornerstone of social engagement on college campuses which tend to be sharply polarized and
comprised of largely monoracial groups. I do, however, believe that the original IMMI (2012) is
the most relevant and exhaustive model that currently exists. In the analysis section of this thesis,
I will describe new directions for the Wijeyesinghe Intersectional Model of Multiracial Identity
Development (2012): which factors are not specific enough to the nuance of today's Multiracial
college students, and which factors have yet to be fully considered.
Factors within Wijeyesinghe’s model that I have analyzed to not require elucidation for
today’s contexts and Multiracial students are racial ancestry, spirituality, physical appearance,
situational differences, and geographic location. The one factor I believe to be so non-specific
and outdated it warrants being consolidated within another factor is cultural attachment. The
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 54

factors that I have analyzed to require greater specificity are early experiences and socialization
to include speech, parental modeling, relationships with multi/monoracial peers, and political
awareness and orientation to include broader personal experience with discrimination beyond
race. Factors I use to analyze data that are not described in Wijeyesinghe’s (2012) model are
media exposure, affluence, and education. These factors ultimately work to influence how a
Multiracial identity is developed by considering an array of social phenomenoa experienced by
today’s Multiracial college students.

Physical Appearance
Physical or phenotypical appearance plays a strong role in how Multiracial people
develop and perform their social identities (Wijeyesinghe, 2001, 2012). Though often socially
misconstrued to be reliant principally on skin tone, the physical representations of race and
Multiraciality exist in skin color, skin tone, hair color, hair texture, hair length, eye color, eye
shape, size and shape of facial features like noses, lips, and cheekbones, height, musculature, and
body structure (Wijeyesinghe, 2001, 2012). These traits are often used by individuals and society
to make assumptions about people’s racial identity and place them within certain social
categories (Wijeyesinghe, 2001, 2012). The emphasis on physical appearance and fitting into a
single racial category is not limited to Black Multiracials; a recent study examines whether
monoracial black identifying adolescents who do not ‘look black’ confront greater obstacles in
feeling integrated at school and academic engagement (Oyserman, Brickman, Bybee, & Celious,
2006). This phenomenon may lead Multiracial or non-monoracially presenting students to
engage in identity fragmentation as a means to subscribe more closely to Black phenotypical
traits by altering the texture of their hair, tanning or wearing darker makeup, changing their
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 55

hairstyle, or altering their facial structure or body shape (Oyserman, Brickman, Bybee, &
Celious, 2006). The factor of physical appearance is seen clearly in each participant of this study
and is detailed in nearly every other factor section.

Racial Ancestry
Racial ancestry is a complex factor that may look different for individuals across the
Multiracial spectrum. As racial classification and racism in the United States is older than the
nation itself, classifying Multiracial people based on which races are included in their ancestry is
difficult, socially constructed, constantly evolving, and nuanced. To reiterate some means of
classifying race: The ontology of Multiraciality has shifted over time, as there are many ways
that Multiraciality has been defined historically. Hypodescedence refers to the assignment of
children of an interracial union to the group with the lower perceived social status (Kottak,
2009). For example, in American culture, white people are historically the dominant social
group, thus people of Multiracial Black/white ancestry would be categorized as Black using this
concept. Racial self-identity can also be affected by the generational progression of an
individual’s Multiraciality, or the place in one’s family tree where the most recent interracial
union appears, also known as the General Locus of Multiraciality (Alba, Prewitt, Morning, &
Saperstein, 2018). For example, in the generational histories of many Black families, there have
been white or Native American unions contributing to the family tree, but whether or not an
individual in this family may identify as Multiracial may depend on how many generations have
passed since the interracial union took place.
As America’s history with race often assumes less social distance between whites and
Asians than it does between Blacks and whites, Multiracial people who are Asian and white tend
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 56

to be accepted within or proximal to whiteness while a more significant distance remains
between Black/white Multiracials (Xie and Goyette 1997). Research has also shown that
Multiracials have the ability to switch between or identify with their multiple racial identities at a
given moment (Binning, Unzueta, Huo, & Molina, 2009). For example, starting in childhood,
biracial Black/white children report easily identifying with more than one racial in-group (Xie
and Goyette 1997). In adult populations, research has shown that Black/white Multiracials, more
often than other Multiracial groups, report that they have changed their racial identification over
their lifetime to a more monoracial perspective (Hitlin, Brown, & Elder, 2006). Racial ancestry
as an identity factor is not called out by name by this study’s participants but it does undergird
many of the implicit messages about race described by participants, as further explained within
the other identity development factors.

Spirituality
Spirituality is defined broadly in the FMMI (2001) as the degree to which individuals
believe in, seek meaning from, or are guided by a sense of spirit or higher power. Spiritual
beliefs or practices can provide individuals with a source of perseverance through racism and
oppression, sustain them through the process of racial identity development, assist them in
deriving greater meaning from their racial ancestry or identity, and can create a sense of
connection between people that transcends racial labels and differences. (Wijeyesinghe, 2001).
Religion and spirituality were described as relevant to the racial identity of only one of
this study’s participants, Sarah. Sarah mentions that her maternal grandparents are Hindu and
their faith is strongly tied to many of their cultural practices, leaving Sarah to feel that she might
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 57

be more connected to their culture if she practiced or was more familiar with the religion.
However, Sarah’s mother is Atheist and did not impress religion or spirituality onto her daughter.
A generational decline in the practice of formal religion may be leading to a lack of
saliency in spirituality as a racial identity formation factor (Changing Religious Landscape,
2015). Religious affiliation has decreased across all racial groups in recent years: 24% of whites
say they have no religion, compared and 18% of Blacks (Changing Religious Landscape, 2015).
Of course, certain religious groups are still closely tied to certain races: evangelical Protestants,
mainline Protestants, Mormons, and Catholics are each comprised of up to an 89% white
membership, historically Black Protestant traditions and Baptist faiths consist of about a 98%
Black membership, and Islamic faith membership is more difficult to quantify racially due to
South Asians being classified as Asian but people from the Middle East region being classified
as white (Changing Religious Landscape, 2015). The American Christian population, though
shrinking, is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse as more white people become
religiously unaffiliated and more people of color shift to Christianity (Changing Religious
Landscape, 2015).
Research suggests that Millennials, people born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s,
and GenZers, people born after 1996 to now, have the lowest participation in formal religion,
particularly as they attain higher levels of education (Religion Among Millennials, 2010). It
would stand to reason, then, that religion and spirituality would play less of a role in the social
and racial identity formation of college students, as is evidenced through the lack of spiritual
influence reflected in the population of this study. However, within this study, there is a
correlation between Christian faith families and non-Christian families. Sarah’s Asian family
members are Hindu, whereas all family members of each other participant are Christian or not
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 58

religious at all. This suggests that religion may be more significant to identity formation and
group identity for Multiracial college students with families who practice non-Christian religions
such as Hindus, Jews, and Muslims.

Geographic Location
The factor of geographic location was added to Wijeyesinghe’s (2012) model after it was
considered that Multiraciality is experienced differently in areas where racial lines are less
clearly defined such as Hawaii and Alaska. These states have larger populations of Multiracial
people, as compared to the continental U.S., as a result of migration, colonialization, culture,
and, of course, interracial unions (Wijeyesinghe, 2012). The cities with the highest rates of
interracial marriage are Honolulu at 42%, Las Vegas at 31%, and Santa Barbara at 30% (Balwit,
2017). Conversely, interracial marriage is lowest in Jackson, Mississippi and Asheville, North
Carolina with each city tied at 3% (Balwit, 2017). In discussing social identity development
Jones and McEwen (2000) indicated that where one grows up, forms values, currently resides,
and envisions oneself in the future are salient parts of social identity construction.
The extent to which Multiracial college students are comfortable expressing identity
situationally is often a function of how receptive the peer culture on their campus or in their
geographical location is to people moving among and between social groups (Renn, 2004; Renn,
2016). A campus with a strong culture of monoracialism will resist deviations from racial
expectations or situational racial identities via Multiracial microaggressions, social isolation, and
overt discrimination (Renn, 2016). Each participant mentioned location as a factor affecting their
racial identity closely tied to the location of their schooling, the affluence of that location or lack
thereof, and the presence of other Multiracial peers within their proximal location.
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 59

Sarah mentions having other interracial families present in her affluent and well-educated
area, providing reference points and reflections of her own identity and cultural acceptance of
interracial unions. Dante details how certain rigid monoracial and class-based social groups
common in his geographical location did not grant him direct proximity to other Asian or
Multiracial peers, limiting his experience to predominantly white peers. Anthony experienced
living in two different geographic locations which sharply contrasted each other. In one location,
predominantly white and middle to high-income, whiteness was perceived to have greater value
and there were not many people with similar racial identities to his; in the other, predominantly
Black and low-income, Blackness was closely tied to negative stereotypes and whiteness was
valued in some ways and harshly critiqued in others. Alexis’ geographic location was similar to
that of Dante’s in which she did not have access to many other Multiracial people and
experienced a rigid culture in which situational or fluid racial identity was not encouraged. The
Black Multiracial participants, Alexis and Anthony both mention feeling a rigid culture of
monoracialism and social divide in the geographic locations present in their undergraduate
experiences, whereas the Asian Multiracial participants, Dante and Sarah, speak on lingering
racial tensions but not in ways that affect them directly. Educational experiences as a factor of
Multiracial identity development will be detailed further in coming sections.

Early Experiences and Socialization
Early socialization and racialized experiences often provide Multiracial people with overt
as well as subtle messages about their racial identity and racial group membership
(Wijeyesinghe, 2012). These experiences can take a variety of forms such as parental lessons,
exposure to family, and spoken language as referenced in Wijeyesinghe’s (2012) model as well
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 60

as forms like parental modeling, relationships with multi/monoracial peers, and the consolidation
of Wijeyesinghe’s original factor of cultural attachment.
Parental lessons and parental modeling are distinct from each other as parental lessons
are taught to children explicitly, and parental modeling is taught implicitly. Think “do as I say
not as I do.” Parental lessons may teach Multiracial people that they can be whatever and
however they want to be, or that they should identify with their non-white background primarily.
Research suggests that Asian/white children are more likely to be labeled as white by their
parents than black/white children (Qian 2004). This pattern of parental modeling is supported by
this study as both Black/white participants described having “the talk” about being Black with
their parents from a lens of how the world would treat them, while the Asian/white participants
did not mention speaking explicitly with their parents about how they should or would be
racialized. Parental modeling, however, involves a Multiracial person learning how to “be” or
perform race from their parents. Sarah’s father, a white man, brought up Sarah and her brother in
an Irish Catholic home and practiced many of the traditions of other white Americans. Sarah’s
mother, an Asian woman, grew up in Canada and is described as “adamant about being a woman
of color,” providing a model of pride in one’s racial identity. Sarah, does not feel a claim to that
identity as much as her mother does because she does not look like her mother, nor has she had
the same racialized life experiences, but appreciates her mother’s racial confidence.
Anthony’s parents offered two juxtaposing racial models. His mother is biracial but is
white-passing and benefits from some white privilege in the way people treat her. She lives in a
predominately white area, was able to provide financial security, quality education, and a stable
home life. The way his mother was often rejected by Black folks because of her appearance or
behavior, which made Anthony believe there was something wrong with the way he and his
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 61

mother looked or acted, resulting in confusion around his level of comfort in Black spaces. His
father, a Black man, lived in a low-income area, could not offer the same quality of home life,
and went to prison when Anthony was twelve. Anthony based his early understandings of race
on this dichotomy, especially since it reinforced the racial narratives he was taught through
media. This became difficult to unlearn, and remained a key factor in Anthony’s racial identity
into his college years until he began to engage with other Black people similar to him.
Additionally, Anthony, the darkest in skin tone of his thirteen siblings, noticed that he was
treated less favorably than his lighter-skinned siblings by strangers and by family members,
adding a layer of colorism to his racial identity development and self-concept.
Alexis received a model from her mother that encouraged her to love her Blackness,
however that model was challenged by societal models that teach people that white norms are
preferred. Her father provided a model that rejected Blackness as something to be disconnected
from. Alexis mentions that her father did not teach her to be Black but instead taught her to be
Barbadian as he considered Barbadian identity to be separate and superior to a Black identity.
Her father’s decision to leave her and her mother also added to Alexis’ racial identity
development and caused her to resent Black people, especially Black men. This resentment
likely contributed to denial and confusion included in Poston’s (1990) model of Multiracial
identity.
Dante’s parents provide two contrasting models of parental racial modeling. Dante’s
mother has a proud salient white identity, while Dante’s father does not express his Asian
identity and tries hard to assimilate to white American norms. Dante mirrors these models
through his desire to learn Italian, to travel to Milan, and to surround himself with predominately
white friends. The model set by his father support’s Dante’s lack of interest in exploring his
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 62

Asian heritage and even avoiding making Asian friends. The racial models provided by Dante’s
parents also reflect hierarchical American racial models that place Asians as socially lower than
whites, and Latinx people as lower than both. This is evidenced by his lack of interest in
exploring his Asianness, his extreme interest in exploring his whiteness, and his anger associated
with being mistaken for Latino.
Dante’s and his father’s strong desire to assimilate to white American norms is consistent
with Kim’s (2001) Asian American Identity Model’s second stage, white identification. This
stage involves increased contact with white society, leading to an acceptance of white values and
standards (Kim, 2001). This stage also involves feelings of inferiority in one’s Asian identity and
feeling alienation from other Asian Americans (Kim, 2001). This is consistent with the
information offered by Dante concerning his lack of desire to engage with his Asian background
juxtaposed by his enthusiastic desire to explore his white identity. Additionally, the alienation
from other Asian Americans is evidenced by Dante’s feelings of not fitting in with other Asian
American students, and actively avoiding situations in which he would engage with
predominately Asian groups. Dante mentions his Asian father completely rejecting Asian
cultural practices or Asian racial performance and instead actively attempting to assimilate into
white American culture, a pattern Dante also participates in.
Language is mentioned in Wijeyesinghe’s (2012) model but it is not specified how
deeply language can permeate identity through ways of speaking outside of formal languages
like slang and vernacular. Dante and Sarah experience language in similar ways. Sarah’s mother
can speak Hindi but did not teach Sarah the language. When Sarah went to India and met some
of her family members, who speak Hindi and some English, she felt disconnected from them
because she could not speak the language and wished her mother had taught her. Dante’s father
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 63

speaks Tagalog but did not teach his children the language. Dante feels he may be able to
connect with Pilipino peers more if he spoke the language, but is not interested in learning to.
Dante is, however, currently learning to speak Italian, reflecting his mother’s background. For
Sarah and Dante, language acts as a divider between themselves and their non-white identities,
serving as a factor that may lend itself toward a more non-white centric racial identity.
Anthony and Alexis experience language in terms of whether or and when they use
African American Vernacular English (AAVE) or whether and when they do not. AAVE is a
dialect of English natively spoken, particularly in urban communities, by most or some working
and middle-class Black Americans (Edwards, 2004). For reference, Samuel L. Jackson’s
character’s voice in any movie he has been cast in. Growing up, Anthony and Alexis, when
speaking without AAVE, were accused by Black peers as “talking white” and often shifted their
racial performance to speak in a dialect that would be more likely to gain them group
membership. Alexis mentioned, “I code switch sometimes because I feel more comfortable, and
sometimes to make other people feel more comfortable. As a kid, I would try not to enunciate so
much so I wouldn’t be accused of “talking white.”
At certain points in their life, Anthony and Alexis have code-switched, or altered their
speech norms based on the race of the person they are speaking to as a means of connection. At
times this may have led to labored racial performance, and shame if it is not performed
effectively. In this way, language becomes a connector if the speaker is able to perform speech in
a way that will be received by the audience effectively, or a divider if that language reads as
separate from expectations or linguistic cultural norms.
Exposure to family was one of the original concepts within Wijeyesinghe’s (2012) factor
of early experiences and socialization. Sarah, Dante, and Anthony each have siblings and note
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 64

that they present phenotypically differently than their siblings, and thus are racialized differently.
Sarah and Dante each share the same parents with their siblings, while Anthony’s siblings are all
his half-siblings and have a mother of a different race than his mother. Sarah’s brother has darker
skin and coarser hair than she does, and is more often racialized as Asian. Dante’s sister is more
phenotypically Asian than he is, and people assume she is part Asian, which is often not assumed
about Dante. Anthony’s siblings are Multiracial Black/Latinx, though he mentions that his
stepmother is a very light-skinned Mexican woman, thus his siblings have lighter skin than he
does. Anthony noticed from a young age that his siblings were treated more favorably by his
family and others, which he attributes to their skin color. When speaking about his cousins,
Anthony states,

A lot of my cousins are lighter and they have more, I guess, European features. We look
markedly different and they seemed to be more affluent, and have more traditional stable
homes, and live in better parts of the city like South Pasadena. I thought, you know,
maybe if I was a little bit more like that or if I looked more like that my opportunities
would have been different.

Dante does not attribute negative or positive aspects to his sister’s Asian racialization
though he does mention that it is easier for her to identify as Asian than it is for him. Sarah does
mention some negative aspects of her brother’s racialization attributed to stereotypes of South
Asian and Middle Eastern men like being engineering majors, being Muslim, or receiving racial
microaggressions.
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 65

I argue that among white peers, Anthony finds that he is sometimes treated like he is an
exception to other types of Black people. Conversely, among Black peers, he often feels like he is
othered phenotypically as being “light-skinned” but is definitely accepted as Black as an adult.
However, as a child, Anthony often felt othered from Black peers by his education, where he lived,
and the way he spoke.
I argue that relationships with Multiracial and monoracial peers should also be included
as a component within the factor of early experiences and socialization. Sarah describes her
connection with Multiracial peers by saying, “I’ve always felt close to other kids who are half-
white and half-‘other’, it's like a community when we meet. When we talk about our experience
and talk about growing up I feel like it solidifies a relationship.” Sarah’s exposure to other
Multiracial peers through attending grade school and college with Multiracial people has allowed
her to explore Multiraciality. When Sarah interacts with monoracial Asian peers, she often finds
that they do not accept her as Asian, often due to the way that she looks.
Alexis describes primarily having white friends for most of her life, and that some Black
people, specifically Black women, often ostracized her from predominantly Black social
interactions. Alexis notes that her hair has a strong effect on the way her race is perceived by
others. Black people, specifically Black women, refer to her naturally curly hair as “good hair,”
which is prized in Black communities. “Good Hair” contextually describes loosely textured hair
belonging to people of African descent that is deemed more socially acceptable than more tightly
coiled or kinky hair (Wilson, 2002). Preference for hair texture within the Black community is
closely linked to cultural standards of what is acceptable within the dominant white culture, i.e.
the closest to white or straight hair texture the more desired (Wilson, 2002). Sarah believes that
her appearance has often led to her being resented by some Black women because of her lighter
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 66

complexion and “good” textured hair. Additionally, Alexis has often found herself altering her
speech to fall more into Black vernacular patterns, after a childhood and adolescence of being
told she “talked white” which lead to further ostracization from Black peers.
Finally, I argue that the factor of cultural attachment, a stand-alone factor within
Wijeyesinghe’s (2012, 2001) original list of factors, should be consolidated within early
experiences and socialization. Cultural attachment describes a claiming of or preference for a
culture or cultural artifacts associated with a race. I argue that this factor must be conceptualized
using heightened nuance within this current era in which we find examples of cultural
appropriation and cultural exchange commonly in social discourse (Matthes, 2018). Perhaps one
of the most obvious examples of this phenomenon is the concept of “Blackfishing” in which
white women adopt cultural artifacts and beauty standards to perform a more Black or
Multiracial presentation, specifically on social media (Virk & McGregor, 2018). Blackfishing
utilizes elements of culture such as hairstyle, ways of dressing, AAVE, and manipulation of
phenotypical representation via makeup or surgical enhancements (Virk & McGregor, 2018).
Lines are blurred via cultural language as well. For example, non-Black comedians, rappers, and
sections of the non-Black LGBT population speaking in Black racially performative patterns via
AAVE or “Blaccents” (Jackson, 2018). Even hip-hop and rap music must be understood as an
identity factor using some degree of nuance as the fan base of these genres have shifted to
largely white audiences (Han, 2014). Though I do believe cultural attachments can be powerful
for Multiracial identity formation, I also believe that cultural appreciation cannot always be a
factor that lies unchecked by today’s common social practice of cultural appropriation and
exchange.

COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 67

Education
All four participants experienced educational quality and access to have contributed to
their early and current racial identity formation. Alexis went to a predominately white school for
elementary and middle school, where she was one of the only students of color. Being
surrounded by white students caused her to subscribe to cultural expectations of dress,
speech, behavior, and beauty most closely identified as white or Euro-centric. As a child and
teen, her schooling provided the foundation of her speech, which has been received by Black
peers as “talking white,” and what behavior is deemed appropriate which has been called “acting
white.” Through these experiences, Alexis learned that performing whiteness was the
expectation in her predominately white school and in mainstream society. These expectations
remained during her undergraduate experience, which was also predominately white. Though
there were Black people she interacted with every day on her track team, they did not connect
with her, perhaps because she was not used to being around other Black people and did not
perform race in similar ways, making it more difficult to connect.
As a graduate student, Alexis was able to engage more with Black students who shared
her passion for racial equity, which began to develop during the 2016 Presidential election. The
experiences she has had as a graduate student have helped her love her Blackness and the
Blackness of others. She has felt a sense of shared racialized experience and has been able to
engage in coursework to educate herself on race in America.
Sarah’s educational experience and Dante’s educational experience were very similar to
one another. They both attended affluent prestigious schools with predominately white student
populations. Though these schools had Asian student populations as well, the dominant culture
was white, which influenced the predominately white friend groups Sarah and Dante were a part
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 68

of. Sarah’s engaged with other Multiracial students, and international students while at school,
which may have contributed to the connection she feels to other Multiracial people, and the
appreciation for the diversity of racial experience. Dante, however, surrounded himself with a
nearly exclusively white and affluent American group of friends and learned a narrow
performance of whiteness as a result.
As undergraduates, Dante and Sarah continue to have predominately white college
friends. Dante’s college friends are exclusively white, while Sarah has close friends that are also
Multiracial. Sarah’s studies include a focus on social issues, and she has interned in the U.S.
Senate, which has allowed her to experience a sense of responsibility for correcting social and
racial issues, whether they directly affect her or not. Dante offers that his academic work ethic is
similar to traits commonly attributed to Asians, which he demonstrates may be linked to Asian
stereotypes. Dante does has not recognized racism taking place in the educational atmosphere
around him either explicitly or implicitly, and says that if he did notice it he would most likely
not combat it. Sarah has also not experienced racism but says she would combat it if she saw it.
Both Sarah and Dante agree that race has become more of a prevalent social identifier and
talking point for students on their college campus.
Educational quality and access has had a profound effect on Anthony’s racial identity.
Though he is from Watts, which is primarily Black and low-income, he lived with his mother
and attended primary school in Orange County, which is predominately white and middle to
upper-class. This allowed him to access a higher quality of education than his peers and siblings
living in Watts. Attending school with and living amongst a predominately white population
taught Anthony to subscribe to white norms in terms of speech and behavior, which did not
translate to the Black neighborhood his father lived in. Because of this, Anthony was in a
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 69

constant state of double consciousness: aware of his Black appearance in a predominately white
school and town, and aware of his white normative behavior while in predominately Black
spaces, and completely comfortable in neither. Similar to Alexis’ experience in education,
Anthony was chastised by other Black kids for acting or speaking differently than them.

Media Exposure
Media exposure references the types of messages given to and absorbed by the
participant, which affected their conception of their race and race generally. Two participants,
Anthony and Alexis specifically mentioned media as a contributing factor to their racial
development. Sarah and Dante referenced media only when speaking about political media.
Growing up, Anthony was taught by media and popular culture that Blackness was
negative. Watts was over-policed, his Black father was in jail, and the media portrayed Black
people negatively which was in harsh contrast to his mother’s access to whiteness, affluence, and
more positive representation. Anthony was taught by these messages that Blackness was bad,
and began to subscribe to this notion. Similarly, these messages also taught Anthony what type
of person he was supposed to be, who he was supposed to be friends with, and who he was
supposed to be attracted to, which added another layer to his racial development.
Alexis mentions media portrayals of Blackness more specifically in regard to messages
about beauty. As a child and teen, Alexis mentions only seeing women with European or white
features being portrayed as beautiful in television and movies. She remembers watching
Disney’s Pocahontas and telling her mother she wanted Pocahontas hair because media and
beauty standards taught her that long straight hair was beautiful. Alexis also mentioned media
portraying women of lighter complexions as more beautiful. She does note that during her
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 70

adolescence tanning became a beauty norm, but not quite as tan as her natural pigmentation. As
Alexis has gotten older, beauty standards now seem to include women who are racially
ambiguous like her, and now include her specific skin color but not the deeper tones of most
other Black women. Alexis also speaks about the natural hair movement which has placed curl
textures like hers as more socially acceptable. However, she does still straighten her own hair for
job interviews to seem more professional, which she recognizes as a problematic behavior as
it reinforces white beauty standards. Both Dante and Sarah mention media in the ways political
messages are disseminated. For example, media portrayals of the Me Too Movement, how media
portray the “immigration crisis,” how Asian stereotypes are reinforced, and how Asian characters
are often not included at all.

Political Awareness and Orientation
Wijeyesinghe (2012) describes this factor as being influenced by the awareness and
experiences of race, racism, and racial identity. I argue that this factor should be expanded to
include an individual's experience or familiarity with other forms of systemic oppression such as
sexism, ableism, homophobia, etc. Results from the four interviews in this study suggest that
racial identity, or connections to racial issues, may be affected by the participants’ other
marginalized identities, or lack thereof. All participants have described their racial identity in
relation to their experiences with marginalization and racism. Bell (2007) describes racism as “a
system of advantage based on race, and supported by institutional structures that create and
sustain benefit for the dominant group, and structure discrimination, oppression, and
disadvantage for target racial groups.”
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 71

Both Dante and Sarah have similar descriptions of their experience with racism, having
never felt disadvantaged or marginalized personally. Sarah is impacted by her identity as a
woman, which ties her to feelings of marginalization by systemic sexism and misogyny, and
gives her a sense of responsibility to be an advocate for minority groups, especially since the
2016 Presidential Election. Sarah states,

Inherently if you’re another race besides white you are at a disadvantage in the U.S. but it
[being Asian] is a way different disadvantage than being Black or Latino or Latinx.
Because the stereotyping there [for Asian people] tends to be more positive in terms of
their ability in terms of the workforce and their ability in terms of intelligence.

As undergraduate students, Sarah and Dante are both aware of the ways racism permeates
society, but because of their ability to pass as white and escape in some ways from personal
racism, they do not connect as closely to being a person of color, generally, or Asian specifically.
In Dante, we see a lack of multiple marginalized identities. Dante is biracial white/Asian,
but is received primarily as white; he is also straight, male, affluent, cis-gender, and able-bodied.
Though there may be some underlying elements of other social identities present in Dante’s life,
he has not felt marginalized by systems of oppression and thus does not seem to have any
marked effect on his identity at this point in his life. Dante is very white-passing and most often
moves through the world as white, though he is sometimes perceived as part Asian or part Latino
because of his skin tone, hair, and eye shape. When people think he might be Latino, he becomes
angry and strongly rejects that notion. Dante identifies and is generally identified socially as
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 72

white and thus does not face discrimination based on the way he looks. When asked which race
he believes he more closely phenotypically presents as he responds, “white. Definitely.”
Sarah is also very white-passing, and most closely resembles her white father. Her friends
are often shocked to learn she is biracial and has an Asian mother. In her own words, “Racial
identity is very complex and people tend to associate everything you are with what you look like.
Especially as someone who doesn’t look like what I am.” Because of her white phenotypical
presentation, Sarah does not face discrimination based on her appearance and has difficulty
identifying with being a person of color.
Anthony faces racism as a Black man through the ways individuals treat him and the way
society regards him more broadly. As an undergraduate student, Anthony was able to find
solidarity amongst other Black students through a shared racialized experience on a
predominantly white campus. As a graduate student, this solidarity has extended to other Black
graduate students at his predominately white institution and has grown deeper through an
enhanced racial solidarity through the sociopolitical moment prevalent since the 2016
Presidential election. Anthony’s identity lies in both his socioeconomic class and his sexual
orientation. Being from a low-income, predominantly Black area, Anthony was familiar with
over-policing, police brutality, incarceration, and inequality. These experiences shaped how he
was taught to perceive Blackness and expectations for Black people like himself. His racialized
experiences also taught him who he should love, while is gendered experience taught him what
gender of the person he should love. By these standards set for him, it was expected that he
would love Black women, and instead fell in love with and married a white man.
Alexis reported not having faced explicit racism but encounters it more implicitly through
microaggressions and racialized expectations. As an undergraduate student, she recognized
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 73

racialized standards of behavior and beauty and conformed to those standards. However, since
the 2016 Presidential election, she has become more aware of the power of racism at the
foundation of American society and feels both a sense of responsibility and solidarity with Black
people because of this shared experience. As a biracial Black woman, Alexis faces judgement
that biracial Black men may not face in regard to the way she chooses to style her hair. When her
hair is styled differently people perceive her differently. Her identity as a Black woman is also
shaped by the ways sexism and racism overlap and intersect in her life.

Sociopolitical/Sociohistorical Context
All participants have noted a shift in this sociopolitical moment, which attributes to racial
tension and attitudes on their campus. Dante notes that he is aware of racial hierarchies, and an
enhanced fear of an immigration crisis since the 2016 Presidential election. His racial identity,
however, has not changed. Because he does not feel personally marginalized within systems
oppression or sociopolitical tensions prevalent in this political administration, he does not feel
pressure to change his racial performance or engage at all with his non-white raciality or anyone
who shares it.
Sarah’s experiences in this sociopolitical moment have given her an enhanced sense of
responsibility to be an advocate for marginalized groups, stating,

I became a bigger advocate for minority groups when Donald Trump was elected -- I did
not feel personally as affected but I was enraged with people’s acceptance of someone
who would be so blatant and perpetuate racist attitudes.

COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 74

She has experienced the way the racialized experiences of her mother and brother have
affected them, although they have not affected her in the same ways since she is much more
white-passing than her brother. Being able to feel directly connected to the struggle of
marginalized groups since the 2016 Presidential election has helped her come closer to
identifying as a woman of color, and combating racism when she has the opportunity.
Alexis has had a dramatic shift in her life since the 2016 Presidential election. During the
election, Alexis cut ties with many of her white family members when they became vocal in their
support for Donald Trump. The election illuminated that though many white people in her life
cared for her, they may not care for Black people generally and can sometimes tend to “other”
her from Black people.
Alexis notes that race and political affiliation have become a more common topic of
conversation. This sociopolitical moment informs the way people engage with each other, and
the way Alexis engages socially. She feels more of a dedication to sociopolitical issues affecting
Black people and demonstrates this by participating in ways she hadn’t previously: volunteering
with the Black Alumni Association, confronting racial microaggressions when she is faced with
them, being consistently vocal about social injustices, and becoming a more active and informed
voter.
Anthony believes that in this current sociopolitical era, we have disproved myths of post-
racialism that were more common during the Obama Presidential administration, and racism is
more prevalent than it was in the administration prior, which has affected the solidarity of Black
communities. Since the 2016 Presidential election, Anthony has noticed that identity politics is
far more prevalent than it had been previously, citing an enhanced focus on race, religion, and
sexual orientation.
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 75

Affluence
Affluence is not included in the original IMMI, though I argue it strongly affects the
identity development of Multiracial college students via access to affluence, lack of affluence, or
proximity to affluence. I use affluence to describe the level of wealth and capital, or perceived
level of wealth and capital, owned by an individual or an individual’s family. In a study using
U.S. Census data and surveys of college students, findings suggest that socioeconomic status is
among the strongest predictors of how a Multiracial person chooses to racially identify or is
identified by others (Shashkevich, 2018). Higher incomes and wealth attainment enable affluent
Multiracial people to display external social markers of success and increase their social
mobility; when coupled with their mixed-race appearance, this can lead Biracials to be perceived
as white or as having attained certain social elements of whiteness; simply put, “money whitens”
(Shashkevich, 2018).
Three of the four participants in this study identify as having upper-middle to upper-class
upbringings, which helped to shape their early racial identities. In these cases, financial stability
allowed for Dante, Alexis, and Sarah to access education and experience more white cultural
norms. Each was raised around predominately white peers, providing a social and cultural
foundation of white expectations. For Dante and Sarah, this allowed them to learn whiteness that
they could operate within; Alexis, on the other hand, learned whiteness without being able to
exist within whiteness. Alexis’ whiteness or factors associated with her proximity to whiteness
led to rejection from Black peers, leading to the confusion and guilt described in Poston’s (1990)
enmeshment/denial phase. This phase describes confusion and guilt over not being able to
identify with all aspects of one’s heritage and can lead to feelings of anger, shame, and rejection
if they attempt to engage both races, and self-hatred for not being completely happy with their
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 76

own racialization (Poston, 1990). Dante’s persona of affluence was so deeply ingrained into his
personality that it became a pillar of his social performance, along with his performed whiteness,
until he no longer recognized the choice to demonstrate this social behavior.
In Anthony’s case, financial stability had a compounding effect on his racial identity.
When at home with his mother in Orange County he was surrounded by predominately white
peers, of middle to upper-middle-class, shaping his identity in ways similar to that of Alexis who
felt she belonged in those spaces based on affluence but not by race. However, when visiting his
father in Watts he gained exposure to folks from lower-income families who were predominately
Black. Because Anthony spent more time living with his mother, when he did visit Watts he was
not able to connect with his Black peers as easily and was othered by them. Having access to
both predominately white spaces and predominately Black spaces, he felt double consciousness
perpetually, making it difficult to form one unified racial identity, resulting in the confusion felt
in Poston’s (1990) Enmeshment/Denial phase (DuBois, 1903).

Situational Differences
In a study of Multiracial college students, Renn (2003) noted that “the ability to move
freely between and among academic and social microsystems enhanced students’ degree of
exploration of multiple identity patterns, including the option not to identify along racial lines”
(pg. 400). The situational differences faced by Multiracial individuals, as described by
Wijeyesinghe (2012) is not a factor in the same way as the aforementioned factors, but instead a
shift in racial identity pattern that foregrounds certain identity patterns and backgrounds others.
To use the galaxy model (See Appendix B, Figure 2), situational difference would be less like a
planet orbiting a sun, and more like a passing smaller sun, whose gravitational pull affects the
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 77

planets orbiting the original sun. To any astronomers in the audience, I know this is not how two
suns coming that close together would end; feel free to substitute for a different gravitational
force, a cataclysmically large asteroid perhaps. The force of the situational difference would
affect the individual’s ability to mentally process and balance the external (interpersonal) and
internal (intrapersonal) influences on one’s identity development and may cause a personal
examination of other identity formation factors (Chaudhari & Pizzolato, 2008). Some situational
differences, like low-level microaggressions, may be likened to a shooting star: noticeable but
may not dramatically shift a Multiracial person’s identity. Others, like the sociopolitical
environment after the 2016 Presidential election, may be likened to the gravitational pull or raw
impact of a cataclysmically large asteroid, leaving a Multiracial person’s racial identity shifted.

Implications for Research and Practice
Implications of this study relate to gaps in current research such as generalizations around
Multiracial identity development that may assume that all or most Multiracial people identify
using the same or similar factors and with the same saliencies. As we see in this study, there are
similarities and differences between each participant, and between individuals of the same or
similar racial mixes. This study asserts that though many factors are similar, not all individuals
rely on the same experiences and factors to form their racial identities, and of the factors
demonstrated each individual attributes different saliencies to them.
This study explored the effect of environment on Multiracial college students but did not
focus on the agency of Multiracial college students to affect their environment. Future research
should focus on the agency that Multiracial students hold to disrupt racial expectations or
pressures, exist outside of a lived or perceived liminality, and destabilize systems of domination
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 78

(Harris, 2019). Additionally, this thesis focuses on the factors that impact identity development
but does not fully explore how those patterns manifest in identity performance changes based on
the ecosystem of this sociopolitical era.
Further implications for research may involve researching how different combinations of
Multiracial people come to their identities, and if there are patterns prevalent amongst
Multiracial people of the same racial combinations. It will also be interesting to note the
differences between what we know about monoracial identity and where Multiracial people do
not fit into those categories so that we can adjust our practices to accommodate for Multiracial
students. For example, if we model cultural centers after the needs of monoracial students, and
we discern those needs using theories that favor monoraciality, we would then need to adjust our
practices to accommodate Multiracial theories or create new intentional spaces for Multiracial
students. Scholars should also explore how Multiracial student’s racial identity development may
shift when attending a different institution that better accounts for Multiracial groups via spaces,
groups, or initiatives.
Future studies could benefit from deviating from Census data on race to more socially
dictated conceptions of race. For example, a Chinese person and a Pakistani person are both
within the U.S. Census racial category of Asian, though socially they may not be racialized in the
same ways. In the same vein, people from North Africa and the Middle East fall within the U.S.
Census white racial category, though they may not be socially racialized as white. Deviation
from the U.S. Census racial categories to more independently specify the classification of people
with ancestry from South America, Central America, North Africa, the Middle East, South-West
Asia, South-East Asia, and Indigenous populations like the Aborigines, First Nations, Andeans,
and others. Rethinking U.S. Census racial categories or abandoning Census categories in favor of
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 79

socially ascribed racial categories would allow for further exploration of multicultural or
multiethnic people who would not be considered Multiracial using Census data but may be
considered to be racially mixed socially.
Though there has been research conducted on a variety of racial mixes, the majority of
the scholarship on Multiraciality does focus on Black/white Multiracials and Multiracials with
one white parent. Investigating how Multiracials who do not have white ancestry is a valuable
platform for future research to consider whether dual-racial-minority Multiracial people
experience different identity development factors and outcomes than Multiracials with white
ancestry. Further, I did not come across research pertaining to Multiracial people with
Multiracial parents. This population may still be biracial if their parents are each of the same
biracial mix, or may be of three or more racial categories. Future researchers interested in
Multiraciality may want to explore the population of Multiracial people with Multiracial parents
as their identity development, specifically through parental influence, may be very different from
Multiracial people with monoracial parents.
Campus leaders must aim to destabilize monoracial-only paradigms of student
engagement by critically analyzing diversity, equity, and inclusion practices and policies as well
as academic curriculums (Harris, 2016). Faculty and staff. regardless of personal identity, must
actively enhance curriculum, pedagogy, and message to counter monoculturalism, colonialism,
and monoracialism on all institutional levels. Within health and counseling services provided at
college and universities, it is crucial for students of color to have access to counseling from
someone of the same race, including Multiracial people specifically those who do not identify
strictly monoracially (Frazer-Carroll, 2018). Additionally, it is crucial that faculty and staff
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 80

receive training on Multiracial identity models in order to understand and support the differences
between monoracial development and Multiracial development.
Programmatic efforts should be established specifically for Multiracial students,however,
it is crucial not to categorize Multiracial students as one monolithic group. Sarah mentions
during her interview that she feels a connection to other Multiracial students, but feels that not all
Multiracial students experience their Multiraciality in quite the same way, citing a culture of
commonality based in otherness. When conducting surveys and assessment, Multiraciality must
be paid specific attention to the ways we ask students to identify themselves and their racialized
experiences. Further, when educating students on diversity and inclusion, proper care must be
taken to resist monoracial lenses and generate a community that acknowledges racial and social
fluidity and nuance.

Conclusion
The primary purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how the racial identity of
Multiracial students affects their social identity and social behaviors. Findings suggest that
Multiracial students are affected by numerous factors, with varying levels of influence, in the
development of their racial identities. While the specific factors may vary by individual, some
similarities regarding the aforementioned factors may exist between people of the same or
similar Multiracial identities.
Furthermore, factors reportedly influencing Multiracial college students may experience
shifts during moments of intense sociopolitical polarization. For example, the noted presence of
identity politics during today’s sociopolitical moments reportedly shifted the racial identity
development factors employed by Multiracial students in my study. These shifts in identities and
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 81

identity formation factors may serve to either enhance or stymie Multiracial students’
experiences on campus and throughout their adult lives. Future research, policy, and practice
should actively seek to destabilize monolithic understandings of race, intentionally focus on and
include Multiracial college students, and continue to interrogate the differences within the
Multiracial population.

COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 82

APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

1. How do you identify racially?
2. How do your parents identify racially?
3. Describe your relationship with your parents.
4. Describe your relationships with other Multiracial people growing up, if any.
a. Did they represent the same races as you?
5. What similarities (or differences) have you noticed between yourself and other
Multiracial people?
a. Between yourself and other people whom also identify with at least one racial
identity you identify with?
6. What resources have you found that appeal to your racial identity while in college?
7. How does your race affect your feelings of belonging in predominantly monoracial
groups?
8. How do people react when assuming or learning you are Multiracial?
9. When interacting with monoracial people who identify with at least one racial group of
which you are a part, how do you believe they perceive you?
a. What, if any, disparate treatment have you received based on their racial
perceptions of you?
10. Do you find yourself changing things about your appearance or performance based on
who you interact with?
11. Have you encountered people exhibiting racist behavior around you? Is this because they
don’t know you’re mixed or because they don’t seem to care? What do you do about it?
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 83

12. Do any of your family members speak a language other than English? Do you? Has that
affected your identity or familial relationships?
13. Is there a race you feel you belong more to phenotypically?
14. Is there a race you believe you have a more shared-experience with?
15. Do you often experience racism directed at you or others?
16. Tell me about the racial backgrounds of your friends.
17. What might help you gain a stronger sense of belonging?
18. How has your racial identity changed as you have gotten older?
19. What role does race play when making new friends or pursuing relationships?
20. Do you have siblings? Would you say their racial identity is similar to yours?
21. How do you engage on campus politically and do you believe your race plays a role in
that?
22. How do you engage on campus socially and do you believe your race plays a role in that?
23. Have you felt differently about your racial identity since the 2016 Presidential election?
24. Do you believe other people think about race or social identity differently since the 2016
Presidential election? How?
25. Do you believe race and identity to be more of a defining factor since the 2016 election?
26. Have you felt drawn to any particular social or political efforts since the 2016 election?

COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 84

APPENDIX B: FIGURES AND TABLES

FIGURE 1. INSTITUTIONAL STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS

FIGURE 2. MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY FACTOR GALAXY
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 85

COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 86

COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 87

FIGURE 3. SOCIAL IDENTITY CHART

Participant Student Multiraciality Racial Self Self-Identified SES
Status Identity
Sarah Undergrad Asian/white Multiracial Upper-Middle - Upper
Dante Graduate Asian/white Multiracial Upper
Anthony Undergrad Black/white Monoracial Black Lower – Middle
Alexis Graduate Black/White Situational/ Upper-Middle
Monoracial Black
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 88

REFERENCES

Abramowitz, A., & McCoy, J. (2019). United States: Racial resentment, negative partisanship, and
polarization in Trump’s America. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and
Social Science, 681(1), 137–156. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716218811309
American Sociological Association. (n.d.) Race and Ethnicity. Retrieved from
https://www.asanet.org/topics/race-and-ethnicity
Andrews, Matthew M., & Chun, Jeffrey. (2007). (Mis)educating about "mixed race": Discourse
on Multiraciality and the prospects of higher education policy. Asian American Policy
Review, 16, 87.
Alba, Richard, Prewitt, Kenneth, Morning, Ann, & Saperstein, Aliya. (2018). The generational
locus of Multiraciality and its implications for racial self-identification. The ANNALS of
the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 677(1), 57-68.
Alcoff, L. M. (2006). Visible identities: race, gender and the self. London: Oxford University
Press. doi: 10.2979/HYP.2007.22.2.196
Asbury, C. A., Kamili, D., Anderson, M. F., Jacobs, S. M., Wilson, F. C. J., & Okazawa-
Rey, M. (1996). Encyclopedia of African American education. Westport, CT: Greenwood
Press.
Bailey J. Duhé, Decentering whiteness and refocusing on the local: Reframing debates on
confederate monument removal in New Orleans, museum anthropology, 41, 2, (120-125),
(2018). American Anthropological Association. https://doi.org/10.1111/muan.12184
Balwit, N. (2017, May 18). The Urban-Rural Divide in Interracial Marriage. Retrieved from
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 89

https://www.citylab.com/equity/2017/05/interracial-marriage-in-cities-pew-
report/527217/.
Bell, D. A. (1980). Brown v. Board of education and the interest-convergence dilemma. Harvard
Law Review, 93, 518–533.
Bell, L. A. (2007). Twenty-first century racism. In M. Adams, L. A. Bell, & P. Griffin
(Eds.), Teaching for diversity and social justice (2nd ed., pp. 117–122). New York:
Routledge.
Binning, K. R., Unzueta, M. M., Huo, Y. J., & Molina, L. E. (2009). The interpretation of
multiracial status and its relation to social engagement and psychological well-being.
Journal of Social Issues, 65(1), 35-49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-
4560.2008.01586.x
Blackburn, S. (2016). Social constructivism. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Oxford
University Press. Retrieved from http://www.oxfordreference.com/vieref-w/10.1093
/acref/9780198735304.001.0001/ac9780198735304-e-2891
Bobo, Lawrence. 2001. “Racial attitudes and relations at the close of the twentieth century”. In
America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences, Edited by: Smelser, N.,
Wilson, W. J. and Mitchell, F. 262–99. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). Developmental research, public policy, and the ecology of
childhood. Child Development. 45(1), 1-5.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1994). Ecological models of human development. In International
Encyclopedia of Education, Vol. 3, 2
nd
. Ed. Oxford: Elsevier. Reprinted in: Gauvain, M.
&Cole, M. (Eds.), Readings on the development of children, 2
nd
Ed. (1993, pp. 37-43).
NY: Freeman.
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 90

Brown, A. (2015, June 12). The changing categories the U.S. has used to measure race.
Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/06/12/the-changing-
categories-the-u-s-has-used-to-measure-race
Brown, Ryan A., and George J. Armelagos. 2001. “Apportionment of Racial Diversity: A
Review.” Evolutionary Anthropology 10:34–40.
Brunsma, David & Delgado, & Rockquemore,. (2013). Liminality in the Multiracial experience:
Towards a concept of identity matrix. Identities: Global Studies in Power and Culture.
20. 10.1080/1070289X.2013.827576.
Bryc, K., Durand, E. Y., Macpherson, J. M., Reich, D., & Mountain, J. L. (2015). The Genetic
Ancestry of African Americans, Latinos, and European Americans across the United
States. American Journal of Human Genetics, 96(1), 37–53.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2014.11.010
Byrd, W. C., & Hughey, M. W. (2015). Biological Determinism and Racial Essentialism. The
ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 661(1), 8-22.
doi:10.1177/0002716215591476
Chakroun, F. (2018). Cognitive Dissonance in the Self-Identifying Processes of Multiracial
People. Critical Theory and Social Justice Journal of Undergraduate Research
Occidental College. doi:10.1037/e635542013-001
Clandinin, D. J. (2013). Engaging in narrative inquiry. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, Inc.
Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (2000). Narrative inquiry: Experience and story in
qualitative research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Collins, P. H. (2015). Black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of
empowerment. New York: Routledge.
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 91

Crenshaw, K. Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of
Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics. (1989). University
of Chicago Legal Forum. 52-78. doi:10.5406/j.ctv80c9nr.6
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed
methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE.
Cross, W. E. (1987). A two-factor theory of Black identity: Implications for the study of identity
development in minority children. In J. S. Phinney and M. J. Rothertham (eds.),
Children’s Ethnic Socialization: Pluralism and Development. Thousand Oaks, Calif:
Sage Publications.
Cultural Centers – USC Undergraduate Admission. (2017). Retrieved from
https://admission.usc.edu/belong-participate/cultural-centers/
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York: Collier Books.
Doolan, K. (2017, November 07). Where Do I Belong? The Struggles Of Being Biracial.
Retrieved from http://affinitymagazine.us/2016/05/22/where-do-i-belong-the-struggles-
of-being-bi-racial/
Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963. (1968). The souls of black folk.
Chicago, A. G. McClurg, 1903. New York : Johnson Reprint Corp.
Frazer-Carroll, M. (2018, May 21). Black students are right to want to see black therapists |
Micha Frazer-Carroll. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/
2018/may/21/identity-matters-black-students-black-therapists-cambridge-university.
Frazier, L. (2016). Black students resisting and coping with racism at predominately white
institutions (Order No. 10247757). Available from Ethnic NewsWatch; ProQuest
Dissertations & Theses Global. (1925524883). Retrieved from http://libproxy.us
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 92

c.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1925524883?accounti d=14749
Gao, M. (2018, August 10). Who can be racist? The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved from
https://www.thecrimson.com/column/between-the-lines/article/2018/8/10/gao-who-can-
be racist/
Hapa SC. (2015, March 05). Retrieved from https://hapasc.wordpress.com/about/
Harris, C. I. (1993). Whiteness as Property. Harvard Law Review, 106(8), 1707. doi:
10.2307/1341787
Harris, J.C. (2019). Whiteness as Structuring Property: Multiracial Women Students' Social
Interactions at a Historically White Institution. The Review of Higher Education 42(3),
1023-1050. doi:10.1353/rhe.2019.0028.
Harris, David and Sim, Jeremiah. 2002. Who is multiracial? Assessing the complexity of lived
race. American Sociological Review, 67: 614–27.
Hayes, C. (2016). Identity Politics. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Hitlin, S., Elder, G., & Brown, J. (2006). Racial Self-Categorization in Adolescence: Multiracial
Development and Social Pathways. Child Development, 77(5), 1298-1308. Retrieved
from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3878433
Hooks, B. (1990). Postmodern Blackness. Postmodern Culture, 1(1), 117-124.
doi:10.1353/pmc.1990.0004
Inside Higher Ed. (2017, March). Professor explores why his students self-segregate. Retrieved
from https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2017/03/24/professor-explores-why-his-
students-self-segregate-essay
Jackson, L. M. (2018, August 24). Who Really Owns the 'Blaccent'? Retrieved from
https://www.vulture.com/2018/08/awkwafina-blaccent-cultural-appropriation.html.
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 93

Jones, N. A., & Smith, A. S. (2001). The two or more races population: 2000. Retrieved
fromhttp://www. census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-6.pdf
Jones, S. R., & McEwen, M. K. (2000). A conceptual model of multiple dimensions of identity.
Journal of College Student Development, 41, 405-414.
Johnston, M. P., & Nadal, K. L. (2010). Multiracial microaggressions: Exposing monoracism in
everyday life and clinical practice. In D. W. Sue (Ed.), Microaggressions and
marginality: Manifestation, dynamics and impact (pp. 123-144). New York: Wiley &
Sons.
Karthikeyan, H.; Chin, G. J. (2002). Preserving Racial Identity: Population Patterns and the
Application of Anti-Miscegenation Statutes to Asian Americans, 1910-1950. Asian Law
Journal 9, 1-40.
Kim, J. (1981). Processes of Asian American identity development: A study of Japanese
American women's perceptions of their struggle to achieve positive identities as
Americans of Asian ancestry. Dissertation Abstracts International, 42(4-A), 1551.
Kottak, Conrad Phillip. (2009). "Chapter 11: Ethnicity and Race." Mirror for Humanity: A
Concise Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (p. 238). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Ku J., Bhuyan R., Sakamoto I., Jeyapal D. & Fang L. (2018) “Canadian Experience” discourse
and anti-racialism in a “post-racial” society. Ethnic and Racial Studies. DOI:
10.1080/01419870.2018.1432872
Leonardo, Z. (2004). The color of supremacy: Beyond the discourse of “white privilege.”
Educational Philosophy and Theory, 36(2), 137–152.
Livingston, G. (2017). The rise of Multiracial and multiethnic babies in the U.S. Pew Research
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 94

Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/06/06/the-rise-of-
Multiracial-and-multiethnic-babies-in-the-u-s/
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1986). But is it rigorous? Trustworthiness and authenticity
in naturalistic evaluation. In D. D. Williams (Ed.), Naturalistic evaluation (New
Directions for Evaluation, No. 30, pp. 73-84). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Lopez, Alejandra. (2003). Collecting and tabulating race/ethnicity data with diverse and mixed
heritage populations: a case study with US high school students. Ethnic and Racial
Studies, 26:
Matthes, Erich Hatala (2019). Cultural appropriation and oppression. Philosophical Studies
176 (4):1003-1013.
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldana, J. (Eds.). (2014). Qualitative data analysis:
A methods sourcebook (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.
Morten, G., & Atkinson, D. R. (1983). Minority identity development and preference for
counselor race. Journal of Negro Education, 52(1), 156–161.
Museus, S. D., Sariñana, S. A., & Ryan, T. K. (2015). A qualitative examination of Multiracial
students’ coping responses to experiences with prejudice and discrimination in college.
Journal of College Student Development, 56(4), 331-348. doi:10.1353/csd.2015.0041
Nipcon, M, Huser, L., blanks, E., Sollenberger, S., Befort, C, and Kurpius, S., (2006-2007), 'The
relationship of loneliness and social support with college freshmen's academic
performance and persistence', Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory
and Practice, 8, pp.345-358.
Patton, L. D., Renn, K. A., Guido-DiBrito, F., & Quaye, S. J. (2016). Student development in
college: theory, research, and practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 95

Poston, W.S.C. (1990). The biracial identity development model: A needed addition. Journal of
Counseling and Development, 69(1), 152–155.
Reissman, C. K. (2008). Narrative methods for the human sciences. Los Angeles: Sage
Publications.
Renn, K. A. (2000). Patterns of situational identity among biracial and Multiracial college
students. Review of Higher Education, 23, 399-420.
Renn, K. A. (2003). Understanding the identities of mixed-race college students through a
developmental lens. Journal of College Student Development, 44, 383-403.
Renn, K. A. (2004). Mixed race students in college: The ecology of race, identity, and
community. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Renn, K. A., & Lunceford, C. J. (2004). Because the numbers matter: Transforming
postsecondary education data on student race and ethnicity to meet the challenges of a
changing nation. Educational Policy, 18(5), 752-783.
Polkinghorne, D.E. (1995). Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis. Washington DC:
Falmer Press.
Root, M. P. P. (Ed.). (1996). The Multiracial experience: Racial borders as the new frontier.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Rockquemore, K. A., & Brunsma, D. L. (2002). Beyond black: Biracial identity in America.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Rockquemore, K. A., Brunsma, D. L., & Delgado, D. J. (2009). Racing to theory or retheorizing
race? Understanding the struggle to build a Multiracial identity theory. Journal of Social
Issues, 65(1), 13-34.
Russell, Kathy, Wilson, Midge and Hall, Ronald. 1992. The Color Complex: The Politics of Skin
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 96

Color among African Americans, New York: Anchor Books.
Poston, W.S.C. “The Biracial Identity Development Model: A Needed Addition.” Journal of
Counseling and Development, 1990, 69, 152–155.
Political Polarization in the American Public. (2014, June 12). Retrieved from
https://www.people- press.org/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/
Qian, Zhenchao. 2004. Options: racial/ethnic identification of children of intermarried couples.
Social Science Quarterly, 85: 746–66.
Sarich, V. (2018). Race the reality of human differences. New York: Routledge.
Shashkevich, A. (2018, March 28). Biracial youth's political views, self-identification examined.
Retrieved from https://news.stanford.edu/2018/03/29/biracial-youths-political-views-self-
identification-examined/.
Stanley, S. (2018). Alternative Temporalities: US Post-Racialism and Brazilian Racial
Democracy. Theory & Event 21(3), 725-752. Johns Hopkins University Press. Retrieved
October 13, 2018, from Project MUSE database.
Strauss, A. L., & Corbin, J. M. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: grounded theory
procedures and techniques. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Strauss, A. L., & Corbin, J. M. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory
procedures and techniques (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Sue, D. (2010). Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation.
Wiley. pp. xvi. ISBN 0-470-49140-X.
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin,
S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33-37). Monterey,
CA: Brooks/Cole.
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 97

Tierney, W., (1999), 'Models of minority college-going and retention: cultural integrity versus
cultural suicide'. The Journal of Negro Education, 68(1), pp.80-91.
Traub, A. (2018, February 07). We need a race-conscious populist economic agenda. The Hill.
Retrieved from http://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/372784-we-need-a-race-conscious-
populist-economic-agenda
US Census Bureau. (2018, January 23). About race US Census Bureau. Retrieved from
https://www.census.gov/topics/population/race/about.html
Wijeyesinghe, C. L. (2001). Racial identity in Multiracial people: An alternative paradigm. In
New Perspectives on Racial Identity Development: A Theoretical and Practical
Anthology, 129-152. New York: NYU Press.
Wijeyesinghe, & B. W. Jackson III (Eds.), New perspectives on racial identity development: A
theoretical and practical anthology (pp. 129-152). New York, NY: New York University
Press.
Wijeyesinghe, C.L. (2012). The intersectional model of Multiracial identity: Integrating
Multiracial identity theories and intersectional perspectives on social identity. In
Wijeyesinghe, C.L. & Jackson III, B.W. (Eds.), New Perspectives on Racial Identity
Development: Integrating Emerging Frameworks, 2
nd
Ed. (pp. 81-107). New York: New
York University Press.
Wilson, M. C. (2002, Oct 31). Thick mane of beauty: Comments about hair are not only rude,
but racist. Biracial Child, 7, 14. Retrieved from http://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=http
s://search-proquest com.libproxy2.usc.edu/docvie w/236126668?accountid=14749
Woodward, R. (1995). Approaches towards the study of social polarization in the UK. Progress
in Human Geography, 19(1), 75–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/030913259501900105
COLLEGE STUDENT MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY 98

Xie, Yu and Goyette, Kimberly. 1997. The racial identification of biracial children with one
Asian parent: evidence from the 1990 Census. Social Forces, 76: 547–70.
Yancy, George (2004). Fragments of a social ontology of whiteness. In What white Looks Like:
African-American Philosophers on the whiteness. Routledge.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Currently, one in seven U.S. children is born of an interracial union, generating a multiracial population of about 7% of the total U.S. population. 5.6% of the U.S. population is comprised of multiracial people who are 18 years old or younger, alone. Despite this incredibly diverse and quickly growing population, only 1% of peer-reviewed journals in education focus on Multiracial students. Multiraciality requires diligent research to understand the social and racial identity development of multiracial college students, specifically within the contexts of college campus environments following the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. This study will examine the social, psychosocial, phenotypical, political, and economic factors which contribute to multiracial student identity development. The research conducted in this study will utilize a narrative inquiry methodological approach to generate complex and nuanced narratives of four multiracial college students on a predominantly white, socially polarized, highly selective, private university campus. The information gathered will aid researchers and practitioners in recognizing the gaps in understanding and support for multiracial students, and how to most intentionally fill those gaps.

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Conceptually similar

PDF

Families first: supporting first-generation college students’ families

PDF

White faculty navigating difficult discussions: an ethnographic case study

PDF

No bodies wasted: undocumented community college student experiences of hope and the chameleon phenomenon

PDF

A LatCrit analysis of the educational access, attainment, and life outcomes of Mexican origin people

PDF

Experiences of multiracial Asian American and Pacific Islander students at an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-serving institution

PDF

Nothing without us: understanding the belongingness of students with disabilities

PDF

Preparing student affairs administrators to support college students of color with mental health needs

PDF

¿Dónde están todos los hombres latinos? A qualitative exploration of barriers to and enablers of participation in study abroad for first-generation Latino male college students

PDF

Building a college-going culture: a case study of a continuation high school

PDF

Gay student leaders: a narrative analysis on how lesbian and gay college students develop self-efficacy towards a leadership identity

PDF

Organizational structures of religious life offices at private secular universities: a qualitative study

PDF

Visibly invisible: the experiences of black queer women on campus

PDF

College readiness: terms and conditions may apply

PDF

Promising practices for building a college-going culture for LatinX students: a case study of a large comprehensive high school

PDF

Ethnic identity development, ethnic student organizations, campus racial climate, cultural integrity, and sense of belonging for Filipino American undergraduate students at a selective predominan...

PDF

Working while Black: occupational experiences, hazards, and triumphs of Black staff and administrators in higher education

PDF

Undocumented student organizations: navigating the sociopolitical context in higher education

PDF

Leader-queer students at the intersection of social identities

PDF

#RepresentationMatters: constructing Black academic identities through popular and social media

PDF

Everything you need to prepare for college in the palm of your hand: a mobile app for low income, middle school students

Asset Metadata

Creator Alexander, Victoria Lynn (author)

Core Title College student multiracial identity development during a sociopolitical moment hinged upon identity politics

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Master of Education

Degree Program Postsecondary Administration and Student Affairs

Publication Date 12/18/2019

Defense Date 12/18/2019

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag biracial,college,identity,multiracial,OAI-PMH Harvest,post post-racial,social polarization,student

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Davis, Charles H.F., III (committee chair), Ahmadi, Shafiqa (committee member), Harper, Shaun (committee member)

Creator Email victorialynnalexander@gmail.com,vlalexan@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-259223

Unique identifier UC11673895

Identifier etd-AlexanderV-8102.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-259223 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-AlexanderV-8102.pdf

Dmrecord 259223

Document Type Thesis

Rights Alexander, Victoria Lynn

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA