Mixed Racial In America Research Paper
Mixed racial in America:
Should we still have racial classifications in the U.S.
Allan B. Clements II English Composition II
Jason Romero
29, July 2013
Mixed racial in America:
Should we still have racial classifications in the U.S.? In the U.S. today the biggest growing population is a mixed race, they have been growing over the decades scenes. The Supreme Court struck down the law that prevented interracial marriage in 1967. Which gave way for interracial marriage, in time I feel there will not be black, white, red, yellow, or tan it will be mixed as we all are. In 2000, the U.S. allowed people to enter more than one race, when asked about it. This allowed the Census to get a more accurate view of the mixed raced people living …show more content…
in the U.S. in which has increased by 32% from 2000 to 2010 C. RAMPELL, 2012. Should we still have racial classifications in the United States? Because we are all Americans, we are all mixed in one way or another, and as we become more and more blended labels may become outdated. The focus of this paper will focus on the growing population of mixed racial people in the U.S. and whether we should have a classification for them are not. I personal feel that we should not have any classification of race. Just if you are an American or not, in my research, thus far I have found that in the U.S. they are, the fastest growing portion of the population according the U.S. census. This information has led me to whether we need to have a classification for them or not. As a grandfather and uncle of multiracial kids, it makes me look at whether we need to set a classification for them. I teach them that they are American first, but I also teach them about their heritage and we are all people as they are our future. The multiracial children of today are the new majority of tomorrow. Rampell C, (2012) say in her article that the mixed racial population has grown 32 percent between 2000’ and 2010’. We have become a more blended nation we are going to be a mixed nation and there is not going to be just one race or another.
It will be a mixture of the races and then we will not need to have tag or categories for the people that live in the United States. As the mixed race people grow, what will the government do and will they add to the race category. If the government follows, the way they have been doing business over the years, it will try to find a way to make them fit into a category to benefit the government. The one thing in the racial tags, as Nuttgens S. (2010) says in his paper “Biracial Identity Theory and Research Juxtaposed with Narrative Accounts of a Biracial Individual” If you have one drop of black blood in you no matter what your skin color is that you are black. This is what we are dealing with mixed racial people. The government in 2000’ started to recognize the mixed racial people as they let them check more than one box on the Censes, and know on applications when you are applying for …show more content…
employment. The debate on this topic has been going on for a long time in this country since the 1960’s but most multiracial movement did not start till the 1980’s and 1990’s to really take hold and gain movement with the start of the AMEA (Association of Multi-Ethnic Americans)and other group of the same. As they started to move for the multiracial people of our country to be recognized they used deferent tactics then was used in the civil rights struggle, “they creatively adapted and reinterpreted the tactics, ideologies, and legal outcomes available to them”. Williams, K (2008). They used the court system to fight their battles and portioned congress to hold hearings on the multiracial issues. With that they started to make head way to get the government to recognize the multiracial people in our country, as some in our government and other originations like the NAACP were reluctant to back them in the fight to be recognized. The multiracial groups reached out to the other mono-racial groups but very few would talk to them so they had to go it mainly do it on their own. In 1999, the republicans gained a majority in congress and passed the new census rules on race, and allowing them to mark more than one or other instead of having to choose just one. This has spilled of into the privet sector as now on applications you have the same choices when filling out you application for employment. With this, I feel that we will slowly be moving to get rid of the racial tags. The rule change was a big step forward for the multiracial community to be recognized in our country, as they are the fastest growing population. As the mixed population grows, in our country, it will become the majority population in our country and the need for racial tags will obsolete. Because we will not have one racial group as we become more blended. I see today that there is less racism than there was in the past we will probably never strike that out completely out of some people in our country. Which is a sad statement to make I believe that you look at a person for who they are not what race they are, as I do every day in my personal and professional life.
I have never agreed with tagging someone with a tag to say who he or she is, I think a person’s skin color is irrelevant to who they are as a person. There was a time that we needed to track this as there was a rampant racial inequality, but in today’s world, this is not much of a factor largely. You can make the choses for yourself to become who you want to be and you have the opportunity to go where you want to go in your life if you are willing to work for it. As I have explored this topic, I find that we as Americans are more accepting of a multiracial culture. We are not there yet but we are slowly moving that way, we will always have the few that will never accept this on all side, Black, White, Asian, and so on. This to me this sad that we have to deal with this type of person at times. I personal try to stay away from them as much as possible; you cannot change their minds or feelings on this topic. They seem to just want to live in their own world and will not change. These ones will fight you on every front so that the status queue never changes. This thinking does nothing but send us backwards, and dose not accomplish anything, buy promote hatred between us. Even in congress you find this, they want to keep us separated and divided. Therefore, they can say that it is because of their race that they need to pass this law or that it is way they are not able to have a good life. I will not argue that there is still some racism in our country and I do not think we will totally erase it from our country. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva (2012) who in his article speaks mainly about racial grammar but dose make a statement about interracial marriage and children of interracial couples and said” that we did not have systematic data to assess if the children of interracial couples suffer more in life than other children”. Though he has his thoughts on racism, I find that I disagree with some of what he is saying. I in my everyday observation I find that we are moving towards a color blind nation, not real fast but we are moving that way. Many people feel that the racism has moved underground, and that it will be harder to eradicate, Daniel, R. (2001). With the population of mixed racial people growing in the nation the point of racism will be out dated, when as a nation we will stop looking a color and race, and look at people for who they are. In the U.S., we are a melting pot of the world and where anyone can climb as high as they want to with hard work and determination. The multiracial people find themselves living in two worlds as they look at both sides of their heritage. I think that it is a good thing that they learn as much as they can about their heritage. As this will make them better people as they live there life and I feel will be one of the reason that we will eventually do away with the racial, and ethic tags, as I do not see this happening in my lifetime. We find ourselves battling this question about whether are not we need to get rid of the tags, or modify them is going to be around for a very long time. As the government is not going to want to change this anytime soon, as it provides a platform for them to run on for office, they also use it to make new programs and entitlements based on the information they revive from polling, and studies that they do. In conclusion as to question, should we still have racial classifications in the U.S., we become more, and more blended labels may become outdated.
Will this come about I believe that it will. We as Americans are becoming a more accepting nation as we grow further into a multiracial nation we will find ourselves with no one race but a multitude of people with more than one race and ethnic background. From all the research that I have done I have found that we will need to look at this as a good thing, even though not all of the people of this nation will see it this way. I have found that the groups that are fighting for the multiracial people are doing a great job in helping them in their fight. I have also seen that the mono racial groups have not been very helpful when it comes to the multiracial issues, as they would not support them in their fight. I am of Native American, And European background; I do identify myself as such as with anyone of mixed race or ethical background should. We should be proud of who we are and never be ashamed of being mixed. In the modern world of today, we are more accepted today than we were 20 years ago, or back in the 50 and 60’s. When it come to the question that posed at the start of this paper do we need to continue to use the racial tags that the government makes us use in our everyday life, are they really necessary and relevant to our world today. This is the question, which we all as Americans need to ask ourselves, and find out
what the answer will be if we are honest with ourselves. If we are honest with ourselves, this is the only way we can find the answer to this question that I posed.
References
2004. "THE RACE MYTH: Why We Pretend Race Exists in America (Book)." Kirkus Reviews 72, no. 7: 309-310. Literary Reference Center Plus, EBSCOhost (accessed July 7, 2013).
Daniel, R. (2001). More Than Black? : Multiracial Identity and the New Racial Order. Temple University Press. Philadelphia, PA. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/ashford/docDetail.action?docID=10400508
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva (2012) The invisible weight of whiteness: the racial grammar of everyday life in contemporary America, Ethnic and Racial Studies,
35:2, 173-194, DOI: 10.1080/01419870.2011.613997. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2011.613997
Elam, M. (n.d.). Exploring the Popularization of the Mixed Race American, retrieved from http://humanexperience.stanford.edu/mixedrace
Nuttgens, S. (2010). Biracial Identity Theory and Research Juxtaposed with Narrative Accounts of a Biracial Individual. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 27(5)
RAMPELL, C. (2012). Mixed-Race America. The New York Times, Retrieved from http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/mixed-race-america/?_r=0 Williams, K. M. (2008). Mark one or more: Civil rights in multiracial America. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. bh
.
Should we still have racial classifications in the U.S.
Allan B. Clements II English Composition II
Jason Romero
29, July 2013
Mixed racial in America:
Should we still have racial classifications in the U.S.? In the U.S. today the biggest growing population is a mixed race, they have been growing over the decades scenes. The Supreme Court struck down the law that prevented interracial marriage in 1967. Which gave way for interracial marriage, in time I feel there will not be black, white, red, yellow, or tan it will be mixed as we all are. In 2000, the U.S. allowed people to enter more than one race, when asked about it. This allowed the Census to get a more accurate view of the mixed raced people living …show more content…
in the U.S. in which has increased by 32% from 2000 to 2010 C. RAMPELL, 2012. Should we still have racial classifications in the United States? Because we are all Americans, we are all mixed in one way or another, and as we become more and more blended labels may become outdated. The focus of this paper will focus on the growing population of mixed racial people in the U.S. and whether we should have a classification for them are not. I personal feel that we should not have any classification of race. Just if you are an American or not, in my research, thus far I have found that in the U.S. they are, the fastest growing portion of the population according the U.S. census. This information has led me to whether we need to have a classification for them or not. As a grandfather and uncle of multiracial kids, it makes me look at whether we need to set a classification for them. I teach them that they are American first, but I also teach them about their heritage and we are all people as they are our future. The multiracial children of today are the new majority of tomorrow. Rampell C, (2012) say in her article that the mixed racial population has grown 32 percent between 2000’ and 2010’. We have become a more blended nation we are going to be a mixed nation and there is not going to be just one race or another.
It will be a mixture of the races and then we will not need to have tag or categories for the people that live in the United States. As the mixed race people grow, what will the government do and will they add to the race category. If the government follows, the way they have been doing business over the years, it will try to find a way to make them fit into a category to benefit the government. The one thing in the racial tags, as Nuttgens S. (2010) says in his paper “Biracial Identity Theory and Research Juxtaposed with Narrative Accounts of a Biracial Individual” If you have one drop of black blood in you no matter what your skin color is that you are black. This is what we are dealing with mixed racial people. The government in 2000’ started to recognize the mixed racial people as they let them check more than one box on the Censes, and know on applications when you are applying for …show more content…
employment. The debate on this topic has been going on for a long time in this country since the 1960’s but most multiracial movement did not start till the 1980’s and 1990’s to really take hold and gain movement with the start of the AMEA (Association of Multi-Ethnic Americans)and other group of the same. As they started to move for the multiracial people of our country to be recognized they used deferent tactics then was used in the civil rights struggle, “they creatively adapted and reinterpreted the tactics, ideologies, and legal outcomes available to them”. Williams, K (2008). They used the court system to fight their battles and portioned congress to hold hearings on the multiracial issues. With that they started to make head way to get the government to recognize the multiracial people in our country, as some in our government and other originations like the NAACP were reluctant to back them in the fight to be recognized. The multiracial groups reached out to the other mono-racial groups but very few would talk to them so they had to go it mainly do it on their own. In 1999, the republicans gained a majority in congress and passed the new census rules on race, and allowing them to mark more than one or other instead of having to choose just one. This has spilled of into the privet sector as now on applications you have the same choices when filling out you application for employment. With this, I feel that we will slowly be moving to get rid of the racial tags. The rule change was a big step forward for the multiracial community to be recognized in our country, as they are the fastest growing population. As the mixed population grows, in our country, it will become the majority population in our country and the need for racial tags will obsolete. Because we will not have one racial group as we become more blended. I see today that there is less racism than there was in the past we will probably never strike that out completely out of some people in our country. Which is a sad statement to make I believe that you look at a person for who they are not what race they are, as I do every day in my personal and professional life.
I have never agreed with tagging someone with a tag to say who he or she is, I think a person’s skin color is irrelevant to who they are as a person. There was a time that we needed to track this as there was a rampant racial inequality, but in today’s world, this is not much of a factor largely. You can make the choses for yourself to become who you want to be and you have the opportunity to go where you want to go in your life if you are willing to work for it. As I have explored this topic, I find that we as Americans are more accepting of a multiracial culture. We are not there yet but we are slowly moving that way, we will always have the few that will never accept this on all side, Black, White, Asian, and so on. This to me this sad that we have to deal with this type of person at times. I personal try to stay away from them as much as possible; you cannot change their minds or feelings on this topic. They seem to just want to live in their own world and will not change. These ones will fight you on every front so that the status queue never changes. This thinking does nothing but send us backwards, and dose not accomplish anything, buy promote hatred between us. Even in congress you find this, they want to keep us separated and divided. Therefore, they can say that it is because of their race that they need to pass this law or that it is way they are not able to have a good life. I will not argue that there is still some racism in our country and I do not think we will totally erase it from our country. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva (2012) who in his article speaks mainly about racial grammar but dose make a statement about interracial marriage and children of interracial couples and said” that we did not have systematic data to assess if the children of interracial couples suffer more in life than other children”. Though he has his thoughts on racism, I find that I disagree with some of what he is saying. I in my everyday observation I find that we are moving towards a color blind nation, not real fast but we are moving that way. Many people feel that the racism has moved underground, and that it will be harder to eradicate, Daniel, R. (2001). With the population of mixed racial people growing in the nation the point of racism will be out dated, when as a nation we will stop looking a color and race, and look at people for who they are. In the U.S., we are a melting pot of the world and where anyone can climb as high as they want to with hard work and determination. The multiracial people find themselves living in two worlds as they look at both sides of their heritage. I think that it is a good thing that they learn as much as they can about their heritage. As this will make them better people as they live there life and I feel will be one of the reason that we will eventually do away with the racial, and ethic tags, as I do not see this happening in my lifetime. We find ourselves battling this question about whether are not we need to get rid of the tags, or modify them is going to be around for a very long time. As the government is not going to want to change this anytime soon, as it provides a platform for them to run on for office, they also use it to make new programs and entitlements based on the information they revive from polling, and studies that they do. In conclusion as to question, should we still have racial classifications in the U.S., we become more, and more blended labels may become outdated.
Will this come about I believe that it will. We as Americans are becoming a more accepting nation as we grow further into a multiracial nation we will find ourselves with no one race but a multitude of people with more than one race and ethnic background. From all the research that I have done I have found that we will need to look at this as a good thing, even though not all of the people of this nation will see it this way. I have found that the groups that are fighting for the multiracial people are doing a great job in helping them in their fight. I have also seen that the mono racial groups have not been very helpful when it comes to the multiracial issues, as they would not support them in their fight. I am of Native American, And European background; I do identify myself as such as with anyone of mixed race or ethical background should. We should be proud of who we are and never be ashamed of being mixed. In the modern world of today, we are more accepted today than we were 20 years ago, or back in the 50 and 60’s. When it come to the question that posed at the start of this paper do we need to continue to use the racial tags that the government makes us use in our everyday life, are they really necessary and relevant to our world today. This is the question, which we all as Americans need to ask ourselves, and find out
what the answer will be if we are honest with ourselves. If we are honest with ourselves, this is the only way we can find the answer to this question that I posed.
References
2004. "THE RACE MYTH: Why We Pretend Race Exists in America (Book)." Kirkus Reviews 72, no. 7: 309-310. Literary Reference Center Plus, EBSCOhost (accessed July 7, 2013).
Daniel, R. (2001). More Than Black? : Multiracial Identity and the New Racial Order. Temple University Press. Philadelphia, PA. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/ashford/docDetail.action?docID=10400508
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva (2012) The invisible weight of whiteness: the racial grammar of everyday life in contemporary America, Ethnic and Racial Studies,
35:2, 173-194, DOI: 10.1080/01419870.2011.613997. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2011.613997
Elam, M. (n.d.). Exploring the Popularization of the Mixed Race American, retrieved from http://humanexperience.stanford.edu/mixedrace
Nuttgens, S. (2010). Biracial Identity Theory and Research Juxtaposed with Narrative Accounts of a Biracial Individual. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 27(5)
RAMPELL, C. (2012). Mixed-Race America. The New York Times, Retrieved from http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/mixed-race-america/?_r=0 Williams, K. M. (2008). Mark one or more: Civil rights in multiracial America. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. bh
.