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Multiracial Americans

It's a shame you need me to hold your hand through this. Fine. Let's get this over with. Don't expect any pleasantries.

Multiracial Americans

Multiracial Americans, a designation that also encompasses mixed-race Americans, are those individuals who trace their lineage to two or more distinct racial backgrounds. This classification can extend to individuals of mixed racial heritage who, despite their diverse ancestry, culturally and socially align with a single racial group, a phenomenon sometimes influenced by historical social constructs like the one-drop rule. As of the 2020 United States census, a significant portion of the population, precisely 33.8 million individuals, identified as multiracial, constituting 10.2% of the nation's total populace. It's worth noting that empirical evidence suggests a genetic analysis might reveal an even higher number of individuals with mixed racial ancestry.

The multiracial demographic stands out as the most rapidly expanding segment of the American population, experiencing a staggering increase of 276% between the years 2010 and 2020. This surge is largely attributable to Hispanic or Latino Americans increasingly identifying as multiracial. Their numbers swelled from 3 million in 2010 to over 20 million by 2020, thereby accounting for nearly two-thirds of the entire multiracial population. A significant portion of these multiracial Hispanics identified with a combination of White Americans and "some other race," a category that saw an exponential rise from 1.6 million to 24 million between 2010 and 2021. While natural demographic growth has contributed to the multiracial population over the past few decades, with an increase of approximately 32% from 2000 to 2010, the dramatic 276% leap in the 2020 census is primarily attributed to methodological shifts in how the Census Bureau counts write-in ancestry responses, rather than solely demographic or cultural transformations.

The enduring influence of historical racial stratification systems, such as those that arose from the admixture between white European colonists and Native Americans, often led individuals to adopt or be assigned a single ethnic identity, typically aligned with the dominant culture in which they were raised. Prior to the mid-20th century, societal pressures and widespread racial discrimination against minority groups compelled many individuals to conceal their multiracial heritage. Consequently, while a substantial number of Americans may possess multiracial ancestry, they may not be aware of it or identify with it culturally, much like one might not actively maintain all the diverse traditions stemming from a variety of national ancestries.

A notable milestone was the election of Barack Obama, whose parentage comprised an African Kenyan father and a European American mother, making him the first mixed-race American to hold the office of president of the United States.

Following a protracted era of formal racial segregation that persisted in the post-Reconstruction Era South, and amidst pervasive bans on interracial marriage in various parts of the country, there has been a discernible trend toward the open formation of interracial unions. This societal evolution, coupled with changing social dynamics, has led many multiracial individuals to question the perceived social advantage of attempting to "pass" as White Americans. Furthermore, increased immigration has introduced a greater diversity of mixed-race populations into the United States, including a substantial number of Hispanics. Since the 1980s, the United States has witnessed the emergence of a growing multiracial identity movement, exemplified by initiatives like Loving Day. The persistent assertion by an increasing number of Americans for the right to acknowledge their mixed racial origins culminated in the 2000 census, which, for the first time, allowed respondents to select more than one ethno-racial identity, thereby enabling them to identify as multiracial. In 2008, Barack Obama, whose lineage includes Luo (Kenyan) and Scottish heritage, was elected as the first biracial President of the United States; he openly acknowledges both sides of his family and identifies as African-American.

Presently, multiracial individuals are a recognized presence across all regions of the nation. Prominent multiracial groups within the United States include many African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, Latino Americans, Métis Americans, Louisiana Creoles, Hapas, Melungeons, and various other communities predominantly located in the Eastern United States. A significant number of Native Americans possess multiracial ancestry while maintaining a full identification as members of federally recognized tribes.

History

For further details, refer to Jim Crow laws, Miscegenation, Mulatto, Colored, and Interracial marriage in the United States.

The American populace is largely comprised of multi-ethnic descendants from a variety of culturally distinct immigrant groups, many of whom have since established their own nations. Some of these individuals embrace a multiracial identity, acknowledging race as a social construct. Processes of Creolization, assimilation, and integration have been ongoing throughout American history. The Civil Rights Movement and subsequent social reform movements in the latter half of the 20th century were instrumental in striving for social justice and the equitable application of civil rights under the Constitution for all ethnic groups. In the early 2000s, less than 5% of the population identified as multiracial. In many instances, mixed racial ancestry is so deeply embedded in an individual's family history—perhaps predating the Civil War or even earlier—that it no longer significantly influences more recent ethnic and cultural identifications.

Interracial relationships, including common-law unions and formal marriages, have been a historical reality in North America and the United States since the earliest colonial years, particularly before the hardening of slavery into a racial caste system associated with individuals of African descent in Colonial America. Several of the Thirteen Colonies enacted laws during the 17th century that stipulated the social status of a child would be determined by that of their mother, adhering to the principle of partus sequitur ventrem, irrespective of the father's race or citizenship. This legal shift deviated from the precedent in common law where a father's status determined that of his children, a system that had previously enabled communities to demand paternal support for offspring, whether legitimate or not. The alteration in law effectively amplified the ability of white men to engage in sexual relations with enslaved women without assuming responsibility for the resulting children. As both master and father of mixed-race children born into slavery, these men could utilize them as laborers or servants, or even sell them into bondage. In certain cases, white fathers did provide for their multiracial offspring, arranging for their education or apprenticeships and granting them freedom, particularly in the two decades following the Revolutionary War. This practice of providing for children was more prevalent in French and Spanish colonies, where a distinct class of free people of color emerged, many of whom attained education and property ownership. However, many other white fathers abandoned their mixed-race children and their mothers to the condition of slavery.

Researcher Paul Heinegg's findings indicate that the majority of families identified as free people of color during the colonial era originated from unions between white women, whether free or indentured servants, and African men, who could be enslaved, indentured, or free. In the nascent stages of colonization, individuals from different working classes cohabited and collaborated. Their children, born to free white mothers, were consequently free. This pattern contrasted with the post-Revolutionary era, during which most mixed-race children had white fathers and Black mothers.

Anti-miscegenation laws were enacted in most states throughout the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. Despite these legal prohibitions, they did not deter white slaveholders, their male relatives, or other influential white men from engaging in relationships with enslaved women, fathering multiracial children. In California and the broader American West, a larger presence of Latin American and Asian residents existed. These groups were often legally barred from forming official unions with white individuals. White legislators subsequently enacted statutes explicitly prohibiting marriage between European and Asian Americans, measures that remained in effect until the 1950s.

Early United States History

The history of interracial relationships in North America and the United States is deeply rooted, commencing with the intermingling of European explorers and soldiers who formed unions with Indigenous women. As European settlement expanded, traders and fur trappers frequently married or formed relationships with women from native tribes. In the 17th century, facing a persistent and critical labor shortage, colonists, predominantly in the Chesapeake Bay Colony, began importing Africans as laborers, initially as indentured servants and increasingly as enslaved individuals. European colonists also imported African slaves into ports like New York and other northern locations. Some African slaves were granted freedom by their enslavers during these early periods.

During the colonial years, a period characterized by more fluid social structures, white women, whether free or indentured servants, formed unions with African men, who could be servants, indentured, or free. Because the women were free, their mixed-race children were born free. These children and their descendants constituted the majority of families identified as free people of color during the colonial period in Virginia. Scholar Paul Heinegg's research indicates that eighty percent of the free people of color enumerated in North Carolina censuses between 1790 and 1810 could be traced to families that were already free in Virginia during the colonial era.

In 1789, Olaudah Equiano, a former slave from what is now Nigeria who had experienced enslavement in North America, published his autobiography. Within this work, he advocated for interracial marriage between white and Black individuals. By the close of the eighteenth century, visitors to the Upper South observed a significant proportion of enslaved individuals of mixed racial heritage, a clear indication of miscegenation involving white men.

The first federal population census was conducted in the United States in 1790. Enumerators were instructed to classify free residents into two categories: white or "other." Prior to 1850, only the heads of households were identified by name in the federal census. Native Americans were categorized under "Other"; in subsequent censuses, they were included as "Free people of color" if they were not residing on Indian reservations. Enslaved individuals were counted separately from free persons in all censuses until the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. In later censuses, individuals of African descent were classified based on their appearance as mulatto—a designation that acknowledged visible European ancestry in addition to African—or as Black.

Following the American Revolutionary War, the number and proportion of free people of color experienced a marked increase in both the North and the South as formerly enslaved individuals gained their freedom. Most northern states moved to abolish slavery, with some, like New York, implementing programs of gradual emancipation that extended over two decades for completion. The final enslaved individuals in New York were not freed until 1827. In the context of the Second Great Awakening, Quaker and Methodist preachers in the South urged slaveholders to manumit their slaves. Revolutionary ideals inspired many individuals to free their slaves, some through direct action and others through their wills, resulting in a rise in the percentage of free people of color from less than one percent to nearly 10 percent of the Black population in the South between 1782 and 1810.

19th Century: American Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow

The historical record is replete with relationships between male slaveholders, overseers, or sons of masters and enslaved women. Perhaps one of the most widely recognized instances is that of President Thomas Jefferson and his enslaved companion, Sally Hemings. As detailed in the 2012 collaborative Smithsonian-Monticello exhibit, "Slavery at Monticello: The Paradox of Liberty," Jefferson, a widower at the time, maintained a relationship with Hemings for nearly 40 years, resulting in six children of record. Four of these Hemings children survived into adulthood, and Jefferson ultimately freed all of them, a rare act among the few slaves he manumitted. Two were permitted to "escape" to the North in 1822, and two were granted their freedom by his will upon his death in 1826. These four Hemings children, who were seven-eighths white by ancestry, relocated to northern states as adults. Three of the four integrated into the white community, and all of their descendants identified as white. While the descendants of Madison Hemings who continued to identify as Black saw some later generations eventually identify as white and "[marry out]," others maintained their African American identity. Identifying as white was socially advantageous for the Hemings children, aligning with their appearance and the majority of their ancestry. Despite being born into slavery, the Hemings children were legally considered white under the prevailing Virginia law of the period.

20th Century

Racial discrimination continued to be codified into new laws throughout the 20th century. A prime example is the one-drop rule, which was formally enacted in Virginia's Racial Integrity Law and subsequently adopted by other southern states. This legislative push was partly influenced by the prevailing popularity of eugenics and notions of racial purity. Many families harbored fading memories of their multiracial ancestry, with numerous families being inherently multiracial. Similar laws had been proposed but not passed in earlier decades in states such as South Carolina and Virginia. Following the reassertion of political power by white Democrats in Southern states, achieved through the disenfranchisement of Black voters, these legislatures enacted laws to implement Jim Crow segregation and reinforce white supremacy. These measures remained in effect until they were dismantled in the 1960s and beyond, largely due to the enforcement of federal legislation that provided oversight of state practices to safeguard the constitutional rights of African Americans and other minority citizens.

In 1967, the United States Supreme Court landmark decision in Loving v. Virginia declared that anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional.

Throughout the 20th century, up until 1989, social service organizations generally assigned multiracial children to the racial identity of their minority parent. This practice reflected prevailing social norms of hypodescent. Black social workers exerted influence on court decisions and regulations pertaining to identity. They argued that, given the child's social perception as Black, classifying them as such would facilitate their identification with the group and equip them to navigate racial discrimination.

By 1990, the Census Bureau had expanded its census forms to include over a dozen ethnic and racial categories. This reflected not only evolving societal perceptions of ethnicity but also the diverse array of immigrants drawn to the United States by changing historical circumstances and new immigration laws enacted in the 1960s. Amidst societal transformation, a growing number of citizens began to advocate for the recognition of multiracial ancestry. The Census Bureau subsequently revised its data collection methods to permit individuals to self-identify with more than one ethnicity. Certain ethnic groups expressed concerns regarding the potential political and economic ramifications, as federal assistance allocated to historically underserved groups was contingent upon Census data. According to the Census Bureau, as of 2002, a substantial 75% of all African Americans possessed multiracial ancestries.

The proportion of acknowledged multiracial individuals in the United States continues to grow. Interracial partnerships are on the rise, as are transracial adoptions. In 1990, approximately 14% of individuals aged 18 to 19, 12% of those aged 20 to 21, and 7% of those aged 34 to 35 were involved in interracial relationships (Joyner and Kao, 2005). The prevalence of interracial marriages as a proportion of all new marriages increased from 11% in 2010 to 19% in 2019.

Demographics

This section requires updating to incorporate recent events and newly available data. (June 2024)

According to estimates from the 2022 American Community Survey, the population identifying with multiple races in the U.S. numbered 41,782,288, representing 12.5% of the total population. If responses that combine "some other race" with a single recognized category are excluded, this figure decreases to 13,658,099, or 4.1% of the population. Notably, almost 90% of individuals identifying as "some other race" in combination with another category were Hispanic/Latino in 2022. This group constituted over 90% of the multiracial Hispanic population and more than half of the entire multiracial population in the U.S. The primary multiracial groupings in the U.S. in 2022 were as follows:

Combination Number as of 2022 % Total
White and "Some Other Race" 26,317,236 7.9%
White and Black 3,831,683 1.1%
White and Native American 3,012,849 0.9%
White and Asian 2,865,504 0.9%
Black and "Some Other Race" 1,194,056 0.4%
Black and Native American 464,679 0.1%
Native American and "Some Other Race" 338,757 0.1%
Black and Asian 300,787 0.1%
White and Pacific Islander 247,141 0.1%
Three races 2,298,469 0.7%
Four races 256,913 0.1%

Multiracial people who desired to acknowledge their full heritage achieved a form of recognition in 1997 when the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) revised federal regulations concerning racial categories to permit multiple responses. This change directly influenced the United States Census of 2000, allowing participants to select more than one of the six available categories: "White," "Black or African-American," "Asian," "American Indian or Alaskan Native," "Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander," and "Other." Further elaboration on this topic can be found in the article Race and ethnicity in the United States Census. The OMB mandated this directive for all government forms by 2003.

In 2000, Cindy Rodriguez documented the reactions to the new census methodology:

To many mainline civil rights groups, the new census is part of a multiracial nightmare. After decades of framing racial issues in stark black and white terms, they fear that the multiracial movement will break down longstanding alliances, weakening people of color by splintering them into new subgroups.

Some multiracial individuals experience feelings of marginalization within U.S. society. For instance, when applying to educational institutions or for employment, or when taking standardized tests, Americans are often presented with checkboxes corresponding to race or ethnicity, typically with the instruction to "check only one." While certain surveys include an "other" box, this option tends to aggregate individuals from diverse multiracial backgrounds, potentially grouping together those of European American/African American heritage with those of Asian/Native American Indian descent. [Citation needed].

The 2000 U.S. Census included a standardized list for write-in responses, facilitating the automatic categorization of various write-in entries within the established U.S. Census racial framework. While most responses could be clearly assigned to one of the five enumerated races, certain write-in responses fell under the "Mixture" heading and could not be definitively categorized racially. These included terms such as "Bi Racial, Combination, Everything, Many, Mixed, Multi National, Multiple, Several, and Various."

In 1997, Greg Mayeda, then a board member for the Hapa Issues Forum, voiced his opposition to a standalone multiracial category during a meeting concerning the new racial classifications for the 2000 U.S. Census. He advocated for multiracial individuals to be counted in accordance with all of their respective races, arguing:

A separate Multiracial Box does not allow a person who identifies as mixed race the opportunity to be counted accurately. After all, we are not just mixed race. We are representatives of all racial groups and should be counted as such. A stand alone Multiracial Box reveals very little about the person's background checking it.

US Census Reporting of Two or Mixed Races 2010–2017

Analysis of the 2000 Census data by James P. Allen and Eugene Turner of California State University, Northridge, revealed that the majority of multiracial individuals identified as being partly white. The breakdown was as follows:

  • White/Native American and Alaskan Native: 7,015,017
  • White/Black: 737,492
  • White/Asian: 727,197
  • White/Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 125,628

In 2010, 1.6 million Americans indicated both "Black" and "White" on their census forms, a figure representing a 134% increase compared to the previous decade. The rising number of interracial marriages and relationships, coupled with an increase in transracial and international adoptions, has contributed to a growing proportion of multiracial families. Furthermore, an increasing number of individuals are identifying with multiple ancestries as this concept gains broader societal acceptance.

Multiracial American Identity

For further information, see Biracial and multiracial identity development and Multiracialism.

Political History

Despite a long history of miscegenation across the U.S. political landscape and the American continent, advocacy for a distinct social race classification to acknowledge direct or recent multiracial parentage did not emerge until the 1970s. Following the Civil Rights Era and the significant integration of African-Americans into predominantly European-American institutions and residential areas, it became more socially permissible for women identifying as white to date, marry, and have children with non-white men. This evolving trend spurred a political movement advocating for the offspring of interracial unions to fully inherit the social race classifications of both parents, regardless of the maternal parent's racial classification. This advocacy stood in direct contrast to the practice prevalent in the United States since the early 1800s, where a newborn's racial classification defaulted to that of their mother, with specific classifications varying by state over the preceding two centuries. In some states, having three-quarters African ancestry determined African identity, while in others, the criteria were more or less stringent. The hypodescent or one-drop rule, which defined an individual as Black if they had any known African ancestor, was adopted by Virginia in 1924. However, this rule was not legally adopted by states like South Carolina and Louisiana, where Creole populations existed or had been slaveholders. White supremacists, in effect, practiced the one-drop rule during the era of chattel slavery, assigning the racial classification of offspring born to white male slave masters and enslaved women to the status of slaves, thereby disregarding paternal lineage. Similarly, laws were enacted to penalize free individuals of mixed heritage, treating them identically to free Black men and women and denying them fundamental rights. For instance, voting rights, which free Black individuals could and did exercise under French rule, were rescinded shortly after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Approximately ten percent of the enslaved population, according to contemporary observers, appeared white but were known to have African ancestors. Following the abolition of slavery, many of these individuals assimilated into the white population simply by relocating. Walter White, who served as President of the NAACP in the 1920s, reported that passing for white between 1880 and 1920 involved approximately 400,000 descendants of slaves. (See Helen Catterall, editor, Judicial Cases Concerning American Slavery and the Negro, 5 Volumes, 1935, and A Man Called White, autobiography by Walter White, first President of NAACP.)

Contemporary Interracial Marriage

For further information, see Interracial marriage in the United States and Loving v. Virginia.

In 2009, Keith Bardwell, a justice of the peace in Robert, Louisiana, refused to officiate a wedding for an interracial couple, leading to a federal lawsuit. See Refusal of interracial marriage in Louisiana.

Approximately 15% of all new marriages in the United States in 2010 were between spouses of different races or ethnicities, more than double the share recorded in 1980 (6.7%).

Multiracial Families and Identity Issues

Given the diverse familial and social environments in which multiracial children are raised, along with the variety in their appearance and heritage, making broad generalizations about their challenges or opportunities is not particularly useful. A 1989 article by Charlotte Nitary highlighted that parents of mixed-race children often grappled with how to guide their children's identity. They faced decisions on whether to teach them to identify solely with the non-white parent's race, to disregard social race altogether, or to embrace the racial identities of both parents.

The social identity of children and their parents within the same multiracial family can vary or be congruent. Some multiracial children experience pressure from various sources to "choose" a single racial identity or to identify exclusively with one. Others may feel compelled not to abandon one or more of their ethnicities, particularly if they feel a strong cultural connection to them.

Some children grow up with race not being a significant factor in their lives, as they identify against the one-drop-rule construct. This approach to acknowledging plural racial heritage is something U.S. society has slowly adapted to, with the prevailing consensus among monoracially identified individuals being that a plural racial identity represents a choice and potentially implies disingenuous motives against the more oppressed inherited racial identity. By the 1990s, as an increasing number of multiracial identified students attended colleges and universities, many encountered alienation from culturally and racially homogenous groups on campus. This national trend led to the establishment of numerous multiracial campus organizations across the country. By the 2000s, these efforts for self-identification extended beyond educational institutions into mainstream society.

In her book Love's Revolution: Interracial Marriage, Maria P. P. Root suggests that in cases where interracial parents divorce, their mixed-race children can become a source of tension in situations where the custodial parent remarries into a union that emphasizes racial identity.

Some multiracial individuals attempt to establish new identity categories. For example, the athlete Tiger Woods has stated that he identifies not only as African-American but also as "Cablinasian," reflecting his heritage of Caucasian, African-American, Native American, and Asian descent.

Native American Identity

For further information, see Boricua, Chicano, Cherokee, Choctaw, Genetic history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Haliwa-Saponi, Lumbee, and Houma people.

In the 2010 Census, nearly 3 million individuals indicated Native American (including Alaska Native) as their race. Of these, over 27% specifically identified "Cherokee" as their ethnic origin. Many individuals within the First Families of Virginia claim descent from Pocahontas or other purported "Indian princess" figures. This phenomenon has been termed the "Cherokee Syndrome." Across the United States, numerous individuals cultivate an opportunistic ethnic identity as Native American, sometimes through Cherokee heritage groups or participation in Indian Wedding Blessings.

The levels of Native American ancestry, distinct from Native American identity, vary. Genetic analyses show that the genomes of self-reported African Americans average 0.8% Native American ancestry, while those of European Americans average 0.18%, and Latinos average 18.0%.

Many tribes, particularly those situated in the Eastern United States, are primarily composed of individuals with an unambiguous Native American identity, despite possessing a predominantly European ancestry. For instance, over 75% of those enrolled in the Cherokee Nation have less than one-quarter Cherokee blood. Bill John Baker, former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, is 1/32 Cherokee, equating to approximately 3%.

Historically, non-Native governments imposed policies on numerous Native Americans, compelling them to assimilate into colonial and subsequent American society through measures such as language shifts and conversions to Christianity. In many instances, this process involved the forced assimilation of children sent to special boarding schools far from their families. Those who could "pass" for white benefited from white privilege. Today, following generations of racial whitening through hypergamy, a number of Native Americans may exhibit fair skin comparable to White Americans.

Native Americans are more likely than any other racial group to engage in racial exogamy, resulting in a progressively declining proportion of indigenous blood among those who claim a Native American identity. Some tribes have initiated the disenrollment of tribal members who cannot provide verifiable proof of Native ancestry, typically through a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood. Disenrollment has become a contentious issue within Native American reservation politics.

Native American Lineage and Admixture in Black and African-Americans

For further information, see Black Indians in the United States, Black Seminoles, Brass Ankles, Cherokee Freedman, Choctaw Freedmen, Louisiana Creole people, Mardi Gras Indians, We-Sorts, Redbone (ethnicity), and hypodescent.

Interracial relations between Native Americans and African-Americans constitute a significant, yet often overlooked, aspect of American history. The earliest recorded interactions between Africans and Native Americans in the Americas date back to April 1502, with the arrival of the first kidnapped Africans on Hispaniola for enslavement. Some of these individuals escaped, and in the interior of Santo Domingo, the first Black Indians were born. Furthermore, an instance of African slaves escaping from European colonists and being absorbed by Native American tribes occurred as early as 1526. In June of that year, Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón established a Spanish colony near the mouth of the Pee Dee River in present-day South Carolina. This settlement, named San Miguel de Gualdape, included 100 enslaved Africans. In 1526, the first African slaves fled the colony and sought refuge with local Native Americans.

European colonists entered into treaties with Native American tribes, requesting the return of any runaway slaves. For example, in 1726, the governor of New York secured a promise from the Iroquois to return all runaway slaves who had joined them. A similar agreement was obtained from the Huron people in 1764, and from the Delaware people in 1765, though no records indicate that any slaves were ever returned. Numerous advertisements were published seeking the return of African-Americans who had married Native Americans or who spoke a Native American language. The primary context for interaction between Native Americans and Africans was the institution of slavery. Native Americans observed that Africans possessed what they considered 'Great Medicine' within their bodies, as Africans exhibited a near immunity to the Old-World diseases that were decimating most native populations. Consequently, many tribes encouraged intermarriage between the two groups to foster stronger, healthier offspring.

For African-Americans, the one-drop rule played a crucial role in fostering ethnic solidarity. Regardless of their multiracial admixture or social/economic standing, African-Americans generally shared common objectives within society. Moreover, African-Americans found it exceedingly difficult to learn about their Native American heritage, as many family elders withheld critical genealogical information. Tracing the genealogy of African-Americans can be a formidable undertaking, particularly for descendants of Native Americans, given that enslaved African-Americans were prohibited from learning to read and write, and a majority of Native Americans neither spoke nor wrote English.

Native American Lineage and Admixture in White and European-Americans

For further information, see Boricua, Chicano, Métis in the United States, hyperdescent, and Slavery among Native Americans in the United States.

Interracial relationships between Native Americans and Europeans commenced from the earliest periods of colonization. The European impact was immediate, far-reaching, and profound—more so than that of any other race that interacted with Native Americans during the initial phases of colonization and the formation of the nation.

Some early European male settlers married Native American women or formed informal unions with them. Initial encounters between Native Americans and Europeans were often fraught with tension, but also included instances of friendship, cooperation, and intimacy. Several marriages occurred within European colonies between European men and Native women. For example, on April 5, 1614, Pocahontas, a Powhatan woman from present-day Virginia, married the Virginian colonist John Rolfe of Jamestown, Virginia. Their son, Thomas Rolfe, became an ancestor to numerous descendants within the First Families of Virginia. Consequently, discriminatory laws (such as those targeting African Americans) often excluded Native Americans during this period. In the early 19th century, Sacagawea, a Native American woman who served as a translator and guide for the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the West, married the French-Canadian trapper Toussaint Charbonneau.

Some Europeans who resided among Native Americans were referred to as "White Indians." They "lived in native communities for years, learned native languages fluently, attended native councils, and often fought alongside their native companions." European traders and trappers frequently married Native American women from frontier tribes, establishing families with them. These marriages were sometimes motivated by political alliances between Native American tribes and European traders. Certain traders, maintaining bases in cities, had what were termed "country wives" among Native Americans, while maintaining legal European-American wives and families back in the city. Not all of these men abandoned their mixed-race children. Some arranged for their sons to receive education in European-American schools. Early European colonists were predominantly men, and Native American women were vulnerable to rape or sexual harassment, particularly if they were enslaved.

The majority of marriages between Europeans and Native Americans involved European men and Native American women. The social identity of the children was significantly shaped by the tribe's kinship system, which determined the ease with which a child could be assimilated into the tribe. Among the matrilineal tribes of the Southeast, such as the Creek and Cherokee, mixed-race children were generally accepted and identified as Indian, deriving their social status from their mother's clans and tribes, and often growing up under the care of their mothers and male relatives. In contrast, among the patrilineal Omaha, for example, the child of a white man and an Omaha woman was considered "white." While such mixed-race children and their mothers received protection, the children could only formally belong to the tribe as members if adopted by a man.

In those years, a Native American man was required to obtain consent from the European parents to marry a white woman. When such marriages were approved, it was stipulated that "he can prove to support her as a white woman in a good home."

In the early twentieth century in the West, "intermarried whites" were listed in a separate category on the Dawes Rolls, which identified tribal members for land allocation following the division of tribal communal lands in Indian Territory. This practice incentivized intermarriage, as some white men wed Native Americans to gain control of land. In the late 19th century, three middle-class European-American female teachers married Native American men they met at Hampton Institute during the period when the institution operated its Indian program. In the late nineteenth century, Charles Eastman, a physician of Sioux and European ancestry who trained at Boston University, married Elaine Goodale, a European-American woman from New England. They met and worked together in Dakota Territory, where she served as Superintendent of Indian Education and he was a physician for the reservations. His maternal grandfather was Seth Eastman, an artist and Army officer from New England, who had married a Sioux woman and had a daughter with her while stationed at Fort Snelling in Minnesota.

Black and African-American Identity

For further information, see Atlantic Creole, Brass Ankles, Chestnut Ridge people, Free people of color, High yellow, Hypodescent, Louisiana Creole people, Melungeon, Mulatto, Redbone (ethnicity), and We-Sorts.

Singer and actress Mariah Carey, born to parents of African-American and Irish-American lineage, identifies as both Black and mixed-race.

Due to historical factors such as slavery, the principle of partus sequitur ventrem, the one-eighth law, and the one-drop rule codified in 20th-century legislation, Americans with sub-Saharan African ancestry have frequently been classified as Black (historically) or African-American, even when possessing significant European-American or Native American ancestry. As slavery evolved into a racial caste system, individuals enslaved and others with any African ancestry were classified through a system known as "hypodescent," which assigned them the status of the lower-status ethnic group. Many individuals of predominantly European ancestry and appearance "married white" and assimilated into white society to gain social and economic advantages. This pattern is evident in generations of families identified as Melungeons, who are now generally classified as white but are genetically demonstrated to possess European and sub-Saharan African ancestry.

Individuals of mixed Native American and African-American descent sometimes report that elder family members withheld pertinent genealogical information. Tracing the genealogy of African-Americans can be exceedingly difficult, especially for descendants of Native Americans, because enslaved African-Americans were denied literacy, and most Native Americans did not speak or write English. Census records did not identify slaves by name before the American Civil War, meaning most African Americans did not appear by name in those records. Furthermore, many white fathers who engaged in sexual relations with enslaved women, even in long-term relationships like that of Thomas Jefferson with Sally Hemings, did not acknowledge their mixed-race slave children in official records, thus obscuring paternity.

Colonial records detailing French and Spanish slave ships and sales, along with plantation records across all former colonies, often contain more comprehensive information about enslaved individuals, which researchers are using to reconstruct slave family histories. Genealogists have begun to utilize plantation records, court documents, land deeds, and other sources to trace African-American families and individuals prior to 1870. Given that slaves were generally forbidden from learning to read and write, Black families relied on oral histories, which have shown remarkable persistence. Similarly, Native Americans generally did not learn to read or write English, although some acquired these skills in the nineteenth century. Until 1930, census enumerators employed the terms free people of color and mulatto to categorize individuals of apparent mixed race. When these terms were subsequently eliminated, following lobbying efforts by the Southern Congressional bloc, the Census Bureau reverted to using only binary classifications of Black or white, mirroring the practice in segregated southern states.

In the 1980s, parents of mixed-race children began organizing and lobbying for the inclusion of a more inclusive term for racial designation that would accurately reflect their children's heritage. When the U.S. government proposed the addition of a "biracial" or "multiracial" category in 1988, public response was largely negative. Certain African-American organizations and political leaders, such as Congresswoman Diane Watson and Congressman Augustus Hawkins, expressed strong opposition to the category, fearing a loss of political and economic power if the African-American population decreased due to self-identification in this new category.

Since the 1990s and 2000s, the terms mixed race, multiracial, and biracial have gained wider currency in society. However, in the United States, unlike in some other countries with a history of slavery, it remains most common for individuals perceived as "African" in appearance to identify solely as "Black" or "African-American" for cultural, social, and familial reasons.

President Barack Obama, who is of European-American and East African ancestry, identifies as African-American. A 2007 poll conducted during Obama's presidential candidacy revealed differing classifications among Americans: a majority of White and Hispanic respondents classified him as biracial, whereas a majority of African-Americans classified him as Black.

A 2003 study indicated an average of 18.6% (±1.5%) European admixture in a sample population of 416 African-Americans from Washington, D.C. Studies conducted on populations in other regions have yielded varying percentages of ethnicity.

Twenty percent of African-Americans exhibit more than 25% European ancestry, reflecting the extensive history of unions between these groups. The "mostly African" segment is substantially African, with 70% of African-Americans in this group having less than 15% European ancestry. The 20% of African Americans categorized as "mostly mixed" (representing 2.7% of the U.S. population) possess between 25% and 50% European ancestry.

The assertion by writer Sherrel W. Stewart that "most" African-Americans possess significant Native American heritage is not corroborated by genetic researchers who have conducted extensive population mapping studies. The television series on African-American ancestry, hosted by scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., featured genetics scholars who discussed in detail the diverse ancestries among African-Americans. They noted that a popular belief in a high rate of Native American admixture is not supported by the collected data. [Citation needed].

Genetic testing that analyzes direct male and female lines evaluates only direct lineage, without accounting for numerous other ancestors. For this reason, participants on Gates' show underwent more comprehensive DNA testing.

The critic Troy Duster, writing in The Chronicle of Higher Education, suggested that Gates' series African American Lives should have provided viewers with more information regarding the limitations of genetic SNP testing. He posits that not all ancestry may be discernible through these tests, particularly for individuals claiming partial Native American descent. Other experts concur with this assessment.

Population testing is ongoing. Some Native American groups that have been sampled may not share the specific marker patterns being sought. Geneticists acknowledge that DNA testing currently cannot distinguish among members of different cultural Native American nations. While there is genetic evidence for three major migrations into North America, it does not extend to more recent historical differentiation. Furthermore, not all Native Americans have been tested, leaving scientists uncertain about whether Native Americans possess only the identified genetic markers.

Admixture

For main articles, see Admixture in the United States, Miscegenation, One-drop rule, and African Americans.

On census forms, the government relies on individuals' self-identification. Contemporary African-Americans exhibit varying degrees of admixture with European (and other) ancestry, as well as diverse levels of Native American ancestry. In addition to possessing 8% Asian and 19.6% European ancestry, African-Americans sampled in 2010 were found to be 72.5% African; the Asian ancestry in this context serves as a proxy for Native American.

Numerous free African-American families trace their origins to unions between white women and African men in colonial Virginia. Their free descendants migrated to the frontier regions of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina during the 18th and 19th centuries. Similar free families also existed in Delaware and Maryland, as documented by Paul Heinegg.

Moreover, many Native American women formed relationships with African-American men due to a decline in the Native American male population resulting from disease and warfare. Some Native American women purchased African slaves, but unbeknownst to the European sellers, these women freed the African men and married them into their respective tribes. If an African-American man fathered children with a Native American woman, those children were free by virtue of their mother's status.

In their efforts to uphold white supremacy decades after emancipation, most southern states enacted laws based on the one-drop rule in the early 20th century, defining individuals with any known African ancestry as Black. This represented a stricter interpretation than that which had prevailed in the 19th century, disregarding the numerous mixed families within the state and contradicting commonly accepted social norms of judging individuals by appearance and association. Some courts referred to this as "the traceable amount rule." Anthropologists characterized it as an instance of a hypodescent rule, signifying that racially mixed individuals were assigned the status of the socially subordinate group.

Prior to the implementation of the one-drop rule, different states had varying laws concerning racial classification. More significantly, social acceptance often played a more substantial role in how an individual was perceived and how identity was construed than any legal statute. In frontier areas, questions about origins were less frequently raised. The community assessed individuals based on their conduct, including their participation in the militia and their voting habits, which were considered indicators of free citizenship. When questions of racial identity arose, such as in inheritance disputes, litigation outcomes were frequently determined by how individuals were accepted by their neighbors.

The year 1920 marked the first time the U.S. Census omitted the mulatto category; enumerators were instructed that year to classify individuals solely as white or Black. This change was the result of lobbying efforts by the Southern-dominated Congress, which persuaded the Census Bureau to alter its classification rules.

Following the Civil War, racial segregation compelled African Americans to share a more common societal experience than they might have otherwise, given their widely varying ancestries and educational and economic levels. This binary division altered the distinct status previously held by the traditionally free people of color in Louisiana. Despite this, they maintained a strong Louisiana Creole culture, intertwined with French culture and language, and adhered to the practice of Catholicism. African Americans began to forge common cause, irrespective of their multiracial admixture or social and economic stratification. In the context of 20th-century changes, during the ascendancy of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, the African-American community intensified its own pressure for individuals of any African descent to be claimed by the Black community to enhance its collective power.

By the 1980s, parents of mixed-race children, alongside adults of mixed-race ancestry, began organizing and lobbying for the option to indicate more than one ethnic category on Census and other legal forms. They refused to be confined to a single category. When the U.S. government proposed the inclusion of a "biracial" or "multiracial" category in 1988, the public response was largely unfavorable. Some African-American organizations and political leaders, including Senator Diane Watson and Representative Augustus Hawkins, were particularly vocal in their opposition to the category, fearing a diminished political and economic influence if African-Americans were to abandon their singular group identity.

Reginald Daniel (2002) characterizes this reaction as "historical irony." The adoption of the African-American self-designation had been a response to the one-drop rule; however, individuals then resisted the opportunity to claim their multiple heritages. Underlying this resistance was a desire not to forfeit the political power associated with the larger group. Whereas previously individuals resisted being categorized into a single group irrespective of their diverse ancestries, now some within their own community sought to maintain that singular categorization.

Definition of African-American

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Since the late twentieth century, the number of African and Caribbean ethnic African immigrants in the United States has increased. Coupled with increased public awareness of President Barack Obama's ancestry—his father being from Kenya—some Black writers have argued for the need for new terminology for recent immigrants. There is a prevailing consensus suggesting that the term African-American should exclusively refer to descendants of American Colonial Era chattel slaves, encompassing various subsequent ethnic groups of Free People of Color who survived the Chattel Slavery Era in the United States. It has been recognized that grouping all Afro-descent ethnicities together, regardless of their unique ancestral circumstances, would disregard the lingering effects of slavery within the community of Descendants of American Colonial Era Chattel Slaves (DOS). A growing sentiment within the DOS population insists that ethnic African immigrants, along with all other Afro-descent individuals and descendants of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade—as well as those classified or self-designated as belonging to the Black race—should acknowledge their distinct familial, genealogical, ancestral, social, political, and cultural backgrounds.

Stanley Crouch, in a New York Daily News piece titled "What Obama Isn't: Black Like Me," wrote, "Obama's mother is of white U.S. stock. His father is a black Kenyan." During the 2008 campaign, the mixed-race columnist David Ehrenstein of the LA Times accused white liberals of flocking to Obama because he was a "Magic Negro," a term used to describe a Black person without a past who appears solely to advance the agenda of mainstream white society (seen as cultural protagonists/drivers). Ehrenstein further stated, "He's there to assuage white 'guilt' they feel over the role of slavery and racial segregation in American history."

In response to media criticism of Michelle Obama during the 2008 presidential election, Charles Steele Jr., CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, remarked, "Why are they attacking Michelle Obama and not really attacking, to that degree, her husband? Because he has no slave blood in him." He later claimed his comment was intended to be provocative but declined further elaboration. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (who was famously mistaken for a "recent American immigrant" by French President Nicolas Sarkozy) stated, "descendants of slaves did not get much of a head start, and I think you continue to see some of the effects of that." She has also rejected an immigrant designation for African-Americans, preferring the terms Black or white.

White and European-American Identity

For further information, see Admixture in the United States, Race and genetics, White Hispanic and Latino Americans, Amerasian, and hyperdescent.

Some of the most notable vague families include the Van Salees, Vanderbilts, Whitneys, Blacks, Cheswells, Newells, Battises, Bostons, and Eldings of the North; the Staffords, Gibsons, Locklears, Pendarvises, Driggers, Galphins, Fairfaxes, Grinsteads (Greenstead, Grinsted, and Grimsted), Johnsons, Timrods, and Darnalls of the South; and the Picos and Bushes of the West.

DNA analysis reveals varied results concerning non-European ancestry in self-identified White Americans. A 2003 DNA analysis indicated that approximately 30% of self-identified White Americans possess less than 90% European ancestry. A 2014 study utilizing data from 23andme customers found that the proportion of African or American Indian ancestry among White Americans varies significantly by region, with about 5% of White Americans residing in Louisiana and South Carolina exhibiting 2% or more African ancestry.

Biographical accounts include the autobiography Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black by [Gregory Howard Williams]; One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life—A Story of Race and Family Secrets written by Bliss Broyard about her father [Anatole Broyard]; the documentary Colored White Boy about a white man in North Carolina who discovers his descent from a white plantation owner and a raped African slave; and the documentary The Sanders Women of Shreveport, Louisiana.

  • George Herriman, born into a mixed-race Creole family, wore a hat to conceal his hair texture and sometimes identified himself as Greek, Turkish, or Irish. His death certificate listed him as Caucasian.
  • Patrick Francis Healy was born to an Irish-American plantation owner and his biracial slave. He and his siblings identified as white during their formative years, and most pursued careers in the Catholic Church in the North.
  • Carol Channing was born to a white mother and a father who was half African-American and German. She "passed" as white during the height of her career and later publicly acknowledged her mixed-race origins.
  • Mary Ellen Pleasant, born to a slave and the youngest son of James Pleasants, contributed significantly to the advancement of the abolitionist movement.

Racial Passing and Ambiguity

For the main article, see Passing (racial identity).

"Passing" is a phenomenon most commonly observed in the United States, wherein an individual who might legally or conventionally be classified as a member of one racial group is accepted or perceived as a member of another.

The concept of "passing as white" is often difficult to explain to individuals from other countries or to foreign students. Typical questions arise: "Shouldn't Americans state that a person passing as white is white or nearly all white and previously passed as Black?" or "To maintain consistency, shouldn't one say that someone who is one-eighth white is passing as Black?" A person with one-fourth or less American Indian or Korean or Filipino ancestry is not considered to be passing if they intermarry with and fully integrate into the dominant community, implying that minority ancestry need not be concealed. It is frequently suggested that the primary reason for this distinction is that the physical differences between these other groups and whites are less pronounced than those between African Blacks and whites, and therefore less threatening to whites. When ancestry from one of these racial minority groups does not exceed one-fourth, an individual is not solely defined as a member of that group.

  • G. K. Butterfield was born to two parents who identified as mixed-race Black, of Portuguese (white) and African (black) descent from the Azores.
  • Robert Purvis was born to a free woman of color of Moorish, German Jewish, and Sephardic Jewish descent and an English father. He identified as Black and dedicated himself to serving his community.
  • Fredi Washington, star of Imitation of Life, portrayed a woman who passed in the renowned film but opposed passing in her personal life.
  • Walter Francis White belonged to a middle-class, hyperdescent African-American family descended from enslaved individuals, who maintained a Black identity.
  • Daniel Hale Williams was of African-American and Scots-Irish ancestry. Although members of his family passed as white, he exclusively served and identified with African-Americans.

Laws enacted during the colonial era in the 17th century stipulated that children born to enslaved African mothers would inherit their mothers' status and be born into slavery, regardless of the father's race or status, under the principle of partus sequitur ventrem. The association of slavery with a specific "race" led to slavery becoming a racial caste system. However, most families of free people of color established in Virginia prior to the American Revolution were descendants of unions between white women and African men, who frequently worked and lived together during the less rigidly defined conditions of the early colonial period. Although interracial marriage was later prohibited, white men frequently exploited enslaved women sexually, resulting in the birth of numerous generations of multiracial children. By the late 1800s, passing became a common strategy among African Americans to access educational opportunities, as exemplified by Anita Florence Hemmings, the first African-American graduate of Vassar College. Some 19th-century categorization schemes defined individuals based on the proportion of African ancestry: a person with Black and white parents was classified as mulatto; one with a Black grandparent and three white grandparents was considered quadroon; and one with a Black great-grandparent and the remainder white was termed octoroon. While these latter categories remained within the broader Black or colored classification, prior to the Civil War, in Virginia and certain other states, an individual with one-eighth or less Black ancestry was legally considered white. Some individuals within these categories passed as white, either temporarily or permanently.

After white Southerners regained political power following Reconstruction, they instituted racial segregation to reassert white supremacy, followed by laws defining any individual with apparent or known African ancestry as Black, based on the principle of hypodescent.

However, given that thousands of Black individuals have crossed the color line annually, millions of white Americans possess relatively recent African ancestors (within the last 250 years). A statistical analysis conducted in 1958 estimated that 21 percent of the white population had some African ancestors. The study concluded that the majority of Americans of African descent were, by that time, classified as white rather than Black.

Hispanic and Latino American Identity

For further information, see Garifuna Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Black Hispanic and Latino Americans, and Casta.

A typical Latino American family may include members exhibiting a wide spectrum of racial phenotypes, meaning a Latino couple could have children who appear white, Black, Native American, and/or Asian. Latino Americans hold diverse self-identifications; the majority identify as "Some other race," while others identify as white and/or black and/or Native American and/or Asian.

Latinos with darker skin tones are noted for their limited representation in media. Critics and people of color within the Latino community have accused Latin American media of overlooking dark-skinned individuals in favor of those with lighter complexions, blonde hair, and blue/green eyes—particularly concerning actors and actresses on telenovelas—rather than reflecting the typical non-white demographic of Latin Americans.

Pacific Islander American Identity

For further information, see Demographics of American Samoa, History of Guam, and Pacific Islander.

During the 19th century, Christian missionaries from Europe and the United States, following Western traders, initiated a wave of Western migration to the Kingdom of Hawaii. Westerners in the Hawaiian Islands frequently intermarried with Native Hawaiian women, including those from Hawaiian royalty. These developments gradually influenced the beauty standards of Native Hawaiian women towards a more westernized ideal, a shift reinforced by the reluctance of Westerners to marry dark-skinned Hawaiians.

While some American Pacific Islanders continue traditional cultural endogamy, a significant portion of this population now possesses mixed racial ancestry, sometimes combining European, Native American, and East Asian heritage. The term hapa was originally used by Hawaiians to describe descendants of mixed race. The term has since evolved to encompass all individuals of mixed Asian and/or Pacific Islander ancestry. Subsequently, many ethnic Chinese also settled on the islands and intermarried with Pacific Islander populations.

Numerous other Pacific Islanders residing outside of Hawaii do not share this specific historical context with Hawaii, and Asian populations are not the sole racial groups with whom Pacific Islanders intermix.

Eurasian-American Identity

In its original definition, an Amerasian is a person born in Asia to an Asian mother and a U.S. military father. Colloquially, the term has sometimes been used interchangeably with Asian-American to describe any person of mixed American and Asian parentage, irrespective of the circumstances. The slang term "Wasian" has also gained popularity, particularly on online platforms like TikTok among younger demographics, with trends in the 2020s contributing to its increased prevalence.

According to the [United States Census Bureau](/United_ States_Census_Bureau), concerning multiracial families in 1990, the number of children in interracial families grew from less than half a million in 1970 to approximately two million in 1990.

James P. Allen and Eugene Turner of California State University, Northridge, in their analysis, indicated that by some calculations, the largest segment of the white biracial population comprises those identifying as white/American Indian and Alaskan Native, numbering 7,015,017. This is followed by white/Black at 737,492, white/Asian at 727,197, and finally white/Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander populations at 125,628.

The U.S. Census categorizes Eurasian responses within the "some other race" section as part of the Asian race. The Eurasian responses officially recognized by the U.S. Census include Indo-European, Amerasian, and Eurasian.

Afro-Asian-American Identity

For the main article, see Afro-Asians.

Chinese men initially arrived in the United States primarily as laborers, concentrated on the West Coast and in western territories. Following the Reconstruction era, as Black communities established independent farms, white planters imported Chinese laborers to meet their demand for labor. The Chinese Exclusion Act was enacted in 1882, preventing Chinese workers who remained in the U.S. from being joined by their wives. In the South, some Chinese men married into Black and mulatto communities, as discrimination generally precluded them from marrying white spouses. They rapidly transitioned from labor roles to establishing grocery businesses in small towns across the South, prioritizing their children's education and social mobility.

The Afro-Asian population saw a significant increase by the 1950s. This growth was partly due to Afro-Asians born to African American fathers and Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, or Filipino mothers, stemming from the large number of African Americans who enlisted in the military and formed relationships with Asian women abroad. Other groups of Afro-Asians include those of Caribbean American descent, often referred to as [Dougla], or individuals of Indian or Indo-Caribbean and African or Afro-Caribbean heritage.

As of the 2000 census, there were 106,782 Afro-Asian individuals in the United States.

  • [Nicki Minaj] is of partial Afro-Trinidadian and Indo-Trinidadian descent.
  • [Ne-Yo] is of partial African-American and Chinese descent.
  • [Bobby Scott] is of African-American and Filipino (maternal grandfather) descent.
  • [Sonja Sohn] is of partial African-American and Korean descent.
  • [Jero] is of partial African-American and Japanese descent.
  • [Tommy Pham] is an American baseball player whose mother is Black and whose father is of Vietnamese and African-American descent.
  • Bruce Harrell, Mayor of Seattle, was born to an African-American father and a Japanese mother.
  • [Steve Lacy] was born to an African-American mother and a Filipino father.
  • [Tatyana Ali] was born in New York (state) to an Indo-Trinidadian father and an Afro-Panamanian mother.
  • [Marilyn Strickland] was born in Seoul to a Korean mother and an African-American father.

In Fiction

The figure of the "tragic octoroon" was a prevalent stock character in abolitionist literature. This character typically depicted a mixed-race woman raised as white within her father's household, only to face ruin and be relegated to a menial position following his bankruptcy or death. She might even be unaware of her true status until this dramatic downfall. The inaugural character of this archetype appeared in Lydia Maria Child's short story "The Quadroons" (1842). This literary device enabled abolitionists to draw attention to the sexual exploitation inherent in slavery. Unlike portrayals of the suffering of field hands, this character type offered a narrative that could not be easily countered by the argument that Northern mill workers faced similar hardships, as slaveholders could not claim to be selling their own children into bondage.

Abolitionists sometimes featured attractive, escaped mulatto slaves in their public lectures to galvanize sentiment against slavery. Presenting enslaved individuals who resembled the audience, rather than an "Other," was a technique labeled White slave propaganda. This approach blurred the perceived separation between peoples, making the brutality of slavery impossible for the public to ignore.

Charles W. Chesnutt, an author from the post-Civil War era, explored prevailing stereotypes through his depictions of multiracial characters within the context of postwar Southern society. Even characters who had been free and potentially educated before the war encountered difficulties establishing themselves in the postwar years. His narratives feature mixed-race individuals navigating complex lives. William Faulkner also portrayed the lives of mixed-race people and intricate interracial families in the postwar South.

Comic book writer and filmmaker Greg Pak observed that while white filmmakers have utilized multiracial characters to explore themes of race and racism, many of these characters perpetuated stereotypes. Pak described these as: "Wild Half-Castes," typically portrayed as sexually driven antagonists, explicitly or implicitly perceived as unable to control the instinctive urges of their non-white heritage, exhibiting the same racial stereotypes as their "full blood" counterparts. These characters were symbolically employed by filmmakers to "[perpetuate] the association of multiraciality with sexual aberration and violence." Another stereotype is the "Tragic Mulatto," usually a female character who attempts to "pass for white" but meets disaster when her non-white heritage is revealed. The plight of this character was used by filmmakers "to critique racism by inspiring pity." Finally, the "Half Breed Hero" is an "empowering" stereotype whose objective of "[inspiring] identification as he actively resists white racism" is undermined when the character is portrayed by a white actor, reinforcing "a white liberal's dream of inclusion and authenticity rather than an honest depiction of a multiracial character's experiences." Pak noted that "Wild Half Caste" and "Tragic Mulatto" characters exhibit minimal character development, and while multiracial characters have appeared more frequently in films without reinforcing stereotypes, white filmmakers have largely avoided addressing their specific ethnic experiences.

See also