Multiracial Parents

The views and experiences of multiracial people as parentsThe world’s multiracial population is considered to be one of the fastest growing of all ethnic groups. In the United States alone, it is estimated that over 20% of the population will be considered “mixed race” by 2050. Public figures—such as former President Barack Obama and Hollywood actress Ruth Negga—further highlight the highly diverse backgrounds of those classified under the umbrella term of “multiracial.” Multiracial Parents considers how mixed-race parents identify with and draw from their cultural backgrounds in raising and socializing their children. Miri Song presents a groundbreaking examination of how the meanings and practices surrounding multiracial identification are passed down through the generations.A revealing portrait of how multiracial identity is and is not transmitted to children, Multiracial Parents focuses on couples comprised of one White and one non-white minority, who were mostly “first generation mixed,” situating her findings in a trans-Atlantic framework. By drawing on detailed narratives about the parents’ children and family lives, this book explores what it means to be multiracial, and whether multiracial identity and status will matter for multiracial people’s children. Many couples suggested that their very existence (and their children’s) is a step toward breaking down boundaries about the meaning of race and that the idea of a mixed-race population is increasingly becoming normalized, despite existing concerns about racism and racial bias within and beyond various communities. A critical perspective on contemporary multiracial families, Multiracial Parents raises fundamental questions about the future significance of racial boundaries and identities.

Miri Song’s Multiracial Parents …. is a long-overdue addition to the sociological literature in mixed race studies. Multiracial Parents makes an invaluable contribution to the sociology of race and ethnicity, mixed-race studies, and race and ethnic studies more generally, as well as the sociology of the family and social psychology. Song’s book would be an excellent text for undergraduate and graduate courses as well as for interested readers in the general public., Miri Song in Multiracial Parents examines multiracial people as parents and how they racially socialize their children, including whether a multiracial identity is passed down to the next generation… Song argues that the prevalence of multiracial parents labeling their children as mixed reflects generational continuity in multiracial identity and mixed-ness gaining purchase in Britain. She also challenges the notion that a multiracial label signals an attempt by mixed race people to distance themselves from their minority status, as many parents actively maintained or revitalized their minority heritage through their parenting practices., Song raises critical issues about the varying structures of race, racism, and the demise and persistence of ethnicity and race as meaningful categories due to differential histories including relationships to slavery, colonialism, nationalism, religion, and indigeneity., A novel and searching look at how mixed race people contemplate and confront parenthood. Though their circumstances may seem unique, Song compellingly shows how their experiences and reflections speak volumes about how race is more widely understood. Questions of appearance, community, racism, and ancestry may take on particular forms for multiracial parents, but their power and poignancy clearly derive from the weight they hold for all of us, A rich account of the complexities of racially classifying mixed-race children. Song strikes at the heart of where mixed-race identity and its variants - such as to identify as White or non-White - are formed. By following parents accounts, this innovative and important book helps us understand an important dimension of a world of increasing ethnoracial diversity.

Miri Song is Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent. Her books include Helping Out: Children's Labor in Ethnic Businesses and Mixed Race Identities (with Peter Aspinall.)