Race and Ethnicity #9

In Beyond Black and White: Remaking Race in America by Jennifer Lee and Frank D. Bean it talks about how interracial children and families would refer to themselves on the U.S. census. Starting in the 2000 people can now select us to six different categories of race. This is also very important to the official recognition of racial mixing in America. Being able to select exactly what your race is important because it helps statistically. Statistically where you live, official recognition of race, social and economic disparities amongst other races are all important factors and to why mixed races need to be recognized.

The reading made it very clear that blacks and whites are the least likely to marry each other. This reading was written in the late 90’s early 2000’s saying that Asians and Latinos were three times more likely to marry outside of their race than blacks and whites. This is still the case now in the United States, but a lot of factors like education, income and gender have a lot to do with why that is. For example white men with a successful income are more likely to marry a minority than they are to marry a white woman. Statistics also say that blacks are least likely to marry outside of their race period. I think this has a lot to do with blacks still being the minority. Even blacks still don’t really recognize if their multiracial. A small 4.2 percent of the total black population may identify. Even as a young girl in Texas, if you had a black dad and a white mom you were black. My best friend is half Mexican and half black but just refers to himself as black when we’re out or just says that because it’s easier.

In relation to the documentary The Difference Between Us, you can clearly see why it still is awkward for other races to relate to each other. I think we've all been there at some point in our lives where we've been attracted and got along really well with someone but was too afraid and ashamed to say so because of our and the other persons' skin color. In the video a group of teenagers take blood samples and do a scientific test to see how different their genes really were. When they saw the results of the tests, the students were very surprised at how similar they really were. Despite how different their skin, hair and eyes were, the white jock kid was closer in genes to the black girl than the Jewish kid that looked most similar to him.


The uncomfortable feeling that most people get when talking about interracial mixing with whites and blacks all stems back to slavery, segregation and the clear oppression of blacks. It’s scary to date outside of your race but even scarier if you’re black dating outside your race. Cultural norms still ask us to identify with one race but in the past when you are black and something else you’re just black. That stigma still resonates with many multiracial people in America today.