Multiracial Identity

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Multiracial people are the fastest growing demographic in America, yet there is no official political recognition for mixed-race people. MULTIRACIAL IDENTITY explores the social, political, and religious impact of the multiracial movement and the lived experience of being multiracial.

Different racial and cultural groups see multiracialism differently. For some Whites multiracialism represents the pollution of the White race. For some Blacks it represents an attempt to escape Blackness. And for some Asians, Latinos, and Arabs, multiracialism can be seen as ill equipped to perpetuate cultural traditions and therefore represents the dilution of the culture.

'Multiracial Identity is a groundbreaking documentary. It is a necessary teaching tool for high school seniors and college students in ethnic and race studies. The documentary is a journey into the controversy of multiracialism in the U.S.A. It beautifully intersects history, intellectual perspectives and contemporary narratives of mixed-raced individuals, contemplating remarkable inquiries regarding the subject. Is multiracialism an emotional issue or a civil right issue? Why President Obama is known as the first Black American President and not the first racially-mixed President?' Alicia Arrizon, Professor and Chair, Department of Women's Studies, University of California-Riverside, Author, Queering Mestizaje: Transculturation and Performance

'Multiracial Identity opens up a set of honest and timely conversations about race and mixed race in the United States. The history and contemporary experience of racially mixed people is thoroughly documented. Students, policy makers, professors and researchers will all benefit greatly from the difficult questions this film raises about the politics of racial categories and the on-going battle for Civil Rights. Multiracial Identity is ultimately about self and community representation, human rights, social justice, and respect. It will be vital in my current and future course curriculum.' Andrew Jolivette, Associate Professor and Chair of American Indian Studies, Affiliated Faculty in Educational Leadership, Race and Resistance Studies, San Francisco State University, Author, Obama and the Biracial Factor: The Battle for a New American Majority (Forthcoming, 2011)

'Multiracial Identity is a compelling and informative film that demonstrates how race has impacted the identity formations of multiracial people in the U.S., and the ways in which they also challenge, destabilize and rearticulate this social construct. The film carefully weaves together expert knowledge, personal narratives, statistics and in-depth historical context regarding issues such as race, white privilege, immigration and the role of culture in the U.S. This film will be an excellent resource for teachers, students, community activists and others interested in how complex this topic is and the honest discussions we need to have about the power and legacy of race and racism in this country and how multiracial people continue to situate themselves in this debate.' Dr. Rudy Guevarra Jr., Assistant Professor, Asian Pacific American Studies, School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University

'Multiracial Identity provides a comprehensive history and exploration of concepts and issues critical to the topic and study of mixed race heritage. It provides the conceptual framework necessary for counselors and other helping professionals to understand the complexities of this identity, as well as the framework necessary for providing culturally competent counseling intervention.' Dr. Kelley Kenney, Department of Counseling and Human Services, Kutztown University, and Mr. Mark Kenney, Department of Counseling Psychology, Chestnut Hill College, Facilitators, American Counseling Association, Multiracial/Multiethnic Counseling Concerns Interest Network

'Lead[s] to some thought-provoking revelations on the complexities of identity politics and how race really does still matter...Highly recommended.' Video Librarian

'A sensitive, thorough going examination of a very complex issue that is rife with social, political and economic ramifications. The interviews with academics are thoughtful, comprehensive and present divergent viewpoints. The spokespeople for multiracial viewpoints are articulate and perceptive...This film is highly recommended to all collections and a must have for those institutions with multicultural programs.' Patricia McGee, Tennessee Technological University, Educational Media Reviews Online

'Well-constructed. The arguments are laid out with attention to historical classification, intelligent philosophical argument and a truthful recognition of the political continuation of the racial classifications...This is a welcome addition to biological anthropology courses and topical courses in the subject of race and ethnicity.' Troy Belford, Anthropology Review Database

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Main credits

Chinhema, Brian (film producer)
Chinhema, Brian (film director)
Chinhema, Brian (screenwriter)
Weber, Dieter (narrator)

Other credits

Editor and director of photography, Jay Cornelius; original music, Ed Becerril and Elizabeth Nicholson.

MARC Record See Worldcat record

Keywords

multiracial movement, multiracial people, mixed-race people, escaping blackness, racism, quotas, affirmative action, Asians, Latinos, Arabs,; Aliya Saperstein, Naomi Zack, Aaron Gullickson, Rainier Spencer, Dr. Susan Hayflick, Pastor Randall Sanford,"Multiracial Identity",Bullfrog Films,doc; sociss

WEBVTT

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- The number
of multiracial Americans

00:00:12.788 --> 00:00:15.622
is up 33% since 2000.

00:00:23.555 --> 00:00:26.154
Experts say it\'s bound
to shake up a nation

00:00:26.155 --> 00:00:28.587
used to measuring everything
from school achievement

00:00:28.588 --> 00:00:31.588
to voting trends
in single-race terms.

00:00:42.022 --> 00:00:43.887
- So what am I?

00:00:43.888 --> 00:00:47.987
I\'m a wife, a mother,
a daughter, a friend.

00:00:47.988 --> 00:00:50.021
I am multiracial.

00:00:50.022 --> 00:00:52.887
My existence challenges
racial perceptions

00:00:52.888 --> 00:00:54.888
and boundaries.

00:00:57.355 --> 00:01:00.554
- On forms,
I usually check \"other,\"

00:01:00.555 --> 00:01:02.754
but \"other\"
is kind of dehumanizing.

00:01:02.755 --> 00:01:05.554
It\'s like I don\'t have
my own category.

00:01:05.555 --> 00:01:07.954
I definitely have, like,
a sense of anxiety,

00:01:07.955 --> 00:01:11.054
especially when I was younger
and I didn\'t really understand

00:01:11.055 --> 00:01:13.021
what the question was asking,
you know, like,

00:01:13.022 --> 00:01:15.921
\"Check one,\" because I\'m both.

00:01:15.922 --> 00:01:18.721
For a lot of mixed race people,

00:01:18.722 --> 00:01:21.155
that can be
a source of conflict.

00:01:35.922 --> 00:01:41.922
[dramatic music]

00:01:43.955 --> 00:01:48.121
- Here today, right now,
in our time, so to speak,

00:01:48.122 --> 00:01:50.954
we are creating black-white,
multiracial people.

00:01:50.955 --> 00:01:54.254
And isn\'t it a wonderful thing
that\'s going to save our nation

00:01:54.255 --> 00:01:57.421
and take it into
its post-racial destiny?

00:01:57.422 --> 00:02:01.321
We know for a fact
that there have been plenty

00:02:01.322 --> 00:02:03.354
of mixed race people
in our nation\'s history

00:02:03.355 --> 00:02:06.454
and who have not saved it
from the...

00:02:06.455 --> 00:02:09.487
Its enthrallment to race
that continues to, I think,

00:02:09.488 --> 00:02:14.054
be the primary problem
in this country.

00:02:14.055 --> 00:02:16.587
And a lot of the advocacy
in the multiracial movement

00:02:16.588 --> 00:02:19.954
comes from the individuals
themselves who are mixed race,

00:02:19.955 --> 00:02:26.187
who are much younger, called
\"Generation Mixed,\" these days.

00:02:26.188 --> 00:02:29.521
They don\'t seem to have
the capacity to say,

00:02:29.522 --> 00:02:33.221
\"I don\'t need
a racial identity.\"

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They need one,

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and so they cling
to the multiracial identity.

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And I think it\'s unfortunate
and it\'s sad

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because race doesn\'t exist.

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So you\'re clinging
to an identity

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that has really no basis
behind it.

00:02:46.522 --> 00:02:48.487
- There is one
interesting question,

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and that is, if there were
biological races,

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as most people still think
that there are,

00:02:54.322 --> 00:02:56.921
and two of those races
are black and white,

00:02:56.922 --> 00:02:59.887
well, why is it
that if someone\'s parent...

00:02:59.888 --> 00:03:01.954
If one parent is black
and the other parent is white,

00:03:01.955 --> 00:03:04.121
why can\'t we recognize

00:03:04.122 --> 00:03:05.854
that the offspring
would be mixed?

00:03:05.855 --> 00:03:08.187
Well, we do recognize
that they\'re mixed,

00:03:08.188 --> 00:03:09.654
but in the United States,

00:03:09.655 --> 00:03:12.487
all of the mixed race people
are black.

00:03:12.488 --> 00:03:14.987
So this is a matter of mores.
This isn\'t a matter of science.

00:03:14.988 --> 00:03:17.787
This isn\'t a matter...
This isn\'t an ethical matter.

00:03:17.788 --> 00:03:20.487
This is just a matter of custom

00:03:20.488 --> 00:03:23.687
which has its roots in society,

00:03:23.688 --> 00:03:26.354
namely, a slave-owning system,

00:03:26.355 --> 00:03:30.087
that I\'d say the majority
of Americans today

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would consider to be
deeply unethical.

00:03:38.288 --> 00:03:41.387
Male narrator: In
pre-Revolutionary War America,

00:03:41.388 --> 00:03:43.521
miscegenation was often
between white men

00:03:43.522 --> 00:03:46.621
and women of African
and Indian descent.

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Quite often,
these sexual relations

00:03:48.422 --> 00:03:51.054
took the form of rape
or concubinage.

00:03:51.055 --> 00:03:52.554
- Interracial marriage

00:03:52.555 --> 00:03:54.221
is marriage
between blacks and whites,

00:03:54.222 --> 00:03:58.354
which we think of as something
that was sort of strictly taboo

00:03:58.355 --> 00:04:00.554
in the U.S.
before the Civil War.

00:04:00.555 --> 00:04:03.787
There was actually a fair amount
of interracial marriage

00:04:03.788 --> 00:04:06.788
among free blacks and whites.

00:04:08.888 --> 00:04:11.321
Narrator: The offspring
of these unions were categorized

00:04:11.322 --> 00:04:16.054
not by their appearance
but by the One Drop rule.

00:04:16.055 --> 00:04:18.454
Any person with a fraction
of non-white heritage

00:04:18.455 --> 00:04:22.054
was automatically designated
as \"non-white.\"

00:04:22.055 --> 00:04:24.687
Especially if they had
known African ancestry,

00:04:24.688 --> 00:04:29.054
they were considered black
both legally and socially.

00:04:29.055 --> 00:04:32.754
- In the U.S., racial mixture
usually results in assignment

00:04:32.755 --> 00:04:35.487
to the ancestral group
of lower racial status.

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This practice is known
as hypodescent

00:04:38.022 --> 00:04:39.421
in the social sciences.

00:04:39.422 --> 00:04:42.721
So biracial
black-and-white Americans

00:04:42.722 --> 00:04:44.754
are classified as black

00:04:44.755 --> 00:04:47.354
according to what\'s called
the One Drop rule

00:04:47.355 --> 00:04:51.187
of black racial identity.

00:04:51.188 --> 00:04:54.887
Narrator: This benefited
white Americans in several ways.

00:04:54.888 --> 00:04:58.054
Multiracial individuals served
as a cheap labor source

00:04:58.055 --> 00:05:01.221
because they could not claim
a white identity.

00:05:01.222 --> 00:05:03.621
- It was in the interest
of slave owners

00:05:03.622 --> 00:05:07.021
to have it
automatically be the case

00:05:07.022 --> 00:05:08.987
that the children
of slave mothers

00:05:08.988 --> 00:05:11.021
would be born into slavery.

00:05:11.022 --> 00:05:12.987
Narrator:
But the most important reason

00:05:12.988 --> 00:05:14.921
was to maintain white dominance

00:05:14.922 --> 00:05:20.821
and white racial purity
in America.

00:05:20.822 --> 00:05:27.621
- [singing]
As my true love proved...

00:05:27.622 --> 00:05:29.387
narrator:
Maryland was the first to pass

00:05:29.388 --> 00:05:32.654
anti-miscegenation laws
in 1661,

00:05:32.655 --> 00:05:35.854
which remained
in effect for 300 years.

00:05:35.855 --> 00:05:37.987
- Various arguments were made,

00:05:37.988 --> 00:05:41.987
some scientific in nature,
some religious in nature,

00:05:41.988 --> 00:05:46.587
you know, to justify
separation of the races.

00:05:46.588 --> 00:05:48.254
Narrator:
White women who had children

00:05:48.255 --> 00:05:49.921
with any trace of African blood

00:05:49.922 --> 00:05:52.621
were sentenced
to five years of servitude.

00:05:52.622 --> 00:05:55.221
Their multiracial children
were kept in bondage

00:05:55.222 --> 00:05:57.587
until their 30th birthday.

00:05:57.588 --> 00:06:03.221
Thus the One Drop rule
became the law and the norm.

00:06:03.222 --> 00:06:05.887
The color line
was enforced by whites.

00:06:05.888 --> 00:06:09.487
The One Drop rule
would be enforced by blacks.

00:06:09.488 --> 00:06:11.421
- By the early 20th century
in the United States,

00:06:11.422 --> 00:06:15.187
the One Drop rule
was dominant, ubiquitous,

00:06:15.188 --> 00:06:17.954
and unquestioned
as the rule of descent

00:06:17.955 --> 00:06:20.887
for people of part-African
ancestry in the U.S.

00:06:20.888 --> 00:06:24.587
And that means that anyone
with known African ancestry

00:06:24.588 --> 00:06:29.121
is considered exclusively black.

00:06:29.122 --> 00:06:30.754
Narrator:
The narrative was different

00:06:30.755 --> 00:06:33.421
for white
and Native American children.

00:06:33.422 --> 00:06:36.887
- If I have both European
and American Indian ancestry,

00:06:36.888 --> 00:06:39.454
the American Indian ancestry
in no way excludes me

00:06:39.455 --> 00:06:40.721
from claiming whiteness.

00:06:40.722 --> 00:06:43.187
No one will object to that
or find that unusual.

00:06:43.188 --> 00:06:45.687
In fact, many people
would just find it some sort of

00:06:45.688 --> 00:06:49.054
an interesting historical fact
of my largely white ancestry.

00:06:49.055 --> 00:06:53.854
- But say your great-grandparent
was Native American

00:06:53.855 --> 00:06:55.554
and you\'re a white person

00:06:55.555 --> 00:06:58.221
and you have...
And your friends are white

00:06:58.222 --> 00:07:01.087
and your spouse is white
and your family is white.

00:07:01.088 --> 00:07:04.187
Well, I mean, I think
this becomes more of an ornament

00:07:04.188 --> 00:07:09.121
than it has the possibility
of being a social liability.

00:07:09.122 --> 00:07:13.854
Whereas, in some places,
according to some people,

00:07:13.855 --> 00:07:19.054
having known black ancestry
remains a social liability

00:07:19.055 --> 00:07:24.055
unless you\'re willing
to identify as black.

00:07:25.688 --> 00:07:28.021
Narrator: Different states
had varying ways

00:07:28.022 --> 00:07:30.354
of enforcing the One Drop rule.

00:07:30.355 --> 00:07:34.321
In 1910, California\'s
official anti-miscegenation law

00:07:34.322 --> 00:07:36.687
prohibited whites
from marrying blacks,

00:07:36.688 --> 00:07:38.654
Mongolians, and mulattoes,

00:07:38.655 --> 00:07:41.087
because they led
white girls astray,

00:07:41.088 --> 00:07:43.387
especially blondes.

00:07:43.388 --> 00:07:45.654
The last state to ban
the unenforceable

00:07:45.655 --> 00:07:50.054
anti-miscegenation laws
was Alabama in 2000.

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- [singing] To sink or swim...

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[delicate guitar music]

00:07:59.788 --> 00:08:01.321
narrator:
Multiracial individuals

00:08:01.322 --> 00:08:04.387
were often portrayed as deviant
and pathological,

00:08:04.388 --> 00:08:07.087
hence \"Tragic Mulatto.\"

00:08:07.088 --> 00:08:09.621
- The Tragic Mulatto
was born with a problem.

00:08:09.622 --> 00:08:12.254
They are just desperate
to be fully white.

00:08:12.255 --> 00:08:14.287
They would cut
the black parts off their body

00:08:14.288 --> 00:08:15.421
if they could possibly do it;

00:08:15.422 --> 00:08:17.254
they so desperately want
to be white.

00:08:17.255 --> 00:08:20.454
In the society that says,
\"No, you can\'t be white,\"

00:08:20.455 --> 00:08:21.854
no matter how much
he wants that,

00:08:21.855 --> 00:08:24.688
that mulatto is born with a
problem.

00:08:29.422 --> 00:08:32.354
Narrator: Some scientists
believed that multiracial people

00:08:32.355 --> 00:08:35.487
were putting the human race
at risk of extinction.

00:08:35.488 --> 00:08:37.087
- At the extreme,
the argument was

00:08:37.088 --> 00:08:40.187
that it is similar to a mule:

00:08:40.188 --> 00:08:42.421
that a mulatto was not fertile;

00:08:42.422 --> 00:08:44.754
that within three generations,

00:08:44.755 --> 00:08:47.321
mulattoes would not be able
to reproduce anymore.

00:08:47.322 --> 00:08:49.387
Narrator:
Multiracial individuals

00:08:49.388 --> 00:08:52.787
were not always treated as
or considered black.

00:08:52.788 --> 00:08:55.454
It was common in the lower South
for them to be considered

00:08:55.455 --> 00:08:57.887
a different caste from blacks.

00:08:57.888 --> 00:09:00.721
- Free persons of color were in
a much more privileged position

00:09:00.722 --> 00:09:02.121
in the late 19th century.

00:09:02.122 --> 00:09:05.387
They had a lot more resources
to draw upon

00:09:05.388 --> 00:09:06.854
than emancipated slaves.

00:09:06.855 --> 00:09:09.221
They were also much more likely
to be light-skinned.

00:09:09.222 --> 00:09:12.087
And so you saw
clear sort of class divisions

00:09:12.088 --> 00:09:13.654
around skin tone

00:09:13.655 --> 00:09:16.655
in the late 19th century
in the U.S.

00:09:19.355 --> 00:09:21.154
narrator: Those who had
the lightest skin

00:09:21.155 --> 00:09:23.954
had the most privileges granted
by whites.

00:09:23.955 --> 00:09:27.554
They were a buffer class
between whites and blacks.

00:09:27.555 --> 00:09:30.221
This especially benefited
plantation owners,

00:09:30.222 --> 00:09:31.721
who were outnumbered by blacks

00:09:31.722 --> 00:09:36.787
and were always fearful
of a slave uprising.

00:09:36.788 --> 00:09:40.622
The mixed race class provided
a shield to this uprising.

00:09:46.455 --> 00:09:51.254
After slavery ended,
segregation followed.

00:09:51.255 --> 00:09:53.487
The end of slavery
brought jubilation

00:09:53.488 --> 00:09:56.721
to multiracial individuals
who were newly freed,

00:09:56.722 --> 00:09:58.921
while those who were part
of the buffer class

00:09:58.922 --> 00:10:01.687
feared that they
would lose their status.

00:10:01.688 --> 00:10:05.454
So societies were formed
for only those with light skin

00:10:05.455 --> 00:10:07.187
to make sure
that they still held

00:10:07.188 --> 00:10:10.687
a higher status than blacks.

00:10:10.688 --> 00:10:14.254
There were careful examinations
to gain admittance.

00:10:14.255 --> 00:10:18.021
The most common were
the paper bag test:

00:10:18.022 --> 00:10:19.954
used to exclude blacks
and mulattoes

00:10:19.955 --> 00:10:23.354
if their skin was darker
than a paper bag;

00:10:23.355 --> 00:10:26.021
the blue vein test:

00:10:26.022 --> 00:10:28.521
if that person\'s veins
could not be seen

00:10:28.522 --> 00:10:30.554
or they did not appear
to be blue,

00:10:30.555 --> 00:10:35.321
he or she was not considered
part of the buffer class;

00:10:35.322 --> 00:10:36.954
the comb test:

00:10:36.955 --> 00:10:39.721
used to separate those
with \"good hair\"

00:10:39.722 --> 00:10:42.387
from those with \"bad hair.\"

00:10:42.388 --> 00:10:45.021
If a comb could pass through
without struggle,

00:10:45.022 --> 00:10:46.621
he or she could gain admittance

00:10:46.622 --> 00:10:50.288
to these clubs and part
of the privileged class.

00:10:58.488 --> 00:11:02.787
- I\'m hapa haole,
and \"haole\" meaning \"Caucasian,\"

00:11:02.788 --> 00:11:07.587
and \"hapa\" meaning
\"half-Hawaiian\" or \"half-Asian.\"

00:11:07.588 --> 00:11:10.287
Being hapa has always been
a part of my life

00:11:10.288 --> 00:11:13.554
because I did spend a lot
of my childhood in Honolulu,

00:11:13.555 --> 00:11:15.287
and many of my cousins are hapa,

00:11:15.288 --> 00:11:17.787
so it\'s always something
I\'ve grown up with.

00:11:17.788 --> 00:11:21.954
And I didn\'t really become aware
of my hapa identity

00:11:21.955 --> 00:11:25.121
until it was pointed out to me
in elementary school

00:11:25.122 --> 00:11:27.287
by a kid who told me
I looked weird.

00:11:27.288 --> 00:11:31.921
So I think a lot of times,
you know,

00:11:31.922 --> 00:11:35.221
ethnic identity is really
imposed by the outside,

00:11:35.222 --> 00:11:37.454
at least in my case, anyways.

00:11:37.455 --> 00:11:39.654
And, you know, as a kid,
you don\'t really have

00:11:39.655 --> 00:11:41.454
that inner awareness yet,

00:11:41.455 --> 00:11:43.421
until someone
points it out to you.

00:11:43.422 --> 00:11:49.422
[dramatic piano music]

00:11:50.622 --> 00:11:52.421
- [singing] I look around...

00:11:52.422 --> 00:11:54.221
- After going to college
in Indiana,

00:11:54.222 --> 00:11:56.387
I felt like I had to pick one.

00:11:56.388 --> 00:11:59.221
There wasn\'t an awareness
of being hapa

00:11:59.222 --> 00:12:01.887
or being mixed race so much.

00:12:01.888 --> 00:12:04.754
I felt more like I had to prove
my Japanese heritage

00:12:04.755 --> 00:12:09.221
because I wasn\'t fully Asian
but I didn\'t look white.

00:12:09.222 --> 00:12:11.954
People would stare at me
and ask me questions.

00:12:11.955 --> 00:12:16.521
I felt like they were, I guess,
like, forcing me into a role

00:12:16.522 --> 00:12:20.121
that was, like, an \"other\"
who\'s not like us.

00:12:20.122 --> 00:12:25.287
In a way, I guess I felt like
a hapa spokesperson.

00:12:25.288 --> 00:12:27.954
And being back in the Northwest,

00:12:27.955 --> 00:12:31.254
I feel like I can be myself
and be hapa

00:12:31.255 --> 00:12:33.588
because it\'s
more recognized here.

00:12:37.322 --> 00:12:42.321
- [singing] We are not afraid.

00:12:42.322 --> 00:12:46.121
Narrator: Some experts believe
the multiracial baby boom

00:12:46.122 --> 00:12:48.121
and the push
for new multiracialism

00:12:48.122 --> 00:12:50.421
occurred after 1967

00:12:50.422 --> 00:12:54.287
when the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled in \"Loving vs. Virginia\"

00:12:54.288 --> 00:12:57.354
that state laws declaring
interracial marriage illegal

00:12:57.355 --> 00:13:00.721
were unconstitutional.

00:13:00.722 --> 00:13:02.787
At the time,
13 states in the South

00:13:02.788 --> 00:13:06.122
had laws banning
interracial marriage.

00:13:08.522 --> 00:13:11.254
- Judge Leon Bazile looked down
at Richard Loving

00:13:11.255 --> 00:13:13.921
and Mildred Jeter Loving
as they stood before him

00:13:13.922 --> 00:13:18.487
in 1959 in the Caroline County,
Virginia, Courthouse.

00:13:18.488 --> 00:13:21.054
\"Almighty God,\" he intoned,

00:13:21.055 --> 00:13:24.621
\"created the races white,
black, yellow, Malay, and red,

00:13:24.622 --> 00:13:27.621
\"and he placed them
on separate continents.

00:13:27.622 --> 00:13:30.021
\"The fact that he separated
the races shows

00:13:30.022 --> 00:13:32.921
that he did not intend
for the races to mix.\"

00:13:32.922 --> 00:13:36.487
With that, Judge Bazile
sentenced the newlywed Lovings

00:13:36.488 --> 00:13:38.354
to one year in jail.

00:13:38.355 --> 00:13:39.721
Their crime?

00:13:39.722 --> 00:13:41.787
Mildred is part Negro,
part Indian,

00:13:41.788 --> 00:13:44.787
and Richard is white.

00:13:44.788 --> 00:13:47.054
Narrator: The Lovings
could have avoided the sentence

00:13:47.055 --> 00:13:48.654
by simply leaving the state.

00:13:48.655 --> 00:13:50.221
But they decided to fight

00:13:50.222 --> 00:13:52.387
the Virginia
anti-miscegenation law

00:13:52.388 --> 00:13:54.287
on the ground
that it was repugnant

00:13:54.288 --> 00:13:56.288
to the 14th Amendment.

00:13:59.755 --> 00:14:01.421
- Judge Bazile was wrong...

00:14:01.422 --> 00:14:04.721
If I can use the term,
and it\'s really a bad term...

00:14:04.722 --> 00:14:07.554
But \"Christian racists\"
use the Bible

00:14:07.555 --> 00:14:09.121
or say that the Bible

00:14:09.122 --> 00:14:13.321
encourages or requires
the separation of races

00:14:13.322 --> 00:14:16.854
and really uses it
as an excuse for racism.

00:14:16.855 --> 00:14:19.387
I think that they are,
first of all,

00:14:19.388 --> 00:14:21.954
trying to find something
in the Old Testament

00:14:21.955 --> 00:14:26.721
that they can use
that isn\'t really there.

00:14:26.722 --> 00:14:29.721
Some people interpret
all of the Old Testament...

00:14:29.722 --> 00:14:32.187
Many places
in the Old Testament...

00:14:32.188 --> 00:14:35.787
As indicating that the dark
and light races

00:14:35.788 --> 00:14:38.121
ought to not intermarry.

00:14:38.122 --> 00:14:41.087
In fact, one person said to me,

00:14:41.088 --> 00:14:45.287
\"God said, \'Let there...
Let the light be separated

00:14:45.288 --> 00:14:46.687
\"\'from the darkness,

00:14:46.688 --> 00:14:49.522
and those two things
should never meet again.\'\"

00:14:57.488 --> 00:15:01.587
narrator: During the 1960s,
racial dynamics were changing.

00:15:01.588 --> 00:15:03.454
People of different
racial groups

00:15:03.455 --> 00:15:07.354
stood together during
the civil rights movement.

00:15:07.355 --> 00:15:09.254
Many soldiers stationed in Asia

00:15:09.255 --> 00:15:12.587
married and had children with
Asian women.

00:15:12.588 --> 00:15:17.687
- If you were to go to Alabama
or Mississippi

00:15:17.688 --> 00:15:22.687
or Louisiana in 1967 and say,

00:15:22.688 --> 00:15:25.787
\"Well, you know, you have
an Asian and a white

00:15:25.788 --> 00:15:28.687
who want to get married,\"
people don\'t care about that.

00:15:28.688 --> 00:15:30.054
Maybe they didn\'t like

00:15:30.055 --> 00:15:31.687
that there\'s going to be
an Asian person.

00:15:31.688 --> 00:15:33.254
They didn\'t care about that.

00:15:33.255 --> 00:15:35.521
But go to those places, and say,
\"Oh, we\'re black and white.

00:15:35.522 --> 00:15:37.754
We\'re a black-and-white couple
who want to get married,\"

00:15:37.755 --> 00:15:39.787
that\'s what all the fury
was about.

00:15:39.788 --> 00:15:41.621
That\'s what those laws
were about:

00:15:41.622 --> 00:15:45.755
stopping blacks and whites
from being married.

00:15:47.222 --> 00:15:50.454
Narrator: Organizations such as
iPride in San Francisco,

00:15:50.455 --> 00:15:53.287
Biracial Family Network
in Chicago,

00:15:53.288 --> 00:15:56.254
Interracial Family Alliance
in Houston,

00:15:56.255 --> 00:15:58.621
and Interracial Circle
in Washington

00:15:58.622 --> 00:16:01.221
formed to offer support
to multiracial individuals

00:16:01.222 --> 00:16:03.387
and their families.

00:16:03.388 --> 00:16:06.387
In November 1988,
these organizations united

00:16:06.388 --> 00:16:10.187
and formed the Association
of MultiEthnic Americans,

00:16:10.188 --> 00:16:13.188
which serves as
the umbrella organization.

00:16:19.455 --> 00:16:21.654
In the wake
of civil rights legislation

00:16:21.655 --> 00:16:25.687
passed in the 1960s
and early 1970s,

00:16:25.688 --> 00:16:28.421
the collection of data on race
became an important way

00:16:28.422 --> 00:16:30.787
to monitor social
and economic outcomes

00:16:30.788 --> 00:16:33.087
of American racial minorities.

00:16:33.088 --> 00:16:35.654
- When these laws were passed
in the middle of the 1960s,

00:16:35.655 --> 00:16:37.354
over the next couple of years,

00:16:37.355 --> 00:16:40.621
various government agencies
were trying to make sure

00:16:40.622 --> 00:16:42.121
that people were compliant.

00:16:42.122 --> 00:16:44.921
How do you know
if you were compliant?

00:16:44.922 --> 00:16:49.221
It turns out that there were
no standard racial categories

00:16:49.222 --> 00:16:51.287
at the federal level.

00:16:51.288 --> 00:16:53.654
So the Small Business
Administration used

00:16:53.655 --> 00:16:57.487
a certain kind of what it
thought were racial statistics,

00:16:57.488 --> 00:17:00.921
and another government agency
uses another kind of statistics.

00:17:00.922 --> 00:17:04.121
Well, it turns out
that these are not transferable.

00:17:04.122 --> 00:17:06.254
Someone in the federal
government couldn\'t go

00:17:06.255 --> 00:17:08.787
to one agency
and get some statistics

00:17:08.788 --> 00:17:10.687
and go to another agency
and get some statistics

00:17:10.688 --> 00:17:12.254
and then use
those two sets of numbers,

00:17:12.255 --> 00:17:14.154
because they were not standard.

00:17:14.155 --> 00:17:16.521
So the idea came
in the mid-1970s

00:17:16.522 --> 00:17:18.954
to standardize
racial categories,

00:17:18.955 --> 00:17:21.854
and they came up with
the several categories

00:17:21.855 --> 00:17:23.355
that we have.

00:17:27.222 --> 00:17:29.321
Narrator: In 1977,

00:17:29.322 --> 00:17:32.421
the centrality of this
statistical collection of data

00:17:32.422 --> 00:17:35.821
propelled the Office
of Management and Budget, OMB,

00:17:35.822 --> 00:17:39.554
to issue a set of guidelines
on racial classification

00:17:39.555 --> 00:17:41.854
that was intended to direct
the data collection

00:17:41.855 --> 00:17:45.321
and analysis efforts
of all federal agencies,

00:17:45.322 --> 00:17:48.487
including the Census Bureau.

00:17:48.488 --> 00:17:51.954
This became known as
Statistical Directive 15,

00:17:51.955 --> 00:17:55.954
and it established
the following racial categories:

00:17:55.955 --> 00:17:59.021
American Indian
or Alaska Native,

00:17:59.022 --> 00:18:04.022
Asian or Pacific Islander,
black, white.

00:18:06.588 --> 00:18:08.987
Directive 15
originally did not allow

00:18:08.988 --> 00:18:12.054
for the multiple designations
of individuals.

00:18:12.055 --> 00:18:16.654
One could be black or white
but not both.

00:18:16.655 --> 00:18:20.054
And this was at the center
of the 2000 Census debate:

00:18:20.055 --> 00:18:24.388
the right to claim black,
white, or multiracial.

00:18:29.055 --> 00:18:30.387
- Throw it to Mommy.

00:18:30.388 --> 00:18:32.921
Throw it to Mama.

00:18:32.922 --> 00:18:35.887
Yay!
Nice throw.

00:18:35.888 --> 00:18:38.021
Here you go.

00:18:38.022 --> 00:18:39.521
Throw it to Brother.

00:18:39.522 --> 00:18:41.054
Eli, let him throw it to you.

00:18:41.055 --> 00:18:42.521
Throw it to Brother.

00:18:42.522 --> 00:18:44.421
Tell him.
Say, \"Throw it to Brother.\"

00:18:44.422 --> 00:18:46.021
- Throw it to Brother.

00:18:46.022 --> 00:18:47.621
- With our children,

00:18:47.622 --> 00:18:50.221
I do recall when we had them
at the hospital,

00:18:50.222 --> 00:18:52.721
there was applications
that you had to fill out,

00:18:52.722 --> 00:18:55.854
and I remember having to sign
my name on the dotted line,

00:18:55.855 --> 00:18:57.987
especially more common
with Dublin,

00:18:57.988 --> 00:19:00.621
because it was so recent, was,

00:19:00.622 --> 00:19:07.021
they wanted you to choose
Caucasian, Latino,

00:19:07.022 --> 00:19:10.287
African-American,
so on and so forth.

00:19:10.288 --> 00:19:12.821
And I remember Katie and I
kind of looking at each other

00:19:12.822 --> 00:19:15.387
and pausing for a minute,
and we were like,

00:19:15.388 --> 00:19:17.321
\"What did we mark down
Elijah as?\"

00:19:17.322 --> 00:19:21.587
And I said, \"We marked down
Elijah as African-American.\"

00:19:21.588 --> 00:19:25.554
And I said, \"Yeah, that\'s...
That\'s what he would be,\"

00:19:25.555 --> 00:19:28.121
but I remember thinking
to myself,

00:19:28.122 --> 00:19:31.554
\"Well, if you were
to actually take the DNA,

00:19:31.555 --> 00:19:37.721
he would be 3/4 Caucasian
and 25% black.\"

00:19:37.722 --> 00:19:44.887
Well, we, opposed to checking
the box \"black\" or \"Caucasian,\"

00:19:44.888 --> 00:19:47.987
we\'re thinking to ourselves...
I do remember thinking,

00:19:47.988 --> 00:19:54.021
\"Why isn\'t there a box here
for biracial?\"

00:19:54.022 --> 00:19:56.221
Though, we see another box,

00:19:56.222 --> 00:19:59.754
if what I recall
from the form we filled out,

00:19:59.755 --> 00:20:03.287
that said \"other.\"

00:20:03.288 --> 00:20:06.054
I wasn\'t going to identify
my son as \"other.\"

00:20:06.055 --> 00:20:10.021
I mean, they could be anything,
I mean, anything...

00:20:10.022 --> 00:20:11.621
Squirrel, part bat,

00:20:11.622 --> 00:20:13.454
you know, you never know
what the heck...

00:20:13.455 --> 00:20:15.987
So \"other\" doesn\'t
identify nothing.

00:20:15.988 --> 00:20:21.154
Checking the box \"other\"
in relation to my children...

00:20:21.155 --> 00:20:24.921
Would have been disturbing
for me to choose \"other.\"

00:20:24.922 --> 00:20:27.354
I was gonna have to pick one,

00:20:27.355 --> 00:20:30.721
so we decided to pick
\"African-American,\"

00:20:30.722 --> 00:20:34.787
and I think the reason why
is because, you know,

00:20:34.788 --> 00:20:37.687
you got to be proud
about your roots.

00:20:37.688 --> 00:20:40.821
We all have roots
where we come from.

00:20:40.822 --> 00:20:43.421
- [singing] An underachiever,

00:20:43.422 --> 00:20:47.087
So are you...

00:20:47.088 --> 00:20:51.621
- When I look at my children,
I view them as biracial.

00:20:51.622 --> 00:20:55.121
I don\'t view them as Caucasian,

00:20:55.122 --> 00:20:57.954
and I don\'t view them as,
you know,

00:20:57.955 --> 00:20:59.421
African-American solely.

00:20:59.422 --> 00:21:01.054
When I\'m with Elijah, they say,

00:21:01.055 --> 00:21:02.387
\"Where does he get
his black hair?

00:21:02.388 --> 00:21:03.754
Why doesn\'t he have red hair?\"

00:21:03.755 --> 00:21:05.454
\"Well, his mother\'s mulatto.\"

00:21:05.455 --> 00:21:09.287
\"Oh, that\'s why.\"

00:21:09.288 --> 00:21:13.854
Dublin may carry
my characteristics more so

00:21:13.855 --> 00:21:16.121
just because he\'s about
as pale as I am,

00:21:16.122 --> 00:21:23.187
but hopefully,
the black gene will come to

00:21:23.188 --> 00:21:24.721
and he\'ll turn tan

00:21:24.722 --> 00:21:29.887
so he doesn\'t have to cake on
the sunscreen like I have to.

00:21:29.888 --> 00:21:33.521
I\'ve been asked before,
\"Are they both yours?\"

00:21:33.522 --> 00:21:36.554
And I said, \"Well, yeah.
They\'re both mine.\"

00:21:36.555 --> 00:21:39.287
I said, \"They both got
my good looks,\"

00:21:39.288 --> 00:21:44.987
and I actually,
give credit to Katie.

00:21:44.988 --> 00:21:47.621
- When they do stare,
it\'s not anything negative.

00:21:47.622 --> 00:21:52.187
It\'s more of a positive,
good-looking family,

00:21:52.188 --> 00:21:54.521
especially when we have...
When we\'re out with the boys.

00:21:54.522 --> 00:21:58.721
At first when I was pregnant
with Elijah,

00:21:58.722 --> 00:22:00.687
sometimes it would feel
a little uncomfortable,

00:22:00.688 --> 00:22:02.887
people looking like,
\"Oh, my gosh, they\'re breeding?\"

00:22:02.888 --> 00:22:04.354
kind of thing, like,

00:22:04.355 --> 00:22:06.721
\"Wow, I wonder what that baby\'s
gonna look like,\" you know.

00:22:06.722 --> 00:22:07.954
And even my friends,

00:22:07.955 --> 00:22:12.954
they were very
just kind of negative about...

00:22:12.955 --> 00:22:15.021
Like, \"Oh, my gosh, what\'s
your baby gonna look like?

00:22:15.022 --> 00:22:16.087
It\'s gonna be so crazy.\"

00:22:16.088 --> 00:22:17.321
I remember hearing some of my...

00:22:17.322 --> 00:22:18.987
Especially some
of my guy friends,

00:22:18.988 --> 00:22:21.987
like, \"Oh, gosh, that baby
is gonna be funny-looking,\"

00:22:21.988 --> 00:22:23.521
you know.

00:22:23.522 --> 00:22:25.854
And I was like, \"Well,
why would you assume that?

00:22:25.855 --> 00:22:27.987
\"Just because he has red hair
and is tall and freckled

00:22:27.988 --> 00:22:31.387
\"and I\'m, you know,
brown-skinned

00:22:31.388 --> 00:22:32.654
\"with curly hair and tall,

00:22:32.655 --> 00:22:34.821
\"I mean, assume
that the baby\'s gonna be

00:22:34.822 --> 00:22:37.154
different, odd-looking,\"
you know?

00:22:37.155 --> 00:22:39.687
But, yeah.

00:22:39.688 --> 00:22:42.254
When they see our kids,
they shut up.

00:22:42.255 --> 00:22:43.987
They\'re like,
\"Oh, they\'re really cute.\"

00:22:43.988 --> 00:22:48.754
\"Thanks.
Told you they would be.\"

00:22:48.755 --> 00:22:54.822
[light guitar music]

00:23:04.622 --> 00:23:07.854
narrator: Some individuals
from other multiracial heritages

00:23:07.855 --> 00:23:10.987
other than black and white
have expressed frustration

00:23:10.988 --> 00:23:13.721
that the multiracial debate
centers too much

00:23:13.722 --> 00:23:15.921
on the black-and-white progeny,

00:23:15.922 --> 00:23:17.621
yet other race-mixing is absent

00:23:17.622 --> 00:23:20.887
from the cultural discussion
of multiracialism.

00:23:20.888 --> 00:23:23.354
- The multiracial debate
centers around

00:23:23.355 --> 00:23:24.654
the black-and-white progeny

00:23:24.655 --> 00:23:27.254
because in other categories
of mixed race,

00:23:27.255 --> 00:23:31.954
people can freely say,
\"I\'m this,\" and \"I\'m that,\"

00:23:31.955 --> 00:23:34.387
and, \"I feel
as though I\'m both,\"

00:23:34.388 --> 00:23:36.421
or, \"I feel as though
I\'m neither,\"

00:23:36.422 --> 00:23:39.521
or, \"Sometimes I\'m this,
and sometimes I\'m that.\"

00:23:39.522 --> 00:23:44.154
But there\'s kind of like
a bear-trap characteristic

00:23:44.155 --> 00:23:45.954
to having black ancestry.

00:23:45.955 --> 00:23:47.954
If you have any... if you have
known black ancestry,

00:23:47.955 --> 00:23:49.421
you\'re black.

00:23:49.422 --> 00:23:53.554
There is a question of whether
this extremely fraught nature

00:23:53.555 --> 00:23:55.587
of black and white
racial mixture

00:23:55.588 --> 00:23:59.787
carries over to other
non-white racial mixtures

00:23:59.788 --> 00:24:03.487
as well as other non-black
mixtures with white.

00:24:03.488 --> 00:24:06.354
So I think... I think
it\'s still safe to say,

00:24:06.355 --> 00:24:08.221
based on recent history,

00:24:08.222 --> 00:24:11.954
that if someone
has black ancestry

00:24:11.955 --> 00:24:14.754
and some other
non-white ancestry,

00:24:14.755 --> 00:24:17.821
for example, an individual
such as Tiger Woods,

00:24:17.822 --> 00:24:20.654
that the expectation is
that they will identify

00:24:20.655 --> 00:24:22.054
as a black person.

00:24:22.055 --> 00:24:27.754
And when Tiger Woods attempted
to re-identify himself

00:24:27.755 --> 00:24:32.221
as a combination of being
white, Thai, and black,

00:24:32.222 --> 00:24:38.087
there was tremendous outcry
and outrage in response.

00:24:38.088 --> 00:24:39.954
You know, the expectation...

00:24:39.955 --> 00:24:42.221
And a lot of this
was from African-Americans...

00:24:42.222 --> 00:24:45.787
Was that he should just settle
into a black identity

00:24:45.788 --> 00:24:48.322
because that\'s how
it works here.

00:24:55.722 --> 00:24:58.487
Narrator: Some experts argue
that the census and race

00:24:58.488 --> 00:25:00.254
as it is currently set up

00:25:00.255 --> 00:25:03.221
is an inadequate framework
to understand identity,

00:25:03.222 --> 00:25:05.187
as it fails to account
for individuals

00:25:05.188 --> 00:25:08.821
of Middle Eastern,
Latino, and multiethnic.

00:25:08.822 --> 00:25:10.854
- The census could be
more democratic

00:25:10.855 --> 00:25:15.987
if it fine-tuned some
of the racial categories.

00:25:15.988 --> 00:25:18.654
For example, the Hispanic
category is \"Hispanic,\"

00:25:18.655 --> 00:25:20.121
and people are supposed to know

00:25:20.122 --> 00:25:21.587
whether or not they\'re Hispanic.

00:25:21.588 --> 00:25:23.754
But what about the people
who have one Hispanic parent

00:25:23.755 --> 00:25:25.421
and one parent
who\'s not Hispanic?

00:25:25.422 --> 00:25:26.587
Are they Hispanic?

00:25:26.588 --> 00:25:28.587
Census doesn\'t give a clue.

00:25:28.588 --> 00:25:32.154
The census could have
more power in the sense

00:25:32.155 --> 00:25:34.287
that when they crunch
the numbers of the people

00:25:34.288 --> 00:25:35.954
who check more than one box,

00:25:35.955 --> 00:25:38.821
especially in the case of black
and something else,

00:25:38.822 --> 00:25:41.521
they preserve
those original designations,

00:25:41.522 --> 00:25:46.487
instead of, as now,
when they just reconfigure them

00:25:46.488 --> 00:25:48.087
according to the One Drop rule.

00:25:48.088 --> 00:25:50.754
So I mean, right now,
the census is...

00:25:50.755 --> 00:25:53.687
it makes people feel better
if they can check off...

00:25:53.688 --> 00:25:55.121
If they see a place
for themselves

00:25:55.122 --> 00:25:57.354
on a piece of paper
or on a screen

00:25:57.355 --> 00:26:01.188
that comes close
to how they see themselves.

00:26:07.355 --> 00:26:08.821
Narrator:
Through public hearings

00:26:08.822 --> 00:26:09.954
and written testimony,

00:26:09.955 --> 00:26:12.221
a large number of people
and organizations

00:26:12.222 --> 00:26:13.954
pushed the OMB to revise

00:26:13.955 --> 00:26:16.621
the federal racial
classification standards

00:26:16.622 --> 00:26:20.154
to recognize
multiracial identities.

00:26:20.155 --> 00:26:23.187
They argued that the increase
of multiracial Americans

00:26:23.188 --> 00:26:25.654
warranted modification
to the census

00:26:25.655 --> 00:26:26.787
and that their presence may,

00:26:26.788 --> 00:26:29.054
instead of expanding
the white tent,

00:26:29.055 --> 00:26:31.654
will destabilize
the racial categories.

00:26:31.655 --> 00:26:33.454
- And it should be destabilized.

00:26:33.455 --> 00:26:38.621
It\'s... it\'s a false taxonomy
that was constructed originally

00:26:38.622 --> 00:26:41.721
as a hierarchy to secure
the superiority of whites

00:26:41.722 --> 00:26:44.554
during a time of colonialism

00:26:44.555 --> 00:26:48.621
where Europe moved into
all other parts of the world

00:26:48.622 --> 00:26:51.954
without serious regard
for the rights

00:26:51.955 --> 00:26:55.121
and dignity of people
who were already living

00:26:55.122 --> 00:26:57.122
in those parts of the world.

00:27:03.422 --> 00:27:07.821
[up-tempo guitar music]

00:27:07.822 --> 00:27:11.421
- Well, in Indiana, I felt like
I didn\'t quite fit in.

00:27:11.422 --> 00:27:13.121
Yeah, I\'d just be walking
down the street,

00:27:13.122 --> 00:27:15.621
and people would, you know,
yell things at me,

00:27:15.622 --> 00:27:18.287
you know, in the supermarkets
or in the video store.

00:27:18.288 --> 00:27:19.854
A woman thought
I was Middle Eastern

00:27:19.855 --> 00:27:22.854
and accused me
of bombing her country.

00:27:22.855 --> 00:27:24.821
Being an Asian from Asia,

00:27:24.822 --> 00:27:27.487
the experience is
more different from being,

00:27:27.488 --> 00:27:29.487
you know, Asian American
or for being half-Asian,

00:27:29.488 --> 00:27:31.254
or being hapa in my case.

00:27:31.255 --> 00:27:34.154
And I felt like
many of the students

00:27:34.155 --> 00:27:35.387
didn\'t really understand

00:27:35.388 --> 00:27:38.021
the concept of an Asian American
or a hapa,

00:27:38.022 --> 00:27:40.054
so people expected me
to speak the language

00:27:40.055 --> 00:27:42.287
and be fully versed
in the Japanese culture.

00:27:42.288 --> 00:27:46.987
And just growing up in Honolulu
being Japanese American

00:27:46.988 --> 00:27:48.421
is so much more different

00:27:48.422 --> 00:27:50.787
from being Japanese
on the mainland.

00:27:50.788 --> 00:27:53.021
- [singing]
Lum-la-da,

00:27:53.022 --> 00:27:57.354
Like to see you broken...

00:27:57.355 --> 00:27:59.454
- I guess I\'ve never
really embraced

00:27:59.455 --> 00:28:02.754
my Caucasian side fully,
because from my experiences,

00:28:02.755 --> 00:28:05.021
I\'ve never really passed
for white.

00:28:05.022 --> 00:28:06.954
When I\'m with my father,

00:28:06.955 --> 00:28:08.921
people sometimes think
I\'m adopted.

00:28:08.922 --> 00:28:10.587
When people ask,
\"What are you?\"

00:28:10.588 --> 00:28:11.887
they\'re asking my ethnicity,

00:28:11.888 --> 00:28:14.654
and they attribute that to be,
you know,

00:28:14.655 --> 00:28:16.121
a source of my identity.

00:28:16.122 --> 00:28:19.321
And when I answer the question,
\"What are you?\"

00:28:19.322 --> 00:28:21.054
I always respond,
\"Oh, I\'m half-Asian,

00:28:21.055 --> 00:28:22.121
Oh, I\'m hapa,\"

00:28:22.122 --> 00:28:23.754
never like, \"Oh, I\'m a student.

00:28:23.755 --> 00:28:26.787
I\'m an artist.
I\'m a volunteer.\"

00:28:26.788 --> 00:28:31.987
And I also think that,
in American society especially,

00:28:31.988 --> 00:28:34.221
we like to put labels
on people and things,

00:28:34.222 --> 00:28:35.787
you know, whether
it\'s your gender

00:28:35.788 --> 00:28:38.154
or your ethnicity
or if you have a disability.

00:28:38.155 --> 00:28:41.287
If people cannot be,
like, easily categorized,

00:28:41.288 --> 00:28:43.854
I think that it makes society
very uncomfortable,

00:28:43.855 --> 00:28:46.321
which is why, you know,
mixed race people

00:28:46.322 --> 00:28:49.787
often get asked the question,
\"What are you?\"

00:28:49.788 --> 00:28:51.787
- [singing] Ooh, ooh, ooh.

00:28:51.788 --> 00:28:54.987
- Well, traditionally, I think
when people think of mixed race,

00:28:54.988 --> 00:28:58.021
they do think
of black and white.

00:28:58.022 --> 00:29:03.521
But I think that hapa
is really an emerging group.

00:29:03.522 --> 00:29:06.287
It\'s different,
but at the same time,

00:29:06.288 --> 00:29:09.154
there is, I suppose,
a common theme

00:29:09.155 --> 00:29:11.721
of trying to negotiate
your identity

00:29:11.722 --> 00:29:13.654
or trying to figure out,
you know,

00:29:13.655 --> 00:29:15.487
where you fit in
within a society

00:29:15.488 --> 00:29:18.921
that doesn\'t necessarily
always recognize mixed race.

00:29:18.922 --> 00:29:20.887
Race is a social construct,

00:29:20.888 --> 00:29:25.154
but because it has been
a prevailing ideology

00:29:25.155 --> 00:29:26.587
throughout American history,

00:29:26.588 --> 00:29:29.587
I think that it\'s difficult
for people to abandon

00:29:29.588 --> 00:29:32.022
a racial world view.

00:29:38.088 --> 00:29:43.521
[dramatic piano music]

00:29:43.522 --> 00:29:46.454
narrator: The view amongst
social scientists today

00:29:46.455 --> 00:29:49.121
is that racial categories
are socially constructed

00:29:49.122 --> 00:29:51.987
and are not fixed,
immutable categories.

00:29:51.988 --> 00:29:53.487
- Race is a social construction.

00:29:53.488 --> 00:29:55.787
Well, but what does that
actually mean?

00:29:55.788 --> 00:29:58.854
And what it means is,
in one sense,

00:29:58.855 --> 00:30:01.087
it\'s that, well,
there is no natural

00:30:01.088 --> 00:30:05.087
or objective \"scientific\"
definition of race.

00:30:05.088 --> 00:30:08.421
It means that the definition
has changed over time,

00:30:08.422 --> 00:30:10.221
and the laws have changed.

00:30:10.222 --> 00:30:12.021
Social perceptions have changed.

00:30:12.022 --> 00:30:14.987
The fluidity of boundaries
have changed.

00:30:14.988 --> 00:30:16.621
It\'s not something stable.

00:30:16.622 --> 00:30:18.554
It\'s not something natural.

00:30:18.555 --> 00:30:22.221
It is something we create
ourselves in our lives

00:30:22.222 --> 00:30:24.888
in our interactions every day.

00:30:28.722 --> 00:30:30.487
Narrator: Scientists
point to the fact

00:30:30.488 --> 00:30:34.287
that race cannot account
for biological variation.

00:30:34.288 --> 00:30:37.254
- What is race
from a scientific standpoint?

00:30:37.255 --> 00:30:43.187
I think most scientists
now accept that there are

00:30:43.188 --> 00:30:45.487
genetic differences
between people

00:30:45.488 --> 00:30:47.754
of different racial origins.

00:30:47.755 --> 00:30:49.621
But to make a general statement

00:30:49.622 --> 00:30:52.921
that, genetically,
this is one race,

00:30:52.922 --> 00:30:55.187
and, genetically,
this is a different race,

00:30:55.188 --> 00:30:58.821
most individuals
don\'t fall distinctly

00:30:58.822 --> 00:31:00.554
into one category or another.

00:31:00.555 --> 00:31:03.287
There\'s a continuum
between races.

00:31:03.288 --> 00:31:07.087
There are millions
of genetic differences

00:31:07.088 --> 00:31:08.387
between any two people.

00:31:08.388 --> 00:31:11.055
They\'re what make us different.

00:31:18.488 --> 00:31:20.787
You can\'t tell someone\'s race
from their genetic makeup,

00:31:20.788 --> 00:31:23.954
and you can\'t tell someone\'s
genetic makeup from their race,

00:31:23.955 --> 00:31:27.787
because there are
so many genetic variations,

00:31:27.788 --> 00:31:30.854
and most of them
are irrelevant to race.

00:31:30.855 --> 00:31:33.221
More of the variation
between two people

00:31:33.222 --> 00:31:35.287
is simply because
they are two individuals

00:31:35.288 --> 00:31:38.754
than because they are
of two different races.

00:31:38.755 --> 00:31:41.687
That statement
can be said confidently

00:31:41.688 --> 00:31:44.754
because we have
human genome data

00:31:44.755 --> 00:31:47.321
from people of various races,

00:31:47.322 --> 00:31:51.187
and we see that,
\"Oh, they\'re different also,

00:31:51.188 --> 00:31:53.087
\"but they\'re not
so much more different

00:31:53.088 --> 00:31:54.721
than any two people are.\"

00:31:54.722 --> 00:31:59.454
- There\'s no way to take
different people

00:31:59.455 --> 00:32:02.021
and place them
into discrete categories

00:32:02.022 --> 00:32:04.187
using any particular criteria.

00:32:04.188 --> 00:32:08.187
If you take skin color
as a simple example,

00:32:08.188 --> 00:32:11.087
why, everyone knows that

00:32:11.088 --> 00:32:14.687
Afro-Americans, for instance,
can be totally pale

00:32:14.688 --> 00:32:16.621
or totally... or totally dark.

00:32:16.622 --> 00:32:18.287
So you can\'t use skin...
In other words,

00:32:18.288 --> 00:32:20.087
you can find
so-called \"black\" people

00:32:20.088 --> 00:32:23.754
who are lighter skinned than
so-called \"white\" people.

00:32:23.755 --> 00:32:25.854
- Many people believe
that they can look at someone

00:32:25.855 --> 00:32:29.387
and infer their race.

00:32:29.388 --> 00:32:34.754
And they believe that
because there are

00:32:34.755 --> 00:32:38.754
outward physical characteristics
that many people associate

00:32:38.755 --> 00:32:41.587
with one race
versus another race.

00:32:41.588 --> 00:32:44.921
If those genetic variations
led to differences

00:32:44.922 --> 00:32:47.087
that were invisible to us,

00:32:47.088 --> 00:32:50.054
we could no longer look
up and down the street

00:32:50.055 --> 00:32:52.554
and see people who looked
any different from us,

00:32:52.555 --> 00:32:55.354
even though there was
just as much genetic variation,

00:32:55.355 --> 00:33:00.454
just as much genetic difference,
just as much genetic isolation.

00:33:00.455 --> 00:33:02.621
The whole concept of race,
I think,

00:33:02.622 --> 00:33:06.087
would never have
even been conceived of.

00:33:06.088 --> 00:33:10.154
- There is more variation
within a particular population.

00:33:10.155 --> 00:33:12.187
If you want to set up
racial groups...

00:33:12.188 --> 00:33:15.087
Let\'s say you set them up;
you set up these categories...

00:33:15.088 --> 00:33:16.921
The people you place
in those categories,

00:33:16.922 --> 00:33:18.921
you\'re going to find
more genetic variation

00:33:18.922 --> 00:33:22.121
within the black category
and within the white category

00:33:22.122 --> 00:33:24.954
than you\'re going to find
between those two categories.

00:33:24.955 --> 00:33:28.421
- Who\'s the, if you will,
gold standard

00:33:28.422 --> 00:33:33.287
for what... what the genetic
profile of \"African\" is?

00:33:33.288 --> 00:33:40.454
Because even if you took
ten people of African descent,

00:33:40.455 --> 00:33:43.987
there would be huge,
immense variation

00:33:43.988 --> 00:33:45.721
between those people.

00:33:45.722 --> 00:33:48.854
And so to be able to know
who\'s the yardstick,

00:33:48.855 --> 00:33:50.721
if you will, is impossible.

00:33:50.722 --> 00:33:54.054
I think we are all multiracial,
and again,

00:33:54.055 --> 00:33:58.087
I think if...
If we could look past

00:33:58.088 --> 00:34:00.854
visible differences
between people,

00:34:00.855 --> 00:34:03.388
we would understand that.

00:34:11.855 --> 00:34:15.054
- The public recognizes
this is a man who\'s mixed race.

00:34:15.055 --> 00:34:16.954
He\'s told the story
of his family.

00:34:16.955 --> 00:34:19.354
It\'s very clear
that if anybody is mixed race,

00:34:19.355 --> 00:34:20.887
Barack Obama is mixed race.

00:34:20.888 --> 00:34:22.821
But when he gets elected,

00:34:22.822 --> 00:34:24.821
he becomes our first
African-American President.

00:34:24.822 --> 00:34:26.854
I think it\'s...
I think it\'s wonderful.

00:34:26.855 --> 00:34:30.721
It\'s beyond
many people\'s expectations

00:34:30.722 --> 00:34:32.554
of what would be possible
in their lifetime,

00:34:32.555 --> 00:34:35.021
that we would have
an African-American president.

00:34:35.022 --> 00:34:36.621
That is a great thing.

00:34:36.622 --> 00:34:37.788
But...

00:34:40.955 --> 00:34:42.654
For someone who\'s mixed race,

00:34:42.655 --> 00:34:44.521
if you take seriously
they might have a choice

00:34:44.522 --> 00:34:46.054
in how they\'re going
to identify...

00:34:46.055 --> 00:34:48.421
I mean, there\'s no law
that says if you\'re mixed race

00:34:48.422 --> 00:34:50.921
you have to identify as black
if you have black ancestry.

00:34:50.922 --> 00:34:52.854
You could identify
as mixed race,

00:34:52.855 --> 00:34:54.487
or you could identify as white,

00:34:54.488 --> 00:34:57.754
or you could identify
as other or something else.

00:34:57.755 --> 00:35:00.321
So there\'s an element of choice

00:35:00.322 --> 00:35:03.421
in a mixed race person choosing
to identify as black.

00:35:03.422 --> 00:35:09.521
And the public both witnesses
that choice, in retrospect...

00:35:09.522 --> 00:35:11.954
They understand
at a certain point, you know,

00:35:11.955 --> 00:35:14.621
a black identity
was constructed...

00:35:14.622 --> 00:35:17.054
And then they kind of
seamlessly pass over it

00:35:17.055 --> 00:35:18.487
as though it never happened.

00:35:18.488 --> 00:35:22.454
It\'s that we have
an African-American President,

00:35:22.455 --> 00:35:26.854
who, with no real nuance,

00:35:26.855 --> 00:35:30.787
that recognizes the possibility
of being mixed race

00:35:30.788 --> 00:35:33.787
as a stand-alone category.

00:35:33.788 --> 00:35:37.554
- Obama\'s election,
his campaign as well,

00:35:37.555 --> 00:35:40.687
brought a lot of attention
to multiraciality

00:35:40.688 --> 00:35:42.187
in the United States.

00:35:42.188 --> 00:35:45.054
So in addition
to the debates about,

00:35:45.055 --> 00:35:47.421
\"Well, but he\'s just as much
white as he is black,\"

00:35:47.422 --> 00:35:49.354
that then raises the issue of,
well, what is he...

00:35:49.355 --> 00:35:51.887
Do we want to claim him,
then, as multi-racial

00:35:51.888 --> 00:35:55.321
rather than as simply a member
of one or the other group?

00:35:55.322 --> 00:35:57.887
President Obama
is a really good example

00:35:57.888 --> 00:35:59.787
of, in some ways, the rule

00:35:59.788 --> 00:36:02.354
of socioeconomic status
or social status...

00:36:02.355 --> 00:36:04.821
More generally,
power, position...

00:36:04.822 --> 00:36:06.487
In affecting
how someone is seen.

00:36:06.488 --> 00:36:09.354
Nobody is ready
to claim O.J. Simpson

00:36:09.355 --> 00:36:12.921
as being part white,
because, you know, obviously,

00:36:12.922 --> 00:36:15.121
he has a much more
checkered past.

00:36:15.122 --> 00:36:17.987
- The story
of Barack Obama\'s life,

00:36:17.988 --> 00:36:20.187
as retold in the media,

00:36:20.188 --> 00:36:23.621
quickly achieved the status
of legend or myth.

00:36:23.622 --> 00:36:25.387
And it doesn\'t depart much

00:36:25.388 --> 00:36:29.087
from the official
U.S. Congress Bio Guide.

00:36:29.088 --> 00:36:31.854
This official
Congressional Bio Guide

00:36:31.855 --> 00:36:35.487
omits the facts
of Obama\'s multiracial ancestry,

00:36:35.488 --> 00:36:36.921
because, as we all know,

00:36:36.922 --> 00:36:39.387
his mother was a white woman
from Kansas,

00:36:39.388 --> 00:36:41.387
and his father was
an international student

00:36:41.388 --> 00:36:42.854
from Kenya.

00:36:42.855 --> 00:36:44.254
So we might ask,

00:36:44.255 --> 00:36:46.787
\"Well, why was this omitted
in the official record?\"

00:36:46.788 --> 00:36:50.221
Well, for one thing,
it simplifies matters immensely

00:36:50.222 --> 00:36:52.221
if, at the end of the day,

00:36:52.222 --> 00:36:56.854
Barack Obama can be regarded
as simply African-American.

00:36:56.855 --> 00:36:58.354
But it\'s always been known...

00:36:58.355 --> 00:37:00.121
It\'s been known very broadly

00:37:00.122 --> 00:37:03.087
ever since he came to light
politically

00:37:03.088 --> 00:37:05.387
that Barack Obama
was mixed race.

00:37:05.388 --> 00:37:09.121
And that... and it was
also widely felt that

00:37:09.122 --> 00:37:11.887
that was probably
an element of his appeal

00:37:11.888 --> 00:37:13.521
to many white voters.

00:37:13.522 --> 00:37:18.654
- To me, Obama\'s election
really seems to suggest

00:37:18.655 --> 00:37:21.721
that the One Drop rule
is still very strong

00:37:21.722 --> 00:37:23.254
in the United States;

00:37:23.255 --> 00:37:26.287
that although there were
some questions in the beginning

00:37:26.288 --> 00:37:30.187
among the press
about his blackness,

00:37:30.188 --> 00:37:32.987
that was fairly quickly decided,

00:37:32.988 --> 00:37:35.487
and it was decided
that he was black.

00:37:35.488 --> 00:37:37.754
He may also be white,
but he\'s black.

00:37:37.755 --> 00:37:40.587
[cheers and applause]

00:37:40.588 --> 00:37:43.755
[no audible dialogue]

00:37:47.455 --> 00:37:52.587
- I was born to my mother,
who was blonde hair, blue-eyed.

00:37:52.588 --> 00:37:57.787
My father is Native American,
Mohawk Indian, Ethiopian,

00:37:57.788 --> 00:37:59.687
and Hungarian Jewish,

00:37:59.688 --> 00:38:03.154
and I was born
in Los Angeles, California.

00:38:03.155 --> 00:38:06.854
My sister, who is
five years older than I am...

00:38:06.855 --> 00:38:09.821
Same parents and everything...
Was also born in Los Angeles.

00:38:09.822 --> 00:38:12.754
Life was good.
We had a nice... a nice family.

00:38:12.755 --> 00:38:14.054
It was a nice little family.

00:38:14.055 --> 00:38:15.687
We were all close
with my grandparents,

00:38:15.688 --> 00:38:19.021
and my mother\'s parents,

00:38:19.022 --> 00:38:21.754
who, when my mother and father
first got together,

00:38:21.755 --> 00:38:24.854
were not too happy
about the relationship,

00:38:24.855 --> 00:38:29.187
the whole
multiracial relationship

00:38:29.188 --> 00:38:31.054
and integration
and all that kind of stuff.

00:38:31.055 --> 00:38:32.887
But as soon as we came
into the picture,

00:38:32.888 --> 00:38:34.487
my sister and I,

00:38:34.488 --> 00:38:36.921
that\'s when my mother\'s family
really started to soften up

00:38:36.922 --> 00:38:40.887
and be a little whole accepting
of the whole idea.

00:38:40.888 --> 00:38:46.487
- [singing] This is my hell...

00:38:46.488 --> 00:38:48.987
- We moved to Reno
after my father passed away,

00:38:48.988 --> 00:38:51.887
and, obviously,
my mom needed some help,

00:38:51.888 --> 00:38:53.654
single mother of two kids,

00:38:53.655 --> 00:38:56.587
and moved in
with my grandmother for a while.

00:38:56.588 --> 00:38:59.854
Everybody thought
that we were adopted

00:38:59.855 --> 00:39:04.021
or my mom was babysitting
or doing a favor for somebody.

00:39:04.022 --> 00:39:06.421
- [singing] That I\'m practical

00:39:06.422 --> 00:39:07.921
But they never...

00:39:07.922 --> 00:39:09.221
- That\'s what I remember most

00:39:09.222 --> 00:39:11.254
is not having
a whole lot of people

00:39:11.255 --> 00:39:14.687
that looked like me growing up,
which was hard.

00:39:14.688 --> 00:39:16.954
I wanted to be white,

00:39:16.955 --> 00:39:20.921
and I thought, you know,
for a long time, I was.

00:39:20.922 --> 00:39:24.854
I didn\'t see any difference
between my color,

00:39:24.855 --> 00:39:26.387
the color of my skin,

00:39:26.388 --> 00:39:30.287
and, say,
all my other little friends

00:39:30.288 --> 00:39:32.321
that were white
with blonde hair and blue eyes,

00:39:32.322 --> 00:39:34.587
except for the fact that
when I really thought about it

00:39:34.588 --> 00:39:36.721
and deep down inside looked
at myself in the mirror,

00:39:36.722 --> 00:39:38.421
I was like,
\"Wow, I want what they have,

00:39:38.422 --> 00:39:39.954
because I don\'t have it.\"

00:39:39.955 --> 00:39:42.154
I didn\'t really start feeling
comfortable with who I was

00:39:42.155 --> 00:39:44.521
until after high school

00:39:44.522 --> 00:39:47.687
when I started
doing more things.

00:39:47.688 --> 00:39:49.087
I started modeling more

00:39:49.088 --> 00:39:53.421
and being around
different cultures more,

00:39:53.422 --> 00:39:55.754
and I was out on my own more

00:39:55.755 --> 00:39:58.754
to kind of figure out who I was
and not just, you know,

00:39:58.755 --> 00:40:02.354
who I had been trying
to be forever.

00:40:02.355 --> 00:40:04.921
I thought I was this, like,
white girl from Vancouver,

00:40:04.922 --> 00:40:06.021
but I\'m not.

00:40:06.022 --> 00:40:08.221
I\'m somebody
completely different.

00:40:08.222 --> 00:40:13.321
I found out
I\'m a multiracial woman,

00:40:13.322 --> 00:40:17.921
and I can communicate
with anybody,

00:40:17.922 --> 00:40:19.487
no matter what race they are,

00:40:19.488 --> 00:40:20.821
and I can be friends
with anybody

00:40:20.822 --> 00:40:23.521
no matter what race
or color of their skin.

00:40:23.522 --> 00:40:25.621
Being a multiracial person,

00:40:25.622 --> 00:40:28.487
learning both sides of who I am,

00:40:28.488 --> 00:40:30.887
the white side
and the black side,

00:40:30.888 --> 00:40:37.254
really helped me understand
and feel closer to both races.

00:40:37.255 --> 00:40:38.754
- Let\'s go play some soccer.

00:40:38.755 --> 00:40:39.887
Come on.

00:40:39.888 --> 00:40:41.754
Let\'s run.

00:40:41.755 --> 00:40:43.821
- Do you know where it is?
Because I forgot.

00:40:43.822 --> 00:40:45.287
- There\'s a secret path
right there,

00:40:45.288 --> 00:40:46.954
and then there\'s the gate
right there.

00:40:46.955 --> 00:40:49.621
I already speak to Elijah
about where he comes from

00:40:49.622 --> 00:40:52.587
and the reason... you know,
where the brown skin comes from,

00:40:52.588 --> 00:40:54.654
because it\'s hard
because we don\'t have

00:40:54.655 --> 00:40:57.322
that example of my father.

00:40:59.155 --> 00:41:02.121
Even for me, it was hard,
\'cause I didn\'t have someone

00:41:02.122 --> 00:41:05.887
teaching me and explaining
our history and our culture

00:41:05.888 --> 00:41:09.221
and where we came from.

00:41:09.222 --> 00:41:13.054
I kind of missed out on that
because he wasn\'t there.

00:41:13.055 --> 00:41:17.321
For Elijah, I already explained
to him, you know,

00:41:17.322 --> 00:41:20.421
\"Your Grandpa William,
he\'s... he had brown skin,

00:41:20.422 --> 00:41:22.754
\"and that\'s where
you get it from.

00:41:22.755 --> 00:41:25.321
That\'s where I get it from.\"

00:41:25.322 --> 00:41:28.521
And of course,
I think if he wants to,

00:41:28.522 --> 00:41:31.021
he can be...
Choose whatever he wants.

00:41:31.022 --> 00:41:33.721
I mean, it\'s not
that big of a deal to me,

00:41:33.722 --> 00:41:35.387
and it\'s really not something

00:41:35.388 --> 00:41:38.354
that has hindered
my life a whole lot,

00:41:38.355 --> 00:41:42.654
and I don\'t expect it to really
do that with Elijah so much.

00:41:42.655 --> 00:41:46.154
Dublin might have
more of a difficult time,

00:41:46.155 --> 00:41:48.621
because I already get
all of the adoption questions:

00:41:48.622 --> 00:41:50.387
\"Oh, is he adopted?\"

00:41:50.388 --> 00:41:52.987
\"Is he yours?\"

00:41:52.988 --> 00:41:55.221
I think he might have
a little bit tougher time

00:41:55.222 --> 00:41:59.121
kind of recognizing
and trying to figure out

00:41:59.122 --> 00:42:00.454
who he wants to be,

00:42:00.455 --> 00:42:04.287
but, I mean, if he wants
to put down Caucasian or...

00:42:04.288 --> 00:42:06.254
When he gets older,
that\'s his choice.

00:42:06.255 --> 00:42:08.454
I mean, his children,
if they have...

00:42:08.455 --> 00:42:11.287
If he, you know, happens
to marry and have children

00:42:11.288 --> 00:42:12.654
with a Caucasian,

00:42:12.655 --> 00:42:15.287
obviously, they\'re gonna be
white, Caucasian.

00:42:15.288 --> 00:42:17.587
You know,
that\'s just what it is.

00:42:17.588 --> 00:42:20.821
But if there... I think if there
was a \"multiracial\" box,

00:42:20.822 --> 00:42:24.521
it would be easier,
because they are multiracial.

00:42:24.522 --> 00:42:29.054
They... if there was something,
if there was a category

00:42:29.055 --> 00:42:32.454
for them to put themselves into,
I would definitely say

00:42:32.455 --> 00:42:36.054
multiracial would be
the way to go,

00:42:36.055 --> 00:42:38.221
because they\'re not white,
and they\'re not black.

00:42:38.222 --> 00:42:39.654
They\'re everything.

00:42:39.655 --> 00:42:41.521
They\'re so many
different things.

00:42:41.522 --> 00:42:44.554
So it\'s really up to them

00:42:44.555 --> 00:42:47.454
what they want to choose
when they get older.

00:42:47.455 --> 00:42:50.654
I don\'t really have a problem
with it myself.

00:42:50.655 --> 00:42:55.021
I want them to be confident
in who they are

00:42:55.022 --> 00:42:57.254
and be comfortable
with who they are,

00:42:57.255 --> 00:43:03.021
and if that\'s being white
or black or multiracial,

00:43:03.022 --> 00:43:05.188
then that\'s what it is.

00:43:06.188 --> 00:43:12.188
[dramatic music]

00:43:14.488 --> 00:43:16.754
narrator: Supporters
of the multiracial category

00:43:16.755 --> 00:43:18.421
insist its addition would help

00:43:18.422 --> 00:43:21.687
to accurately represent
shifting demographic trends

00:43:21.688 --> 00:43:24.287
while also providing
a true reflection

00:43:24.288 --> 00:43:28.354
of multiracial peoples\'
understanding of their identity.

00:43:28.355 --> 00:43:30.821
- The 21st century
has so far supported

00:43:30.822 --> 00:43:33.254
greater recognition
of mixed race

00:43:33.255 --> 00:43:36.921
than the 19th century but...
And this is very important...

00:43:36.922 --> 00:43:39.754
Not as a stand-alone
racial category.

00:43:39.755 --> 00:43:43.354
Mixed race is on a border
and has to find a way

00:43:43.355 --> 00:43:48.054
of combining
impossible opposites,

00:43:48.055 --> 00:43:50.421
you know, opposites
that cannot be combined.

00:43:50.422 --> 00:43:53.121
This is the task for individuals
of mixed race.

00:43:53.122 --> 00:43:57.121
But if you think about it,
there is no reason why

00:43:57.122 --> 00:44:01.587
all individuals can\'t be viewed
as integral wholes

00:44:01.588 --> 00:44:03.754
and why mixed race can\'t be

00:44:03.755 --> 00:44:06.255
a recognized
stand-alone category.

00:44:15.522 --> 00:44:21.522
[rock music]

00:44:27.155 --> 00:44:29.887
narrator: Studies have shown
most multiracial individuals

00:44:29.888 --> 00:44:33.721
feel they are denying one parent
and a part of themselves

00:44:33.722 --> 00:44:35.754
when they claim
only one racial identity.

00:44:35.755 --> 00:44:37.387
Frequently, they choose

00:44:37.388 --> 00:44:40.421
a single minority
racial identification publicly,

00:44:40.422 --> 00:44:42.287
because it is
politically correct,

00:44:42.288 --> 00:44:44.887
while privately identifying
as multiracial.

00:44:44.888 --> 00:44:48.687
- My personal interest
as a mixed race person is that,

00:44:48.688 --> 00:44:50.654
you know, my life
would have been a lot easier,

00:44:50.655 --> 00:44:52.287
and would be a lot easier,

00:44:52.288 --> 00:44:55.187
if there were an easy
recognition that one is mixed

00:44:55.188 --> 00:44:57.587
without people insisting

00:44:57.588 --> 00:45:00.387
that this indicates
some form of...

00:45:00.388 --> 00:45:04.221
That the request indicates
some form of self-loathing

00:45:04.222 --> 00:45:07.121
or rejection of one race
or the other.

00:45:07.122 --> 00:45:08.754
I think that\'s silly.

00:45:08.755 --> 00:45:11.687
I mean, if you have
mixed heritage and you\'ve had...

00:45:11.688 --> 00:45:13.787
You\'ve had a mixed
cultural experience

00:45:13.788 --> 00:45:16.121
and your appearance
doesn\'t line up

00:45:16.122 --> 00:45:17.754
with the normal categories,

00:45:17.755 --> 00:45:20.587
it seems to me a matter
of basic human dignity,

00:45:20.588 --> 00:45:23.021
if you can talk about
such a thing in terms of race,

00:45:23.022 --> 00:45:25.721
that there would be
an easy recognition

00:45:25.722 --> 00:45:29.455
of people
who are racially mixed.

00:45:30.455 --> 00:45:35.854
[dramatic music]

00:45:35.855 --> 00:45:37.954
narrator: Different racial
and cultural groups

00:45:37.955 --> 00:45:40.854
see multiracialism differently.

00:45:40.855 --> 00:45:42.954
For some whites,
multiracial represents

00:45:42.955 --> 00:45:44.987
the pollution of the white race.

00:45:44.988 --> 00:45:47.387
For some blacks,
multiracial represents

00:45:47.388 --> 00:45:50.187
an attempt to escape blackness.

00:45:50.188 --> 00:45:53.154
And for some Asians,
Latinos, or Arabs,

00:45:53.155 --> 00:45:55.521
multiracial can be seen
as ill-equipped

00:45:55.522 --> 00:45:58.054
to perpetuate
cultural traditions,

00:45:58.055 --> 00:45:59.687
and therefore represents
the dilution

00:45:59.688 --> 00:46:03.521
of that particular culture.

00:46:03.522 --> 00:46:05.887
Ethnic Asian groups,
like whites,

00:46:05.888 --> 00:46:07.654
can be equally oppressive
and exclusive

00:46:07.655 --> 00:46:09.954
in fear of racial pollution.

00:46:09.955 --> 00:46:12.654
A child who is part Asian
and anything else,

00:46:12.655 --> 00:46:16.721
especially black, is identified
as the non-Asian parent.

00:46:16.722 --> 00:46:19.487
Multiracial individuals
from two minority races,

00:46:19.488 --> 00:46:21.287
for example, Mexican and Asian,

00:46:21.288 --> 00:46:23.354
are likely
to experience oppression

00:46:23.355 --> 00:46:26.322
from the racial group
that has a higher social status.

00:46:31.488 --> 00:46:33.554
Experts believe
that each individual

00:46:33.555 --> 00:46:34.987
is the product of a group,

00:46:34.988 --> 00:46:37.121
and since the reference group
for multiracial people

00:46:37.122 --> 00:46:38.521
doesn\'t exist,

00:46:38.522 --> 00:46:40.287
they are denied
authentic identification

00:46:40.288 --> 00:46:41.587
and belonging.

00:46:41.588 --> 00:46:45.787
They may feel pressured
by peers, teachers, society,

00:46:45.788 --> 00:46:48.654
the forms they must fill out,
even family,

00:46:48.655 --> 00:46:50.887
to choose a race.

00:46:50.888 --> 00:46:53.821
- People derive their
racial identities from groups.

00:46:53.822 --> 00:46:58.187
And, groups... especially given
a history of segregation,

00:46:58.188 --> 00:47:02.487
groups and families
tend to be of one race

00:47:02.488 --> 00:47:06.221
or tend to perceive themselves
as being of one race.

00:47:06.222 --> 00:47:09.921
So a multiracial
black-and-white person

00:47:09.922 --> 00:47:13.921
who is not securely part
of a black family

00:47:13.922 --> 00:47:15.721
or part of the black community,

00:47:15.722 --> 00:47:18.121
in which case they would have
a black identity,

00:47:18.122 --> 00:47:24.187
does not have that social
and cultural anchor

00:47:24.188 --> 00:47:26.221
that either whites or blacks do,

00:47:26.222 --> 00:47:30.054
because a visibly multiracial
black-and-white person

00:47:30.055 --> 00:47:36.621
is not going to be accepted
as white among whites

00:47:36.622 --> 00:47:39.954
unless the person
looks white enough to pass.

00:47:39.955 --> 00:47:41.721
But I mean, assuming

00:47:41.722 --> 00:47:44.787
that a multiracial
black-and-white person

00:47:44.788 --> 00:47:46.421
doesn\'t want to pass,

00:47:46.422 --> 00:47:49.454
because they don\'t want
to lie about their ancestry,

00:47:49.455 --> 00:47:54.487
but they don\'t have a...
They will end up bereft

00:47:54.488 --> 00:47:58.687
of that kind
of communal foundation

00:47:58.688 --> 00:48:02.121
that both whites
and blacks have.

00:48:02.122 --> 00:48:07.454
[dramatic music]

00:48:07.455 --> 00:48:09.987
narrator: In protest,
some multiracial individuals

00:48:09.988 --> 00:48:11.721
and their families are opting

00:48:11.722 --> 00:48:14.287
not to fill out
the race question on forms

00:48:14.288 --> 00:48:16.787
or simply filling in \"human\"

00:48:16.788 --> 00:48:19.587
because none of the categories
fit their racial makeup.

00:48:19.588 --> 00:48:23.954
- What if, instead of having
an identity of being \"aracial\"

00:48:23.955 --> 00:48:29.521
as a term of abuse or an insult,

00:48:29.522 --> 00:48:31.087
you know, what if
this were something

00:48:31.088 --> 00:48:34.654
that somebody could take up
with pride,

00:48:34.655 --> 00:48:37.087
you know, like,
no religious affiliation,

00:48:37.088 --> 00:48:39.822
no racial affiliation,
no racial identity?

00:48:44.622 --> 00:48:46.421
There\'s a question
of fairness here.

00:48:46.422 --> 00:48:49.754
I mean, why, in everything else,

00:48:49.755 --> 00:48:51.954
when people demand something
that other people have,

00:48:51.955 --> 00:48:54.187
we tend to think
they have a right to it.

00:48:54.188 --> 00:48:55.687
And so you have to ask,

00:48:55.688 --> 00:48:58.587
\"Well, who benefits by the
non-recognition of mixed race?\"

00:48:58.588 --> 00:49:00.454
And there\'s no easy answer
to that.

00:49:00.455 --> 00:49:07.087
Children who are multiracial are
somewhat emotionally displaced

00:49:07.088 --> 00:49:11.421
when there\'s not a place
for them to be identified.

00:49:11.422 --> 00:49:14.721
You know, so I think
there\'s a moral point here

00:49:14.722 --> 00:49:17.821
that if we\'re going to have
a system of races,

00:49:17.822 --> 00:49:21.854
then when someone has ancestry
from more than one race,

00:49:21.855 --> 00:49:23.721
that they\'re mixed race.

00:49:23.722 --> 00:49:25.687
Now, if people don\'t like that,

00:49:25.688 --> 00:49:28.021
then they need to reexamine
the system of races.

00:49:28.022 --> 00:49:30.321
The problem isn\'t with
the mixed race person who...

00:49:30.322 --> 00:49:32.221
You know,
it\'s a Procrustean bed.

00:49:32.222 --> 00:49:34.721
You know,
if you don\'t fit the bed,

00:49:34.722 --> 00:49:37.854
well, do you have your feet
and head lopped off,

00:49:37.855 --> 00:49:40.554
or do you find a longer bed?

00:49:40.555 --> 00:49:42.821
Well, I think we have to find
a longer bed.

00:49:42.822 --> 00:49:44.554
Narrator:
Not everyone agrees.

00:49:44.555 --> 00:49:48.121
The NAACP,
the National Council of La Raza,

00:49:48.122 --> 00:49:51.287
Asian along with Native American
advocacy groups

00:49:51.288 --> 00:49:53.821
opposed a multiracial category

00:49:53.822 --> 00:49:56.187
because there was concern
that it could negatively affect

00:49:56.188 --> 00:49:57.821
voting rights enforcement

00:49:57.822 --> 00:50:00.387
and allocation
for social and school programs

00:50:00.388 --> 00:50:03.387
based on minority participation.

00:50:03.388 --> 00:50:05.521
- Who would benefit
if we instituted

00:50:05.522 --> 00:50:07.687
a multiracial category,

00:50:07.688 --> 00:50:09.621
or if we got rid
of racial categorization

00:50:09.622 --> 00:50:11.621
at the federal level
for tracking statistics?

00:50:11.622 --> 00:50:12.821
Who would benefit?

00:50:12.822 --> 00:50:14.621
You\'d have a kind
of emotional benefit

00:50:14.622 --> 00:50:17.254
to a handful
of multiracial individuals,

00:50:17.255 --> 00:50:19.221
but in terms of people
who would like to see...

00:50:19.222 --> 00:50:20.987
Who would like
to have the ability

00:50:20.988 --> 00:50:23.521
to discriminate
in their organizations,

00:50:23.522 --> 00:50:27.121
to not promote people,
to fire people based on race,

00:50:27.122 --> 00:50:29.554
and to not have that found out
and tracked,

00:50:29.555 --> 00:50:30.954
that\'s who would benefit.

00:50:30.955 --> 00:50:34.687
So it is on one hand
an emotional issue

00:50:34.688 --> 00:50:38.687
and on the other hand
a very, very sort of cold

00:50:38.688 --> 00:50:41.321
and calculating practical issue.

00:50:41.322 --> 00:50:42.454
The question I ask is,

00:50:42.455 --> 00:50:45.821
\"If your children
were mislabeled

00:50:45.822 --> 00:50:48.221
\"not as black but as white,

00:50:48.222 --> 00:50:51.454
\"would they object
so strenuously

00:50:51.455 --> 00:50:53.421
as they do when they\'re
mislabeled as black?\"

00:50:53.422 --> 00:50:54.587
I don\'t think so.

00:50:54.588 --> 00:50:59.321
I think it is a function
of simply not wanting

00:50:59.322 --> 00:51:00.621
their children to be black.

00:51:00.622 --> 00:51:03.954
And look at the advantages
it confers to not be.

00:51:03.955 --> 00:51:05.187
If you can just be...

00:51:05.188 --> 00:51:06.854
If you can be something
other than black,

00:51:06.855 --> 00:51:08.387
it confers an advantage on you,

00:51:08.388 --> 00:51:10.788
And I think that\'s where...
That\'s where it lies.

00:51:16.822 --> 00:51:18.321
- I get mistaken
for Middle Eastern

00:51:18.322 --> 00:51:21.854
or Latina a lot,
and I get spoken to in Spanish

00:51:21.855 --> 00:51:25.021
more than I get spoken to
in Japanese probably.

00:51:25.022 --> 00:51:27.687
And sometimes
it\'s quite humorous.

00:51:27.688 --> 00:51:31.087
Once, I was walking past
a Latino Student Union booth,

00:51:31.088 --> 00:51:33.821
and they asked me to join,
and I said,

00:51:33.822 --> 00:51:35.787
\"Well, I don\'t think I qualify
for this club.\"

00:51:35.788 --> 00:51:38.154
And they\'re like, \"Oh, we accept
Central Americans too.

00:51:38.155 --> 00:51:39.222
Come join.\"

00:51:43.455 --> 00:51:46.887
I think even though
I have encountered

00:51:46.888 --> 00:51:48.887
some bad experiences with,

00:51:48.888 --> 00:51:51.387
you know, being hapa
or being mixed race,

00:51:51.388 --> 00:51:55.087
I think that in the long run,
it really gave me insight

00:51:55.088 --> 00:52:00.354
into how, you know, people view
those who are mixed race

00:52:00.355 --> 00:52:03.387
and how racial consciousness
affects people in America.

00:52:03.388 --> 00:52:06.487
And I think, in a way,
it gives me, like,

00:52:06.488 --> 00:52:09.221
social and cultural capital,
because I can, you know,

00:52:09.222 --> 00:52:12.321
fit into some societies
and blend in more.

00:52:12.322 --> 00:52:15.954
And I can easily relate
to a lot of people,

00:52:15.955 --> 00:52:20.922
so I think that\'s definitely one
of the benefits of being hapa.

00:52:23.322 --> 00:52:29.687
I guess just overall what I want
people to know is that,

00:52:29.688 --> 00:52:32.421
even though, I guess,
people aren\'t that conscious

00:52:32.422 --> 00:52:36.122
of, like, mixed race identity,
we are an emerging population.

00:52:37.555 --> 00:52:40.487
[rock music]

00:52:40.488 --> 00:52:43.187
narrator: Opponents
of the multiracial category

00:52:43.188 --> 00:52:45.454
believe parents
of multiracial children

00:52:45.455 --> 00:52:47.754
are propelling
the multiracial movement

00:52:47.755 --> 00:52:49.421
and are indoctrinating
their children

00:52:49.422 --> 00:52:51.954
with a multiracial identity.

00:52:51.955 --> 00:52:56.454
- What\'s happening today
is that biracial children,

00:52:56.455 --> 00:52:58.954
it\'s being properly revealed
to them that they\'re biracial,

00:52:58.955 --> 00:53:00.487
whereas in the past,

00:53:00.488 --> 00:53:02.954
they were indoctrinated
to a black identity.

00:53:02.955 --> 00:53:06.121
So to take an example,
a hypothetic example:

00:53:06.122 --> 00:53:09.254
30 years from now,
you had a white woman

00:53:09.255 --> 00:53:11.154
and a black man have a child,

00:53:11.155 --> 00:53:13.987
that child was indoctrinated
to a black identity,

00:53:13.988 --> 00:53:16.421
because that child
was either taught directly

00:53:16.422 --> 00:53:18.054
that it was black

00:53:18.055 --> 00:53:21.254
or through just the way
that people act,

00:53:21.255 --> 00:53:22.754
the assumptions
that people have,

00:53:22.755 --> 00:53:25.154
the way that child grows up,
no one says anything different,

00:53:25.155 --> 00:53:27.454
and it\'s accepted
that that child is black.

00:53:27.455 --> 00:53:29.087
So that\'s what I mean
by indoctrination:

00:53:29.088 --> 00:53:31.287
the child was indoctrinated
towards a black identity.

00:53:31.288 --> 00:53:33.421
Yet the question I ask is,

00:53:33.422 --> 00:53:38.354
how is telling a child
that she is multiracial

00:53:38.355 --> 00:53:41.554
any less indoctrinating

00:53:41.555 --> 00:53:43.521
than telling a child
that she\'s black...

00:53:43.522 --> 00:53:45.521
Or, indeed, telling a child
that she\'s white?

00:53:45.522 --> 00:53:47.954
Indoctrination
is indoctrination.

00:53:47.955 --> 00:53:49.487
It\'s got to be parallel,

00:53:49.488 --> 00:53:52.421
because the impression it gives
is that somehow

00:53:52.422 --> 00:53:54.954
truth is being revealed today,

00:53:54.955 --> 00:53:57.254
when falsity was being revealed
in the past.

00:53:57.255 --> 00:53:59.021
But in fact, all of it\'s false,

00:53:59.022 --> 00:54:01.154
because all of it\'s
racial identity.

00:54:01.155 --> 00:54:03.687
So a false...
So whereas 30 years ago,

00:54:03.688 --> 00:54:05.387
the child would have
been indoctrinated

00:54:05.388 --> 00:54:07.354
to a false black
racial identity,

00:54:07.355 --> 00:54:08.821
today the child is indoctrinated

00:54:08.822 --> 00:54:10.621
to an equally false multiracial
identity.

00:54:10.622 --> 00:54:12.422
And my question is,
how is that better?

00:54:15.588 --> 00:54:17.854
Narrator: Opponents
of the multiracial category

00:54:17.855 --> 00:54:21.654
also point out the category
might help those on the right

00:54:21.655 --> 00:54:23.954
who want to get rid of race
altogether.

00:54:23.955 --> 00:54:27.154
- I\'m part of a group called
Critical Race Theorists,

00:54:27.155 --> 00:54:29.687
who are really concerned
about anti-blackness

00:54:29.688 --> 00:54:34.321
and about what happens if we get
on this road of post-racialism.

00:54:34.322 --> 00:54:36.121
There are some ways
that we really see

00:54:36.122 --> 00:54:40.254
these multiracial organizations
as being manipulated,

00:54:40.255 --> 00:54:42.021
some wittingly,
some unwittingly,

00:54:42.022 --> 00:54:43.821
by the far right.

00:54:43.822 --> 00:54:45.454
That\'s really what\'s happening.

00:54:45.455 --> 00:54:47.921
And they\'re playing on
these people\'s emotions,

00:54:47.922 --> 00:54:50.054
\"Oh, yeah, you should be able
to identify yourself.

00:54:50.055 --> 00:54:53.054
What are... you know, all these
racial categories are crazy,\"

00:54:53.055 --> 00:54:54.954
because they would like
to see an end

00:54:54.955 --> 00:54:56.754
to the civil rights
compliance monitoring.

00:54:56.755 --> 00:54:59.187
Unfortunately, a lot
of the power behind the movement

00:54:59.188 --> 00:55:00.854
comes from politicians,

00:55:00.855 --> 00:55:02.787
people like Newt Gingrich,

00:55:02.788 --> 00:55:04.554
when he was in office
and even now still,

00:55:04.555 --> 00:55:09.021
or Ward Connerly, the former
University of California regent

00:55:09.022 --> 00:55:11.221
who pushes
his racial privacy initiative

00:55:11.222 --> 00:55:12.787
and other things.

00:55:12.788 --> 00:55:15.921
If they have their way,
we\'ll no longer be able to track

00:55:15.922 --> 00:55:18.154
discrimination against minor...

00:55:18.155 --> 00:55:19.387
We know it\'s still happening,

00:55:19.388 --> 00:55:20.787
but we won\'t be able
to track it.

00:55:20.788 --> 00:55:22.887
And in the middle, I think,

00:55:22.888 --> 00:55:24.887
un-realizing that they\'re
being manipulated,

00:55:24.888 --> 00:55:26.955
are a lot of these
multiracial advocates.

00:55:40.888 --> 00:55:42.287
Narrator:
The ultimate goal

00:55:42.288 --> 00:55:44.387
to add the multiracial category
failed

00:55:44.388 --> 00:55:47.587
because powerful minority groups
successfully argued

00:55:47.588 --> 00:55:49.121
that it\'s not possible to allege

00:55:49.122 --> 00:55:51.121
that one has suffered
discrimination

00:55:51.122 --> 00:55:54.654
due to one\'s multiracial status
but only on the basis

00:55:54.655 --> 00:55:58.855
of one of the core single races
of ancestry.

00:56:23.755 --> 00:56:26.087
- A large majority are people
who are checking

00:56:26.088 --> 00:56:28.121
part American Indian ancestry.

00:56:28.122 --> 00:56:30.121
It\'s clear that
that\'s a different kind

00:56:30.122 --> 00:56:33.021
of multiraciality
than what we think of, right?

00:56:33.022 --> 00:56:35.221
People when they think
about multiraciality today,

00:56:35.222 --> 00:56:37.021
they think about
the biracial children

00:56:37.022 --> 00:56:39.687
of a parent of one race
and a parent of another race.

00:56:39.688 --> 00:56:41.821
Certainly for most people
who identify as part Asian

00:56:41.822 --> 00:56:43.721
and something else, that\'s true.

00:56:43.722 --> 00:56:44.987
It\'s certainly not true

00:56:44.988 --> 00:56:46.821
for people of part
American Indian ancestry.

00:56:46.822 --> 00:56:49.154
There are many people
who are probably checking

00:56:49.155 --> 00:56:51.021
the \"white\"
and \"American Indian\" box

00:56:51.022 --> 00:56:52.854
not because both
of their parents...

00:56:52.855 --> 00:56:55.087
One of their parents would have
identified as white alone

00:56:55.088 --> 00:56:56.954
and one of their parents
would have identified

00:56:56.955 --> 00:56:58.087
as American Indian alone,

00:56:58.088 --> 00:56:59.721
but because they have
knowledge of some

00:56:59.722 --> 00:57:03.087
American Indian-white mixing

00:57:03.088 --> 00:57:04.954
further back
in their family tree,

00:57:04.955 --> 00:57:07.421
maybe their grandparents,
maybe their great-grandparents.

00:57:07.422 --> 00:57:09.088
Who knows?

00:57:12.988 --> 00:57:15.587
- People say that, \"Well,
we need a multiracial category

00:57:15.588 --> 00:57:17.454
\"so that we can track
discrimination

00:57:17.455 --> 00:57:19.654
against multiracial people.\"

00:57:19.655 --> 00:57:21.854
But to use
the black-white example,

00:57:21.855 --> 00:57:24.387
black-white people
are not discriminated against

00:57:24.388 --> 00:57:25.987
for being black-white.

00:57:25.988 --> 00:57:27.654
If they\'re perceived...

00:57:27.655 --> 00:57:29.254
If they\'re
discriminated against,

00:57:29.255 --> 00:57:31.654
it\'s because they\'re perceived
to be black in most cases,

00:57:31.655 --> 00:57:33.887
to be part black in most cases.

00:57:33.888 --> 00:57:37.687
I\'ve yet to find the racist
who loves white people,

00:57:37.688 --> 00:57:39.754
tolerates black people,

00:57:39.755 --> 00:57:42.321
but really hates
black-white people.

00:57:42.322 --> 00:57:44.854
And so if they\'re
discriminated against,

00:57:44.855 --> 00:57:47.521
it\'s because of that perception
of their black ancestry,

00:57:47.522 --> 00:57:50.421
or to be quite fair,
there are black people

00:57:50.422 --> 00:57:54.754
who will discriminate against
black-white multiracials,

00:57:54.755 --> 00:57:57.721
not because they hate
multiracial people,

00:57:57.722 --> 00:57:59.454
but because they hate
the whiteness

00:57:59.455 --> 00:58:02.887
that they perceive
in that person\'s ancestry.

00:58:02.888 --> 00:58:06.721
So this is really...
There is no need to track

00:58:06.722 --> 00:58:09.054
anti-multiracial discrimination

00:58:09.055 --> 00:58:11.421
because it\'s always
a prior function

00:58:11.422 --> 00:58:15.221
of the kinds of discrimination
we\'re already tracking.

00:58:15.222 --> 00:58:21.222
[rock music]

00:58:27.088 --> 00:58:30.854
- I think it would be
a lot easier if there was a box

00:58:30.855 --> 00:58:35.454
that chose,
either than \"other,\" \"biracial.\"

00:58:35.455 --> 00:58:38.521
I think there should be a box
that checks \"biracial.\"

00:58:38.522 --> 00:58:40.887
I think it\'d be easier
for the children

00:58:40.888 --> 00:58:42.921
when they get older.

00:58:42.922 --> 00:58:45.821
So, you know, depending
on what school they go to,

00:58:45.822 --> 00:58:48.821
if they choose
\"African-American,\"

00:58:48.822 --> 00:58:50.287
you know, look at Dublin.

00:58:50.288 --> 00:58:51.554
He\'s gonna choose...

00:58:51.555 --> 00:58:54.554
He\'s gonna check the box
\"African-American,\"

00:58:54.555 --> 00:58:55.987
and he\'s about as white as I am.

00:58:55.988 --> 00:58:57.221
You know, the teacher...

00:58:57.222 --> 00:58:58.821
You\'re not only gonna have
the teacher,

00:58:58.822 --> 00:59:00.254
you\'re gonna have the principal,

00:59:00.255 --> 00:59:01.887
or you\'re gonna have
the counselor,

00:59:01.888 --> 00:59:06.187
you\'re probably gonna have,
you know, other parents asking,

00:59:06.188 --> 00:59:08.521
\"Why is he, you know...

00:59:08.522 --> 00:59:10.987
He\'s not African-American,\"
you know.

00:59:10.988 --> 00:59:15.854
And technically, if there was
a box that said \"biracial,

00:59:15.855 --> 00:59:19.254
people would think, \"Oh, yeah,
he could be biracial.\"

00:59:19.255 --> 00:59:21.555
And I think that\'s what we need.

00:59:39.455 --> 00:59:42.721
- I definitely think there
should be a multiracial category

00:59:42.722 --> 00:59:46.587
for people like myself
and my children,

00:59:46.588 --> 00:59:48.954
because right now,
our options are...

00:59:48.955 --> 00:59:51.321
They say, \"Choose one,\" right?

00:59:51.322 --> 00:59:55.821
So there\'s Caucasian,
African-American,

00:59:55.822 --> 00:59:59.387
Hispanic, American Indian,

00:59:59.388 --> 01:00:02.021
all that kind of stuff, right,
Alaskan Eskimo,

01:00:02.022 --> 01:00:04.921
but then there\'s
that \"other\" box.

01:00:04.922 --> 01:00:07.354
And sometimes there\'s not even
an \"other\" box,

01:00:07.355 --> 01:00:08.954
you know, so you\'re forced
to choose.

01:00:08.955 --> 01:00:10.421
Me, I\'m stubborn,
and I just pick

01:00:10.422 --> 01:00:11.787
every single one that I want to,

01:00:11.788 --> 01:00:13.121
you know, \'cause that\'s just me.

01:00:13.122 --> 01:00:14.287
I\'m stubborn like that.

01:00:14.288 --> 01:00:16.087
But if there is an \"other\" box,
I put \"other,\"

01:00:16.088 --> 01:00:18.687
and then there\'s usually a line,
and I write out everything,

01:00:18.688 --> 01:00:21.287
but who really wants...
Who should...

01:00:21.288 --> 01:00:23.054
Why should we have to do that?

01:00:23.055 --> 01:00:26.087
I think that there definitely
should be a multiracial box

01:00:26.088 --> 01:00:30.421
because there\'s so many people
that are multiracial.

01:00:30.422 --> 01:00:33.254
One of my really good friends,
she has three daughters,

01:00:33.255 --> 01:00:35.654
and she\'s blonde hair,
blue eyed.

01:00:35.655 --> 01:00:38.221
The father of her children
is Hispanic.

01:00:38.222 --> 01:00:39.921
They\'re multiracial.

01:00:39.922 --> 01:00:43.454
They... and yet she\'s still being
put into this category.

01:00:43.455 --> 01:00:44.854
It\'s like,
\"My kids aren\'t white.

01:00:44.855 --> 01:00:47.387
My kids are Hispanic, but\"...

01:00:47.388 --> 01:00:49.921
you know,
it\'s one of those things

01:00:49.922 --> 01:00:54.987
where you don\'t really feel
like you have a place

01:00:54.988 --> 01:00:58.322
when you\'re forced
to put \"other.\"

01:01:10.355 --> 01:01:14.354
- On many forms today,
a person is asked

01:01:14.355 --> 01:01:16.821
to check what race
they belong to,

01:01:16.822 --> 01:01:19.221
and then whether they\'re
Hispanic or not Hispanic.

01:01:19.222 --> 01:01:20.854
So you could belong to any race

01:01:20.855 --> 01:01:23.521
and you could be
Latino/Hispanic or not.

01:01:23.522 --> 01:01:26.454
So you could be
a Cuban and white

01:01:26.455 --> 01:01:28.621
or Asian and Hispanic or not

01:01:28.622 --> 01:01:30.887
or white and Hispanic or not

01:01:30.888 --> 01:01:33.621
or black and Hispanic or not.

01:01:33.622 --> 01:01:37.487
So the census has stuck
this category of Hispanic

01:01:37.488 --> 01:01:40.454
onto the form as an ethnicity

01:01:40.455 --> 01:01:43.454
which just looks like something
that it could fit in with race,

01:01:43.455 --> 01:01:49.354
but on some forms,
a distinction is made

01:01:49.355 --> 01:01:52.287
between being Hispanic and white

01:01:52.288 --> 01:01:55.287
and being white
and not Hispanic.

01:01:55.288 --> 01:01:56.487
Do you see?

01:01:56.488 --> 01:01:59.187
So the census gives something
with one hand

01:01:59.188 --> 01:02:01.055
and takes it away
with the other hand.

01:02:18.055 --> 01:02:19.687
Narrator: Hispanics,
for the most part,

01:02:19.688 --> 01:02:23.221
can be considered
to be multiracial.

01:02:23.222 --> 01:02:25.654
There\'s common belief
amongst experts

01:02:25.655 --> 01:02:27.654
that Hispanics
will ultimately destroy

01:02:27.655 --> 01:02:30.054
the Anglo-American
racial system,

01:02:30.055 --> 01:02:32.321
just as the emergence
of the mestizos

01:02:32.322 --> 01:02:36.054
undermined
the Spanish racial system.

01:02:36.055 --> 01:02:42.055
[up-tempo music]

01:02:48.788 --> 01:02:51.821
Some experts believe
the racialization of Hispanicity

01:02:51.822 --> 01:02:53.454
is the function not just

01:02:53.455 --> 01:02:56.254
of an external labeling
by outsiders

01:02:56.255 --> 01:02:58.587
but also their refusal
in large numbers

01:02:58.588 --> 01:03:01.587
to adopt the white-black
racial status quo

01:03:01.588 --> 01:03:04.487
that has traditionally
constituted the principal poles

01:03:04.488 --> 01:03:08.487
of racial classification in the
United States.

01:03:08.488 --> 01:03:13.721
- The rise in immigration
from Latin America since,

01:03:13.722 --> 01:03:17.187
to a lesser extent the \'60s,
but certainly since the 1980s,

01:03:17.188 --> 01:03:19.287
we\'ve seen a growth
in those immigrant populations

01:03:19.288 --> 01:03:21.087
in the United States.

01:03:21.088 --> 01:03:24.187
They\'re typically described
as \"causing problems\"

01:03:24.188 --> 01:03:26.987
for sort of
the U.S. statistical system

01:03:26.988 --> 01:03:30.622
because it\'s not clear
how one should count them.

01:04:01.388 --> 01:04:04.021
In terms of the way
that Latino groups

01:04:04.022 --> 01:04:06.354
identify themselves
and the way that it changes

01:04:06.355 --> 01:04:08.187
across generations and families,

01:04:08.188 --> 01:04:09.887
so it\'s much more common

01:04:09.888 --> 01:04:14.454
for first-generation
Latino immigrants to not be able

01:04:14.455 --> 01:04:17.854
to sort of place themselves
in the U.S. racial...

01:04:17.855 --> 01:04:19.654
I think somebody called it
a pentagon...

01:04:19.655 --> 01:04:22.854
\'cause there\'s five primary
categories that they can\'t...

01:04:22.855 --> 01:04:24.987
That, you know, those categories
don\'t fit them,

01:04:24.988 --> 01:04:26.587
and so they pick \"other.\"

01:04:26.588 --> 01:04:30.221
But that as the generations
sort of unfold,

01:04:30.222 --> 01:04:31.987
certainly by
the third generation,

01:04:31.988 --> 01:04:33.654
what we\'re starting to see

01:04:33.655 --> 01:04:35.821
is that people
are actually more likely...

01:04:35.822 --> 01:04:37.321
They no longer mark \"other,\"

01:04:37.322 --> 01:04:41.254
and they\'re more likely
in most cases to mark \"white.\"

01:04:41.255 --> 01:04:43.721
And so that certainly raises
the issue of,

01:04:43.722 --> 01:04:47.421
are Hispanics, in fact,
the largest minority?

01:04:47.422 --> 01:04:50.721
Because if it\'s sort of losing,
in some sense,

01:04:50.722 --> 01:04:54.087
across the generations,
you\'re losing Latino people,

01:04:54.088 --> 01:04:55.354
you\'re losing Hispanics,

01:04:55.355 --> 01:04:58.154
because they no longer
identify as Hispanic

01:04:58.155 --> 01:05:00.587
either as they become
more successful,

01:05:00.588 --> 01:05:03.987
either as they become
more assimilated.

01:05:03.988 --> 01:05:07.721
So that, in some sense,
much like the earlier concerns

01:05:07.722 --> 01:05:09.487
about the mulatto vanguard

01:05:09.488 --> 01:05:11.821
and the most talented
and successful people

01:05:11.822 --> 01:05:15.521
being sort of skimmed off
the group, you get that in...

01:05:15.522 --> 01:05:18.854
The possibility exists
that you\'ll get that again

01:05:18.855 --> 01:05:21.054
with Hispanic immigrants
in the United States,

01:05:21.055 --> 01:05:24.521
that as they...
That the most successful ones

01:05:24.522 --> 01:05:27.455
no longer even identify
with the category.

01:05:30.722 --> 01:05:32.321
Narrator: Some people
have advocated

01:05:32.322 --> 01:05:34.121
for the banishment
of racial categories

01:05:34.122 --> 01:05:37.321
as outdated, primitive,
and unnecessary.

01:05:37.322 --> 01:05:39.421
But some insist
that post-racialism

01:05:39.422 --> 01:05:42.787
outside that political land mine
gets more complicated.

01:05:42.788 --> 01:05:45.287
- If you accept the fact
that people are going to go on

01:05:45.288 --> 01:05:51.254
believing in races,
in unfounded biological ways,

01:05:51.255 --> 01:05:56.554
then I think if they want...
If they want the luxury

01:05:56.555 --> 01:05:58.854
and possibly even
the recklessness

01:05:58.855 --> 01:06:02.021
of continuing to do that, then
they should be consistent.

01:06:02.022 --> 01:06:06.654
So if race were real,
then when you combine races,

01:06:06.655 --> 01:06:08.387
you would have mixed races.

01:06:08.388 --> 01:06:10.187
It\'s just...
It\'s really just a...

01:06:10.188 --> 01:06:12.221
It\'s a point,
and it\'s a point of fairness.

01:06:12.222 --> 01:06:16.121
I mean, as long as
we have a society

01:06:16.122 --> 01:06:21.787
that is based on individual
flourishing as an ideal

01:06:21.788 --> 01:06:23.654
and individual rights

01:06:23.655 --> 01:06:27.954
and some concept
of the dignity of persons,

01:06:27.955 --> 01:06:30.187
then if one or more people
tell you,

01:06:30.188 --> 01:06:35.054
\"Look, you know, this way
that all of you have of thinking

01:06:35.055 --> 01:06:37.522
totally leaves me out.\"

01:06:47.555 --> 01:06:50.054
- I wouldn\'t want
to get rid of race

01:06:50.055 --> 01:06:51.887
unless we could,
at the same time,

01:06:51.888 --> 01:06:55.554
at the exact same time,
get rid of all racists,

01:06:55.555 --> 01:06:58.487
because it\'s the racists
who hold on to race.

01:06:58.488 --> 01:07:02.454
If everyone would educate
themselves to understanding

01:07:02.455 --> 01:07:05.687
that race doesn\'t exist,
then it goes away by itself.

01:07:05.688 --> 01:07:07.421
But when we say,
\"Get rid of race,\"

01:07:07.422 --> 01:07:08.854
how do we get rid of race?

01:07:08.855 --> 01:07:12.621
Well, you can\'t get rid
of the racial checkboxes

01:07:12.622 --> 01:07:14.121
on forms that are used

01:07:14.122 --> 01:07:15.921
for civil rights
compliance monitoring,

01:07:15.922 --> 01:07:17.487
because that only benefits
racists

01:07:17.488 --> 01:07:21.121
who then are free
to do whatever they want.

01:07:21.122 --> 01:07:23.754
You know, the question is,
who benefits immediately?

01:07:23.755 --> 01:07:27.021
In this country,
white power benefits

01:07:27.022 --> 01:07:28.587
if you just sort of no longer...

01:07:28.588 --> 01:07:30.854
If you no longer made
reference to race,

01:07:30.855 --> 01:07:33.421
then white power benefits,

01:07:33.422 --> 01:07:36.987
because the power structure
isn\'t going to change.

01:07:36.988 --> 01:07:40.521
So I struggle with...
And quite honestly,

01:07:40.522 --> 01:07:42.954
it is a struggle
to, on the one hand, say,

01:07:42.955 --> 01:07:46.087
\"We need to understand
that race doesn\'t exist,\"

01:07:46.088 --> 01:07:50.687
but until everybody has achieved
that understanding,

01:07:50.688 --> 01:07:54.921
we still need to defend
ourselves against racism

01:07:54.922 --> 01:08:00.387
and define where racism is
so that we can root it out.

01:08:00.388 --> 01:08:01.954
The only way to do that
is to do it

01:08:01.955 --> 01:08:03.321
in the language of the racists,

01:08:03.322 --> 01:08:07.187
which is those racial categories
that we have on our forms.

01:08:07.188 --> 01:08:10.021
The racist isn\'t thinking about,

01:08:10.022 --> 01:08:14.687
\"Well, this person is part Thai
and a little bit Filipino,

01:08:14.688 --> 01:08:19.154
\"and I know that person
has a Vietnamese grandmother

01:08:19.155 --> 01:08:21.021
and a white mother.\"

01:08:21.022 --> 01:08:24.187
The person isn\'t doing that
kind of... that kind of calculus.

01:08:24.188 --> 01:08:26.054
The person is saying,
\"There\'s an Asian.

01:08:26.055 --> 01:08:27.421
I hate Asians.\"

01:08:27.422 --> 01:08:29.222
It\'s very simple-minded.

01:08:30.388 --> 01:08:36.388
[pensive instrumental music]

01:08:42.088 --> 01:08:45.121
- Race is simultaneously
a quality of distinct groups

01:08:45.122 --> 01:08:48.254
and of the individuals
who constitute them.

01:08:48.255 --> 01:08:52.121
If the reality of the biological
foundation of race is bracketed,

01:08:52.122 --> 01:08:54.287
the cultural differences
of racial groups,

01:08:54.288 --> 01:08:57.421
based on their history
and current economics,

01:08:57.422 --> 01:09:00.587
politics, and social values,
remain undeniable.

01:09:00.588 --> 01:09:04.354
This is another way of saying
that human racial taxonomy

01:09:04.355 --> 01:09:08.287
may at the same time be
both biologically unreal

01:09:08.288 --> 01:09:11.154
and socially
and psychologically real.

01:09:11.155 --> 01:09:14.387
And this is not as magical
as it seems,

01:09:14.388 --> 01:09:18.921
because it\'s only an instance
of human beings creating culture

01:09:18.922 --> 01:09:20.822
based on what they believe.

01:09:32.055 --> 01:09:33.254
- It\'s not about white people.

01:09:33.255 --> 01:09:34.687
It\'s about the idea of whiteness

01:09:34.688 --> 01:09:37.221
and a property value
in whiteness,

01:09:37.222 --> 01:09:38.921
which is why
it\'s defended so much,

01:09:38.922 --> 01:09:40.121
because you get...

01:09:40.122 --> 01:09:42.354
You know, everyone knows
about the sort of

01:09:42.355 --> 01:09:44.821
unconscious privileges
of whiteness,

01:09:44.822 --> 01:09:47.221
either through a sociology class
you took one time,

01:09:47.222 --> 01:09:49.154
you know, where you were asked
questions like,

01:09:49.155 --> 01:09:51.354
\"Well, when you go
to the department store,

01:09:51.355 --> 01:09:53.721
\"are you... are you followed
around by a security...

01:09:53.722 --> 01:09:55.554
Do you see the security guard
looking at you?\"

01:09:55.555 --> 01:09:57.721
But I will tell you
that I reject racial identity

01:09:57.722 --> 01:09:59.454
because race doesn\'t exist.

01:09:59.455 --> 01:10:03.487
Biological race doesn\'t exist,
so I reject a racial identity.

01:10:03.488 --> 01:10:05.087
Some people
may perceive me as black,

01:10:05.088 --> 01:10:07.621
and I may be discriminated
against as black.

01:10:07.622 --> 01:10:09.187
I can\'t help that.

01:10:09.188 --> 01:10:12.287
That doesn\'t make me accept
that I\'m racially black.

01:10:12.288 --> 01:10:15.221
But until we free ourselves
of the grip of race...

01:10:15.222 --> 01:10:16.921
This is what\'s holding it
all in place.

01:10:16.922 --> 01:10:19.654
The grip of race is what
makes this possible.

01:10:19.655 --> 01:10:22.054
I don\'t know when it\'s gonna be,
100 years from now,

01:10:22.055 --> 01:10:24.421
200 years from now,
500 years from now.

01:10:24.422 --> 01:10:27.254
Schoolchildren in the future
are going to look back at us,

01:10:27.255 --> 01:10:30.621
and they\'re going to look back
at us fighting about racism

01:10:30.622 --> 01:10:32.954
and prejudice
and racial identity

01:10:32.955 --> 01:10:35.354
and biracial identity,
and they\'re going to say,

01:10:35.355 --> 01:10:39.687
\"They actually believed
that they\'re biracial?\"

01:10:39.688 --> 01:10:42.587
And my argument
is that we need to...

01:10:42.588 --> 01:10:45.921
We need to cut short that...
Make that... cut that short

01:10:45.922 --> 01:10:48.321
so that, you know,
that\'s in the past

01:10:48.322 --> 01:10:51.254
and not in the present for us,
because we\'re going to...

01:10:51.255 --> 01:10:53.921
We\'re going to be looked at
as being pretty silly

01:10:53.922 --> 01:10:55.922
by some second
and third graders.

01:11:02.855 --> 01:11:08.855
[light piano music]

01:11:11.288 --> 01:11:13.587
narrator: Multiracialism
has become more visible

01:11:13.588 --> 01:11:19.321
and an accepted feature
of our cultural landscape.

01:11:19.322 --> 01:11:21.521
The growth
of mixed race marriages,

01:11:21.522 --> 01:11:23.154
multiracial families,

01:11:23.155 --> 01:11:26.621
and interracial relationships
are on the rise,

01:11:26.622 --> 01:11:28.854
especially in places
like greater Seattle,

01:11:28.855 --> 01:11:30.821
which has
the highest concentration

01:11:30.822 --> 01:11:35.354
of multiracial people
in America.

01:11:35.355 --> 01:11:39.721
The number constitutes nearly 4%
of the metropolitan area.

01:11:39.722 --> 01:11:42.454
Part of this is attributed
to the fact that state laws

01:11:42.455 --> 01:11:46.021
never prohibited interracial
marriages to begin with

01:11:46.022 --> 01:11:48.854
and the minority population
is especially small

01:11:48.855 --> 01:11:50.854
compared with
the white population,

01:11:50.855 --> 01:11:53.121
resulting in more racial mixing.

01:11:53.122 --> 01:11:57.021
- Many people have heard
news stories

01:11:57.022 --> 01:12:00.154
that whites are going
to become a minority

01:12:00.155 --> 01:12:02.321
in the United States by 2050

01:12:02.322 --> 01:12:05.787
and that in many cases, they are
already in the minority,

01:12:05.788 --> 01:12:07.754
in certain states
such as California.

01:12:07.755 --> 01:12:11.321
Post-1960, you get a rise
of immigration

01:12:11.322 --> 01:12:14.421
from what is typically called
non-traditional countries,

01:12:14.422 --> 01:12:16.554
countries that didn\'t
typically send immigrants

01:12:16.555 --> 01:12:18.221
to the United States before:

01:12:18.222 --> 01:12:22.254
East Asia, South Asia,
the Middle East, Latin America.

01:12:22.255 --> 01:12:26.321
And certainly the increase
in intermarriage has also,

01:12:26.322 --> 01:12:29.321
in that sense, by producing
children from those unions,

01:12:29.322 --> 01:12:32.687
you also increase the diversity
of the United States.

01:12:32.688 --> 01:12:36.787
But it\'s hard to say how some
of these newer immigrant groups

01:12:36.788 --> 01:12:38.987
are going to identify over time,

01:12:38.988 --> 01:12:41.554
how their children
are going to identify over time.

01:12:41.555 --> 01:12:44.221
As people assimilate
to the U.S.,

01:12:44.222 --> 01:12:46.054
as they become more successful,

01:12:46.055 --> 01:12:48.054
as the immigrant groups
become more successful,

01:12:48.055 --> 01:12:50.587
they will be more likely
to identify as white.

01:12:50.588 --> 01:12:54.121
And so this sort of
widely touted decline

01:12:54.122 --> 01:12:57.621
of the white population
may not materialize

01:12:57.622 --> 01:13:00.455
to the extent
that many people think it will.

01:14:28.155 --> 01:14:31.921
[upbeat electronic music]

01:14:31.922 --> 01:14:33.887
narrator: Although still small
in real numbers,

01:14:33.888 --> 01:14:35.887
the multiracial category
is larger

01:14:35.888 --> 01:14:39.054
than the combined total
of Native Americans,

01:14:39.055 --> 01:14:42.654
Alaska Natives,
Native Hawaiians,

01:14:42.655 --> 01:14:44.922
and Pacific Islanders.

01:14:49.722 --> 01:14:52.921
Race experts believe
multiracialism is ignored

01:14:52.922 --> 01:14:55.387
because too much
of our everyday life in America

01:14:55.388 --> 01:14:57.387
is invested
in racial differences

01:14:57.388 --> 01:15:00.887
to accept the overlapping
multiracial existence.

01:15:00.888 --> 01:15:04.121
The denial of the right
to racially self-describe

01:15:04.122 --> 01:15:07.254
or to act as a member
of multiple races at once

01:15:07.255 --> 01:15:10.721
is indicative of
institutionalized mono-raciality

01:15:10.722 --> 01:15:13.054
as the naturalized norm.

01:15:13.055 --> 01:15:16.387
- The script is yet to be...
Is a work in progress,

01:15:16.388 --> 01:15:20.055
in terms of mixed race identity
in America.

01:15:21.688 --> 01:15:27.688
[dramatic piano music]

01:15:35.422 --> 01:15:40.287
- [singing]
Must be the way I think

01:15:40.288 --> 01:15:41.954
It\'s all turning gray

01:15:41.955 --> 01:15:46.921
You\'re in the way all day

01:15:46.922 --> 01:15:50.088
It\'s all gone away again

01:15:55.855 --> 01:15:59.222
Walk so high

01:16:16.455 --> 01:16:21.354
I look around, and I see

01:16:21.355 --> 01:16:25.154
The worlds conspire
to keep us down

01:16:25.155 --> 01:16:28.287
And I sit

01:16:28.288 --> 01:16:30.054
With guns always firing

01:16:30.055 --> 01:16:33.155
It\'s a lie

01:16:36.755 --> 01:16:39.855
It\'s all a lie

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