A NEW essay by the Pew Research Center examined the experience of adult multiracial Americans, nearly fifty years after the landmark 1967 Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia, which legalized interracial marriage nationwide.
Although 2.1 percent of Americans ages 18 and older self-identified as multiracial on the 2010 US Census, that figure was actually much higher, about 6.9 percent (17 million). Pew Research Center also took into account the races of an individual’s parents and grandparents. The higher figure also includes 2.9 percent of respondents who identified as one race but said they had one parent who was of a different race, and 2.6 percent who identified as one race but said they had at least one grandparent who was of a different race.
Four percent of those surveyed identify as Asian and white, the fifth largest grouping. Pew Research conducted a representative survey of 1,555 multiracial Americans.
In addition, Pew Research Center found that racial identity is fluid, with multiracial Americans identifying themselves differently over time. Of those who marked two or more races, 29 percent previously thought of themselves as only one race, and 69 percent always identified as two or more races. Of those who identify as only one race, 29 percent previously thought of themselves as two or more races, and 70 percent always thought of themselves as one race. More than any other race combination, 70 percent of Asian-white multiracial adults consider themselves multiracial.
According to the research, Asian-white adult multiracial Americans report experiencing discrimination of varying degrees. 60 percent report being subject to racial slurs or jokes, 25 percent report poor service in restaurants or businesses, and 6 percent report being unfairly stopped by police.
At the same time, 58 percent see being multiracial as an advantage—much more than 32 percent of single-race whites and 15 percent of single-race Asians who see their race as being an advantage.
“The multiracial population is growing at a remarkable pace; even the projected growth rate you cite may be too conservative,” said Pew Research Center senior editor Rich Morin. “Yet we discovered while doing preliminary research for this study that there are no major nationally representative surveys of multiracial Americans. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first one that has ever been done.”
“Not only did we find out how people report race, we could see how many Americans marked only one race for themselves but had a mixed-race background when their parents’ or grandparents’ racial makeup was considered. We also could see in which generation a different race or races appeared in the family tree, and how multiracial identity persists or fades over the generations.” (With reports from NBC News)
