'I'm a different kind of biracial': How black/white biracial Americans with immigrant parents negotiate race

Immigrants are racialized upon their migration to the United States based on country of origin, race, and ethnicity. There is an increase of biracial and multiracial people migrating and being born to immigrants in the United States. This study qualitatively analyzed the experiences of biracial Black-White children with at least one immigrant parent. The authors found participants struggled to define race, were aware of the societally produced racial hierarchy, and struggled to maintain peer groups because of their non-binary identity. Self-identity and social identity were sources of strife for participants as they struggled to make sense of their multiple identities (e.g. second generation immigrant, Black, White). Most participants resisted racial labels or categories. However, the researchers found a significant portion of participants that did accept racial labels were likely to renounce an identity associated with racial negative stigmas (e.g. criminality, terrorism, laziness). This often led participants to take on the identity of their non-immigrant parent, if the non-immigrant parent was White. The participants' relationship with their parents also influenced their identity development as they often identified more closely to the parent with whom they had a stronger relationship. Social workers must consider the multifaceted dispositions related to race, ethnicity, immigration history, and parent-child relationships when working with mixed-race children of immigrants. (Immigrant Integration Lab)

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