Interracial Families

A Troubled Experiment's Forgotten Lesson in Racial Integration

by Carina Ray

A version of this Op-Ed first appeared in the Point Reyes Light at: http://www.ptreyeslight.com/Point_Reyes_Light/Opinion/Entries/2012/3/15_A_troubled_experiments_forgotten_lesson_in_racial_integration.html

Towards a dialogic understanding of print media stories about black/white interracial families

by Victor Kulkosky

Challenging Assumptions

by Chamion Caballero

C.Caballero (2011) 'Challenging Assumptions' in Runnymede Bulletin, Autumn 2011,

Short article discussing initial findings from ESRC-funded project 'Insiders' or 'Outsiders'? Lone Mothers of Children... more Short article discussing initial findings from ESRC-funded project 'Insiders' or 'Outsiders'? Lone Mothers of Children from Mixed Racial and Ethnic Backgrounds, focusing on the mothers' experiences of parenting and the types of support or problems they encountered.

Lone mothers of mixed racial and ethnic children in Britain: Comparing experiences of social attitudes and support in the 1960s and 2000s

by Chamion Caballero

Edwards, R. and Caballero, C. (2011) 'Lone mothers of mixed racial and ethnic children in Britain: Comparing experiences of social attitudes and support in the 1960s and 2000s' in Women's Studies International Forum, 34 (6): 530-538.

This article places side-by-side the views from lone mothers bringing up children from mixed racial and ethnic... more This article places side-by-side the views from lone mothers bringing up children from mixed racial and ethnic backgrounds in mid-1960s and early 2000s Britain, to consider whether the sorts of social attitudes and support these mothers experienced have changed or persisted over the past half century. The analysis compares and contrasts the general social and official attitudes that lone mothers of mixed children feel that they encounter, the support they receive from the fathers of their children, and their relationships with their own and the father's wider family, the neighbourhood and friendship networks they draw on, and the formal supports available to them across time. The article concludes by considering some indicative trajectories of change and constancy that looking at these social attitudes and supports reveals, around negative assessments and their social expression, expectations of fathers, the availability of wider family, and the importance of informal daily support from other mothers in the same situation.

What's in a name? An exploration of the significance of personal naming of 'mixed' children for parents from different racial, ethnic and faith backgrounds

by Chamion Caballero

Edwards, R. and Caballero, C. (2008) 'What's in a name? An exploration of the signifcance of personal naming of 'mixed' children for parents from different racial, ethnic and faith backgrounds' in The Sociological Review, 56 (8): 39-60.

This article is concerned with how and why parent couples from different racial, ethnic and faith backgrounds choose... more This article is concerned with how and why parent couples from different racial, ethnic and faith backgrounds choose their children’s personal names? The limited literature on the topic of names often focuses on outcomes, using birth name registration data sets, rather than process. In particular, we consider the extent to which the personal names that ‘mixed’ couples give their children represent an individualised taste, or reflect a form of collective affiliation to family, race, ethnicity or faith. We place this discussion in the context of debates about the racial and faith affiliation of ‘mixed’ people, positing various forms of ‘pro’ or ‘post’ collective identity. We draw on in-depth interview data to show that, in the case of ‘mixed’ couple parents, while most wanted names for their children that they liked, they also wanted names that symbolised their children’s heritages. This could involve parents in complicated practices concerning who was involved in naming the children and what those names were. We conclude that, for a full understanding of naming practices and the extent to which these are individualised or affiliative it is important to address process, and that the processes we have identified for ‘mixed’ parents reveal the persistence of collective identity associated with race, ethnicity and faith alongside elements of individualised taste and transcendence, as well as some gendered features.

Cultures of mixing: understanding partnerships across ethnicity

by Chamion Caballero

Caballero, C., Edwards, R. and Smith, D. (2008) 'Cultures of mixing: understanding partnerships across ethnicity' in Twenty-First Century Society. 3 (1): 49-63.

This article presents an extensive analysis of ‘cultures of mixing’―that is, relationships between partners from... more This article presents an extensive analysis of ‘cultures of mixing’―that is, relationships between partners from different ethnic backgrounds―based on 2001 British census data. The data is used to show how ‘mixed’ partnerships are relevant to aspects of current debates about the nature of ethnic relations in contemporary Britain. We begin with a discussion of dominant stereotypes around mixed race/ethnicity partnerships in Britain and their links to dystopian visions of majority and minority ethnic relations, before looking at frameworks of understanding that offer a challenge to these gloomy diagnoses, and in particular the concept of ‘convivial culture’. This discussion is followed by an analysis of the location and socio-economic characteristics of ‘cultures of mixing’. We argue that ‘cultures of mixing’ are spatially and socially uneven, and appear to be underpinned by more material and equity-based features of social life and provision.

The geographies of mixed-ethnicity families

by Chamion Caballero

Smith, DP, Edwards, R. and Caballero, C. (2011) 'The geographies of mixed-ethnicity families' in Environment and Planning A, 43 (6): 1455-1476.

This paper examines the underresearched residential geographies of mixed-ethnicity families. Analyses of 2001 Great... more This paper examines the underresearched residential geographies of mixed-ethnicity families. Analyses of 2001 Great Britain Census data reveal uneven patterns, with different concentrations of mixed-ethnicity families in distinct locations. The findings suggest that distributions of mixed-ethnicity families are not aligned with respective minority ethnic groups. The concentration of mixed-ethnicity families within ethnically diverse neighbourhoods is, in part, substantiated. The discussion disrupts media representations of mixed ethnicity and assumptions of the marginalisation of deprived, mixed-ethnicity families, making a contribution to theoretical debates of processes of sociospatial segregation, ethnicity, and neighbourhood change.

Lone Mothers of Mixed Racial and Ethnic Children: Then and Now

by Chamion Caballero

Caballero, C. and Edwards, R. (2010) Lone Mothers of Mixed Racial and Ethnic Children: Then and Now. London: Runnymede Trust.

nformation from the UK Census indicates that parents of children from mixed racial or ethnic backgrounds constitute... more nformation from the UK Census indicates that parents of children from mixed racial or ethnic backgrounds constitute one of the highest lone parent groups in the country. Like all other groups of lone parent families, these are overwhelmingly headed by mothers. In this research report data from interviews with mothers of mixed-race children whose fathers are absent are analysed. Some of the anecdotal evidence is from those who brought up their children decades ago, and this is compared with the experiences of women doing the same today. The report explores the specific racisms, prejudices and stereotypes that this group of women and children have been faced with, both then and now, and where, if anywhere, they have been able to turn for support. This report’s conclusions examine: racial prejudice and social assumptions; raising children; roles of fathers; relationships with family; and support networks.

Parenting 'Mixed' Children: negotiating difference and belonging in mixed race, ethnicity and faith families

by Chamion Caballero

Caballero, C., Edwards, R. and Puthussery, S. (2008) Parenting 'Mixed' Children: negotiating difference and belonging in mixed race, ethnicity and faith families.

Summary of findings available here: http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/2232.pdf

More and more is known about the ‘mixed’ population of Britain – those brought up in families with different racial,... more More and more is known about the ‘mixed’ population of Britain – those brought up in families with different racial, ethnic and faith backgrounds. But less is known about their parents. Who are they and what are their experiences of bringing up their children?

This report aims to provide insights about parenting mixed children to inform debates about family life and professional strategies for support. Focusing on mothers and fathers living together, it:

Investigates how parents from different racial, ethnic and/or faith backgrounds give their children a sense of belonging and identity.
Examines parents’ approaches to cultural difference and how they pass on aspects of belonging and heritage across generations.
Explores the opportunities, constraints, challenges and tensions in negotiating a sense of identity and heritage between parents.

Hawhekaihe: Māori Voices on the Position of 'Half-castes' in Māori Scoiety

by Lachy Paterson

Published in Journal of New Zealand Studies, NS9 (2010), pp. 135-156

The essay first provides a quantitative over-view of Māori discussion of hāwhekaihe (half-castes) within the... more The essay first provides a quantitative over-view of Māori discussion of hāwhekaihe (half-castes) within the Māori-language newspaper corpus (1842-1933), and then discusses selected articles, in order to reveal a number of key points. First, hāwhekaihe were not generally viewed as a distinct racial group, and in many respects were well-integrated within Māori communities.  Second, colonialism produced a number of tensions over land within Māori tribal groupings, where members at times attempted to exclude others from land rights. Divisions between Māori and hāwhekaihe over land were most apparent in the South Island. Third, the competition for mana within the parliamentary political arena at times resulted in the two groups criticizing each other from the late 1860s. This tension between Māori and hāwhekaihe over land and mana was expressed within a “discourse of blame” that emerged in the later nineteenth century in which both groups blamed each other for the ills that had befallen the Māori people. Fourth, while a number of Pākehā spoke out against “miscegenation”, there is only one article in the niupepa specifically appealing to Māori not to marry Pākehā. Unlike the Pākehā commentators, the writer is more concerned with Māori extinction through absorption, and the loss of Māori land. Most discussion about hāwhekaihe appears in the last three decades of the nineteenth century, and tensions between Māori and hāwhekaihe appear to have largely dissipated by the early twentieth century.

The meaning of 'colour': photography and portraiture, 1889-1904

by Angela Wanhalla

published in Early New Zealand Photography: Images and Essays, edited by Angela Wanhalla and Erika Wolf, Otago University Press, 2011.

'My Piece of Land at Taieri': Boundary Formation and Contestation at the Taieri Native Reserve, 1844-1868

by Angela Wanhalla

Contact, Congregations, and Children of Color: The Effects of Interracial Contact in Religious Settings on Attitudes towards Transracial Adoption

by Samuel Perry

Published in the Journal of Comparative Family Studies 42(6):851-869.

On multiple occasions research has substantiated a positive relationship between interracial contact in religious... more On multiple occasions research has substantiated a positive relationship between interracial contact in religious settings and Whites’ attitudes towards interracial marriage, but would the same be true regarding other interracial family relationships? Moreover, would such a relationship hold true for both Protestants and Catholics? This study examines the effects of interracial contact in Protestant and Catholic churches on Whites’ attitudes towards transracial adoption (TRA). Using nationally representative survey data (N = 986), bivariate and multivariate analyses are employed to determine how an increase in the percentage of racial minorities at one’s church affects the TRA attitudes of Whites, while holding relevant social and ideological factors constant. Results indicate that Whites who attend the most uniracial churches are, ceteris paribus, significantly less likely to approve of TRA than Whites who attend churches with only a slightly greater percentage of racial minorities. These effects do not differ for Protestants or Catholics. Further research should be done to determine the extent to which significant social change can be fostered by interracial contact under certain positive conditions.

'The White Wife Problem': Sex, Race and the Contested Politics of Repatriation to Interwar British West Africa

by Carina Ray

Published in Gender and History, Volume 21, Issue 3 (November 2009)

A foreign adventurer's paradise? Interracial sexuality and alien sexual capital in reform era Shanghai

by James Farrer

James Farrer. 2010. “A foreign adventurer’s paradise? Interracial sexuality and alien sexual capital in reform era Shanghai” Sexualities. Volume 13, Issue 1 (Feb.), pp. 69-95.

Since the early 1980s western men have been coming to China to work and live in coastal cities such as Shanghai, and... more Since the early 1980s western men have been coming to China to work and live in coastal cities such as Shanghai, and many have become involved in sexual relationships with Chinese women. Using the framework of sexual capital and sexual fields, this article examines the changes in the sexual status of white western men in their relationships with Chinese women over the past 30 years. A historical perspective shows how the political economy of the interracial sexual field is conditioned by broader changes in the economic and social status of foreigners in China. Western men in China experience their foreign masculinity as both empowering and marginalizing, a kind of alien sexual capital・that is simultaneously exploitable but estranged. Chinese women find that they can invest in specific forms of sexual capital relevant to this field of interracial relationships, but also feel alienated from social and sexual relations with Chinese men. Despite some psychological stress, both for men and women, sexual capital produced in this interracial field is convertible to other forms of social and cultural capital relevant to life in the global city.

Interracial Families and the Racial Identification of Mixed-Race Children: Evidence From the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study

by David Brunsma

From “Passports” to “Joint Ventures”: Intermarriage between Chinese Nationals and Western Expatriates Residing in Shanghai

by James Farrer

Economic migrants from wealthy industrial countries are arriving in increasingly large numbers in the rising “global... more Economic migrants from wealthy industrial countries are arriving in increasingly large numbers in the rising “global cities” of the developing world, including Shanghai. A portion of these are settling long-term, setting up households and forming communities of long-term migrants. Within this group, intermarriage with local residents is common, serving as a pathway of incorporation into local society. This paper presents five case studies of Europeans and Americans married to Chinese and living in Shanghai to show how the local and transnational social contexts of these new migration patterns influence partner choices and marital exchanges. Living in the new Shanghai creates possibilities and pressures for new types of exchanges between spouses, including exchanges of symbolic and social capital. Many of these married couples are business partners as well as partners in raising bicultural children. They engage in family arrangements that mix elements of Chinese and Western practices. In conclusion, the data is used to illustrate how intermarriage facilitates the integration of each of the partners into broader social networks and community structures, while also exploring the tensions these married couples face.

Transgressing Boundaries: A History of the Mixed Descent Families of Maitapapa, Taieri, 1830-1940

by Angela Wanhalla

In/visible Sight: Maori-European Families in Urban New Zealand, 1890-1940

by Angela Wanhalla

The Effects of Race, Religion, and Religiosity on Attitudes towards Transracial Adoption

by Samuel Perry

Published in the Journal of Comparative Family Studies 41(5):837-854.

This study investigates the effects of race, religion, and religiosity on attitudes towards transracial adoption (TRA)... more This study investigates the effects of race, religion, and religiosity on attitudes towards transracial adoption (TRA) while controlling for both sociodemographic and ideological factors. Utilizing data from the 2005 Baylor Religion Survey (N = 1721), the hypothesis was tested that Blacks, Protestants, and the more religious, would be less favorable towards TRA than non-Blacks, non-Ptotestants, and the less religious after controlling for both sociodemographic and ideological factors. The analyses show no relationship between race and attitudes towards TRA.Of the religious groups considered, Protestants are the least supportive of TRA, while religiosity is positively correlated with approval of TRA. A number of sociodemographic and ideological factors are also identified as significant predictors of one's approval of TRA. Several explanations are offered as to what factors unique to Protestantism are influencing Protestants to be less supportive of TRA. While findings suggest that reported attitudes towards TRA are becoming more favorable among the general public, further research is needed to clarify Protestants' less favorable attitudes towards interracial family relationships, TRA included.