In Black and White, living on racial borders: Race and community.
Item
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Title
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In Black and White, living on racial borders: Race and community.
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Identifier
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AAI9707083
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identifier
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9707083
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Creator
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Dalmage, Heather Marie.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Barbara Katz Rothman
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Date
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1996
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies | Sociology, Individual and Family Studies | Sociology, Social Structure and Development
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Abstract
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Binary opposites are always set up such that one side has predominant power and is the norm against which the less powerful "other" side is judged (Anzuldua, 1987; McLaren, 1993). The politics of the binary racial categorizing has a distinctive history in the United States, grounded in the particularities of U.S. slavery and the 'one drop rule.' Race, for many in the United States, is perceived as a common-sense and 'authentic' condition which gives information about a person's family, friends, values, beliefs, norms (i.e.) culture), abilities and intelligence. It is believed that a person's race can be discovered either through one's appearance or through genetic and biological history (Omi and Winant, 1994; Zack, 1993; Davis, 1992; Appiah, 1990). Based on interviews conducted in the New York City and Chicago areas with 47 Black-White Multiracial family members and participant observations in Multiracial family organizations, I examine the ways in which Black-White family members living on the racial border contend with the racial binarism in the United States. Some folks grow up monoracial and marry into the border, some are born into the border, others are adopted and raised into the border. Multiracial family members are coming together and creating community (see Root, 1995). Many fear that a publicly recognized and claimed Multiracial location will blur the lines between Black and White thus blurring the lines between the "oppressed and oppressor" (see also Paula Rust, 1993). The challenge for the Multiracial community is to create a comfortable space that is also anti-binary. Such a space requires the creation of a new language that is able to accommodate anti-binary thinking. I explore specific practical issues such as how we find housing in a segregated housing market; how we educate single-race people about the pitfalls of racial essentialism; how we build community that is both politically engaged (i.e.) able to create counterhegemonic discourse) and yet remains inclusive; and, how we think about and respond to two very contentious political issues: the possible addition of a Multiracial category to Census 2000 and issue surrounding transracial adoptions.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
