THE RIGHT
TO BE
‘MIXED’
The twentieth and twenty first centuries have seen an exponential rise in the rights to assert identity and equality from numerous minority groups. These include the rights to be treated equality and not to be discriminated against, and movements for self-determination and self-governance, as well as a range of cultural rights. This trend has however been predicated on identity as singular, fixed, static, given and immutable characteristic with the natural consequence that some people will be excluded from these rights. Overwhelmingly it is people of Mixed or Multiple ethnic and cultural identities who have lagged behind the calls for identity rights and who have not been able to partake in and articulate the pursuit of their rights to Mixed or Multiple identities, let alone equality and non-discrimination. The assertion from other minority groups for their rights has not been extended to or widely taken up by the rights of people of Mixed race heritage.
People of Mixed or Multiple ethnic and cultural identities have a multitude of experiences and identities but they do have in common that they have often been marginalised from group rights asserted by other groups or forced to choose one identity over the other or have a singular identity thrust upon them. Rather than liberating the obvious advantages in being both, individuals of Mixed or Multiple ethnic or cultural identities have been denied the rights to their authentic cross cultural self. Research from Maria PP Root [1] demonstrates the jaw dropping negativity born of this fixation with and dominance of the singular, fixed identity directed at people of Mixed or Multi heritage, despite the fact that they are the fastest growing demographic. The monocategorical and monoracial system prevails in society, where it is one race or ethnicity, one religion per person and there is still little awareness or impetus to include and benefit from those people whose lives and selves transcend simple racial, religious and cultural categories.
Throughout history the dominant social and sociological, and frequently political position has been that people of different ‘races’ should never marry and have children. These children will belong to neither ‘race’ and their resulting identity confusion will be a profound disability throughout their lives. Various manifestations of the ‘one drop rule’ have been applied to individuals of Mixed ancestry, designating them as ‘Black’ or another disenfranchised minorities. The practice of hypodescent, alienated Mixed people from the privileges of the other half of their ‘racial’ or ethnic identity.
Parents of Mixed children often have similar experiences. They carry with them hostility from their families or ignorance of their communities to their relationship. Their children are symbols of the success or failure, the legitimacy or illegitimacy of the Mixed relationship. Like interracial couples, many Mixed faith, intersectarian and sometimes even dual national couples are discouraged from marrying and having families.
Roots’ study found that Mixed people commonly were told, “You have to choose; you can’t be both.” Whilst some faced a sense of being claimed by the racial or ethnic group of one parent, the overwhelming experience for people of Mixed or Multiple heritage was rejection and hostility. In family relationships, many people of Mixed heritage were not accepted because their parents had an interracial or interfaith (or both) relationship. Many faced allegations and denunciations by members of one of their cultures of not wanting to be part of that minority, for instance, not wanting to be Latino, Asian, Black or White and being told that ‘You think you’re too good for your own kind.”
Mistaken identity was also a common experience, for instance being assumed to be one particular race or religion because of one’s name or accent, or having a physical appearance that belied the fact that they were Mixed. Mixed race children and their parents also reported facing confusion and disbelief that they were related, such as “Are those your children?”, “Is that your father, how come he’s White?”, “Surely you mean you are the nanny, not the mother?”, “ Your mother is a Goy, You are not a real Jew.” Sometimes Mixed race people experienced attempts at compensation that belied the dominance of singular racial categories. They have been told, for instance that, “Mixed race people are so beautiful or handsome”, or that, ‘It’s nice that you don’t behave like other Black/ White/ Muslim,/Latino people”. Comments such as, “You look exotic” displayed the trend of fetishizing Mixed people.
Roots’ study demonstrated that social attitudes and political paradigms leave people of Mixed ‘racial’, Multi ethnicity or Cross Cultural heritage in an unclear and marginalised position between two or more singular, separate identities . Her response, borne from her research was to amend the dominant single identity assertion movements by creating similar rights for those people of Mixed or Cross Cultural heritage. The Bill of Rights for People of Mixed Heritage (© Maria P.P.Root,PhD,1993,
1994) is both a response to and an autonomous expression of the right to be both. It reflects both the history of marginalisation and double discrimination as well as aspirations and a changing perception towards understanding and asserting their Mixed selves as individuals and a community. The Bill of Rights for People of Mixed Heritage reads:
I HAVE THE RIGHT…
Not to justify my existence in this world.
Not to keep the races separate within me.
Not to justify my ethnic legitimacy.
Not to be responsible for people’s discomfort with
my physical or ethnic ambiguity.
I HAVE THE RIGHT…
To identify myself differently than strangers
expect me to identify.
To identify myself differently than how my parents
identify me.
To identify myself differently than my brothers and
sisters.
To identify myself differently in different
situations.
I HAVE THE RIGHT…
To create a vocabulary to communicate about
being multiracial or multiethnic.
To change my identity over my lifetime–and more
than once.
To have loyalties and identification with more
than one group of people.
To freely choose whom I befriend and love.
These twelve sentences encapsulate the struggles that Mixed and Multi ethnic people, have over generations and societies, faced. “Children of mixed marriages never had anything like this,” Roots said. “We have had feelings all along but not put into any kind of structure. It gives people something to talk about and feel recognized.” In 2000 the U.S. Census referred to Roots’ research in their deliberations that resulted in an historic ‘check more than one’ format to the race question. Roots has followed this up with the Multiracial Oath of Social Responsibility.
The Bill of Rights for Mixed People is a powerful and pioneering affirmation of Mixed and Multiple identities. At first reading, it connotes a tone that it is acceptable to be Mixed, to exist as an equal person with a Cross Cultural heritage. Upon subsequent readings of the Bill however, the assertive tone seaps through with an affirmation that Mixed individuals have a right to exist in the world in a manner conducive to their own happiness and wellbeing and not that of others. In authoring this document, Dr. Roots fundamentally asserted that people of Mixed or Multiple ethnic and Cross Cultural identities do not need to bend and conform to other peoples’ racial or cultural expectations. They neither need to hide, apologise nor explain themselves anymore.
Human rights is a powerful language and transformative discourse. The inclusion of Mixed ‘race’ and Multi- ethnic people and those with Cross Cultural identities as stakeholders and the entitled is long overdue. The twenty first century has seen a flowering of Mixed people beginning to have an esteem and asserted sense of their own identity and community, which has sometimes been diffuse owing to the diverse experiences of being Mixed. The bold claim that Mixed ‘race’ and Multi-ethnic individuals have rights that others can neither give nor take away is a statement many have never before read or heard. The Bill of Rights for Mixed People is a revolutionary, powerhouse of wisdom and experience that can be used as both a rallying cry of solidarity and a tool for people of Mixed ‘race’, Multiple Ethnic and Cross Cultural identities to navigate the world with the same dignity and equality as all others.
SOURCES
Maria P. P. Roots
The Multiracial Child Resource Book. Seattle,WA: Mavin Foundation 2003
Reference
[1] Racial Experiences Questionnaire
GOLDEN ROOM 