attention to the topic of multiraciality and the mixed-race experience, has for decades failed to engage the subject matter in all of its rich complexity. Instead, it has espoused a conservative discourse that emphasizes sentimentality, superficiality, and sensationalism over more nuanced, in-depth, and thoughtful analyses. We share in his hope that periodicals such as the Journal of Critical Mixed Race Studies will be a remedy of sorts to this lack of criticality by serving as a scholarly response and counterbalance to the dangerously biased, and perhaps naïve, reporting, discussions, and representations found in the mainstream press as well as in other popular media.
Why Critical?We have added the term "critical" to the rich and complex field of mixed race studies to indicate both a new direction and to bring together the various tributaries of the field in a new light, one that is recursive and self-reflexive. The word "critical" is taken from the fields of critical race theory and critical legal studies that were developed in the 1970s to address the role of society and culture within a racialized and race-driven legal system. Critical race theory borrows from critical legal studies as well as conventional civil rights scholarship but interrogates both fields. Critical race studies developed after the significant accomplishments of the civil rights era to address continuing racialized inequities and lack of representation of marginalized communities of color, particularly in education and public discourses. It has evolved as an interdisciplinary field that derives from the work of ethnic studies scholars and activists, including a critical examination of society and culture, the intersection of race, law, and power as well as racial justice scholarship and legal practice. Critical mixed race studies in turn encompasses these areas of analysis with an emphasis on all things related to "mixed" race. This includes renderings and studies of racial mixing, interraciality, multiraciality, transracial adoption, and interethnic alliances, among others. Ethnic studies and critical race studies are key components of critical mixed race studies and continue to advance similar inquiries and scholarly discourses about race, culture, and society.This should not be misinterpreted to connote that previous scholarship on mixed race in the United States was somehow entirely "uncritical" or is now irrelevant and should be relegated to the dustbin. Indeed, to see the fallacy of this assumption, one only need consider, for example, the
