Biracial Families: Crossing Boundaries, Blending Cultures, and Challenging Racial Ideologies

Raising “Antiracist Disruptors”: Illuminating Socialization Practices that Support Antiracism in Multiracial Households

“…Our findings build on previous theorizing and research (e.g., Atkin & Jackson, 2021;Bañales & Rivas-Drake, 2022;Csizmadia & Atkin, 2022;Hazelbaker et al, 2022;Lee et al, 2022;Miville et al, 2005;Root, 1990) in several ways to provide insights into how monoracial parents engage in myriad socialization strategies with their multiracial children. First, aligned with previous literature, parents' own experiences with racism and their own understanding of racial injustice Lorenzo-Blanco et al, 2013;Miller, 2020;O'donoghue, 2005;Rondilla et al, 2017;Talbot, 2008) informed their comfort level and capacity for addressing racism at the individual/interpersonal vis-a-vis the systemic level with their multiracial children. In addition, (Miville et al, 2005;Root, 1990;Talbot, 2008;Thekkedam, 2013), readiness for discussions about racism (Bañales & Rivas-Drake, 2022;Hazelbaker et al, 2022;Lee et al, 2022), and their own understanding of social injustice (Harris, 2016) played a role in monoracial parents' engagement of antiracist socialization with their multiracial children.…”

“…Twelve parents in our sample identified as residing in multiracial households (i.e., two or more ethnic-racial identities were represented). In this study, we further refined our sample to include only monoracial parents of multiracial children, because as noted, households involving monoracial partners in an interracial relationship provide a unique context to assess socialization of multiracial youth (Christophe et al, 2021;Miller, 2020;O'donoghue, 2005). Participants in the present sample were interviewed between December 2021 and February 2022.…”

“…Parents' own lived experiences position them in particular ways that shape how they address the needs of their multiracial children when broaching topics of race and ethnic-racial identity within the home (Atkin & Yoo, 2019 ; Lorenzo-Blanco et al, 2013 ; Miller, 2020 ; O’donoghue, 2005; Rondilla et al, 2017 ; Rockquemore & Brunsma, 2007 ; Talbot, 2008 ). For example, monoracial white parents sometimes struggle to prepare their multiracial children for racial bias as they themselves have never navigated the world as a person of color (O’donoghue, 2005).…”

Spotlighting Black Adolescent Development in the Shadow of Racism: A Commentary

“…Research on the socialization and development of children with a Black–White biracial or mixed‐race identity is sparse, but growing (e.g., Huguley et al., 2019 ), a trend that should be encouraged given their increasing prevalence in the United States and the race‐ethnic‐related complexities they may experience. Findings from these studies could offer another lens through which to examine the meaning of race‐ethnicity and how racial‐ethnic hierarchies manifest in the United States (Miller, 2020 ). In addition to adding to the research literature on biracial youth, Carter and Flewellen ( 2022 ) study of racial‐ethnic socialization (maternal reports) during the pubertal transition is an additional reminder that youth’s individual characteristics and behavior can regulate parental behavior.…”