Study illuminates why multiracial Americans almost never call themselves white

[YoungDemCA]

A new study by Pew Research Center takes a comprehensive look at the experiences of multiracial Americans. Using a different approach than the census by taking into account people's parents' and grandparents' racial backgrounds in addition to their self-reported race, it concluded that multiracial adults currently make up 6.9 percent of the adult American population.

One of its many findings has to do with multiracial identity, and that age-old question of why mixed-race Americans like Obama and so many others don't seem to give their white parents' ethnicity the same weight as their other heritage when it comes to self-description.

The study revealed that people who identify as multiracial say they experience discrimination based on the part of their heritage that is not white. Here's how Pew explained it in the write-up (emphasis added):

"For multiracial adults with a black background, experiences with discrimination closely mirror those of single-race blacks. Among adults who are black and no other race, 57% say they have received poor service in restaurants or other businesses, identical to the share of biracial black and white adults who say this has happened to them; and 42% of single-race blacks say they have been unfairly stopped by the police, as do 41% of biracial black and white adults. Mixed-race adults with an Asian background are about as likely to report being discriminated against as are single-race Asians, while multiracial adults with a white background are more likely than single-race whites to say they have experienced racial discrimination."

This echoes the way Obama has explained why he calls himself black. "I'm not sure I decided it," he once said in an interview with 60 Minutes. "I think, you know, if you look African-American in this society, you're treated as an African-American."

He later told PBS, "If I'm outside your building trying to catch a cab, they're not saying, ‘Oh, there's a mixed-race guy.'"

http://www.vox.com/2015/6/15/8768515/biracial-multiracial-identity-white

[bravenak]

1. So true. Most of my family is biracial or multiracial.

We all call ourselves black, even the ones who look white. It's not like America will accept us as white and treat us accordingly.
I read 'The Bluest Eye' when I was very young, it really made me think long and hard about how race can be a burden for young black people. Mentally taxing.

[Nye Bevan]

2. Discrimination by taxi drivers is another advantage of Uber.

The Uber driver doesn't know your race until he or she arrives to pick you up. And if the driver refuses to give you a ride, Uber knows about it and fines him.

[KamaAina]

3. I assume Lyft does the same thing.

And they're far less evil.

[Bluenorthwest]

4. Of course the same holds true for a taxi one orders via app or phone, which is in most cities the

way a person usually gets a cab and is an option even in cities prone to hailing taxis. So I fail to see any actual advantage when comparing to two services used in the same way.