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Multiracial
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The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races.
ckquote>Hybrid populations with multiple lines of descent are to be characterized in just those terms: as of multiple descent.
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The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races.
Definitions of multiraciality
According to Michael Levin, most people can be clearly identified as belonging to one race or another, meaning that most people can trace at least 75% of their ancestors to the same geographic region associated with a major racial group; however, Levin insists that anyone with fewer than 75% of their ancestors originating from the same broad geographic region should be considered multiracial:
Hybrid populations with multiple lines of descent are to be characterized in just those terms: as of multiple descent. Thus, American Negroids are individuals most of whose ancestors from 15 to 5000 generations ago were sub-Saharan African. Specifying 'most' more precisely in a way that captures ordinary usage may not be possible.'> 50%' seems too low a threshold; my sense is that ordinary attributions of race begin to stabilize at 75%. An individual, half of whose ancestors are East Asian and half Caucasian, is to be categorized as just that, of half northeast Asian and half Caucasian ancestry. Nothing in continental cladistics precludes mixed ancestry, any more than the concept of a breed of dog excludes mixtures.
Meanwhile the company DNAPrint Genomics analyzes DNA to determine the exact percentage of European, sub-Saharan, East Asian, and Native American heritage someone has and assigns the to the categories White, Black, East Asian, Native American, or mixed race accordingly. According to U.S. sociologist Troy Duster and ethicist Pilar Ossorio:
Some percentage of people who look white will possess genetic markers indicating that a significant majority of their recent ancestors were African. Some percentage of people who look black will possess genetic markers indicating the majority of their recent ancestors were European.
In the United States: "Many state and local agencies comply with the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 1997 revised standards for the collection, tabulation, and presentation of federal data on race and ethnicity. The revised OMB standards identify a minimum of five racial categories: White; Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. Perhaps, the most significant change for Census 2000 was that respondents were given the option to mark one or more races on the questionnaire to indicate their racial identity. Census 2000 race data are shown for people who reported a race either alone or in combination with one or more other races."
Terminology
In the English-speaking world many terms for people of various multiracial descents exist, some of which are pejorative or are no longer used. Mulato and mestizo are used in Spanish, mulato and mestiço in Portuguese and mulâtre and métis in French for people of multiracial descent, and these terms are also in certain contexts used in the English-speaking world. In Canada, the Métis are a people of mixed white and First Nation descent.
Terms like "mulatto" for people of partly African descent and "mestizo" for people of partly Native American descent are still used in English, but mostly when referring to the past or to the demography of Latin-America. "Half-breed" is a now old-fashioned and pejorative term used for people of partial Native American ancestry. Mestee, once widely used, is now used mostly for members of old mixed-race groups, such as Melungeons, Redbones, Brass Ankles and Mayles. In South Africa, and much of English-speaking southern Africa, the term "Coloured" was used to describe a mixed-race person but also Asians not of African descent. While the term is socially accepted, it is becoming an outdated term owing to its apartheid historical significance.
In English, the terms "miscegenation and "amalgamation" have been used for "race-mixing". These terms are now often considered offensive and are becoming obsolete. The term "mixed-race" is becoming generally accepted.
Different societies
Latin America
Mestizo is the common word used to describe multiracial people in Latin America, especially people with Amerindian and Spanish or other European ancestry. Mestizos make up a large portion of Latin Americans including a majority in some countries.
In Latin America, racial mixture was officially acknowledged from colonial times. There was official nomenclature for every conceivable mixture present in the various countries. Initially, this classification was used as a type of caste system, where rights and privileges were accorded depending on one's official racial classification. Official caste distinctions were abolished in many countries of the Spanish-speaking Americas as they became independent of Spain. Several terms have remained in common usage.
Race and racial mixture have played a significant role in the politics of many Latin American countries. In some countries, notably Mexico, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, and Belize, a majority of the population can be described as biracial or multiracial (depending on the country).
The Mexican philosopher and educator José Vasconcelos authored an essay on the subject, La Raza Cósmica, celebrating racial mixture. Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, who is himself of Spanish, indigenous and African ancestry, has made positive references to the mixed-race ancestry of most Latin Americans from time to time.
Brazil
According to the 2000 official census, 38.5% of Brazilians identified themselves as pardo skin color. That option is normally marked by people that consider themselves multiracial (mestiço). The term pardo is formally used in the official census but is not used by the population. In Brazilian society, most people who are multiracial call themselves moreno: light-moreno or dark-moreno. These terms are not considered offensive and focus more on skin color than on ethnicity (it is considered more like other human characteristics such as being short or tall.).
The most common multiracial groups are between African and European (mulato), and Amerindian and European (caboclo or mameluco). But there are also African and Amerindian (cafuzo), and East-Asian (mostly Japanese) and European (ainocô). All groups are more or less found throughout the whole country. Most Brazilian multiracials, however, have three origins: Amerindian, European and African.
Since multiracial relations in Brazilian society have occurred for many generations, today, some people find it difficult to trace their own ethnic ancestry. There is a high level of integration between all groups. There is, however, a great social and economic difference between European descendants (found more among the upper and middle classes) and African, Amerindian and multiracial descendants (found more among the middle and lower classes).
South Africa
In South Africa, the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act prohibited marriage between whites and non-whites (which were classified as Black, Asian and Coloured). Multiracial South Africans are commonly referred to as coloureds. According to the 2001 South African Census, they are the second largest minority (8.9%) after white South Africans (9.2%).
Singapore and Malaysia
According to government statistics, the population of Singapore as of September 2007 was 4.68 million, of whom multiracial people, including Chindians and Eurasians, formed 2.4%.
In Singapore and Malaysia, the majority of inter-ethnic marriages are between Chinese and Indians. The offspring of such marriages are informally known as "Chindian", though the Malaysian government only classifies them by their father's ethnicity. As the majority of these intermarriages usually involve an Indian groom and Chinese bride, the majority of Chindians in Malaysia are usually classified as "Indian" by the Malaysian government. As for the Malays, who are predominantly Muslim, legal restrictions in Malaysia make it uncommon for them to intermarry with either the Indians, who are predominantly Hindu, or the Chinese, who are predominantly Buddhist and Taoist. It is, however, common for Arabs in Singapore and Malaysia to take local Malay wives, due to a common Islamic faith.
The Chitty people, in Singapore and the Malacca state of Malaysia, are a Tamil people with considerable Malay descent. This was due to the first Tamil settlers taking local wives, since they did not bring along any of their own women with them.
Philippines
Historically, admixture has been an ever present and pervading phenomenon in the Philippines. The Philippines was originally settled by Australoid peoples called Negritos which now form the country's aboriginal community. Admixture occurred between this earlier group and the mainstream Malayo-Polynesian population.
During classical times the area now called the Philippines attracted many migrants, traders and adventurers from all over the world due to its fabled wealth. The riches of precolonial Philippine civilization was well recorded. The Greeks dubbed the Philippines as Chryse which means legendary "Golden One". The ancient Indians called the place Suvarnadvipa, the "Island of Gold." The Chinese also traded there extensively, the Buddhist pilgrim I-Tsing mentions it as Chin-Chou, "Isle of Gold". Josephus calls it in Latin, "Aurea" and equates the islands with biblical Ophir, from where the ships of Tyre and Solomon brought back gold.
There has been Indian migration to and influence in the Philippines since the precolonial era. The impact of Indian civilization on the Philippines profoundly affected the culture of the Filipinos. The Brahmanistic elements in ancient Filipino religion and the names of their gods and mythological heroes were of Indian origin. The term Bathala (supreme god of the ancient Tagalog) originated from the Sanskrit Bhattara Guru, meaning "the highest of the gods". About 25% of the words in the Tagalog language are Sanskrit terms and about 5% of the country's population possess Indian ancestry from antiquity.
There has been a Chinese presence in the Philippines since the ninth century. However, Large-scale migrations of Chinese to the Philippines only started during the Spanish colonial era, when the world market was opened to the Philippines. It is estimated that among Filipinos, 10%-20% have some Chinese ancestry and 1.5% are "full-blooded" Chinese.
Major Arab migration to the Philippines coincided with the spread of Islam in the archipelago. Filipino-Muslim royal families from the Sultanate of Sulu and the Sultanate of Maguindanao claim Arab descent even going as far as claiming direct lineage from the prophet Mohammad. According to the American anthropologist Dr. H. Otley Beyer, the ancestry of Filipinos is 2% Arab. This dates back to when Arab traders intermarried with the local Malay and Filipina female populations during the pre-Spanish history of the Philippines.
The Philippines has also received migration from Mexico and other Spanish colonies in Latin America during the Spanish colonial era . The Viceroyalty of New Spain; now Mexico, colonized the Philippines from 1565 until Mexico gained independence in 1821 after which the Philippines was directly administered under Spain. The Galleon trade, connected and cross pollinated the cultures of Mexico, the Philippines and Spain. This historical connection is evident in the presence of several Aztec and Spanish words in common use within the various Philippine Languages.
After the United States defeat of Spain during the Spanish-American War in 1898, the Philippine Islands and other remaining Spanish colonies were ceded to the United States in the Treaty of Paris, for 20 million dollars, thus establishing the First Philippine Republic, the 1st Multi-Ethnic Constitutional Asian Democracy was annexed and enslaved by the brainwashed and at that time in history predominantly racist American imperialists. Rapes and genocides committed by the Americans was very common. This, however resulted into further admixture and the emergence of Amerasians, individuals of Asian and American descent. Amerasians may also have lineage from African-Americans, Latino-Americans, Native Americans and various other American minority groups.
However, large numbers of these people and the rest of the Philippines were ruined, raped and or slaughtered by the Japanese during the occupation of the archipelago resulting in further admixture resulting in the emergence of Japinos. When the United States granted the Philippines independence on July 4 1946 the country was economically devastated by the Second World War and many surviving Filipino-American Mestizos with the finanical capasity to travel to the United States did so but the majority were too impoverished to finance such a trip and remained in the Philippines.
Since 1898, when the U.S. first colonized the Philippines, there have been as many as 21 U.S. bases and 100,000 U.S. military personnel stationed there. The bases closed in 1992 leaving behind thousands of Amerasian children.
Pearl S. Buck International foundation estimates there are 52,000 Amerasians scattered throughout the Philippines with 5,000 in the Clark area of Angeles.
"The majority of the children have been abandoned by their American fathers," said Jocelyn Bonilla, the manager of the Pearl S. Buck center in Angeles City.
These historical events created a distinct social class of mixed race Filipinos called mestizos. Many with the highest percentage of Spanish blood and many with Caucasian American blood compose the Philippine elite and they often occupy high social positions and are involved in the nation's: arts, sciences, politics, media, business and industry.
During the Spanish era of the Philippines, the term "Mestizo" originally referred to those of mixed indigenous Austronesian and Spanish ancestry; however, the term soon became generic and synonymous for "mixed race.", referring to all Filipinos of mixed indigenous Malayo-Polynesian and other ancestry.
Now, modern day Filipino mestizos include Filipinos of Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, American, European, Hispanic, Arab, African, Indian and Mesoamerican ancestries. This is due to the historical and contemporary immigrations and colonizations of the Philippines and also as the product of the global Philippine Diaspora.
American Filipino Amerasians can be found in the upper class, but also amongst the middle and lower classes as a result of the abandonment of their American fathers upon completion of military service and subsequent withdrawal of US forces. Their physiognomy and facial features are somewhat similar to Spanish mestizos, with more Nordic features. Many Amerasians who have Spanish surnames and born to white American mothers or out of wedlock to white American fathers may be mistaken or called as Spanish Filipino mestizos. There are also many American mestizos who are actually of mixed white American and Spanish mestizo descent, and some of them do have blue or gray eyes and blonde pigmentation, and can pass as unmixed Caucasians. American mestizos of Caucasian race with brown complexion may be called by Filipinos as native-blooded Filipinos regardless of their Caucasian appearance. A few blonde complexion mestizos have the appearance of Filipinos and would be identified as Filipino if not for their skin color.
A recent genetic study by Stanford University indicates that at least 3.6% of the population are European or of part European descent from both Spanish and United States colonization. Currently however, there are no official national statistics on the number of mestizos living in the Philippines or Filipinos of mestizo descent living abroad, or the number of Filipinos with Chinese and or Arab admixture, there are only guesstimates. This is due to the lack of documentation of racial backgrounds in government censuses which Multiracial people are thankful for. Many Filipino mestizos also hide their ancestry in order to avoid a social negative stereotype stigma which alienates them from the population with predominantly indigenous appearance.
In the United States, intermarriage among Filipinos with other races is common. They have the largest number of interracial marriages among Asian immigrant groups, as documented in California. It is also noted that 21.8% of Filipino Americans are of mixed blood, second among Asian Americans, and is the fastest growing.
Australia
In terms of ethnic origins, the population of Australia is diverse. A significant percentage of the population has multiple ethnic backgrounds, as Australia has one of the highest incidences of interethnic marriages and relationships in the world. A significant number of the Aboriginal Australian population has European ancestry.
New Zealand
Large scale European colonisation and settlement of New Zealand since the 1840s has led to a large racial mixing of them and the local Maori and Pacific populations. There are also smaller poulations of mixed European and Pacific Island people, as well as mixing between Pacific and Asian populations. All of New Zealand's half million Maori can claim some Pakeha parentage. Especially common mixtures are Irish Maori, Scottish Maori and Anglo Maori. Less common are Jewish Maori (Nathan and Benjamin are common Maori surnames) and Dutch Maori (Both mostly since 1950s). Because ones' race and culture in New Zealand is often a form of self identification, actual numbers are hard to gauge. (Statistics New Zealand, Census of Population and Dwellings 2006). In the last census (2006) many New Zealanders refused to state their ethnicity, or claimed multiple ethncities and 19% chose New Zealander (Source New Zealand Herald 2006). Examples of these people include Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (opera singer) actress Rena Owen and ex Governor General Sir Paul Reeves.
United Kingdom
In 2000, The Sunday Times reported that "Britain has the highest rate of interracial relationships in the world" and certainly the UK has the highest rate in the European Union. The 2001 census showed the population of England (a sub-section of the UK) to be 1.4% mixed-race, compared with U.S. estimates of 1.4% in 2002 (see below), although this U.S. figure did not include mixed-race people who had a black parent. By 2020 the mixed race population is expected to become Britain's largest ethnic minority group with the highest growth rate.
In Britain, many multi-racial people have Caribbean, African or Asian heritage. Some, like Formula One driver, Lewis Hamilton, are referred to or describe themselves as 'black'. The majority of mixed-race Britons identified themselves as 'mixed-race' on the 2001 census. Many Britons have varying amounts of Welsh, Scottish, Irish or even Italian heritage, but essentially have the same broad white or European racial background.
The 2001 UK Census included a section entitled Mixed to which 1.4% (1.6% by 2005 estimates) of people responded, which was split further into White and Black Caribbean, White and Asian (South Asian), White and Black African and Other Mixed. Despite this, 2005 birth records for the country state at least 3.5% of new born babies as mixed race.
Cities/ Regions with notable Multiracial/ Mixed Race populations
Canada
Multiracial Canadians in 2006 totalled 1.5% of the population, up from 1.2% in 2001. The mixed-race population grew by 25% since the previous census. Of this, the most frequent combinations were multiple visible minorities (for example, both black and South Asian), followed closely by white-black, white-Latin American, white-Chinese and many other smaller mixes.
Another 1.2% of Canadians are Métis (descendants of a historical population who were partially Aboriginal and European, particularly French, Scottish, and Irish ethnic groups.
This brings a total mixed population of up to 3%, greater by percentage than that of the United Kingdom and the United States.
United States
Multiracial US Americans numbered 6.1 million in 2006, or 2.0% of the population. They can be any combination of races (White or Caucasian , Black or African American, Asian, Native American or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, "Some other race") and ethnicities. The U.S. has a growing multiracial identity movement. Miscegenation or interracial marriage, most notably between whites and blacks, was deemed immoral and illegal in most states in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. California and the western US had similar laws to prohibit White-Asian American marriages until the 1950s. As society and laws change to accept inter-racial marriage, these marriages and their mixed-race children are possibly changing the demographic fabric of America.
However, demographers state that the American people are mostly multi-ethnic descendants of various immigrant nationalities culturally distinct until assimilation and integration took place in the mid-20th century. The "Americanization" of foreign ethnic groups and the inter-racial diversity of millions of Americans is not a new phenomenon but has been a fundamental part of its history, especially on frontiers where different groups of people came together.
Types of mixed-race people
African-origin
American-origin
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Asian-origin
European-origin
Other types
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See also
External links
- , founded 1988
- offering resources and strategies (including videos, publications & trainings) to support mixed race children in educational settings.
- , an organization advocating for mixed heritage people and families
- , US-based mixed community, founded in 2000
- , a UK-based organisation for mixed race families
- an online activist publication registered with the Library of Congress, focused on multiracial individuals and interracial families since 1997
- , the first Brazilian mixed-race organization, founded in 2001
- , an organization leading the movement for a multiracial classification
- , founded in 1972
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- Hapa/Multiracial Asian Americans
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