1. “W HAT A RE Y OU ?” I NTERVIEWS WITH B IRACIAL A DOLESCENTS ABOUT THEIR R ACIAL I DENTITY D EVELOPMENT By Kerri Bowby

2. I NTRODUCTION o Interracial marriage population: 4.9% (2000 census). o 1967 Loving v. Virginia decision o Definition of biracial: “someone having a biological parents from two different racial or ethnic groups”(Harris 2002). o Biracial population: 2.4% (6,826,228), 42% under the age of 18 (Harris 2002).

3. T HESIS Given that little research has been conducted on biracial youth, this study examines the social factors that influence biracial identity development. Three main aspects are examined: family, peers, and education.

4. P REVIOUS L ITERATURE Family : Goyette (1997) Wardle (1989) Peer Culture : Renn (2003) Grapes(2002) Multicultural Education : Morrison (2001) Lee, Guang-lea, Johnson, Willis (2000)

5. T AJFEL ’ S S OCIAL I DENTITY T HEORY (1979) “Social identity is the individuals self-concept derived from perceived membership of social groups” (Hoga & Vaughan 2002 ). Group behavior: composed of three components: Categorization Identification Comparison “After being categorized of a group membership, individuals through the process of self- categorization of identification, an identity is formed ” (Stets 2000: 224).

6. M ETHODOLOGY Participants Four Latino-American biracial young adults (non-random) Two male/two female Ages 20-22 Procedure: Qualitative study 30-50 minute Interviews 18-20 open-ended/close-ended questions Gatekeeper Limitations: Face-to-face My racial identity Emotional conflict with past experiences Small scale

7. F INDINGS o Respondents’ Racial Identity Construction o All four respondents reported that they first noticed differences between themselves and people of different ethnic groups in grade school. o “ I remember in elementary I had a lot of African American friends and I wanted my hair to look like theirs and that is when I noticed something was different” o A majority of the interviewees attributed their family (parents or primary caregiver) as a major influence on their racial identification. o All respondents claimed that their parents did not put a lot of significance on race and as a result, acknowledged their dual ethnicity as “white and Hispanic,” but ethnically identified themselves as white.

8. F INDINGS o Peer Culture o All four respondents reported no incidents of discrimination due to their ethnicity. However, they felt somewhat detached from certain racial/ethnic groups because they were “mixed” and lacked certain racial characteristics such as language. o “I feel like I don’t fit in with the hardcore Guatemalans because I don’t speak Spanish so it’s kind of hard for me to be like talking to them in their native language so I can’t really fit it.” o All four respondents claimed to socialize with people of other races except full Hispanics.

9. F INDINGS o Education: Experiences and Opinions o Favorite teachers in high school were not based on how well they integrated diversity into class material, but rather how relaxed and entertaining they were. o When asked about their familiarity with multicultural education directly, their response was encouraging and favorable to the idea. o “There are going to be other races and they are going to find out sooner or later that they aren’t the only ones that look like that. There are people that look like them and there are people that look different from them, there are people with different skin tones and customs and styles of life.”

10. DISCUSSION A biracial child’s perception of self identity is primarily influenced by the parents and the importance they place on individual race. By applying Tajfel’s Social Identity Theory, racial identity development can be better understood. Opinions regarding Multicultural Education suggested it could be beneficial if applied to the current curriculum.