Ethnically and Racially
families still face several challenges. Some of
Mixed Families in the
United States
ANNAMARIA CSIZMADIA
University of Connecticut, USA
Ethnically and racially mixed families consist
of family members of different ethnic or racial
backgrounds. Recent demographic trends
underscore the importance of understanding
how ethnically and racially mixed families
form and function and the challenges they
face as a result of their families’ ethnic/racial
composition. Whereas a family comprised
of a white mother, a black father, and a
multiracial child represents a racially mixed
family, a family consisting of an Italian Amer-
ican mother, a Polish American father, and
their child exemplifies an ethnically, though
not racially, mixed family. Italian Americans
and Polish Americans belong to different
ethnic groups, but to the same (white) race.
Ethnically and racially mixed families emerge
through (un)married coupling, transracial
adoption, remarriage, and grandparent-
headed households. This entry focuses on
ethnically and racially mixed families made
up of (un)married interracial couples and
their biological (multiracial) children.
The 2010 US Census revealed that about
one in ten opposite-sex married couples and
one in five same-sex couples were made up of
partners of a difference race. In addition, mul-
tiracial people represented one of the fastest
growing racial groups of the last decade; this
subgroup of the US population increased by
about 30 percent. Multiracial youth also make
up an increasing proportion of the US school
population. Although the number and public
recognition of ethnically and racially mixed
The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Family Studies, First Edition. Edited by Constance L. Shehan.
© 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
DOI: 10.1002/9781119085621.wbefs087
families have grown in the last decade, these
these challenges arise from the fact that they
live in a social system in which the meaning
of race has been shifting, yet race-based
discrimination and prejudice still persist.
Further, ethnically and racially mixed fami-
lies have the added task of creating a family
identity that recognizes and reconciles all
members’ racial/ethnic backgrounds. Finally,
parents in ethnically and racially mixed
families have to support their (multiracial)
children’s healthy ethnic/racial identity devel-
opment and prepare them to manage social
relations across ethnic and racial lines both
within and outside the family.
Historically, the number of ethnically and
racially mixed families was relatively low
in the United States as a result of persisting
legal and social restrictions around cross-race
interactions. Interracial relations were not
uncommon during colonial times, particu-
larly as children born as a result of sexual
relations between African slave women and
white slaveholders were considered slaves,
thus representing an economic benefit to
the slaveholders. However, legal prohibition
from the early 1600s onward severely limited
interracial family formation. Starting with the
state of Virginia, romantic and sexual rela-
tions including marriages became outlawed
between blacks and whites across the United
States. These legal prohibitions are known as
antimiscegenation laws. Immigration laws
such as the Asian Exclusion Act also limited
interracial unions, particularly between white
Americans and Asians.
It was not until the 1950s that the pas-
sage of civil rights legislation made possible
ethnic-racial integration of educational
facilities, the workplace, and other public
venues. Increased cross-race interaction in
2 ETHNICALLY AND R ACIALLY M IXED FAMILIES IN THE UNITED STATES
these social spheres opened up opportunities
for people of different ethnic and racial
backgrounds to form romantic relation-
ships. Formal legal restrictions on interracial
unions were finally lifted in 1967 when the US
Supreme Court declared antimiscegenation
laws unconstitutional in the case of Loving
v. Virginia. Despite the Supreme Court deci-
sion, prohibitory language remained part of
the State Constitutions of South Carolina and
Alabama until 1998 and 2000, respectively.
The deconstruction of legal barriers to
interracial marriage ushered in an era of
gradually increasing social acceptance and
considerable growth in the number of inter-
racial and interethnic married and unmarried
relationships. Recent census estimates suggest
that, by 2010, 7 percent of all marriages and 14
percent of all unmarried unions were between
people of different races. These percentages
are higher when romantic relationships
between Hispanic and non-Hispanic indi-
viduals are taken into account. In addition,
the proportion of children in interracial
families increased from 1.5 percent in 1970
to 6.8 percent in 2010. However, ethnically
and racially mixed families are unevenly dis-
tributed across regions of the United States.
Whereas they reside in high numbers in the
West, they are less frequently found in the
South, Midwest, and the Northeast.
Continuing ethnic/racial integration of
public facilities, expansion of the marriage
market by the influx of Asian and Latin/South
American immigrants, the multiracial move-
ment, and the 2000 US Census allowance
of a “check all that apply” option enhanced
the public recognition and visibility of eth-
nically and racially mixed families since
the 1990s. In the 1990s, interracial families,
particularly white parents of multiracial chil-
dren, engaged in organized advocacy efforts
to convince the US government to add a
multiracial option to the 2000 US Census.
Subsequently, for the first time in census
history, in 2000 the US Census allowed indi-
viduals to mark one or more races on its
surveys. The Census estimated that about
6.4 million individuals, or 2.4 percent of
the US population, identified multiracially
when given the choice. Additionally, census
statistics also suggest that people of immi-
grant origin, particularly those of Asian and
Hispanic origin, represent one of the driving
forces behind the increase in the multiracial
population.
Despite their increased numbers and vis-
ibility, contemporary ethnically and racially
mixed families and children may face some
difficulties. Children and adult members of
the family might have negative experiences
fueled by varying levels of social disapproval.
These can range from unfriendly looks to
taunts, explicit verbal assaults, and physical
threats across multiple settings such as the
neighborhood, children’s school, parental
workplace, or other public venues. When
extended family members or friends fail to
support the interracial/interethnic union,
the negative effect of social disapproval is
magnified. Many communities lack a critical
mass of ethnically and racially mixed families,
which makes it difficult for such families to
find role models and support.
Varying levels of social disapproval of
cross-race unions and long-standing racial
tensions also render family identity devel-
opment a challenging task in ethnically
and racially mixed families. Families must
create an identity that recognizes each fam-
ily member’s race/ethnicity and reconciles
group differences. This may be a difficult
process when some family members have
internalized racial prejudice and negative
stereotypes. Further, internal and external
family boundaries must be managed in con-
sideration of ethnoracially based traditions,
individual sensitivities, and vis-à-vis the
social environment within which the family
is situated.
 ETHNICALLY AND R ACIALLY M IXED FAMILIES IN THE UNITED STATES
Historically, multiracial people were
viewed as “tragic mulattos,” in other words,
doomed to identity confusion, marginal-
ity, and maladjustment as a result of their
mixed-race ancestry. However, in a recent
review of the literature, Shih and Sanchez
(2005) found no conclusive evidence sup-
porting the contention that all multiracial
individuals experience psychosocial prob-
lems because of their mixed-race heritage.
In contrast, negative developmental out-
comes among multiracial youth have been
observed primarily in clinical samples but
not in the general multiracial population. In
fact, several studies suggest that on average
multiracial youth fare better on a number
of social-emotional and academic indicators
than their monoracial minority counterparts,
albeit generally less well than their white
peers.
Scholarly attention to the multiracial
population has increased exponentially
since 2000. This body of research primarily
investigates multiracial youth’s ethnic/racial
identity, including its antecedents and,
to a lesser extent, developmental conse-
quences for diverse outcomes. Rockquemore,
Brunsma, and Delgado (2009) proposed a
theoretical framework that recognizes the
multidimensional nature of racial identity
among multiracial youth. They distinguished
between racial identity (how multiracial
individuals understand themselves racially),
racial identification (how others identify
multiracial people racially), and racial cat-
egorization (the specific racial categories
that are available to multiracial people).
The majority of recent research investigated
multiracial youth’s racial identity (i.e., self-
understanding); a few studies examined
racial identification (i.e., how parents racially
identify their multiracial offspring). These
studies collectively revealed that in ethnically
and racially mixed families race and iden-
tity are often viewed as fluid and malleable
3
concepts. Consequently, multiracial youth
choose from a number of identity options,
and they sometimes shift their chosen iden-
tity from one context to another and over
time. Whereas some multiracial youth iden-
tify as biracial, others embrace a singular
white or a monoracial minority identity.
There are also multiracial/multiethnic youth
who opt for a situational identity that can
change across social context and even over
time. Finally, some multiracial youth refuse
to identify themselves racially altogether,
thereby refuting racial categorization. Studies
that focused on parents’ racial identifica-
tion of multiracial children suggest that
parents too avail themselves of a variety
of identity options for their offspring. In a
study of families with black–white biracial
kindergarten-age children, Csizmadia and
Ispa (2014) found that, whereas the majority
of parents identified their children as biracial,
some parents identified their offspring as
black and others as white.
Research has also investigated what indi-
vidual, family, and environmental factors
determine the type of identity multiracial
youth and their parents choose for them in
ethnically and racially mixed families. Youth
gender, youth age, physical appearance,
parental race and gender, family socioeco-
nomic status, the type (public versus private)
and racial composition of youth’s schools,
and families’ residential location (region of
country and urbanicity) have been identi-
fied as influential factors in shaping racial
identity choices for multiracial youth. These
factors must be considered in understanding
how racial identity formation unfolds for
adolescents in ethnically and racially mixed
families.
Racial identity formation is an important
aspect of multiracial youth’s development
because it is associated with a variety of
outcomes such as depression, self-esteem,
life satisfaction, and academic achievement.
4 ETHNICALLY AND R ACIALLY M IXED FAMILIES IN THE UNITED STATES
Research that sought to understand the
developmental consequences of racial iden-
tity choices for multiracial youth revealed two
important insights. First, there is no devel-
opmentally ideal racial identity type. Rather,
the developmental consequences depend on
the racial identity choices that are available
to and chosen by multiracial individuals.
Second, when multiracial youth feel forced to
choose a particular racial identity, they tend
to experience developmental problems such
as higher levels of depression.
These research findings suggest that it
is important for parents in ethnically and
racially mixed families to engage in parenting
behaviors that aim to support the devel-
opment of a healthy ethnic/racial identity
in multiethnic/multiracial youth. Parents
must teach their multiracial children about
their ethnic/racial background in a way that
enhances children’s positive sense of self,
ethnic/racial pride, and at the same time pre-
pares them to cope with race-related negative
experiences such as racism, negative racial
stereotypes, and racial micro-aggressions
(i.e., daily hassles related to race). Parental
messages and behaviors that aim to teach
children about race and ethnicity are referred
to as ethnic/racial socialization. Research
suggests that parents in many ethnically
and racially mixed families engage in these
socialization efforts frequently, and that
frequency of race-related discussions with
children varies as a function of child, fam-
ily, and contextual factors. For example,
Csizmadia, Rollins, and Kaneakua (2014)
found that, among families of black–white
biracial kindergarten-age children, parents
who were older, of low socioeconomic status,
who identified their biracial offspring as
white (rather than as black or multiracial),
resided in the South (as opposed to the
West), and in rural areas were less likely to
frequently discuss children’s ethnic/racial
heritage with them.
Ethnic/racial socialization can help multi-
racial children to overcome social challenges.
Multiracial children face questions about
their ethnic/racial heritage as early as the
elementary school years. They might also
experience questioning or denial of their
chosen identity or they may be mistaken
for a different race. For example, because of
their racially ambiguous appearance, some
black–white biracial children are mistaken
for Hispanic, and may be addressed in Span-
ish. Some multiracial children may also have
difficulty fitting into a peer group because
monoracial peers may not accept them as
“enough” of one or another race. Some
research even suggests that others perceive
mixed-race people as not deserving of minor-
ity scholarships and as lacking social skills.
Most of this research investigated ado-
lescents and young adults; future studies
need to examine ethnically and racially
mixed families that include young children.
Focusing on multiracial/multiethnic children
in the early and middle childhood years
will provide insight into the developmental
processes that take place prior to adolescence
and young adulthood and may thus help to
explain the developmental patterns that have
been observed in multiracial youth. Addi-
tionally, because past research has examined
multiracial children at one point in time,
longitudinal studies are needed to under-
stand the role that family processes play
in multiracial/multiethnic youth’s develop-
ment across the life course. For example,
research suggests that parents adjust their
race-related messages and behaviors to chil-
dren’s cognitive status, yet no research has
examined parents’ ethnic/racial socialization
practices over time in ethnically and racially
mixed families. Longitudinal research can
also shed light on how stability and change
in ethnic-racial socialization practices affect
multiracial youth’s developmental trajectories
over time.
 ETHNICALLY AND R ACIALLY M IXED FAMILIES IN THE UNITED STATES
SEE ALSO: Bicultural Families; Cross-
cultural Families; Heterogamy, Race;
Intercountry Adoption to the United States;
Intermarriage in the United States; Interracial
Adoption; Interracial Marriage; Miscegenation
REFERENCES
Csizmadia, Annamaria, and Jean M. Ispa. 2014.
“Biracial Children’s Psychosocial Develop-
ment from Kindergarten to 5th Grade: Links
to Individual and Contextual Characteris-
tics.” Social Development, 23(1): 157–77.
DOI:10.1111/sode.12037.
Csizmadia, Annamaria, Alethea Rollins, and
Jessica P. Kaneakua. 2014. “Ethnic-Racial
Socialization and Its Correlates in Families
of Black–White Biracial Children.” Family
Relations, 63: 259–70. DOI:10.1111/fare.12062.
Rockquemore, KerryAnn, David L. Brunsma, and
Daniel J. Delgado. 2009. “Racing to Theory or
Retheorizing Race? Understanding the Struggle
to Build a Multiracial Identity Theory.” Journal
of Social Issues, 65: 13–34. DOI:10.1111/j.1533-
8525.2002.tb00052.x.
Shih, Margaret, and Diana T. Sanchez. 2005. “Per-
spectives and Research on the Positive and Neg-
ative Implications of Having Multiple Racial
Identities.” Psychological Bulletin, 131: 569–91.
DOI:10.1037/0033-2909.131.4.569.
FURTHER READING
Csizmadia, Annamaria, David L. Brunsma, and
Teresa M. Cooney. 2012. “Racial Identifica-
tion and Developmental Outcomes among
Black–White Multiracial Youth: A Review from
a Life Course Perspective.” Advances in Life
Course Research, 17: 34–44. DOI:10.1016/j.
alcr.2011.10.003.
Csizmadia, Annamaria, Jessica P. Kaneakua, Mon-
ica Miller, and Linda C. Halgunseth. 2013.
“Ethnic-Racial Socialization and Its Implica-
tions for Ethnic Minority Children’s Adjustment
5
in Middle Childhood.” In Socialization: The-
ories, Processes and Impact, edited by Ethan
L. Anderson and Sophie Thomas, pp. 119–34.
Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science.
Gonzales-Backen, Melinda A. 2013. “An Appli-
cation of Ecological Theory to Ethnic Identity
Formation among Biethnic Adolescents.”
Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Jour-
nal of Applied Family Studies, 62: 92–108.
DOI:10.1111/j.1741-3729.2012.00749.x.
Harris, Henry L. 2013. “Counseling Single-Parent
Multiracial Families.” Family Journal, 21(4):
386–95. DOI:10.1177/1066480713488526.
Lofquist, Daphne, Terry Lugalia, Martin
O’Connell, and Sarah Fellz. 2012. House-
holds and Families: 2010 (2010 Census Briefs).
Accessed September 9, 2013. http://www.census.
gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-14.pdf.
Lorenzo-Blanco, Elma I., Cristina B. Bares, and
Jorge Delva. 2013. “Parenting, Family Processes,
Relationships, and Parental Support in Multira-
cial and Multiethnic Families: An Exploratory
Study of Youth Perceptions.” Family Relations:
Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family
Studies, 62: 125–39. DOI:10.1111/j.1741-
3729.2012.00751.x.
Qian, Zhenchao, and Daniel T. Lichter. 2011.
“Changing Patterns of Interracial Marriage in
a Multiracial Society.” Journal of Marriage and
Family, 73(5): 1065–84. DOI:10.1111/j.1741-
3737.2011.00866.x.
Rollins, Alethea, and Andrea G. Hunter. 2013. “Ra-
cial Socialization of Biracial Youth: Maternal
Messages and Approaches to Address Discrimi-
nation.” Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Jour-
nal of Applied Family Studies, 62(1): 140–53.
DOI:10.1111/j.1741-3729.202.00748.x.
Zhang, Yuanting, and Jennifer Van Hook.
2009. “Marital Dissolution among Interracial
Couples.” Journal of Marriage and Family,
71: 95–107. DOI:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.
00582.x.