Claiming Place

Marion Kilson

Born in the 1960s, the middle-class Biracial Americans of this study are part of a transitional cohort between the hidden biracial generations of the past and the visible blended generations of the future. As individuals, they have variously dealt with their ambiguous status in American society; as a generation, they share common existential realities in relation to White culture.During the last decade of the 20th century public awareness of mixed race Americans increased significantly, in no small part because there has been a substantial increase in interracial marriages and offspring since 1960. This study, based on ethnographic interviews, provides an historical overview of the study of Biracial Americans in the social sciences, a sociological profile of project participants, sociocultural discussions of family and race as well as racial identity choices, and examinations of racial realities in adult lives and of recurrent systemic and personal life themes. The textual part of the book demonstrates the diversity of perception and experience regarding race and identity of these biracial young adults. The Epilogue not only reviews major findings pertaining to this transitional generation of Biracial Americans but discusses biraciality and the deconstruction of race in contemporary American society. An extensive bibliography of popular and scholarly sources concludes the book.

Explores how young adult Biracial Americans who grew up in the post-Civil Rights era perceive racial identity issues over the course of their lives.

PrefaceBiracial American Experience in Post-Civil Rights EraBiracial AmericansBiracial Americans and Their FamiliesBiracial American Identity ChoicesRacial Realities in Adult Biracial American LivesBiracial American Life ThemesBiracial American VoicesDevelopment of Racial IdentitiesChildhood Memories of RaceFamily Relationships RememberedAssessments of Biracial American ExperiencesEpilogueBibliography