Is Multiracial Identity Inherently Anti-Black? Considering Anti-Blackness and Monoracism in Counting Multiracial Students

• In Event: Division J Vice Presidential Session: Planning for 2030: Critical Tensions and Postsecondary Possibilities with OMB’s Racial/Ethnic Classification Revisions

Abstract

One specific revision to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)’s Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (SPD 15) including changing terminology of the aggregated category from “Two or More Races” to “multiracial.” In 1997, OMB revised its standards to include the option for selecting multiple categories after much advocacy by multiracial organizations and debate among civil rights organizations (Williams, 2006), making the 2000 Census the first to allow for more accurate counting of self-identified Multiracial Americans. At the heart of the debate were concerns of undercounting of (mono)racial communities of color if a specific “multiracial box” was included. The option to “Mark One or More” was seen as a compromise, yet the collapsing of all “Two or More Races” within IPEDS, goes against why a multiracial box was not included in the first place. As the OMB revisions once again attempt to recategorize and reclassify groups of U.S. Americans for the 2030 Census, Multiracial Americans still will not be able to identify as multiracial; yet they will only be aggregated if they select multiple racial/ethnic groups into a “multiracial/multiethnic” constructed category. These options, however, are embedded in larger dynamics of both anti-Blackness (or anti-Black racism) and monoracism (oppression targeting non-monoracial people). If identifying as Multiracial is seen as detracting from Black (and other communities of color) political power and representation, the question must be asked, is Multiracial identity inherently anti-Black?

Anti-Blackness is a global force that underlies much racial/ethnic/national struggle, including in realms of U.S. higher education (Dumas, 2016). It clearly shaped U.S. racial classification and Census policies from the first interactions of these instruments of measurement (Davis, 2010; Morning, 2005). The first Census was designed to count free white males, free white females, all other free persons, and enslaved people. The dehumanizing effect of Census enumeration slowly evolved to become a more positive force for identity and representation (Morning, 2005), especially evidenced by specific communities seeking to be included, such as the newly established Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) category to be including in the 2030 Census. Using Black Critical Race Theory (BlackCrit; Dumas and ross, 2016) and Multiracial Critical Race Theory (MultiCrit; Harris, 2016), this paper seeks to outline various approaches to understanding nuanced meanings of multiraciality in relation to the Black-white binary, increasing presence of non-white (i.e., dual minoritized) multiracial people, and the politics of counting.

Overall, this position paper outlines tensions surrounding and provides a platform for putting Multiracial identity in critical and productive conversation with anti-Blackness and monoracism. By eliciting the tensions inherent with Multiracial identification, both postsecondary scholars and policymakers will be in a more informed position for nuanced implementation of the new OMB standards, especially in relation to counting diverse Multiracial/Multiethnic students without further undercounting other communities, especially those tied to important resource allocation like Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) designation.

Authors

• Marc Johnston Guerrero, University of Denver

• Stephanie L. Simpson, University of Connecticut