Racial Fluidity: Examining Changes and Shifts in Part-Latino Racial Identity

• In Event: 41061 - Section on Latina/o Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 2: Latinx Racial and Ethnic Identity: Self-Perception, Census, and Fluidity

Abstract

Racial fluidity is the idea that race is unsettled and imprecise, as opposed to permanent and exact (Davenport 2020). In this study, I focus on two aspects of racial fluidity – temporal (i.e., changes in racial self-identification over time) and contextual (i.e., shifts in racial self-identification across context) – to examine changes and shifts in the racial identity of part-Latinos or people of partial Latino ancestry. Based on 100 in-depth interviews with three part-Latino groups (Latino/White, Latino/Black, Latino/Asian) from New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area, I find that two fifths of the respondents experienced changes in their racial identification over time. Among those who experienced changes, two thirds were towards identifying as multiracial and another quarter towards adopting a Latino or non-Latino (e.g., “Black” for Latino/Black people) identity. Factors contributing to racial identity change included a) exploring their mixed heritage, b) meeting racial and ethnic peers, c) facing family dynamics, and d) encountering racial discrimination. Half of the respondents also shared temporary shifts in their racial identification across context, with almost one third citing college applications and another quarter noting the racial and ethnic composition of the crowd as influencing their situational racial identity. Implications of findings are discussed.

Author

• Michael Hajime Miyawaki, College of Wooster