More Americans Are Proudly Identifying As Multiracial
A new survey from the
Pew Research Center highlights numerous findings that show more
Americans are openly identifying as mixed-race.
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Transcript:
"My father is full black, and my mother is half black, half white," Mycal told Pew Research Center.
"My mother is
American Indian, and my father is first-generation
American German Jewish," Amy told Pew Research Center.
"My father is white, and my mother is
Catawba Indian," Roo told Pew Research Center.
The Pew Research Center released a comprehensive report showing that multiracial Americans are proud, open and growing in numbers. (
Video via Pew Research Center)
Sixty percent of the respondents said they were proud of their mixed-race background. Fifty-nine percent said they were more open to other cultures.
But the survey also found 55 percent of multiracial Americans said they've been subjected to racial slurs or jokes.
Nineteen percent thought their background gave them an advantage, while the majority, 76 percent, said it made no
difference. (Video via
U.S. Census Bureau)
One of the more intriguing findings by Pew was how being multiracial affected young Americans' political partisanship. In total, 52 percent of mixed-race Americans ages 18 to 29 identified as either
Independent or something else.
As
Time notes, the trend suggests
U.S. Democrats and
Republicans may need to recalibrate their political calculus if they hope to capture the growing caucus of mixed-race Americans. It also creates the space for a potential third party to emerge.
The survey, which used answers from more than 1,
500 multiracial Americans 18 and older, covered a wide variety of social issues tied to multiracial Americans.
To define who was multiracial, Pew asked survey respondents if they would select two races for themselves, their parents or their grandparents.
That's a broader definition than the one offered by the U.S. Census Bureau, which only takes into account the person being surveyed — not family members.
The U.S. census first started allowing for multiracial answers in
2000. (Video via U.S. Census Bureau)
Pew's definition resulted in an estimated 6.9 percent of Americans being multiracial, compared to the
Census Bureau's estimate of just
2.1 percent.
Sources:
Pew Research Center
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2WaNmhvEzo
Pew Research Center
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/
2015/06/11/multiracial-in-america/#the-multiracial-experience
Pew Research Center
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpvaYaxA57U
U.S. Census Bureau
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x6R5B-C0uU&index;=1&list;=PLewV-zKXDZkgpN9_JOAZhWdZnSkOth1HO
Getty Images
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/voter-fills-out-her-ballot-at-a-polling-station-for-news-photo/468820014
Getty Images
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/view-of-the-white-house-before-an-event-on-the-south-lawn-news-photo/76946957
Hillary for America
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6t-9TSBpTA
Perry For
President
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3pxrrtGKU0
Time
http://time.com/3914890/multiracial-politics-polling/
Getty Images
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-walk-through-new-yorks-chinatown-district-on-july-11-news-photo/452039942
U.S. Census Bureau
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8hB91AQ6Og
Getty Images
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/commuters-pass-through-grand-central-terminal-during-news-photo/56454003
Image via: Getty Images /
Mario Tama
http://www.gettyimages.com