Catherine West

Bi/Multiracial Identity and Women’s Issues

Key Words:

Biracial, multiracial, women’s issues, gender, gender equality, discrimination, bias, wage-gap

Abstract:

This issue brief focuses on the intersection of women’s issues and bi/multi racial identities. Women and bi and multi racial individuals have been subject to a history of oppression and discrimination in US society, today persistent bias and discrimination are still present for both group in the work place and labor market.

Key Points:

·  There is a persistent gap wage, where women are being compensated less then men, and this gap is stratified by race.

·  Women and bi/multiracial individuals face discrimination in the labor market and are underrepresented in leadership roles.

·  Bi and multi racial individuals are subject to racial stereotyping based on how others perceive their identity.

·  Bi and multiracial individuals have only recently been accounted for in the US census.

Issue Brief:

There has been significant exchange between bi and multiracial groups and women and gender issues. Both groups have faced persistent oppression and discrimination based on their identities and are still working to gain recognition and equality.

Bi and multi racial individuals are still numerically low, the 2010 US reported that bi and multiracial individuals make up 2.9% of the population. This number is on the rise, with the 2010 US Census reporting a 28 percent increase in the number of interracial and interethnic married couples over the preceding decade.

Figure 1 2010 US Census Map of Two or more races as percentage of US population

Bi and multiracial individuals hold a unique position in society, being that they can fall under multiple racial categories simultaneously. Multiracial individuals have had a complex history with racial identities, up until 2000, individuals were not able to self-identify with more than one race. There has been much debate over the level of choice involved in forming a racial identity for bi and multiracial people, individuals have been frequently categorized based on the “one drop rule”, however popular perceptions of race have been changing.

According to Kerry Ann Rockquemore, “Negotiating the Color Line: The Gendered Process of Racial Identity Construction among Black/White Biracial Women”, gender greatly affects the social processes in which biracial women negotiate and form their racial identity. She finds that identity is built from a variety of choices rooted in their social context. Some individuals will choose one racial identity over another, some choose multiple identities shifting between racial identities depending on the context, and others will eschew any racial designation and describe their identity in ways that are not racialized.

Where many issues come to light for women and bi and multi racial individuals is in the labor market and workplace. Racial hierarchies often still dominate how people perceive others around them. Women and multi racial individuals are frequently subjected to discrimination, bias, stereotyping, and harassment as workers.

Similarly women, of all ethnicities, are also facing inequality in the labor force. There is still a significant wage gap between men and women, and this disparity can be even greater for women of nonwhite races. While white women make 78% of a white man’s dollar, black women make 64%, and Latinas make 54%, and men of racial minorities are still making less than white men (see figure 1.).

Figure 2. Earnings Ratio by Race/Ethnicity, according to “The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap” 2013

Women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s earnings within race/ ethnicity / Women’s earnings as a percentage of white men’s earnings
Hispanic or Latina / 90% / 54%
American Indian and Alaska Native / 85% / 59%
African American / 91% / 64%
Native Hawaiian and Other pacific islander / 84% / 65%
White (non-Hispanic) / 78% / 78%
Asian American / 79% / 90%

This disparity is attributed to how women are represented in the labor market often concentrated in lower paying jobs and underrepresented in high paying leadership positions. While there is no specific data as to where biracial women fall in terms of the wage gap, they are still subjected to these statistics. Bi and multi racial women are often still located within the racial hierarchy and subject to unfair treatment due to the biases persistent in society. Many bi and multiracial individuals receive the same discrimination as other minority groups, as well as invasive and offensive questions about heritage and race in the work place.

Relevant Websites:

·  The National Organization for Women: http://www.now.org

·  The US Census: http://www.census.gov

·  AAUW: http://www.aauw.org

·  Project Race: http://www.projectrace.com

·  Pew Research Center

o  >Social Trends>Intermarriage http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/topics/intermarriage/

o  >Social Trends>Race and Ethnicity http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/topics/race-and-ethnicity/pages/2/

o  >Social Trends>Work and Employement http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/topics/work-and-employment/

Image Sources

·  Figure 1. Bureau, U.s. Census. "The Two or More Races Population: 2010." The Two or More Races Population: 2010 (n.d.): n. pag. Http://www.census.gov. Sept. 2012. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-13.pdf

·  Figure 2. “The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap”, 2015 Edition, AAUW http://www.aauw.org/files/2015/02/The-Simple-Truth_Spring-2015.pdf

Works Cited

·  Laura Chrisman, Introduction to "The Politics of Biracialism"The Black Scholar Vol. 39, No. 3/4, THE POLITICS OF BIRACIALISM (FALL/WINTER 2009) , pp. 2-3. Published by: Paradigm Publishers

·  Ken Naksu Davison, The Mixed-Race Experience: Treatment of Racially Miscategorized Individulas under Title VII, 12 Asian Am. L.J. 161 (2005). http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/aalj/vol12/issl/6

·  “The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap”, 2015 Edition, AAUW http://www.aauw.org/files/2015/02/The-Simple-Truth_Spring-2015.pdf

·  Kerry Ann Rockquemore, “Negotiating the Color Line: The Gendered Process of Racial Identity Construction among Black/White Biracial Women” Gender and Society, Vol. 16, No. 4, African American Women: Gender Relations, Work, and the Political Economy in the Twenty-First Century (Aug., 2002), pp. 485-503 http://www.jstor.org/stable/3081799

·  "What to Say to Biracial/Multiethnic Coworkers - DiversityInc." DiversityInc. N.p., 10 July 2008. Web. 02 Mar. 2015.

·  Bureau, U.s. Census. "The Two or More Races Population: 2010." The Two or More Races Population: 2010 (n.d.): n. pag. Http://www.census.gov. Sept. 2012. Web. 2 Mar. 2015.