Multiracial Children: Growing Through Identity and Racism MLA format

Essay by trinityivyCollege, UndergraduateA+, December 2008

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One of the landmark cases for civil rights was Loving vs. the Commonwealth of Virginia. According to this ruling by the Supreme Court in the 1967 interracial marriage was to be allowed. The decision was unanimous that it was not only against basic human rights but, it was also racist not to let two persons of different races marry. Since then, the number of interracial marriages has grown substantially. It would be fair to argue that the generation today hardly questions racial guidelines when choosing someone to date or marry. What about the children of these interracial marriages? Unfortunately, multiracial children face problems with forming their racial identity because of discrimination in the educational system.

Multiracial children are a fast growing minority. “As of the 2000 census, 7 million Americans (2.4%) are more than one race. Census records show that compared to 1.9% of adults being multiracial, 4.2% of children under 18 are multiracial.

The past 2000 census was the first to allow more than one box to be checked for race” (Burrello). Exactly what is multiracial? That is hard to define. A multiracial person is more than two races, when different physiognomic traits are present. For example, a person of Irish and German descent is multiethnic not multiracial because Irish and German are both considered “White”. A multiracial person is, for example, “Black and “White” or “White” and “Asian” because the difference in physiognomic traits.

For one to understand how a multiracial child is discriminated in school, one must understand how a multiracial child develops their identity. A multiracial child forms his or her identity in a similar manner to a monoracial child in the early years of development. Development branches off sometime between ages eight and ten years of age (Wright 95). Preschoolers, age three to five do...