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Regular White People Things: The Presence of White Fragility in Interracial Families
Author(s) -
RobinsonWood Tracy,
Muse Chantal,
Hewett Ruthann,
BalogunMwangi Oyenike,
Elrahman Jaylan,
Nordling Ava,
Abdulkerim Noora,
Matsumoto Atsushi
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
family relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1741-3729
pISSN - 0197-6664
DOI - 10.1111/fare.12549
Subject(s) - socialization , racism , social psychology , white (mutation) , mainstream , psychology , silence , gender studies , identity (music) , race (biology) , thematic analysis , developmental psychology , sociology , qualitative research , political science , biochemistry , chemistry , philosophy , physics , social science , acoustics , law , gene , aesthetics
Objective To better understand how biracial/multiracial millennials make meaning of their multiple identities and racial socialization messages within their interracial families. Background A small body of research suggests that the content of parents' race messages to their biracial/multiracial children may have profound social and psychological ramifications. Changing American demographics, including the growth of biracial/multiracial populations, have created a demand for careful examination of this group's racialized experiences. Method To examine the racial socialization experiences of biracial/multiracial participants ( n = 30), this qualitative substudy used thematic analysis, an intersectional theoretical framework, and a phenomenological approach in analyzing open‐ended responses. Results We found that interracial families employed a number of racial socialization messages, including those that extol mainstream cultural values as well as communications that fuel race‐related stress and identity politics. Conclusion Findings highlight the prevalence of dominant Western cultural values and racial silence in the socialization messages within interracial families and the reality of racism and racial awareness among individuals identifying as biracial/multiracial. Implications The findings in this study suggest a need to examine racial socialization as a function of parents' salient identities, including gender, race, and immigration status.