Conclusion

The Conclusion reviews the key findings of this study, many of which point to the growing normality of mixing and mixedness. Here, I also considers the extent to which the lives of multiracial people in Britain mirror, or are distinctive from, those of multiracial people in the United States and the extent to which theorizing based upon dominant understandings about racism and racial hierarchies in the United States is applicable to contemporary Britain.

Multiracial People, Their Children, and Racism

Will the children of multiracial people be subject to forms of racial prejudice and discrimination? How do parents teach their children about the realities of race and prepare them to deal with potential forms of discrimination and denigration? Existing studies of mixed people in Britain rarely explicitly address their experiences of racial stigmatization or denigration, and even less is known about how they, as parents, regard the racialized experiences of their children. In this chapter, I examine how multiracial participants’ own experiences of racism (or lack thereof) influence their expectations and concerns about how their own children are treated in the wider society. This chapter also documents the ways in which parents foster racial awareness and coping.

Multiracial People as Parents

Starting with a discussion of the demographics of mixed-race people in Britain, this chapter shows that, rather than being a marginal social group, they are quickly becoming more populous, especially in ethnically diverse metropolitan areas. A review of both North American and British studies of multiracial people demonstrates that there is a significant gap in the research concerning multiracial people as parents and their relationships with their children. This generational perspective, I argue, is needed to achieve a fuller understanding of what it means to be a multiracial individual and parent today.

The Future

This chapter reviews what our study participants thought would be in store for their children as they grew up, and perhaps had children of their own. Asking what multiracial parents thought about the salience of ethnic and racial difference in the future, the discussion focuses on what they felt this would mean for their children’s lives. Parents also reflected on their children’s choices of potential partners, as well as the consequences of their partnerships for the potential “dilution” or the possible reinforcement of ethnic minority heritage. Reflecting on their own family’s role in the evolving make-up of British society, many considered themselves and their children to be at the forefront of key changes in the meanings and dynamics of racial and ethnic boundaries in contemporary Britain.

The Parenting Practices of Multiracial People

How multiracial parents racially identify their children on official forms does not tell us how they raise their children in the context of family life. Do multiracial parents have particular ways of steering their children toward racial awareness? How do they address cultural transmission? In this chapter, I examine four ways in which multiracial people bring up their children and why particular parents are drawn to specific modes of socialization. In the process I also consider the importance of generational change and how participants’ experiences of their own upbringings and childhoods can influence their thinking and parenting practices in relation to their children.

How Do Multiracial People Identify Their Children?

This chapter investigates how multiracial people identify their children and what guides their choices. Do participants of various mixed backgrounds differ in how they identify their children? Are the ethnic and racial backgrounds of partners influential in this regard? Furthermore, how important is the physical appearance of children, the generational locus of mixture, and contact with White and ethnic minority family members in shaping the identification of children? While many US studies have focused on how parents in interracial unions racially classify their children, these studies have not investigated how such parents think about or explain their choices, or what meanings they associate with terms such as “mixed,” “White,” “Black,” or “Asian.” Nor have these studies explored the ways in which multiracial people (not “single race” individuals in interracial unions) racially identify their children.

Introduction

My guess is, yes, it will dilute further and in the fullness of time, you know, me, my dad/mum, you know, that’ll just become a little bit of family history and gradually that will, you know, sort of come down to a little dot somewhere and if somebody is really interested sort of look back a hundred years they’ll say, “Oh yes, there was a sort of Indian in our family at some point.”...