Regular White People Things: The Presence of White Fragility in Interracial Families

• Published date: 01 October 2021
• Author: Tracy Robinson‐Wood,Chantal Muse,Ruthann Hewett,Oyenike Balogun‐Mwangi,Jaylan Elrahman,Ava Nordling,Noora Abdulkerim,Atsushi Matsumoto
• Date: 01 October 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12549

T R-W, C M,  R H Department of Applied

Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts

O B-M Department of Psychology, Salve Regina University, Newport,

Rhode Island

J E, A N, N A,  A M

Department of Applied Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts

Regular White People Things: The Presence of

White Fragility in Interracial Families

Objective: To better understand how biracial/

multiracial millennials make meaning of their

multiple identities and racial socialization mes-

sages within their interracial families.

Background: A small body of researchsuggests

that the content of parents’ race messages to

their biracial/multiracial childrenmay have pro-

found social and psychological ramications.

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 frame-

work, and a phenomenological approach in ana-

lyzing open-ended responses.

Results: We found that interracial families

employed a number of racial socialization mes-

sages, including those that extol mainstream

cultural values as well as communications that

fuel race-related stress and identity politics.

Oyenike Balogun-Mwangi, Department of Psychology,

Salve Regina University,100 Ochre Point Avenue, Newport,

RI 02840 (o.balogunmwangi@salve.edu).

Key Words: biracial, multiracial, racial identity, racial

socialization, White fragility.

Conclusion: Findings highlight the preva-

lence 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 ndings in this study suggest

a need to examine racial socialization as a func-

tion of parents’ salient identities, including gen-

der, race, and immigration status.

The U.S. Census Bureau (2017) denes race as

an individual’s self-identication with one or

more social groups. Much of the psychological

research literature focused on interracial fami-

lies has highlighted the signicance of race in

developing multiculturally competent mental

health providers (e.g., Robinson-Wood, 2013),

promoting racially diverse but allied kin and

social networks in interracial family members’

lives (Robinson-Wood, 2013), understand-

ing the protective buffer of ethnically and

racially similar groups in a person’s life (e.g.,

Dominguez & Watkins, 2003), and the need

for White people to name White privilege

and White fragility as a reection of personal

growth and racial literacy (e.g., DiAngelo, 2018;

Twine, 2010). The relevance of racial aware-

ness for fostering empathy and collaboration

Family Relations 70 (October 2021): 973–992 973

DOI:10.1111/fare.12549

974 Family Relations

across ethnic and racial diversity and promoting

health also has been touted (Darity et al., 2006;

DiAngelo, 2018; Dominguez & Watkins, 2003;

Obasi, 2015; Robinson-Wood, 2013; Root,

1992; Twine, 2010). According to Neville

et al. (2000), to be racially aware is to acknowl-

edge racial injustice while also understanding

that we do not exist in a meritocracy where

rewards are equally distributed across race.

The heft of race throughout the world, histor-

ically and within contemporary society, as well

as the increasing numbers of biracial/multiracial

people in the population, demand a clearer

understanding of how race is talked about across

diverse interracial families. Race is irrefutable. It

informs—and too often dictates—neighborhood

type, renter or home ownership status, home

equity and value, the marital status of the

adults in the home, infant mortality, longevity,

poverty, health, education, income, zip code,

school quality, and incarceration rates (Hamil-

ton et al., 2009). Baked into the core of these

disparities is racism, which speaks to systems of

advantage based on race rather than individual

prejudicial attitudes (Wellman, 1993).

Although the South saw a 49% increase in

biracial/multiracial populations between 2000

and 2010 (Jones & Bullock, 2012), neither the

increases in Black and White marriages nor the

growing presence of biracial/multiracial people

has eradicated racially linked economic gaps.

Controlling for education, economic discrepan-

cies exist between biracial/multiracial and White

people and racism accounts for much of this

disparity (Bobo, 2011; Darity et al., 2006; see

Table1). Racism and colorism impose a melanin

tax on visible people of color across race and eth-

nicity, as well as persons whose race is read as

ambiguous. Today, greater gaps in wages exist

between darker skinned Blacks and Whites than

between lighter skinned Blacks and Whites, even

after controlling for productivity-linked charac-

teristics (Goldsmith et al., 2006). Blacks with

lighter complexions earned more money than

darker skinned Blacks.

The history of interracial marriage in the

United States is fraught with legal, social, and

cultural barriers, stigma, and tension. It must be

noted that these historical contexts continue to

inform the dynamics of certain interracial part-

nerships. Although there is growing acceptance

of interracial marriages in the United States

today, this was not the case a little more than a

half century ago (Livingston & Brown, 2017).

Tab le 1 . Characteristics of Two or MoreRaces and Total

Population

Characteristic

Two or

more races

Total

population

Median age 23.4 years 35.4 years

Native born 76.5% 88.9%

Poverty rates of elderly 16.9% 9.9%

Poverty rates of children 19.9% 16.6%

Bachelor’s degree 19.6% 24.4%

Never married 37.3% 27.1%

Marriage 45.6% 54.4%

Divorce 17.1% 18.5%

Median income—women $25,399 $27,194

Median income—men $31,035 $37,057

Owner-occupied homes 46.6% 66.2%

Source: Adapted from Jones (2005); U.S. Census

Bureau (2017).

In 2015, 17% of newly married couples (11

million) reported having a spouse of a different

race or ethnicity (this represents a vefold

increase in mixed-race marriages since 1967;

Livingston & Brown, 2017). Additionally, dis-

tinct trends have been noted along lines of age,

race, and gender. Interracial marriages are more

common among younger, college-educated,

and metropolitan populations. Black men, for

example, are twice as likely to marry across

race than Black women. In 2016, more than a

third of Asian women (36%) reported a spouse

of a different race/ethnicity compared with

Asian men (21%). Notably, the opposition to a

relative marrying a Black person was measured

at 63% among non-Blacks in 1990 (this num-

ber was measured at 14% in 2016; Livingston

& Brown, 2017). There is no doubt that the

illegality of Black–White marriages during the

Jim Crow era carries over into the particular

dynamics of Black–White partnerships in recent

decades. Thus, it is important to consider the

heterogeneity of interracial partnerships and to

consider historical and contemporary contexts

in analyzing evolving trends.

In 2010, more than 9 million people or

nearly 3% of the U.S. population reported being

of more than one race (Humes et al., 2011).

Between 2000 and 2010, the “two or more

races” population increased by 32% (1.89

million). By comparison, the total U.S. popula-

tion grew only 10% (Jones & Bullock, 2012).

Among the category of “two or more races,” 1.8

million people, the largest group, reported being