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:
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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
Women’s earnings as a
percentage of white men’s
Hispanic or Latina
American Indian and
Alaska Native
African American
Native Hawaiian and
Other pacific islander
White (non-Hispanic)
Asian American
earnings within race/
ethnicity
90%
85%
earnings
91%
84%
64%
65%
78%
79%
78%
90%
54%
59%
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:
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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-andethnicity/pages/2/
o >Social Trends>Work and Employement
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/topics/work-and-employment/
Image Sources
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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_Spring2015.pdf
Works Cited
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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.