| This project explores the expressions of racial and cultural identity of twenty-two biracial Americans, specifically of Pan-Asian and White ethnicities. Previous research leading to this project focused on biracial families within the context of adoption, Black and White biracialism, factors leading to significant increase in Asian and White interracial marriages in the United States, and studies of biracial children as the fastest emerging "new" minority group in American society.;This project differs from previous studies in that it goes into a heightened understanding of how biracial Asian-White individuals negotiate and deal with the ambivalence of simultaneously existing within a majority, minority and 'mixed' race, in a racialized American society. Furthermore, studying biracial Asian individuals who are biologically 'mixed' as opposed to 'adopted' is new. This study is also new in that it contributes further to the limited body of knowledge in communication, culture, and biracial/multiracial identity.;In-depth qualitative interviews were used to explore biracial experiences. There was a trend in participants' expressions of their racial identities: most of them identified with being more White than Asian. They also preferred to label themselves as "Half and Half," and "Asian-American" as opposed to labeling themselves as "White.";The interpretation and discussion of narratives underscore biracial identity as highly contextual, fluid, and co-constructed with others. This project also illuminates how a healthy biracial identity does not require one to embrace both races; and if a person chooses to embrace both races, he/she is not racially confused, but is cognitively flexible. |
