Monoracial and Multiracial Americans

Monoracial and Multiracial Americans

Introduction

Americans label political leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Frederick Douglass, and Barack Obama “Black”, despite their multiracial ancestry. Monoracial categorizations, such as these, constitute to the prevalent tradition of multicultural individuals being classified as monoracial. Multiracial individuals are outside the parameters of racial definitions. They do not necessarily have an ancestry from one specific geographic region and phenotypic similarities. These individuals are diverse not only in race, but also ethnicity. Levels of identification with two or more ancestor cultures also differ in multiracial Americans (Gordon & Hall, 2009). This essay examines the nature ...