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How Race Categories on U.S. Census Forms Have Evolved - The New York Times

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How Race Categories on U.S. Census Forms Have Evolved - The New York Times

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An American Puzzle: Fitting Race in a Box

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Census categories for race and ethnicity have shaped how the nation sees itself. Here’s how they have changed over the last 230 years.

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Raising Multiracial Children: Tools for Nurturing Identity in a Racialized World a book by Farzana Nayani, Velina Hasu Houston, and Paul Spickard

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The essential guide to parenting multiracial and multiethnic children of all ages and learning to support and celebrate their multiracial identities In a world where people are more likely to proclaim color-blindness than talk openly about race, how can we truly value, support, and celebrate our kid…

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For Some Black People, The Term 'Latinx' Is Another Form of Erasure

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For Some Black People, The Term 'Latinx' Is Another Form of Erasure

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For Some Black People, The Term 'Latinx' Is Another Form of Erasure

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Black diasporans discuss the ways the label can be overly broad-and leave out an important part of their identities.

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VERSION 2 E(race)ure_ Shining a spotlight on the Multi-racial, Multi-ethnic Experience in Independent Schools 

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@postmodernivy (insta, twitter)
ialphonseleja@gmail.com
Check out POCIS-NY, NY folks!

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Summary of Stages of Racial Identity Models

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Summary of Stages of Racial Identity Models

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https://youtu.be/PZQSc2CTdJE

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John Punch

John Punch, James Gregory, and a man named Victor were all indentured servants contracted to Virginia planter Hugh Gwyn. These three men each performed similar tasks as slaves and each also felt so exploited he was willing to take unimaginable risks to pursue freedom. John, James, and Victor ran away and were captured within days.

Though fleeing similar circumstances, the fates of the runaways differed under the court's aegis. A judge sentenced all three to whippings. He then added four years to the indenture terms of James and Victor, both white Europeans. John, a black man, alone he condemned to lifelong servitude.

John Punch is one of the first servants on record to be sentenced to slavery on the grounds of race. However, he was neither the first nor the last black man to flee from oppressive bondage. Despite the development of harsh fugitive slave laws in the next century, running away remained one of the most common strategies for escaping slavery.

To read a transcript of the original court decision on Gywn's case against Punch and his companions, go to the library and check out H.R. McILwaine's MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL AND GENERAL COURT OF COLONIAL VIRGINIA, 1622-1632, 1670-1676 (Library of VA, 2nd ed. 1979)

Societies of Slaves
Sometimes, runaway slaves like John Punch joined other escaped slaves to form colonies of their own, banding together to defend themselves and their freedom. Slaves who were members of these communities are known as maroons. To learn more about this form of slave resistance, read MAROON SOCIETIES: REBEL SLAVE COMMUNITIES IN THE AMERICAS by Richard Price (Johns Hopkins UP, 1996)

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Slavery and the Making of America . The Slave Experience: Responses to Enslavement | PBS

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John Punch John Punch, James Gregory, and a man named Victor were all indentured servants contracted to Virginia planter Hugh Gwyn. These three men each performed similar tasks as slaves and each also felt so exploited he was willing to take unimaginable risks to pursue freedom.

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info@empathy-action.org
rhardatt@gmail.com
twitter: @empathytoaction

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nsemela@prepforprep.org

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langr@stlukesct.org

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You've probably realised the importance of reading books to your children and perhaps you don't need to be convinced of the idea that representation matters if you want to raise a positive, confident mixed race or multiracial child.

But the fact is having a shelf full of diverse children's books is important for ALL children. It doesn't matter whether it's to instil in them a view of the world that goes beyond their immediate environment or to feature inclusivity, tolerance and respect through the books that they read.

ALL of the above reasons are important. And athough diversity is still not truly representative in our art, media, tv shows that we watch and see all day, we can make it a priority through our choice of diverse children's books.

With the wave of technology and more and more authors choosing to self publish, we are lucky to live in an era where diverse children's books are appearing more often in our book shops.

This guide features not only the best books but the BEST diverse children's books LISTS broken down by theme for your child's bookshelf. Have a look and choose a few today!

For more from Mixed.Up.Mama...

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The ULTIMATE Guide to Diverse Children's Books with Multiracial Characters | Mixed.Up.Mama

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You've probably realised the importance of reading books to your children and perhaps you don't need to be convinced of the idea that representation matters if you want to raise a positive, confident mixed race or multiracial child. But the fact is having a shelf full of diverse children's books is important for ALL children.

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Padma Lakshmi: Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris Moved Me to Tears

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Padma Lakshmi: Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris Moved Me to Tears

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Imagine how wide the ripples of impact can be when a woman of color is vice president.

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Imagine how wide the ripples of impact can be when a woman of color is vice president.

Credit... Amr Alfiky/The New York Times

Ms. Lakshmi is the host and executive producer of "Taste the Nation" and "Top Chef."

I was on a hike in Garrison, N.Y., when I heard the news of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden's victory. I felt elated. Then suddenly I felt this heat welling up from my chest into my throat and it burst out of me in tears I could not control. At first I didn't even know why I was sobbing.

Finally, I was thinking. Finally a woman, and a woman of color, takes this office.

I felt like a marathon runner who breaks down into tears at the end of a race. And that marathon was a lifetime of fighting to be seen and to advance, as an immigrant and woman of color with few guides.

I cried again as I watched Ms. Harris address the nation last weekend as the vice president-elect. The world finally saw a Black woman, whose parents came from Jamaica and India, near the pinnacle of American power. That vision, in an instant, seemed to evaporate some of the unnecessary hurdles I had faced, making a different path for a child like me growing up today.

Now, days later, everyone is talking about President Trump again. His refusal to concede shouldn't steal Vice President-elect Harris's moment - his time is up and her time, and ours, is just beginning.

When I first came to this country at age 4 from India, walking around New York City, I was excited to see all kinds of people - with different colors of skin, styles of dress and ways of moving through the world. But slowly I became aware of a different world, through magazines and TV, where almost everyone was white.

I watched a lot of television: "The Brady Bunch," "The Partridge Family," "One Day at a Time," "Three's Company," "Happy Days," "Fantasy Island." As a latchkey kid in the '80s, these shows raised me and taught me about American life.

Children know when they are being sorted. I could see that the idealized America on the TV screen and the magazine pages did not value Black and brown people like me and many I knew.

I figured out how to navigate the time a boy called me the N-word when I was 11; and navigate the times I auditioned for acting roles in my 20s, only to be told they weren't "going ethnic"; and navigate the times in my 30s when I didn't know to negotiate full credit for my work.

Things might have been different if I had seen more women like me in positions of power - role models to show me a path.

Often now, strangers - girls and women of color - approach me to saythat seeing my face on television expanded their aspirations. I'm just a cable food show host. Imagine how wide the ripples of impact can be when a woman of color is vice president.

Ms. Harris understands this. "While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last," she assured us. "Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities."

Over the summer, I learned that Ms. Harris's mother's family comes from the same city in India as my family. Her grandparents lived right around the corner from mine in the Besant Nagar area of the city of Chennai. Our grandfathers might have strolled together in the same walking group of retirees on Elliot's Beach. We both spent summers visiting there, and might have been sent on errands to the same All-in-One corner store that sold half-rupee candies and lentils by the kilo. In the United States, we were raised by single mothers who both worked in health care - mine as a nurse and hers as a biomedical scientist.

When she accepted the Democratic nomination for the vice presidency, she thanked her "chitthis," the word for aunties in Tamil, a language of South India - not in Hindi, an official language of the country. Never in my life did I imagine a Tamil-speaking vice president of the United States.

Our striking commonalities made Ms. Harris's victory particularly poignant for me - but I think she offers many Black and brown girls and women a sense of belonging.

President Trump's attacks on women, on people of color and on immigrants feel personal to us. As he allows a pandemic to run rampant in our country and even threatens our democracy, it feels like a betrayal that so many Americans persist in supporting him.

His vitriol encourages those who hate us. In comments under my Instagram and Twitter posts, people frequently tell me, "Go back to your country."

I say: This is my country. I have contributed to it with my taxes, my writing and television shows and my activism. I am working to improve this nation, which you do not do for a place you do not love.

I would also like to say: So many women in my family and our communities have been invisible, even as we have helped build this country with our own hands. We have cleaned your toilets, we have waited on you in restaurants, we have done your taxes, we have ministered to your children in the pediatrician's office, we have programmed your computers, we have cared for your elderly, we have even led your companies. But you have sidestepped us and made us feel less important than you.

Ms. Harris is part of a new generation of elected women of color, taking office at this absurdly divided time when people of color are both ascendant and under attack. And these women are not just in power; they have excelled, often precisely because of their life experiences. Senator Harris pinioned Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brilliantly rebuked a fellow congressman, Ted Yoho, when he used a sexist insult against her. Representative Pramila Jayapal grilled Attorney General William Barr about the decision to take an " aggressive approach " against Black Lives Matter protesters - but not against gun-toting protesters who crowded a state capitol.

Now Ms. Harris will have new authority and reach as vice president. The Trump era she is ending empowered people to show their racism nakedly, in slights and jeers and acts of violence. For many people of color and immigrants, the message was clear: You do not belong here, and you are not wanted.

It will be a difficult and long path to undo that damage. But for me and other girls and women of color, Ms. Harris embodies an opposite message: You do belong here, her life says, and you obviously can achieve absolutely anything.

Padma Lakshmi is the host and executive producer of " Taste the Nation " and "Top Chef" and an artist-ambassador for the A.C.L.U.

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Opinion | Padma Lakshmi: Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris Moved Me to Tears

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Imagine how wide the ripples of impact can be when a woman of color is vice president. Ms. Lakshmi is the host and executive producer of "Taste the Nation" and "Top Chef." I was on a hike in Garrison, N.Y., when I heard the news of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden's victory.

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A journey through the discovery of my racial identity

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Chapter in:

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Chapter Author:

Since the early 1990s, there has emerged in the United States a push to racially reclassify persons with one black and one white parent as biracial. A central feature of what I am calling the biracial project is a cohort of scholars, themselves biracial identity advocates, who argue that such an identity is more appropriate for people of mixed parentage (PMP) than a black one. These scholars maintain that when PMP identify as biracial, they gain a more mentally healthy racial identity, have fewer experiences of alienation, and are able to express their racial and cultural distinction from African Americans. In addition to the presumed personal benefits of such an identity, these scholars suggest that a biracial identity is a positive step in moving society beyond race and toward a color-blind society. What remains troubling about this scholarship, though, is a tendency to conceptualize PMP as a distinct racial group, and the inattention to the potentially negative political impact such a reclassification would have on African Americans.

Historically and currently, white supremacy in the United States has hinged on the oppression of people of African descent. The position of African Americans in the political economy has served as the basis for developing a racialized social system, restructuring that system at different historical moments, and incorporating new social groups into the racial hierarchy as races. Asserting a new racial group premised on a claim to an inherent (biological) whiteness and a rejection of blackness taps into the intricacies, logics, and values of that very system. It is therefore important to remember that the push for a biracial racial category arose and made its greatest strides amid predictions that by the year 2050 whites will be a numerical minority. More than a question of self-identity, the push for a biracial identity concerns substantiating the existence of a new race to be positioned as an intermediary between blacks and whites in a reordered racialized social system. Indeed, in the United States there have always been multiple racial groups situated below whites in the racial hierarchy. Sociologist Eduardo Bonilla-Silva has recently argued that, increasingly, different groups are beginning to hold a position of "honorary whiteness" within that hierarchy. Taking into account the structures of race in Latin America and the Caribbean, I remain unconvinced that an honorary white racial status in the United States would include PMP, as Bonilla-Silva suggests, though I agree with his claim that various racialized groups that were previously denied the privileges of whiteness increasingly enjoy advantages, privileges, and access to centers of power that continue to be denied black people and those whom Bonilla-Silva calls the "collective black." Far from helping to erase existing color lines or challenging the new racial formations described by Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua and Bonilla-Silva, it would draw yet another color line. And unlike certain Asian and Latino groups, a new biracial race stakes its claim, quite literally, on possessing whiteness.

The biracial project approaches racial identity as racial identification, or the assertion of a racial category. Using identity as a synonym tor race has also entailed inadequate attention to the complexities of identity. Consequently, these works rarely engage the psychological scholarship on black identity formation, not to mention the historical, sociological, and cultural interrogations of blackness that have appeared in Black Studies over the past century. Most troubling is the inattention, if not utter aversion, to the history of PMP considering themselves black and struggling over the meanings of blackness.

It is hardly coincidental that these scholars presume certain antiracist attributes to inhere in a biracial identity. In asserting the subversive character of a biracial identity, Maria P. P. Root maintains that it "may force us to reexamine our construction of race and the hierarchical social order it supports." Naomi Zack and G. Reginald Daniel more plainly argue that a biracial identity hastens the end of racial categories altogether by challenging popular notions of race. For Zack in particular, a biracial identity serves as the basis for "ultimately disabus(ing) Americans of their false beliefs in the biological reality of race," thus leading society away from racial classifications and hastening racisms demise. Still, the progressive qualities of a biracial identity are more apparent than real, largely asserted with little research substantiating the claims of its proponents.

The presence of a biracial race would certainly disrupt popular ideas about race, but as scholars supporting biracial identity root it in biological notions of race "mixture," it seems unlikely that such a disruption would result in the end of racial classifications. Work on race in the Caribbean and Latin America shows that a racially mixed identity is entirely consistent with a racialized social system. Moreover, recent work interrogating-color blindness has shown that this is the current dominant racial ideology, suggesting that a color-blind society as a goal is more likely to ensure the persistence of racism than its decline. I therefore find especially troubling the claims by Naomi Zack, G. Reginald Daniel, Kathleen Odell Korgen, Paul R. Spickard, Maria P. P. Root, and others discussed below, that the biracial project represents a progressive social movement." In my view, based both on the popular push for such a reclassification and the scholarship discussed here, this project is less concerned with ending racism than with responding to the racialization of all people of African descent in the United States as black.

Situating the discussion of biracial identity in the context of race and racial oppression as structural relationships, I provide a detailed review of the theoretical and prescriptive literature advocating a biracial identity. Specifically, I am concerned with this racial projects theoretical basis for a biracial identity, how it conceptualizes race and racism, the place of the one-drop rule in this conceptualization, and the defense of biracial identity as an antiracist tool...

Read the chapter here.

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Chapter in: Edited by: Chapter Author: Since the early 1990s, there has emerged in the United States a push to racially reclassify persons with one black and one white parent as biracial.

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A majority of multiracial adults - 60% - say they are proud of their racial background.

Among them, there's a wide range of racial identity. About six-in-ten adults who have a mixed racial background say they do not see themselves as "mixed race or multiracial." When asked why they don't identify as multiracial, some say they were raised only as a single race, and others say they physically look like a certain race.

Composition of Multiracial Americans
% of all American adults who are multiracial
Note: Multiracial adults are two or more races (based on backgrounds of self, parents or grandparents). Multiracial subgroups and "some other combination" are non-Hispanic and mutually exclusive. The multiracial Hispanic subgroup includes Hispanics who are also any two or more races. *Multiracial subgroups may not add to 100% because of rounding.

Source: Pew Research Center survey, Feb. 6-April 6, 2015 (n=21,224 sampled adults including 1,555 multiracial adults)

Composition of Multiracial Americans

White and black biracial Americans are three times more likely to say they have a lot in common with people who are black than people who are white. But white and Asian Americans say they have more in common with people who are white than people who are Asian.

Likewise, among multiracial adults, there's a spectrum of experiences with discrimination. For example, Americans who are white and black or black and American Indian are far more likely to say they have been unfairly stopped by police or have received poor service at a restaurant or other businesses than Americans who are white and Asian or white and American Indian.

But multiracial Americans share some common views. About six-in-ten multiracial Americans say their racial heritage has made them more open to other cultures, and 55% say it has made them more understanding of people of different racial backgrounds. They are also more likely than other Americans to have friends or be married to other multiracial people.

Only a few feel ashamed of their racial background or see it as a liability. In fact, about four times as many say being multiracial has been an advantage rather than a disadvantage in their life; but most say it hasn't made a difference.

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A majority of multiracial adults - 60% - say they are proud of their racial background. Among them, there's a wide range of racial identity. About six-in-ten adults who have a mixed racial background say they do not see themselves as "mixed race or multiracial."

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Growing up, my father took my brother and me on an annual summer vacation to the Dominican Republic to visit family. One of our first destinations was always Sosúa beach, an hour and a half drive from my grandparents' house in Santiago. There, the three of us would run amuck. There were pescado frito vendors for my dad, and clear waters for my brother. But I was there to get my hair braided.

I'd always find the braiders sitting underneath the palm trees, seeking shade from the sun. I'd take a seat in front of them on the sand and cross my legs, and in my best broken Spanish, I'd try to ask for what I wanted. Although I hated the tugging and pulling, I knew that I'd love the outcome. Back home in Queens, my mother would take me to the Dominican salon to get my curly hair blown out once a week. It was there that my curls became pelo lacio - or straight hair - a sign of a put-together, proper Latina, at least according to all the other women there.

Those beach braids lasted for weeks, which gave me a break from those tedious salon trips. Plus, I loved how it looked. I often asked my parents if I could keep the style until the first day of school to show the plaits off to my other classmates. Certainly, getting my hair braided also benefited my dad. Since my mother wasn't able to join our trips because of her work schedule, my dad needed a low-maintenance way to keep my hair from getting extremely knotted. Those Sosúa braids were my introduction to protective styling.

"In the salon, my curls became pelo lacio - or straight hair - a sign of a put-together, proper Latina, at least according to all the other women there."

When I got old enough, I learned to straighten my hair myself, and I did so without question for a decade. But recently, I've begun to embrace my naturally curly hair. I cut off over eight inches of heat-damaged hair and vowed to stop using the flat iron in order to let my ringlets flourish. As I began this journey, I found more and more Latinas who wore their hair curly, and some of them were tapping into protective styles, like braids, as a means to grow their strands out or protect their hair from sweat and swimming pools. However, I never considered wearing the style myself until I embarked on a recent vacation to visit my family in Miami, and needed a solution that prevented my curly hair from getting damaged. I knew that washing my hair after the pool and beach every day would leave my curls fried by the end of the week. I thought back to those days on Sosúa beach, but I put off making a braiding appointment because of one concern: Can I, as a light-skinned Latina with looser curls, wear a hairstyle that's so meaningful to Black women?

As a beauty editor, I see firsthand how appropriative hairstyling can be hurtful and cruel. One of the most pervasive offenses is when white celebrities wear Black hairstyles like Bantu knots and call them other names like "twisted mini buns," erasing these styles' origin and integral roles within Black beauty culture. Latinas have also faced backlash, like Emeraude Toubia, who was criticized for wearing braids while on vacation in Thailand. I also see the Black community, which includes Afro-Latinx people, discriminated against and marginalized in schools, workplaces, and the military for wearing hairstyles that are celebrated on white celebrities.

Blogger Ada Rojas, who founded natural hair brand Botánika Beauty, has been braiding her hair for years as a way to grow out her hair with minimal daily styling. She admits that, at first, she was scared that as a lighter-skinned Latina, her braids would get her called out for appropriation. But, as someone who identifies as Afro-Latina - a Latin American with African ancestry - who is also aware of hair's context and culture, she felt that she had a right to wear them. To her, education is everything: "To really be able to appreciate these hairstyles, we must educate ourselves on the origin," she tells Refinery29. "It's not just a hairstyle. There's so much history behind it."

As an Afro-Latina, Rojas sees the taboo surrounding braids as more than just a conversation about appropriation. There's also the complicated perception of Blackness within the Latinx community. There are many Latinx people who don't acknowledge their Afro roots. "That 'Afro' side of us has been downplayed for centuries," says Rojas. "People's fear comes from them not owning their identity."

"To really be able to appreciate these hairstyles, we must educate ourselves on the origin. It's not just a hairstyle. There's so much history behind it."

Anti-Blackness has been ingrained in most Latin American cultures that have a history of European colonization, which enslaved indigenous communities in the 15th century and brought African slaves to the Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Frances Negrón-Muntaner, an award-winning filmmaker and professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University points to the Spanish colonization of the Americas as the impetus for centuries of white supremacy, colorism, and self-denial. "The Spaniards developed a very elaborate, complex caste system. Characteristics like height and hair, mouth, nose [shapes] would play a role in how you'd be racially classified, and that's when those characteristics got their weight," says Negrón-Muntaner.

Eurocentric beauty ideals still live on today. Historically, the Afro-Latinx community has faced erasure in both U.S. and Latinx media, which tend to favor Latinas with lighter skin and long, straight hair (think Jennifer Lopez and Sofia Vergara). There are hardly any visible Afro-Latinx people in the public sphere. However, one in four Latinx people identify as Afro-Latinx, Afro-Caribbean, or otherwise. And some Latinx people consider themselves Afro-descendants. The term is popularly used to describe the recognition of distant African roots that are ever-present in countries like Brazil, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic. But self-identity and external perceptions are complicated and not the same. Although my Dominican heritage is inextricably linked to the African diaspora, as someone with a lighter complexion, I've never dealt with the oppression and racism as those with darker complexions.

"Characteristics like hair are racially charged," Negrón-Muntaner adds. "Certain types of hair are also associated with so-called 'low-status racial groups,' and therefore, that serves to identify a person as a particular race." Terms like "," meaning "bad hair," or "Haitiana," a name my dad would call me when I would walk around the house with curly hair and a summer tan, are loaded with racist implications. (Haiti, which shares a border with the Dominican Republic, is majority Black.)

Many Latinas are challenging this idea of pelo malo out of frustration around the erasure of Blackness within Latinx communities. The Afro-Latinx community has been speaking out on their experiences of not fitting into beauty norms within their cultures, including ones pertaining to hair. For them, the natural hair movement isn't just about ease and aesthetics, but about combating anti-Blackness.

But even with positive changes happening, anti-Blackness still exists, and there are many Latinx women who are wary to accept their African roots. In these cases, wearing braids does feel a lot like hurtful cultural appropriation and that self-denial ultimately harms both Latinx and Black women. These Latinas' allyships with Black communities are only limited to their hair. "It's a little unsettling to see someone who doesn't want to associate themselves as someone of color, of African descent, who still finds some utilization out of our cultural practice," says Amanda Moore-Karim, wardrobe stylist and author of Fulani Braids - Cultural Intersectionality or Appropriation? "It goes back to that phrase, 'Everybody wants to be Black, but doesn't want to be Black.'"

And it's also important to acknowledge that the perception of non-Black women who choose to wear braids is different. Puerto Rican braider Guingui says, "What makes people upset is that someone who's non-Black is not going to have the same repercussions as somebody who's Black if they come to work with the same braids. In fact, everybody would praise her hair," adds the stylist. "It's hypocrisy."

"Someone who's non-Black is not going to have the same repercussions as somebody who's Black if they come to work with the same braids. It's hypocrisy."

There is no clear-cut rule to Latinas wearing protective styles. However, it's important to know why you're getting a hairstyle that has long been a cultural touchstone while also being the focus of discrimination. "For me, if you're wearing braids, it's like: Why are you doing that if it's not as a protective style? " says Moore-Karim. "Black women wear braids to protect our hair and, sometimes, to grow it out. Why are you doing this?"

Moore-Karim says she ultimately knows that she can't stop people from wearing braids, but if they are going to do it, she urges one thing: Don't change the names or purposely unacknowledge its Black roots and history. "The main thing that frustrates me is the discrediting of the influence that a certain practice brings," says Moore-Karim. "It seems that people always credit a celebrity as opposed to crediting the actual history," she says.

Hairstylist Koni Bennett agrees: While she's never been offended when a non-Black client sits on her chair, it irks her if they rebrand the braids afterward. "Black hairstyles are reinvented [as non-Black inventions], like two cornrows being called boxer braids," she says. While female boxers have been wearing the style for years, the Kardashians' reference to "boxer braids" turned it into a "trend" outside of the Black community, earning backlash.

Some hairstylists believe that the responsibility also lies with professional hairstylists. Whenever a client mispronounces a style or calls it by the wrong name, stylists have a role in correcting them so that they leave with more context and knowledge. "There are people who aren't doing it on purpose," says Guingui. "As a braider, it's definitely my duty to clear out all of that right away."

So, to answer my original question: Can I - as a light-skinned Latina, with a looser curl pattern, a deep understanding of and allyship with my Black peers, and a complicated relationship with my culture's Afro roots and my personal Afro identity - wear braids? The answer is that I'm figuring it out. My identity, my politics, my community, and my sense of self is a work in progress. I'm becoming more comfortable inhabiting a fluid, complicated space. Not making a blanket decision right now about how I express all those things with my hair feels like the right decision for me.

That's not to say that just because you're not wearing a certain hairstyle, you can't learn about it. Hairstyles could bring communities together, especially between those of color. According to Professor Negrón-Muntane, finding connections and sharing both the difficult and beautiful aspects of each other's cultures can create a stronger sense of unity across communities. As she says, "There's more to gain from recognizing each other's stories, and the ways that might create awareness and complexity through all of our experiences and how we relate to other people."

Being Latinx in America is no easy thing. Fighting pressures to abandon our culture, traditions, and heritage, we're carving out a unique identity in America that's all our own. In a series of essays, reported articles, and stories for Refinery29's #SomosLatinx, we'll explore the unique issues that affect the community during Latinx Heritage Month from September 15-October 15.

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The Complex Relationship Between Latinas, Race, & Braids

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Growing up, my father took my brother and me on an annual summer vacation to the Dominican Republic to visit family. One of our first destinations was always Sosúa beach, an hour and a half drive from my grandparents' house in Santiago. There, the three of us would run amuck.

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The National Geographic Twins and the Falsehood of Our Post-Racial Future | The New Yorker

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The National Geographic Twins and the Falsehood of Our Post-Racial Future | The New Yorker

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On Monday, National Geographic opened its April issue with a sombre letter from the editor, Susan Goldberg, presented with the even more sombre headline "For Decades, Our Coverage was Racist. To Rise Above Our Past, We Must Acknowledge It." " The Race Issue," which marks the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., inaugurates the magazine's yearlong "Diversity in America" series. In the letter, Goldberg-who is the first woman and the first Jewish person in the top post since the magazine's founding, in 1888-informs her readers that John Edwin Mason, a historian of photography and of the African continent, having studied the magazine's archive, found that, through failures of omission, overwrought inclusions, a melodramatic tone, and other editorial choices, had mismanaged its reportage on nonwhite cultures. As Goldberg summarized, "until the 1970s National Geographic all but ignored people of color who lived in the United States . . . . Meanwhile it pictured 'natives' elsewhere as exotics, famously and frequently unclothed, happy hunters, noble savages-every type of cliché."

The magazine's admission is rare, and vindicates readers who, like me, have always had a visceral reaction to National Geographic's covers and ethos. A recent project at the Times was similarly refreshing-offering obituaries for the indefatigable journalist Ida B. Wells, the writer Sylvia Plath, and thirteen other women who hadn't been memorialized in the paper at the time of their deaths. The Times, which calls its project "Overlooked," uses oddly passive language in presenting its past missteps: its archives offer "a stark lesson in how society valued various achievements and achievers," the copy reads. Mason uses more pointed language: " National Geographic comes into existence at the height of colonialism . . . . and National Geographic was reflecting that view of the world."

Do institutions serve primarily as reflections, or might they also be authorities from which Western views of the world originate? As Tobi Haslett writes in "Unseen: Unpublished Black History from the New York Times Photo Archives," his review of a similar project produced by the Times, "The newspaper graciously provides us with the very images it had so imperiously overlooked, as the whole endeavor calmly reasserts the grip of the media on the public imagination."

On Monday, National Geographic announced its new era of racial lucidity with a cover photograph of the English eleven-year-olds Marcia and Millie Biggs, apparently symbols of our post-racial future. Their matching dresses and long, flowing hair emphasize what can be determined from their faces: that these girls are sisters-fraternal twins. "They both have my nose," their father, Michael Biggs, says in the story. "Marcia had light brown hair and fair skin like her English-born mother," the article states; "Millie had black hair and brown skin like her father, who's of Jamaican descent." A statistical geneticist clarifies that it is not a rarity for one child to resemble one parent and vice versa; the issue's abstract says that "race is a human invention," and that skin color has misguidedly been used as a "proxy" for race. And yet the magazine cover undermines all of these correctives. "Black and White," it reads, under the portrait of the twins. "These twin sisters make us rethink everything we know about race." The online promotion is even more contradictory: "These Twins, One Black and One White, Will Make You Rethink Race." The framing inspires the kind of coarse racial quantifying from which the issue is ostensibly trying to escape. Linking to the article on social media, several people observed that both sisters "look" black.

The sisters first went viral in 2007, in the , where they were also described as belonging to separate races, and were called "million to one" biological anomalies. In the National Geographic coverage, we learn that what sounded like a statistic in the Daily Mail is, in fact, just something that the girls' adoring mother, Amanda Wanklin, likes to say. It is telling that both of the girls' parents think of their daughters this way, as do their peers in Birmingham. A more interesting, and more accurate, angle for an article might have made the human perception of race the point of their story, examining the long shadow of pseudoscientific classification, the legacy of passing, and the oppressiveness of phenotype. The paradox of race-a social myth with real repercussions-can never be overexplained. Instead, the National Geographic article, a perfect demonstration of good intentions gone awry, has the girls talking about how they are stared at but have thankfully never endured racist abuse. As Mason is quoted in the accompanying editorial, "It's possible to say that a magazine can open people's eyes at the same time it closes them."

Certain people will always be collected and displayed-in magazines, in museums, in imaginations. Sometimes, these people aren't even real. In 1993, Time published " The New Face of America," a computer-generated woman with light-brown skin created from "a mix of several races." For its hundred-and-twenty-fifth-anniversary issue, in 2013, National Geographic profiled multiracial people to illustrate the "changing face of America." In recent years, the multiracial person, who breaks the rules of the caste system, has become the subject of liberal, cross-racial desire, vaunted as diviners of social progress, or of apocalypse. Barack Obama is the most famous member of the newly consolidated Loving Generation, as it is termed in a new docu-series from Topic; one only has to look at the excitement around Meghan Markle, or the dozens of accounts on Instagram and Facebook devoted to fawning over mixed-race "swirl babies," to see the fixation develop. But, for centuries, a significant portion of colonized populations have qualified as multiracial, even if their genes do not manifest in the look of light skin, hazel or blue eyes, and hair that grows in perfect ringlets. It follows that multiraciality ought not to be the vessel for social hope. Our awe at the notion of a raceless future only betrays the truths of our present.

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The National Geographic Twins and the Falsehood of Our Post-Racial Future

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On Monday, National Geographic opened its April issue with a sombre letter from the editor, Susan Goldberg, presented with the even more sombre headline "For Decades, Our Coverage was Racist. To Rise Above Our Past, We Must Acknowledge It."

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How Multi-Ethnic People Identify Themselves : NPR

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How Multi-Ethnic People Identify Themselves : NPR

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NEAL CONAN, host:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan, in Washington.

What are you? People of mixed race hear that question throughout their lives. The question comes in parts: half-black, half-white, part Asian, a quarter Native American. Sometimes the answer may vary depending on the situation. Sometimes it may change for good.

During the era of Jim Crow segregation, a percentage of those with lighter skin chose to pass as white. Now, it looks as if that's reversed. In a study published earlier this month, in Social Psychology Quarterly, sociologists found that among black-white biracial adults, more and more self-identify as black.

What's changed, and what is your story? If you're of mixed race, how do you identify yourself and why? 800-989-8255 is the phone number. Email us, talk@npr.org. You can also join the conversation at our website. That's at npr.org. Click on TALK OF THE NATION.

Later in the program, what's ahead for both sides after the DREAM Act died on the Senate floor. But first, we begin with Nikki Khanna. She's the lead author on the study "Passing As Black: Racial Identity Work Among Biracial Americans" and joins us from her home in Vermont. Nice to have you with us today.

Ms. NIKKI KHANNA (Lead Author, "Passing As Black: Racial Identity Work Among Biracial Americans"): Hi, Neal, thank you so much.

CONAN: And I think one of the things we should make clear is your study finds most people who are biracial identify as biracial.

Ms. KHANNA: Absolutely, absolutely. So this study looks at black-white biracial Americans and how they racially identify themselves, and that was the first thing we found, that most identify themselves to others as biracial or multiracial or mixed-race. These terms are certainly becoming much more common today. But in some situations, they identify themselves mono-racially, as black of white.

CONAN: In some situations. For example?

Ms. KHANNA: So for example, so we found individuals would present themselves as black or white. As white, you know, not uncommon were people presenting themselves as white in the workplace, for example, to, you know, they perceived it was advantageous for them to do so to move up in the workplace and move ahead, climb that ladder.

So we see some of that still happening today, although less so than individuals who are presenting themselves as black. And there were a number of situations where that seemed to come in handy. So, for example, during adolescence to fit in with black peers, you know, in adolescence, we all want to fit in.

So it's not surprising. So in these situations, they oftentimes conceal their white ancestry, the fact that they had a white parent, to present themselves as black.

In other situations, they presented themselves as black when they found whiteness to be somehow stigmatized and negatively stereotyped, and they didn't want to be associated with it. So they might have perceived whiteness as somehow bad.

Or one individual talked about perceiving whites as oppressive or the oppressor and not wanting to have basically anything to do with that. So in those situations, they would present themselves exclusively as black.

And in the last situation, respondents presented themselves as black oftentimes in filling out race questions commonly found on applications. So they would check the black box basically when they found it beneficial to do so. And this most often occurred on financial aid forms or college university application forms, scholarship application forms.

CONAN: Was there any inclination as to - or any finding that the more biracial people they knew, the more they might just stay with biracial?

Ms. KHANNA: Yeah, I mean, it's very interesting. For many people that I interviewed in this study that they didn't know other people who were biracial. So while, you know, it's becoming increasingly common that there are more and more biracial Americans, oftentimes they didn't even know other biracial people other than their siblings or another family member.

So we don't have any way of knowing if that would, you know, increase their likelihood of always identifying that way, but for the most part, they still did have strong biracial identities. But in those certain situations, they found that identifying as black or white was beneficial in that situation. So their identity would shift.

So the main thing we found was that identity was very contextual in terms of how they presented themselves.

CONAN: And very different from the context of the Jim Crow era, where to pass, well, yeah, it could mean just taking a sip from the white water fountain, but for some people, it meant changing your whole life, denying your family background and undergoing some psychological damage as a result.

Ms. KHANNA: Absolutely. And, you know, many people - exactly. They might have passed on a sort of discontinuous basis, where they just might want to enjoy, you know, a movie in a white-only theater. So they would do it temporarily.

And other people broke ties with their black community, with their black families, just to be able to pass as white. And so certainly there was a lot more effort involved in that.

And the passing that we're talking about today is not that continuous. It's a very short-lived. It's very situational. So it's certainly very different from more traditional passing that we saw during the Jim Crow era.

CONAN: And I wonder, how big a deal do you think this is?

Ms. KHANNA: I mean, I think it's a - I think it's a big deal in the sense that it does happen a lot. So like I said, identity is very contextual. So while they oftentimes understand and see themselves as biracial, you know, in some situations, it just isn't advantageous for them to present themselves as white or black. And it's just easier. And so we see that happening.

Certainly today, as it happened during the Jim Crow era. It just looks differently than it looked during the Jim Crow era.

CONAN: We're talking with Nikki Khanna, the lead author of the study "Passing As Black: Racial Identity Work Among Biracial Americans." And, well, we want to know your story. If you're biracial, do you identify as one or the other? Is it transient? Has it changed over time? Give us a call, 800-989-8255. Email us, talk@npr.org.

And let's get Victoria on the line, Victoria with us from Ann Arbor.

VICTORIA (Caller): Hi. I am biracial, and I grew up in Detroit, in a largely black neighborhood. I grew up knowing my father's parents and my father's family - they're black - a lot better than I knew my mother's family because they lived on the East Coast, and so we never got to see them as well.

CONAN: Right.

VICTORIA: And for a good part of my life, I did identify more as black. As I got into high school and then later college, I began identifying myself as biracial because I really didn't feel any more connection to one group or the other. And in fact, if anything, I felt stigmatized by both groups at any point in my life.

I went to a majority white, Catholic school for a good part of my elementary school, and I felt stigmatized there. And when I went to a majority black middle and high school, I felt stigmatized there because I wasn't black enough, and in the white schools, I wasn't white enough.

CONAN: Were there any - were there also other biracial kids in your grammar school and your middle school and high school?

VICTORIA: Well, there weren't. The only other biracial kids I knew were this one family who lived down the street from me, and, you know, that was it. It was just me, my sister and this one particular family.

And, you know, their - you know, but my biracial friend was - his experience was a little bit different because most people looked at him, and they thought he was Italian. So they never questioned that.

But when they looked at me, they saw my skin color, and then they saw my hair, which, you know, the two didn't match up, I guess, in their minds. And so they sort of questioned who I was and, you know - I didn't like the fact that I was forced to take a side when I was in middle school, and so I just really began identifying myself as biracial as a way of, you know, claiming both of my families' heritage.

I'm proud of both my mom and my dad. I love them both dearly.

CONAN: Um-huh.

VICTORIA: And I don't want to say I'm any more one than the other because I'm not. You know, I do relate more and better with the black community than I do with white people, and that's just because of how and where I was raised. I was raised in Detroit, and I was raised around blacks.

CONAN: Victoria, thanks very much for the call, appreciate it.

VICTORIA: Thank you.

CONAN: And I don't think her story would surprise you, Nikki Khanna.

Ms. KHANNA: No, not at all, and in fact, listening to her talking, she's sort of reiterating what many of the people in the study talked about, you know, that they strongly did identify as biracial or multiracial, that they didn't want to deny any particular parent.

And they did have these strong biracial identities, but then in certain situations, they would talk about how they might present themselves as mono-racial, whether white or black.

But overall, they oftentimes had very strong biracial identities, just like this caller. So it's very interesting to see that parallel and certainly not surprising.

CONAN: Joining us now is Casey Gane-McCalla. He's the lead blogger for NewsOne.com, and he joins us from NPR's bureau in New York. Nice to have you on the program with us today.

Mr. CASEY GANE-McCALLA (Assistant Editor, NewsOne): Yeah, thanks a lot, Neal.

CONAN: And you are half-black and half-white. How do you identify yourself?

Mr. GANE-McCALLA: I identify myself as both black and biracial. Obviously, I'm biracial, which is two races, but biracial is a very large term. You can be biracial and Mexican and Chinese. You could be biracial, and you could be Indian an Aborigine.

So biracial is a kind of broad term, and I believe that throughout history, black has kind of encompassed biracial. Like, biracial has had a little spot in the Venn Diagram of blackness. If you look from slavery to Jim Crow, if you were mixed, you were a slave. You might have been able to work in the house, but you were still a slave.

Or if it was during Jim Crow, and you tried to - there was no mixed water fountain. There was the two because - due to mostly because of social constructs, I identify as black, and I feel I'm part of the black struggle. I work for a black news website.

But I'm also - I'm definitely not ashamed of my mother's family, and my mother fought against apartheid in South Africa. And again like the previous caller said, like, I knew a lot of my family, my father's family from Jamaica, but all my mother's family is in South Africa. So I didn't know them that much.

CONAN: Just to clarify again on Nikki Khanna's study, I think it was you were just studying black-white biracial.

Ms. KHANNA: Absolutely, yes, black-white biracial Americans.

CONAN: So that didn't include those other categories, not that you were contradicting her, I just wanted to clarify the point.

And Casey Gane-McCalla, there is a legacy, as you mentioned, of the one-drop rule. Are things different for people with black ancestry from people who are of other mixed races, do you think?

Mr. GANE-McCALLA: I think so because of the stigmas of slavery and Jim Crow and sort of like, for being white has been like an exclusive club. Like, if you have one drop of anything else, you can't be white. If you're poor and white, you're not white, you're white trash. While being black, if you are, you know, a mix of something, you were just kind of thrown in that category.

For, you know, many - it hasn't been until recently for - Latino has become a new, like, racial category.

So yeah, I think the history has a lot to do with it. Current society -if I'm walking down the street, and the police see me, they'll say a number one male. They won't say a number 1.5 male or, you know, a biracial man. And the categories that are kind of set up.

But I think as - you know, society is progressing, and you're seeing a lot more biracial Americans becoming more prominent in the media and sports and in life. And I think you're having a lot more biracial Americans.

I think we are the fastest growing group in America right now, biracial, so...

CONAN: And did you - I mean, did you ever change your self-identification, you know, to suit a situation?

Mr. GANE-McCALLA: I wouldn't say so. I wouldn't say so. I was always -in high school I was in the black student union. In college I was in the black student union. You know, like I said before, I work for a black news website right now.

So I've never seen too much of an advantage either way. I grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where you might have had more biracials than your average place.

CONAN: Than in Detroit, perhaps.

Mr. GANE-McCALLA: Yeah, than in Detroit or, you know, in Nebraska or places that might not have been as progressive. But I think people have to realize that 50 years ago, in 16 states it was illegal for a black person to have sex with a white person. And so it's almost amazing today we have a biracial president 50 years after that fact.

CONAN: It still happened, I think, though. But anyway...

Mr. GANE-McCALLA: Oh, yeah.

CONAN: ...stay with us, if you would. But we're going to say goodbye to Nikki Khanna, and thank you for talking about your study, "Passing As Black: Racial Identity Work Among Biracial Americans." She joined us by phone from Vermont.

And when we come back, more of your calls, 800-989-8255. Stay with us, TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News.

This is TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News. I'm Neal Conan in Washington.

During the last presidential campaign, we heard a lot about the first African-American president in U.S. history. President Obama, of course biracial, identifies himself as black. Other people who are mixed-race self-identify as biracial.

The reasons for those choices can often be deeply personal. If you're of mixed race, how do you identify yourself and why? Tell us your story. Our phone number, 800-989-8255. Email talk@npr.org. You can also join the conversation on our website. Go to npr.org. Click on TALK OF THE NATION.

Our guest is Casey Gane-McCalla, lead blogger for NewsOne.com, also biracial. Mom is white from South Africa, his father is black from Jamaica.

And let's see if we can get another caller on the line. Let's go to Shirley, Shirley with us from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

SHIRLEY (Caller): Yeah, I'm 71 years old and born of a white mother and black father. And this is something really, really puzzling to me because in my neighborhood, which was black, there were five white, mixed families, I'll say that, and nobody even thought about it.

We didn't realize, in my neighborhood, St. Louis, Missouri, that there was this type of thing. We knew plenty of people that were passing because they wanted good jobs. They wanted to go to the movies. But my mother just always went where she wanted to go. My sisters did, too, because they looked white.

But to me, this is just a new thing. This is not something that's new. This is something that's new that's being studied.

CONAN: Well, new that people self-identify as biracial. I think when you were growing up...

SHIRLEY: Right.

CONAN: ...as Casey Gane-McCalla pointed out, there was no choice. If you...

SHIRLEY: Well, you would just - I just lived in a black neighborhood. But you had a choice if you wanted to be called biracial because in most states except three, I think, if you have any white blood in you, you can claim white and only three states where you have to say you're black.

But I'm just - you know, I'm just astonished by all this, that people are so amazed at this because I'm 71 years old, and this is old to me. I mean, this has been around so long.

CONAN: What did your parents tell you?

SHIRLEY: Pardon?

CONAN: What did your parents tell you?

SHIRLEY: What did my parents what?

CONAN: Tell you about your background?

SHIRLEY: They didn't tell me anything because I always saw white and black in my household. So I just didn't even know the difference. I just - they were just people to me. And in the neighborhood, which was segregated when I was a little kid, there were all kind of businesses and people to look up to, and a lot of blacks went to college.

When I was in high school, the schools became integrated. And so that's all I was used to. They didn't have to tell us anything. We didn't think anything about it.

CONAN: Casey...

SHIRLEY: There were Italians and Jews had stores in the neighborhood, and we were treated like their children. You know, they would tell us to go home, tell your mother this. I'm going to tell your mother if you do this. So we just - it was just every - just people. We didn't see the white culture. Therefore, we didn't identify it as far as just the whole culture. And we had no problem with that.

And I've known many mixed families. You know, I went to school with them. And so I just don't understand the new - this is all being searched now. So I guess it is a new thing. Since Obama became president, everybody seems to be...

CONAN: Well, I think as Casey Gane-McCalla was saying, there are more and more biracial people who identify as biracial in the country, and...

SHIRLEY: Well, yeah, that's true. I mean, it's...

CONAN: So I think it's becoming more important. And I wonder, Casey Gane-McCalla, as you listen to Shirley talk, obviously times have changed. That's no startling news. But the idea of self-identification, that's more optional, it seems to me, these days.

Mr. GANE-McCALLA: Yeah, I do think it's more optional. In terms of social circumstances, you know, it matters a lot to people because still, you know, racism has not gone away. A lot of people still identify as black, and people identify as white, as well.

So if you are, you know, a child, you know, which I think is very important, when you first begin developing your racial identity, you want to identify with one or the other because you don't want to be by yourself. But now you have more biracial Americans. So I think you can identify with both.

And, you know, if you're half-Italian and half-black, you might be able to identify with some of your black friends, and then you might be able to identify with some of your Italian friends.

But I think race is such a monolithic thing. So obviously, the previous caller had an experience being mixed that was greatly different than mine, being mixed.

CONAN: Sure.

Mr. GANE-McCALLA: And, you know, you might have, you know, a famous family, and they have a biracial kid, and he's rich, and what do you have in common if you have a working-class white parent who has a kid with a working-class black parent. They're going to be very different, culturally, from, you know, upper-class (unintelligible).

And then you have so many other things. With immigration now, you have, you know, you have Africans. You have West Indians. You have, you know, black people from America, from the South. You have black people from the North. You have, you know, it's just a cultural thing. And I think it's an identity thing. People want to have an identity, and they want to identify with something, and they don't want to feel, you know, all alone. So...

CONAN: You mentioned earlier, obviously this affects more than black and white. Joining us now is Kip Fulbeck, professor of art at the University of California, Santa Barbara, with us from member station KCLU in Thousand Oaks. And nice to have you with us today.

Professor KIP FULBECK (Art, University of California, Santa Barbara; Author, "Mixed: Portraits Of Multiracial Kids"): Thank you, Neal.

CONAN: You're also of mixed ethnicity, one parent Asian, the other white, and you call yourself hapa?

Mr. FULBECK: I do. Hapa is a Hawaiian word for half, and it refers to people who, like myself, are part Asian Pacific Islander and something else.

CONAN: So that is, in its own way, saying biracial?

Mr. FULBECK: Exactly.

CONAN: You've embraced this third racial category exclusive to people of white - Asian and white parents. Why? Why not just say biracial?

Mr. FULBECK: Well, Neal, the whole thing about being biracial, it's such a huge, giant nebula because race, if we really want to talk openly, everyone listening to the show right now is African. It doesn't even exist, biologically, in terms of DNA. We're all African.

But when we break down to a society where every one of us has had to fill out these forms, saying check a box for your job form or for your school questionnaire, et cetera, and growing up, when they say check one box only, that essentially says to me pick mom or dad. I didn't think that was a fair thing. So I didn't have a word to refer to myself. I didn't know anyone else who was mixed as a kid. And friends from Hawaii said oh, you're hapa. And I said oh, okay.

CONAN: Hapa, okay, hapa. Did you ever feel the need to pass or prove yourself, your loyalty to one group or the other?

Mr. FULBECK: Absolutely. You know, race being a social construct, it really depends on the situation you're in. For me growing up with almost entirely a Chinese household, my mother was widowed in China, so my siblings and my mother are full-blooded Chinese from China, so growing up, I was the white kid, the one that didn't speak the language, couldn't get the culture, didn't like the food.

Then I went to school, and I'm the first Asian kid to go to my school. And they're like let's beat the Chinese kid up, and in my head, I'm like sure, that sounds like a good idea, let's beat the Chinese kid up, not realizing it's me.

(Soundbite of laughter)

CONAN: It's you, yeah. So yeah, it can cut both ways. And did you get, then, very little comfort when you went back home and said they beat me up for being Chinese?

Mr. FULBECK: Well, it's a place of trying to find a place to fit in. That's the main thing, having some, exactly what you said, comfort.

When I did this last book on these multiracial kids, what's interesting is out of these hundreds and hundreds of kids I photographed and had them answer the question who are you, the kids hardly ever refer to race. They don't talk about their race.

They say, who are you? I'm a ballerina. I'm a football player. You know, I'm a ninja. They don't default like we do as adults to race.

CONAN: Let's get another caller in on the conversation, Patricia, Patricia calling us from Berkeley. Patricia, are you there?

PATRICIA (Caller): Yes. Oh, hi. Yes, hi. Yes, my name is Patricia from Berkeley. And I just wanted to bring up the issue that race, even though - I'm actually Asian, my parents - I was born in 1969 to immigrants from Taiwan. And even though my sister and I are fully Asian, we were thought of and have been perceived as being biracial because - and constantly asked if we were mixed because we don't - we have, you know, double eyelids, and I have a big nose, and my sister particularly has never had black hair. Her hair has been red and brown.

And so I just wanted to note that the question of being biracial and being mixed (technical difficulties)...

CONAN: We're losing you, Patricia.

PATRICIA: Excuse me?

CONAN: Oh, we were just losing you there, and now you're back.

PATRICIA: Oh, okay. So can you hear me now?

CONAN: Yes. Go ahead, please.

PATRICIA: Yes. So it's also being - you know, someone is kind of being asked by others and questioning you about your own identity. In fact, I grew up outside of Boston in a very white neighborhood and so often -actually didn't really - had very problematic Asian identity until I went into my 30s and actually came out here to Berkeley, actually here and got my Ph.D., actually late 20s, 30s.

And so also I think it also should be noted that, you know, the whole issue of being biracial, certainly with things like Asian, you know, it's really not until the 1967 Miscegenation Act, where you have the legalization of marriage. That was a big thing.

My father, when he came to graduate school in 1963, he was in Tennessee, and he was told that many times, you're allowed to drink in the white water fountain, are allowed to sit where the whites sit in the bus, but you're a guest, constantly remember you're a guest, and you have to go home.

CONAN: It's interesting, Kip...

PATRICIA: So I just wanted to raise those issues.

CONAN: Yeah, Kip Fulbeck, to point out the (unintelligible), not just biracial, which Patricia of course is not, though - racial stereotypes, a lot of people asked her questions about that, but nevertheless this whole other aspect within the black-white construct of being, well, yet a third. How do we fit the Asians in?

PATRICIA: And I...

Mr. FULBECK: Yeah, she did - she brought up this, you know, the case of Loving versus Virginia in '67 which legalized, supposedly, interracial marriage. You know, I was born in '65, so my parent's marriage was technically illegal. And we thing everything got away of '67. But like your caller was saying earlier, that she's 71, this is new to her because this is still happening all the time.

It was just 2000 that the U.S. even allowed people to check more than one box in the census. It was in 2000 that there was still a university that forbid interracial dating on campus and that was just found out. I mean, there was last year, it was 2009, where the Justice of the Peace in Louisiana refused to perform a marriage ceremony for a black man and white woman. And, fortunately, they went to the media and it got publicized. So it's still happening every day.

CONAN: And Casey Gane-McCalla, another interesting point from Patricia. Growing up around Boston, largely white area, then moving to California and discovering a new identity, a lot of this depends on your surroundings and the people you see.

Mr. GANE-McCALLA: Yeah, it definitely does. Like I said, I grew up in Cambridge, which is in Massachusetts, isn't as white as maybe some of the areas outside Boston. It was a pretty racially-diverse place. So I felt comfortable because I knew other mix people.

And I think it came when I - when I came to private school, I kind of realized when I was the one black kid in my class or the one kid with, you know, African blood in the class, how different I was from, you know, the rest of these other people. But then when I would come home and I'd play with my friends who are black, I didn't feel as different. So I think you have different societies. Like in South Africa, you had, you know, you had a very rigid apartheid system where you had whites, blacks and...

CONAN: And you...

Mr. GANE-McCALLA: And you had colored.

CONAN: Colored, yeah.

Mr. GANE-McCALLA: So you - they were - there was a specific and you had to have the pass and the coloreds lived away from the whites and the blacks, and then maybe you can could see in New Orleans, when they had the creoles, when you had a specific label or group for biracials to follow in.

CONAN: They had quadroons and the octoroons and so forth.

Mr. GANE-McCALLA: Exactly. So they would, you know, fall into those groups. But I think America has been - you know, there hasn't been that third box in American, and I think it's kind of coming out now, because of - I think biracials are Americas little dirty secret, because Strom Thurmond had a biracial daughter. All sorts of - you know, George -Thomas Jefferson...

CONAN: Thomas Jefferson, mm-hmm.

Mr. GANE-McCALLA: ...had several biracial children. We're not new. We've been - we - biracials have been in this country since day one. But I think it's been a kind of, you know, dirty little American secret that race mixing goes on. And, you know, now that we're - we've passed the civil rights movement and we have an African-American biracial president, we can kind of, you know - I think biracials can feel - be proud of themselves. You know, you have - Bob Marley is biracial. You know, your Sharday, Lenny Kravitz, Drake, Blake Griffin, who's a very good basketball player. So you're seeing all these biracials coming into prominence.

CONAN: Here's - we're talking about biracial identity and self-identity. You're listening to TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News.

I should just reintroduce our guests. Casey Gane-McCalla, you just heard, a lead blogger at newsone.com. And also with us, Kip Fulbeck, a professor of art at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

This email from Darrel(ph) in Portland. I'm a 30-year-old black male with a white mother. I have never felt comfortable with the term biracial. Race is a social construct, one which often exposes ideological bias. I often have my blackness called into question, being treated by white people as being more acceptable than typical black people. It disgusts me when people assume my speaking pattern or intelligence are the result of my having a white parent rather than coming from an educated family or growing up on a university campus, especially considering the first thing people would use to describe me if I, say, stole their car would be my race.

I'm proud of my Scottish, Irish and German heritage just as I am of my West African heritage. However, my social experience in this country is that of a black man.

Now let's see if we go next to - this is Julia(ph), and Julia is with us from Davidson in North Carolina. Julia, are you there? Julia is not with us. Let's see if we go instead to - this is Cedric(ph), Cedric with us from Oakland.

CEDRIC (Caller): Hi. A pleasure to be here. I just want to give a call and let you know that I'm biracial. I'm white and black, 25 years old in Oakland, California. And my whole experience has been - I really haven't had to think about it up until this point. I switched my racial identity from black to white depending on whichever situation I feel would benefit me more. When I'm with friends, with a bunch of white friends, I'm the black guy. When I'm with black friends, I'm the white guy. I just switch along whenever it needs to be done. I don't really see an issue with it.

CONAN: And no fuss, no muss.

CEDRIC: Pretty much. I mean, it's like I said, whenever I fill out the forms on the - in the ballots and everything, I'll be mixed. I'm biracial. But whatever helps me the most, I'll just be that.

CONAN: I wonder, Kip Fulbeck, if I could ask if this is a geographic thing to some degree. Growing up on the East Coast, it was very important, whether you were Irish, Italian or Ukrainian or Polish or black or Hispanic. Growing up on the West Coast was that the same?

Prof. FULBECK: Certainly, it's very, very different. Your last caller was from Oakland and it's a very, very diverse area, heavily African-American, heavily Latino in areas, and I can see why he says I actually, you know, switch identities like many people do. And I think that's completely up to the person themselves. I think a lot of people criticize the president, Neal, one of your caller was saying I wish that he identified as biracial. And I've heard that sentiment a lot.

But ultimately, it is every person's individual right to identify the way they want to identify. And that's the key point. And so, while I may not do it, if I was mixed, I would choose to say that, but it's completely a personal decision. Identity is a personal process.

CONAN: And there's no - and again, going back to the days of Jim Crow, Casey Gane-McCalla, somebody passing as white - an African-American passing as white could be seen, by at least some of the black community, as a traitor.

Mr. GANE-McCALLA: Yeah, definitely. Actually I - during Thanksgiving, I had a conversation with my uncle who actually served in our World War II and he told me about a story about how he - you know, he was with a group of black soldiers and they were hanging out and they were having fun and then they were in, you know, training ground in Texas and they, you know, got kicked out, harassed a lot of police. He had a horrible time. And he said, that was the last time I associated myself or identified myself with other black soldiers because if you have, you know, such a negative experience doing it, and, you know, it could be convenient and you could - you know, and it's a way a lot of people avoided a lot of the pain and injustice of segregation, while maybe not being true to their own identity, so...

CONAN: Mm-hmm. All right. Cedric, thanks very much for the call. Appreciate it.

CEDRIC: Pleasure to be here.

CONAN: And thanks to Casey Gane-McCalla, lead blogger for news.one.com -newsone.com. Excuse me.

Mr. GANE-McCALLA: Newsone.com.

CONAN: I'll get that straight - joined us from our bureau in New York. And thanks to Kip Fulbeck, professor of art at the University of California at Santa Barbara. His latest book is "Mixed: Portraits of Multiracial Kids," with us from member station KCOU in Thousand Oaks. Appreciate your time today.

Prof. FULBECK: Thank you, Neal.

CONAN: Up next, the DREAM Act died on the Senate floor. What's next for both sides of the debate? Stay with us.

I'm Neal Conan. It's the TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News.

Copyright © 2010 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio record.

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How Multi-Ethnic People Identify Themselves

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A new study shows that most people who are biracial self-identify as "biracial." But in many instances, multi-ethnic Americans change the way they self-identify depending on who they're talking with. The study was published in December in Social Psychology Quarterly..

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How Are Black–White Biracial People Perceived in Terms of Race?

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How Are Black–White Biracial People Perceived in Terms of Race?

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How Are Black–White Biracial People Perceived in Terms of Race?

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Understanding the answer—and why black and white Americans’ responses may differ—is increasingly important in a multiracial society.

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Guess My Ethnicity | Lineup | Watch People guess strangers' ethnicity.

Sponsor this series: http://www.cut.com/sponsorship | By Lineup | Facebook

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922K views, 5.2K likes, 1.3K loves, 558 comments, 1.1K shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Lineup: Watch People guess strangers' ethnicity.

Sponsor this series: http://www.cut.com/sponsorship

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Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project

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Race in America: Tracking 50 Years of Demographic Trends

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Explore the areas where the white-black racial gap has narrowed, widened or remained roughly the same, based on data from U.S. government sources over the past several decades. Hispanic and Asian data is also included in years available.

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Add comments or questions and we will get back to you!

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Q. Your surveys often show results based on "non-Hispanic whites" and "non-Hispanic blacks". Why aren't Hispanics counted in these categories?
A. In today's multi-ethnic society, classifying people into racial and ethnic categories is increasingly difficult, yet remains an important aspect of understanding the diversity of views and values across segments of the public. Pew Research Center surveys assign people into racial and ethnic categories based on what people tell us about themselves. Most Pew Research studies use categories for race and ethnicity similar to those used by government agencies, including the Census Bureau, where Hispanics can be of any racial background and their numbers are reported separately from non-Hispanics for each race group.

The standard federal categories for race and ethnicity are defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and are employed not just for surveys, but also for medical research, school registration forms, mortgage lending applications and other administrative uses. These categories also are widely used by researchers and businesses in order to be consistent with federal standards.

The latest OMB standards, issued in 1997, require that data be collected and reported for five major race groups: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and White. The Census Bureau also reports data about people who are not included in those categories but are "some other race" and those who are mixed race-that is, included in more than one race group.

In addition, data are collected in a separate question asking whether someone is "Hispanic" or "Latino"; Hispanics or Latinos are an ethnic group based on family background or ancestral ties. Hispanics or Latinos may be of any race, and are asked the same race question as everyone else.

Although the races are defined as having origins in particular parts of the world, in reality race and Hispanic origin are self-defined. Census forms and other surveys allow people to choose their own race, and include themselves in more than one racial group. As explained by OMB, "The categories represent a social-political construct designed for collecting data on the race and ethnicity of broad population groups in this country, and are not anthropologically or scientifically based."

In practice, the standard labels on the census form do not match the self-descriptions of many Hispanics. According to a recent Pew Hispanic Center report, "When Labels Don't Fit: Hispanics and Their Views of Identity," about half of Hispanics (51%) most often identify themselves by their family's country of origin, compared with 24% who prefer "Hispanic" or "Latino." Similarly, about half of Hispanics say they are "some other race" (26%) or volunteer "Hispanic" or "Latino" (25%) when asked how they would describe their race.

Occasionally, you will see survey reports that show results only for non-Hispanic whites and/or non-Hispanic blacks but not Hispanics. That is not because Hispanic attitudes are not important, but we only report on Hispanics when the survey was conducted in Spanish and English and when enough interviews were conducted with Hispanics to report on their views accurately and reliably.

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Q. Your surveys often show results based on "non-Hispanic whites" and "non-Hispanic blacks". Why aren't Hispanics counted in these categories? A. In today's multi-ethnic society, classifying people into racial and ethnic categories is increasingly difficult, yet remains an important aspect of understanding the diversity of views and values across segments of the public.

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Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project

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More than one-fifth of all American adults (22%) say that they have a close relative who is married to someone of a different race, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

That degree of familiarity with - and proximity to - interracial marriage is the latest milestone in what has been a sweeping change in behaviors and attitudes concerning interracial relationships over the past several decades.

Until 1967, when a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Loving v. Virginia struck down the last of the anti-miscegenation laws in this country, interracial marriage had been illegal in 16 states and was widely considered a social taboo.

Since then interracial marriage in this country has evolved from nearly non-existent to merely atypical. In 1970, fewer than one percent of all married couples were made up of spouses of a different race; by 2000 that figure had grown to just over 5%, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the Population Reference Bureau, a nonpartisan research organization.

At the same time, attitudes toward interracial relationships have also grown more tolerant. In 2003, more than three-quarters of all adults (77%) said it is "all right for blacks and whites to date each other," up from 48% who felt this way in 1987, according to Pew Research Center surveys.

Acceptance of interracial dating is greatest among the young. In surveys conducted in 2002 and 2003, fully 91% of Gen Y respondents born after 1976 said that interracial dating is acceptable, compared with 50% of the oldest generation (those reaching adulthood during WWII) who expressed this view.

Also, blacks (91%) and Hispanics (90%) are more accepting of interracial dating than are non-Hispanic whites (71%).

In the new Pew survey, conducted from Oct. 5 through Nov. 6, 2005 among a randomly-selected, nationally-representative sample of 3,014 adults, there are also differences by race in family experiences with interracial marriage.

Blacks (37%) are twice as likely as whites (17%) to have an immediate family member in an interracial marriage, while Hispanics (27%) fall in the middle of those two groups. (There were not enough Asians in the national sample to permit any meaningful analysis of this population sub-group).

There is also a variance by age in reports of interracial marriage in the family. More than one third (34%) of all 18 to 29 year olds say they have a family member or close relative who is married to someone of a difference race, compared with 14% of those ages 65 and older who say this.

The survey finds no correlation with income or with education in the likelihood of having a family member in an interracial marriage, but there is a slight regional pattern in the reporting of mixed race marriages in the family. More westerners (28%) say they have a close relative in an interracial marriage than do those who live in the south (22%), the northeast (19%), or the midwest (19%).

This regional tilt toward the west is likely explained, at least in part, by the relatively higher percentage of Asian-Americans, American Indians and multi-race Americans who live in western states compared with the rest of the country. Members of all those groups are more likely to marry outside their race than are whites, blacks or Hispanics, according to the Population Bureau analysis of Census data.

According to Census data, the most common type of interracial couple in 2000 was a white husband married to an Asian wife; this pairing comprised 14 percent of all interracial couples. Black husbands and white wives accounted for 8 percent of all interracial couples. The Census data also show that in 2000 73% of all black-white married couples the husband is black, while in 75% of all Asian-white couples, the husband is white.
Read the full report for more details.

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22% of Americans Have a Relative in a Mixed-Race Marriage

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More than one-fifth of all American adults (22%) say that they have a close relative who is married to someone of a different race, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. That degree of familiarity with - and proximity to - interracial marriage is the latest milestone in what has been a sweeping change in behaviors and attitudes concerning interracial relationships over the past several decades.

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Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project

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The multiracial experience in America is, in many ways, shaped by the composition of one's racial background, although there are some shared experiences across multiracial groups. Overall, a majority of multiracial adults say they are proud of their mixed racial background, and more say that being multiracial has been mainly an advantage in their lives than say it has been a disadvantage. Meanwhile, only about one-in-ten say their mixed racial background has made them feel ashamed (8%) or like an outsider (12%).

Yet, while the survey finds a generally positive outlook among multiracial adults, considerable shares report that they have experienced discrimination because of their racial background, including fully 55% who say they have been subject to slurs or jokes, about four-in-ten (43%) who say they have received poor service in restaurants and other businesses, and a third or less who have been treated unfairly by an employer in hiring, pay or promotion (33%); have been threatened or physically attacked (30%); or have been unfairly stopped by police (25%).

Experiences with discrimination are, at least in part, tied to the way one's racial background is perceived by others. Multiracial adults who are seen by others as white are far less likely to say they have faced discrimination across several measures than those who are seen as black, Hispanic or multiracial.

Other assessments of the multiracial experience are particularly affected by the races that make up a person's background. For example, biracial adults who are white and Asian are far more likely than other biracial Americans to say their mixed racial background has been mainly an advantage and to express high levels of satisfaction with the quality of life in their community. This section of the report looks at how people of different mixed racial backgrounds experience being multiracial in America.

Multiracial Background Seen as More of an Advantage than a Disadvantage

Multiracial Americans, for the most part, don't think having a racial background that includes more than one race has been an advantage or a disadvantage in their life. But to the extent that it has mattered, more say their racial background has been beneficial than say it has been detrimental. This is particularly the case among biracial adults who are white and Asian.

Overall, about one-in-five (19%) adults with a mixed racial background say being multiracial has been mainly an advantage, while just 4% say it has been a disadvantage; 76% say it has not made a difference.

Biracial adults who are white and Asian are far more likely than any other biracial group to say their mixed racial background has been mainly an advantage. About six-in-ten (58%) of those who are white and Asian say this, compared with 25% of those who are white and black, 14% of those who are white and American Indian, and 10% of those who are black and American Indian. About one-in-five (22%) of those who are white, black and American Indian say their racial background has mainly been an advantage. Majorities of adults who are white and black (72%), white and American Indian (82%), black and American Indian (89%), and white, black and American Indian (76%) say it has been neither an advantage nor a disadvantage.

In addition to having a more positive view of the impact of their racial background than other biracial adults, those who are both white and Asian are more likely than single-race whites and single-race Asians to say their racial background has been mainly an advantage in their lives. About a third (32%) of single-race whites say their racial background has mainly had a positive impact, 26 percentage points lower than among the white and Asian biracial group. The contrast is even more pronounced between those who are both white and Asian and single-race Asians: only 15% of single-race Asians say their racial background has been mainly an advantage (43 percentage points lower than among the white and Asian group), while about a quarter (24%) say it has mainly been a disadvantage.

Similarly, biracial adults who are white and black have a more positive view of the impact of their racial background than do single-race blacks. While those who are both white and black are far more likely to say it has been an advantage (25%) than to say it has been a disadvantage (3%) in their lives, the opposite is true among single-race blacks. About three-in-ten (31%) say their racial background has had a negative impact on their lives vs. 8% who say it has had a positive impact. Assessments of the overall impact of their racial background do not different significantly between those who are both white and black and those who are white only.

Most Have Felt Proud of Multiracial Background

A majority (60%) of multiracial adults say they have at times felt pride in their mixed racial background, a sentiment that is shared by about a half or more across multiracial groups. Three-quarters of those who are white and Asian say they are proud of having a racial background that includes more than one race, as do 64% of white and black, 57% of white and American Indian, and 54% of black and American Indian biracial adults; about half (53%) of multiracial adults who are white, black and American Indian also say they have felt this way.

Hispanics who are two or more races are considerably more likely than non-Hispanic multiracial adults to say they have been proud of their mixed racial background, although majorities among both groups say this has happened to them. About three-quarters (76%) of multiracial Hispanics say this, compared with 58% of multiracial adults who are not Hispanic.

In contrast, just 8% of multiracial adults say they have ever felt embarrassed or ashamed of their mixed racial background. Feelings of shame are more common among those who have been treated badly or have experienced some form of discrimination because they are multiracial. For example, those who say a relative or someone in their extended family has treated them badly are four times as likely as those who have not experienced this to say they have felt embarrassed or ashamed of being multiracial (24% vs. 6%).

Many Feel They Are More Open to Other Cultures and Races

The survey findings suggest that multiracial adults may have a more open and understanding approach to people of other races and cultures. About six-in-ten (59%) multiracial Americans believe their mixed racial background has made them more open to cultures other than their own, and about as many (55%) have felt that they are more understanding of people of different racial backgrounds. This is especially the case among multiracial adults who have attended college: 69% of college graduates and 62% of those with some college say they have felt that they are more open to other cultures, and 64% and 60%, respectively, have felt that they are more understanding of people of different racial backgrounds. By comparison, of those with less education, 52% say they are more open to other cultures and 46% say they are more understanding of people of different racial backgrounds.

White and Asian biracial adults are more likely than other multiracial groups to say their mixed racial background has made them more open to other cultures and more understanding of people with different racial backgrounds: About three-quarters of biracial adults who are white and Asian say this is the case. Somewhat fewer of those who are white and American Indian or black and American Indian say they have felt more open to cultures other than their own because of their mixed racial background (55% and 56%, respectively), and about half in each group say they have felt like they are more understanding of people of different racial backgrounds (48% and 52%, respectively). Fully 65% of biracial adults who are white and black believe their mixed racial background has made them more open to other cultures. A similar share (62%) of multiracial adults who are white, black and American Indian say the same. Similarly, fully 63% of multiracial adults who are white and black and 62% who are white, black and American Indian say they are more understanding of people of different racial backgrounds.

I think some of the benefits of being multiracial [are] that you have an understanding about multiple cultures and a familiarity and appreciation for them. White and Asian biracial man, age 44

Yet, while many say their mixed racial background has made them more open to other cultures and more understanding of different racial backgrounds, relatively few multiracial adults see themselves as ambassadors who can bring people of different races together. Just 19% say they have ever felt like a go-between, or "bridge," between different racial groups, while 80% have not felt this way. Even among those who say being multiracial has made them more open to other cultures or more understanding of people of different racial backgrounds, only about three-in-ten have felt like they were a bridge between different racial groups.

"What Are You?"

A quarter of multiracial adults report that people are often or sometimes confused about their racial background, and that is particularly the case among those who are white and Asian (44%), white and black (34%) and white, black and American Indian (40%). In contrast, just 18% of white and American Indian and 14% of black and American Indian biracial adults say this happens at least sometimes.

Hispanic multiracial adults are also more likely than those who are not Hispanic to say people are confused about their racial background. Four-in-ten adults who are Hispanic and two or more races say this happens at least sometimes, compared with 23% of multiracial adults who are not Hispanic.

Among those who say people are often or sometimes confused about their racial background, 62% say they have felt annoyed because someone made assumptions about their race. Just about one-in-ten (11%) multiracial adults who say people are rarely or never confused have felt annoyed by this. Overall, 24% of multiracial Americans say they have felt annoyed at times because someone made assumptions about their racial background.

Few Have Felt Like an Outsider

About one-in-eight (12%) multiracial adults say they have at least sometimes felt like an outsider because of their mixed racial background; 71% say they have never felt this way, and 14% say they have, but only rarely.

Multiracial adults who are white and American Indian (83%) or black and American Indian (77%) are far more likely than those who are white, black and American Indian (62%), white and black (56%) or white and Asian (48%) to say they have never felt like an outsider because of their racial background. Across all of these multiracial groups, three-quarters or more say this has happened rarely, if at all.

Among Hispanic adults who are two or more races, half say they have never felt like an outsider because they are multiracial, and an additional 31% say they have rarely felt that way. About one-in-five (19%) say they have felt like an outsider at least sometimes because of their mixed racial background. In contrast, about three-quarters (74%) of non-Hispanic multiracial adults have never felt like an outsider because of their mixed racial background, 14% say they have felt that way only rarely and 11% say they have felt like an outsider at least sometimes.

Experiences with Discrimination Often Tied to Racial Perceptions

Fully 55% of multiracial adults report that they have been subject to slurs or jokes because of their racial background; smaller but substantial numbers also say they have received poor service in restaurants, hotels or other businesses (43%), been treated unfairly by an employer in hiring, pay or promotion (33%), been threatened or physically attacked (30%), or been unfairly stopped by police (25%).

Multiracial adults with a black background are far more likely than those who are white and Asian or white and American Indian to say they have experienced some forms of discrimination because of their racial background. In particular, about six-in-ten or more adults who are white and black (57%), white, black and American Indian (74%) and black and American Indian (67%) say they have received poor service in restaurants, hotels or other businesses. Far fewer adults who are white and American Indian (30%) or white and Asian (25%) say they've experienced this. Similarly, multiracial adults who say one of their races is black are much more likely than those without a black background to say they have been treated unfairly by an employer or unfairly stopped by police.

Across most items measured, experiences with racial discrimination are, at least in part, tied to the way one's racial background is perceived by others. For example, half or more of those who say most people who pass them on the street would describe them as black (69%), multiracial (61%) or Hispanic (56%) say they have received poor service at restaurants, hotels or other businesses; only about half that share (26%) of multiracial adults who say most would describe them as white have experienced this. Those who are perceived as white are also less likely to say they have been treated unfairly by an employer or have been unfairly stopped by police; and less likely than those who are seen as black or multiracial to have been subject to slurs or jokes.

In some instances, experiences with racial discrimination among those who are perceived to be a certain race mirror those of single-race adults of that race. For example, 28% of multiracial adults who say most people would described them as black if they passed them on the street say they have been threatened or physically attacked because of their racial background, as do 25% of single-race blacks; about four-in-ten multiracial adults who are perceived as black (43%) and single-race blacks (42%) report having been unfairly stopped by police; and 52% of multiracial adults who are seen as black and 46% of those who are single-race black say they have been treated unfairly by an employer. Likewise, multiracial adults who are perceived as white generally report facing discrimination at rates similar to those for single-race whites.

I don't care how many races I have. I'm looked at as an African American. And because of that, I'm already in the back seat of a car. Black and Asian biracial man, age 47
It wasn't until college until I began to be exposed to ideas of institutional racism, institutional oppression, that I began to realize actually I don't get the benefit from white privilege, and that people, no matter how I see myself, at the end of the day I'm still black. White and black biracial man, age 25

It is notable, however, that multiracial adults who are perceived as black or white are more likely than single-race blacks and whites, respectively, to say they have been subjected to racially motivated slurs or jokes. About seven-in-ten (71%) multiracial adults who say most would describe them as black say this has happened to them, compared with 56% of single-race blacks who say the same. And while 44% of multiracial adults who are seen as white say they have been subject to slurs or jokes because of their racial background, fewer single-race whites (36%) say this has happened to them.

For some multiracial adults, especially those who are white and black and white and Asian, racially motivated jokes or insults started in childhood. About one-in-seven (15%) multiracial adults, including similar shares across age groups, say they were at times teased or made fun of when they were growing up because of their mixed racial background. Those who are white and black (28%) and white and Asian (30%) are about three times as likely as those who are white and American Indian (10%), white, black and American Indian (10%) or black and American Indian (11%) to say they were teased as children because of their mixed racial background.

For those who have experienced some form of rejection or discrimination, feeling like an outsider is not uncommon. For example, about half (49%) of multiracial adults who say they have been treated badly by a member of their extended family because of their mixed racial background say they have felt like an outsider at times; just 9% of those who have not been mistreated by a family member say the same.

Among multiracial adults who say they were at least sometimes teased when they were growing up because of their mixed racial background, 35% report that they have, at times, felt like an outsider, compared with 8% of those who say they were rarely or never teased. Smaller but significant differences in feelings of exclusion are also evident based on whether a person had ever been threatened or physically attacked because of their racial background; subject to slurs or jokes; treated unfairly by an employer; received poor service at restaurants and other businesses; or unfairly stopped by police.

Talking to Parents and Children About Racial Background

A larger share of multiracial adults say they talk to their own children about having a mixed racial background than say their parents talked to them about it when they were growing up. About a third (32%) of multiracial adults say their parents talked to them at least sometimes about having a mixed racial background when they were growing up; 36% say this happened only rarely, and 31% say their parents never talked to them about this topic.

Older multiracial adults are less likely to say their parents talked to them at least sometimes about having a mixed racial background. About four-in-ten (38%) of mixed-race adults younger than 30 say their parents did this, compared with about a quarter (23%) of those ages 65 and older.

By comparison, more than four-in-ten (46%) multiracial parents of adult children say they talked to their own children at least sometimes when they were growing up about having a mixed racial background; about the same share (47%) of those with children ages 5 to 17 say they have talked to their children about this.

Multiracial mothers of adult children are more likely than fathers to say they talked to their children about their racial heritage when they were growing up (51% vs. 38%, respectively). Among multiracial parents of children ages 5 to 17, however, about as many mothers (48%) as fathers (44%) say they sometimes talk to their children about their mixed racial background.

About one-in-six (16%) multiracial parents with children of any age say someone at some point has assumed they were not their child's parent because the person thought they and the child had different racial backgrounds. For the most part, mothers and fathers, as well as parents across age, income and educational groups, are about equally as likely to say this has happened to them.

Growing up [my mother] always would talk to us about, 'What it means to be Catawba? What does it mean if you don't look like what most people think Native Americans look like? What does it mean for the people who do look like what most people think Native Americans should look like?' White and American Indian biracial man, age 23

Most Are Satisfied with Key Aspects of Life

About eight-in-ten (81%) multiracial adults are satisfied with the way things are going in their life, including 29% who say they are very satisfied. At least eight-in-ten also express satisfaction with their family life (87%), the number of friends they have (83%) and the quality of life in their community (80%).

Compared with the general public, multiracial adults are about as likely to say they are at least somewhat satisfied with life overall and with some key aspects of it. But more among the general public express high levels of satisfaction. For example, while 29% of multiracial Americans say they are very satisfied with the way things are going in their life and with the quality of life in their community, 37% of all Americans say the same about each of these items. The general public is also more likely than multiracial adults to express high levels of satisfaction with their family life; 53% and 46%, respectively, are very satisfied with this aspect of their life. These differences reflect, at least in part, the fact that the general public tends to be older than the multiracial population, and older adults express higher levels of satisfaction with some aspects of life than do younger people.

For the most part, outlooks on key aspects of life don't vary considerably across racial groups, but those who are white and Asian express far more positive views about the quality of life in their community than do other biracial adults. About half (48%) of white and Asian adults say they are very satisfied with this aspect of their life, compared with about a third or fewer white, black and American Indian (32%), white and American Indian (30%), white and black (27%) and black and American Indian (23%) adults.

Across most measures, multiracial adults with a black background are less likely than single-race blacks to express high levels of satisfaction. The difference is especially pronounced when it comes to family life and quality of life in one's community. About half (53%) of adults who are black are very satisfied with their family life, compared with 41% of multiracial adults with a black background. And while fewer than half among both groups are very satisfied with the quality of life in their community, single-race blacks are more likely than multiracial adults with a black background to express high levels of satisfaction (38% vs. 25%). Again, these differences reflect, at least in part, the fact that multiracial population tends to be younger than single-race groups.

Similarly, adults who are white are more likely than multiracial adults with a white background to say they are highly satisfied with the quality of life in their community (39% vs. 30%), and single-race whites are also more likely to say they are very satisfied with life overall (37% vs. 31% of multiracial adults with a white background). Single-race Asians are also more likely than multiracial adults with an Asian background to say they are very satisfied with the way things are going in their life (35% vs. 24%), but the two groups do not differ significantly in their outlook on family life, quality of life in their community, or the number of friends they have.

Views of Personal Finances

Compared with the general public, multiracial adults are somewhat less likely to describe themselves as upper class and more likely to say they are lower class. About half of each group self-identify as middle class. Among multiracial adults, about four-in-ten (38%) say they are in the lower class and 11% describe themselves as upper class. By comparison, 32% of the general public self-identify as lower class and 16% say they are upper class.

When asked to describe their household's financial situation, multiracial adults are also less likely than the general public to say they live comfortably (24% vs. 31%). Roughly the same shares in each group say they meet their basic expenses with a little left over for extras (43% and 40%, respectively), just meet their basic expenses (23% and 20%), or don't even have enough to meet basic expenses (8% in each group). Descriptions of household finances, as well as social class identification, don't vary significantly across different multiracial groups.

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The multiracial experience in America is, in many ways, shaped by the composition of one's racial background, although there are some shared experiences across multiracial groups. Overall, a majority of multiracial adults say they are proud of their mixed racial background, and more say that being multiracial has been mainly an advantage in their lives than say it has been a disadvantage.

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For many Americans, the term "mixed race" brings to mind a biracial experience of having one parent black and another white, or perhaps one white and the other Asian.

But for many U.S. Latinos, mixed-race identity takes on a different meaning - one that is tied to Latin America's colonial history and commonly includes having a white and indigenous, or "mestizo," background somewhere in their ancestry.

When asked if they identify as "mestizo," "mulatto" or some other mixed-race combination, one-third of U.S. Hispanics say they do, according to a 2014 Pew Research Center survey of Hispanic adults.

The term mestizo means mixed in Spanish, and is generally used throughout Latin America to describe people of mixed ancestry with a white European and an indigenous background. Similarly, the term "mulatto" - mulato in Spanish - commonly refers to a mixed-race ancestry that includes white European and black African roots.

Across Latin America, these are the two terms most commonly used to describe people of mixed-race background. For example, mestizos represent a racial majority in Mexico, most of Central America and the Andean countries of South America.

Mulattos make up smaller shares of the populations in those countries - at most 4%, according to national censuses or other surveys. In Caribbean countries and Brazil, where populations with African ancestry are larger, mulattos make up a larger share of the population - 11% in the Dominican Republic and 47% in Brazil. (A 68% majority in the Dominican Republic identifies as "mestizo/indio.")

Concepts of multiracial identity have been present in Latin America since colonial times. The Spanish caste system outlined all the different ways the native peoples in New Spain had mixed with Africans and Europeans - and the names and rights associated with each combination. In the early to mid-20th century, a number of countries in Latin America adopted the concept of " mestizaje," or mixing and blending, and declared their populations mestizo in an effort to eliminate racial conflict and promote national identity.

According to the Pew Research survey of U.S. Hispanics, those who identify as mixed race, mestizo or mulatto are more likely to be U.S. born than those who do not (44% vs. 37%). They are also more likely than Latino adults who do not identify as mixed race to be non-Mexican (45% vs. 36%) and to have a higher educational attainment (45% have some college or more, versus 27%).

The use of these labels to describe mixed-race ancestry is an example of how racial identity among Hispanics often defies conventional classifications used in the U.S. For example, among Hispanic adults we surveyed who say they consider themselves mixed race, mestizo or mulatto, only 13% explicitly select two or more races or volunteer that they are "mixed race" when asked about their racial background in a standard race question (like those asked on U.S. census forms). Instead, about four-in-ten of Hispanic respondents identifying as mestizo/mulatto say their race is white, while one-in-five volunteered their race as Hispanic.

These findings reflect the challenges the U.S. Census Bureau faces when measuring Hispanic racial identity. When asked about their race in census forms, a significant number of Hispanics do not choose a standard census race category such as white, black or Asian. Instead, about four-in-ten select the " some other race" category. This is coupled with the fact that two-thirds of U.S. Hispanic adults consider being Hispanic as part of their racial background, not just an ethnicity.

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'Mestizo' and 'mulatto': Mixed-race identities among U.S. Hispanics

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For many Americans, the term "mixed race" brings to mind a biracial experience of having one parent black and another white, or perhaps one white and the other Asian. But for many U.S. Latinos, mixed-race identity takes on a different meaning - one that is tied to Latin America's colonial history and commonly includes having a white and indigenous, or "mestizo," background somewhere in their ancestry.

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Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project

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Intermarriage across the U.S. by metro area

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The share of newlyweds married to someone of a different race or ethnicity has been steadily climbing in the United States. In 1967, 3% of newlyweds were intermarried, and by 2015, that share had risen to 17%.

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Blacks and Hispanics make up 15.5% and 25.4% of the U.S. public school population, respectively. Yet large shares in each group attend schools where their own race or ethnicity accounts for at least half of students, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Department of Education data.

Meanwhile, whites, who continue to make up by far the largest share of the U.S. public school population, tend to go to schools where half or more of students are white.

In 2014, the most recent year for which data are available, 44.1% of black public elementary and secondary school students attended schools where at least half of their peers were also black. Among Hispanics, 56.7% went to schools where at least half of students were also Hispanic.

Since 1995, black public school students have become somewhat less isolated from students of other racial or ethnic backgrounds, while Hispanics have become more isolated. In 1995, 51.4% of blacks were attending schools where at least half of students were black. Meanwhile, 52.6% of Hispanics were going to schools where half or more students were Hispanic.

These long-term shifts in enrollment are partly the result of the changing racial and ethnic composition of the United States - and, as a result, of its public schools.

The share of Hispanics enrolled in public schools has almost doubled since 1995, when they made up 13.5% of all students. As the share of students who are Hispanic has grown, the share who are black has decreased slightly.

Whites still account for the largest share of any racial or ethnic group within U.S. public schools, though their number and share have declined. In 2014, 24.9 million public school students were white - about twice the number of Hispanic students. These students accounted for 49.5% of students overall, down from 64.8% in 1995.

In 2014, about eight-in-ten whites (81.6%) attended schools where at least half of students were also white, a decrease from 90.5% in 1995.

The share of white public school students attending schools where the vast majority of students are white has also shrunk over the past 20 years. In 1995, nearly half (48.6%) of white public school students attended schools where at least 90% of students were also white. In 2014, this was the case for just 21.9% of white students. The share of blacks attending schools where at least 90% of students are black has also decreased, from 22.1% in 1995 to 15.4% in 2014. But the share of Hispanics attending schools where at least 90% of students are Hispanic has grown slightly since 1995, from 15.4% to 16.9%.

Asians, who have also driven part of the growth in America's classrooms and in the country overall in recent years, are less likely than whites, blacks and Hispanics to attend schools where at least half of students are their own race or ethnicity. In 2014, just 12.9% of Asians attended schools where this was the case, which is likely due to their relatively small share of the overall public school population. American Indians, Alaska Natives and Pacific Islanders - who make up even smaller shares of the public student population - were also much less likely than those in other racial or ethnic groups to attend schools where at least half of students are of the same race or ethnicity.

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Many minority kids go to schools where at least half of students are their race, ethnicity

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Blacks and Hispanics make up 15.5% and 25.4% of the U.S. public school population, respectively. Yet large shares in each group attend schools where their own race or ethnicity accounts for at least half of students, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Department of Education data.

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Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project

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As the United States becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, and as companies from Wall Street to Silicon Valley grapple with how to build workforces that reflect these changing demographics, Americans have a complicated, even contradictory, set of views about the impact of diversity and the best way to achieve it. Most say it's a good thing that the country has a diverse population, but many also say this introduces its own set of challenges. And while a majority values workplace diversity, few endorse the idea of taking race or ethnicity into consideration in hiring and promotions, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

When it comes to diversity in the communities where they live, most U.S. adults (66%) - including a majority of those who live in neighborhoods with little diversity - are satisfied with the racial mix in their area. A majority (54%) says children should go to local schools, even if that results in most schools being less diverse. Fewer (42%) say children should go to schools that are racially and ethnically mixed, even if that means some students go to school outside of their local community.

Overall, white, black and Hispanic adults are about equally likely to say it's good that the U.S. population is racially and ethnically mixed, and majorities across these groups say this has had a positive impact on U.S. culture. But black Americans place more value than whites and Hispanics on workplace diversity and school integration.

Opinions on these issues also vary considerably along party lines, with Democrats and those who lean to the Democratic Party more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners to express positive views of the importance and impact of racial and ethnic diversity. This is the case even after taking into account the differences in the racial composition of the two parties.

These are among the key findings on views about diversity from a nationally representative survey of 6,637 U.S. adults conducted online Jan. 22-Feb. 5, 2019, in English and Spanish, using Pew Research Center's American Trends Panel.
These findings are part of a larger survey that also explores Americans' attitudes about race relations and racial inequality and the role of race in people's lives. For more, see "Race in America 2019."
This survey includes an oversample of Asian respondents, for a total sample size of 332 Asians. The sample includes English-speaking Asians only and, therefore, may not be representative of the overall U.S. Asian population (66% of our weighted Asian sample was born in another country, compared with 78% of the U.S. Asian adult population overall).

Despite this limitation, it is important to report the views of Asians on race relations and racial inequality, as well as their personal experiences with racial discrimination, as the U.S. Asian population is growing faster than any other major racial or ethnic group. Measuring the attitudes of Asians on these topics is an important piece in understanding the state of race in America today.

As always, Asians' responses are incorporated into the general population figures throughout this report; data are weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population as a whole. Asians are shown as a separate group when a question was asked of the full sample. Because of the relatively small sample size and a reduction in precision due to weighting, results are not shown separately for Asians for questions that were only asked of a random half of respondents (Form 1/Form 2) or some filtered questions. We are also not able to analyze Asian respondents by demographic categories, such as gender, age or education.

More than half say racial and ethnic diversity is very good for the country

A majority of Americans (57%) say the fact that the U.S. population is made up of people of many different races and ethnicities is a very good thing for the country, and another 20% say this is somewhat good. Small shares say this is somewhat (5%) or very (1%) bad, while 17% say it is neither good nor bad for the country. Similar shares of whites (55%), blacks (59%) and Hispanics (60%) say racial and ethnic diversity is very good for the country.

Whites and blacks with at least a bachelor's degree are more likely than their less educated counterparts to say it's very good for the country to be made up of people of many races and ethnicities. About seven-in-ten whites with a bachelor's degree or more education (69%) say this, compared with 55% of whites with some college and 41% of those with a high school diploma or less education. Among blacks, 80% with at least a bachelor's degree say it's very good that the country is racially and ethnically mixed; a smaller majority of blacks with some college (65%) and 44% of those with less education say the same. The link between education and views of diversity is less clear among Hispanics.

Across party lines, majorities of Democrats and Republicans say it's at least somewhat good that the U.S. population is racially and ethnically mixed, but Democrats are far more likely to say this is a very good thing (71% vs. 39% of Republicans). Among Democrats, whites are more likely than blacks to say diversity is very good for the country (76% vs. 61%); 67% of Hispanic Democrats say the same.

Most see diversity having a positive impact on the country's culture

More than six-in-ten Americans (64%) say the fact that the U.S. population is made up of people of many different races and ethnicities has a positive impact on the country's culture; 12% say it has a negative impact and 23% say it doesn't make much difference. Hispanics (70%) are more likely than whites (64%) and blacks (58%) to say the country's racial and ethnic diversity has a positive impact on the country's culture, although majorities across all three groups say this is the case.

This view is widespread among Democrats, and particularly white and Hispanic Democrats. Fully eight-in-ten white Democrats (84%) and about three-quarters of Hispanic Democrats (76%) say this diversity has a positive impact on U.S. culture, compared with 60% of black Democrats.

Among Republicans, half say the fact that the U.S. population is made up of people of many different races and ethnicities has a positive impact on the country's culture; about one-in-five (21%) say it has a negative impact (29% say it doesn't make a difference).

While most Americans say having a population that is racially and ethnically mixed enhances U.S. culture, views are more negative when the public is asked about the prospect of blacks, Hispanics, Asians and other racial minorities making up a majority of the population (which the U.S. Census Bureau projects will happen by the year 2050). In a separate survey conducted in December 2018, more said having a majority nonwhite population will weaken American customs and values (38%) than said it will strengthen them (30%); 31% said this won't have much of an impact.

Despite generally positive views of diversity, many say it poses challenges for policymakers

A sizable share of Americans (47%) say having a population that is made up of people of many different races and ethnicities makes it harder for policymakers to solve the country's problems; a small share (7%) say it makes it easier for policymakers and 45% say it doesn't make much difference. Whites (52%) are more likely than Hispanics (42%) and blacks (30%) to say the country's diversity makes it harder for policymakers to solve problems.

There are also partisan differences on this question, with Republicans more likely than Democrats to say the country's racial and ethnic diversity poses challenges for policymakers (56% vs. 42%). Democrats are more likely to say it doesn't make much difference in this regard.

Three-quarters of Americans say it is very (49%) or somewhat (26%) important for companies and organizations to promote racial and ethnic diversity in their workplace. Blacks are particularly likely to say this is very important: 67% say this, compared with 52% of Hispanics and 43% of whites. And as is the case in views about the impact diversity has on the country overall, Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to say it's very important for employers to promote racial and ethnic diversity in their workplace (64% of Democrats vs. 29% of Republicans). These partisan differences remain when looking only at those who are white.

While most Americans say it's at least somewhat important for companies and organizations to promote racial and ethnic diversity, only about one-in-four (24%) say that, in addition to their qualifications, a person's race and ethnicity should be considered in decisions about hiring and promotions in order to increase diversity. A majority (74%) says employers should only take a person's qualifications into account when making these decisions, even if it results in less diversity in the workplace.

The view that employers should only take a person's qualifications into account is widespread among whites (78%) and Hispanics (69%); about half of blacks (54%) share this view.

Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to say a person's race and ethnicity shouldn't be a part of hiring and promotion decisions. Even so, majorities of both groups (90% vs. 62%) hold this view. Again, this partisan difference is nearly unchanged among whites.

Whites, blacks differ on the importance of students going to a racially and ethnically mixed school vs. going to a school in their local community

Mandatory busing programs aimed at desegregating schools ended years ago, but the issue of school integration remains a topic of debate in many parts of the country.

Today, more than half of Americans (54%) say students should go to school in their local community, even if it means that most schools are not racially and ethnically mixed; 42% say students should go to schools that are racially and ethnically mixed, even if it means that some students don't go to school in their local community.

Black and white adults have widely different views on this. Most whites (62%) say students should attend schools in their local community, even if most schools are less diverse as a result. In contrast, about seven-in-ten blacks (68%) think students should go to schools that are racially and ethnically mixed, even if they're not in their local community. Hispanics and Asians are about evenly divided on this issue.

Views also differ considerably along party lines, with 73% of Republicans - vs. 41% of Democrats - saying students should go to school in their local community, even if it means most schools are not racially and ethnically mixed. Black Democrats (71%) are far more likely than their white (52%), Hispanic (56%) and Asian (55%) counterparts to say students should go to schools that are racially and ethnically diverse, even if it results in some students not going to their local schools.

About a quarter of Americans wish their local community was more racially and ethnically mixed

Most Americans (66%) are satisfied with the racial mix in the community where they live; 24% wish their community was more racially mixed and 8% wish it was less so.

For whites and Hispanics, views about the racial mix in their community are strikingly consistent regardless of how diverse the community is. In this analysis, diversity is measured in terms of the share of a neighborhood's population in its largest racial or ethnic group. For example, a neighborhood that is 80% white (largest group), 10% Hispanic, 5% black and 5% Asian is considered less diverse than one that is 20% white, 60% Hispanic (largest group), 5% black and 15% Asian. The least diverse neighborhoods are those where 90% or more of the residents are part of the largest racial or ethnic group; the most diverse are neighborhoods where fewer than half of the residents are in the largest group.

About seven-in-ten whites - and about six-in-ten Hispanics - in the most and least diverse neighborhoods say the community where they live is as racially mixed as they'd like it to be. Among blacks, those in the least diverse neighborhoods are less satisfied with the racial mix in their communities.

The vast majority of whites who live in neighborhoods with very little diversity are surrounded by other whites. By contrast, for blacks who live in less diverse areas, their neighborhoods are less likely to be made up predominantly of black residents. Among black respondents, 63% of those in areas where 80% or more are in the largest racial or ethnic group are in majority black communities; 34% are in neighborhoods that are predominantly white. A large share (82%) of Hispanics who live in less diverse neighborhoods reside in predominantly Hispanic communities.

Among whites in the least diverse neighborhoods, Democrats, college graduates and those younger than 30 are less satisfied with their community's racial mix

Outlooks on community diversity vary considerably between white Democrats and white Republicans. Among white Republicans in the least diverse neighborhoods, 80% are satisfied with the amount of racial diversity in their community. White Democrats in this type of neighborhood are more divided: 51% say their community is as racially mixed as they'd like it to be and 45% wish it was more so.

Age and educational attainment are also related to these attitudes: In neighborhoods with little diversity, whites younger than 30 are far less satisfied with the racial mix in their community than older whites. About four-in-ten white young adults in some of the least diverse neighborhoods say their community is as racially mixed as they'd like it to be (43%), while a similar share (45%) wish it was more racially mixed. In contrast, most whites ages 30 to 49 (63%), 50 to 64 (79%) and 65 and older (73%) are satisfied with the racial mix in their community.

Among whites with a bachelor's degree or more education, 38% in the least diverse neighborhoods say they wish their community was more racially mixed than it is; 22% of those with some college and 16% with a high school diploma or less education say the same. Still, at least half in each group say their community is about as racially mixed as they would like it to be.

Relatively few Americans interact a lot with people from other racial and ethnic groups

Most Americans have at least some daily interaction with people who do not share their race or ethnicity, but relatively small shares say they have a lot of interaction. This is particularly the case for whites interacting with racial or ethnic minorities and nonwhites interacting with minority groups other than their own.

About a quarter of white adults say they interact with blacks (25%) and Hispanics (23%) a lot in their day-to-day life. Among blacks, 26% say they have a lot of interaction with people who are Hispanic, while one-in-five Hispanics say they have frequent interaction with people who are black. About one in-ten whites, blacks and Hispanics say they interact with Asians a lot in their daily life.

A majority of Asians (59%) say they have frequent daily interaction with whites, more than the share of blacks (47%) and Hispanics (44%) who say the same. About one-in-four Asians (27%) say they have a lot of interaction with people who are Hispanic and 15% say the same about people who are black.

Asians (48%) are less likely than whites (84%), blacks (68%) and Hispanics (60%) to say they have a lot of interaction with people in their own group. The extent to which Americans interact with various racial or ethnic groups reflects, at least in part, the shares of each group in the population.

About three-in-ten Americans say it would bother them to hear people speak a language other than English in public

Most Americans (70%) say they would not be particularly bothered if they heard people speak a language other than English in a public place, including 47% who say they would not be bothered at all. Still, a sizable share (29%) says this would bother them at least some.

Roughly a third of whites (34%) and about a quarter of blacks (24%) and Asians (24%) say they would be bothered if they heard people speak a language other than English in public; a smaller share of Hispanics (14%) say the same. About two-thirds of Hispanics (68%) say this wouldn't bother them at all, compared with half or fewer whites (41%), blacks (48%) and Asians (50%). Foreign-born Hispanics are more likely than those born in the U.S. to say they would not be bothered at all if they heard someone speak a language other than English in public (76% vs. 61%).

Among whites, reactions vary considerably by age, education and political orientation. Younger whites and those with a bachelor's degree or more education are less likely than their older and less educated counterparts to say they would be bothered by hearing a language other than English in a public place.

Views are even more divided along partisan lines. About six-in-ten white Democrats (58%) - vs. 26% of white Republicans - say this wouldn't bother them at all.

References to whites, blacks and Asians include only those who are non-Hispanic and identify as only one race. Hispanics are of any race.

All references to party affiliation include those who lean toward that party: Republicans include those who identify as Republicans and independents who say they lean toward the Republican Party, and Democrats include those who identify as Democrats and independents who say they lean toward the Democratic Party.

References to college graduates or people with a college degree comprise those with a bachelor's degree or more. "Some college" includes those with an associate degree and those who attended college but did not obtain a degree. "High school" refers to those who have a high school diploma or its equivalent, such as a General Education Development (GED) certificate.

Foreign born refers to people born outside of the United States, Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories to parents neither of whom was a U.S. citizen, regardless of legal status.

U.S. born refers to individuals who are U.S. citizens at birth, including people born in the United States, Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories, as well as those born elsewhere to parents who were U.S. citizens.

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Americans See Advantages and Challenges in Country's Growing Racial and Ethnic Diversity

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As the United States becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, and as companies from Wall Street to Silicon Valley grapple with how to build workforces that reflect these changing demographics, Americans have a complicated, even contradictory, set of views about the impact of diversity and the best way to achieve it.

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Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project

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For updated findings on views about racial inequality in the U.S., see "Amid National Reckoning, Americans Divided on Whether Increased Focus on Race Will Lead to Major Policy Change."
More than 150 years after the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States, most U.S. adults say the legacy of slavery continues to have an impact on the position of black people in American society today. More than four-in-ten say the country hasn't made enough progress toward racial equality, and there is some skepticism, particularly among blacks, that black people will ever have equal rights with whites, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

Opinions about the current state of race relations - and President Donald Trump's handling of the issue - are also negative. About six-in-ten Americans (58%) say race relations in the U.S. are bad, and of those, few see them improving. Some 56% think the president has made race relations worse; just 15% say he has improved race relations and another 13% say he has tried but failed to make progress on this issue. In addition, roughly two-thirds say it's become more common for people to express racist views since Trump became president.

Blacks are particularly gloomy about the country's racial progress. More than eight-in-ten black adults say the legacy of slavery affects the position of black people in America today, including 59% who say it affects it a great deal. About eight-in-ten blacks (78%) say the country hasn't gone far enough when it comes to giving black people equal rights with whites, and fully half say it's unlikely that the country will eventually achieve racial equality.

Americans see disadvantages for blacks and Hispanics in the U.S. A majority of all adults (56%) say being black hurts people's ability to get ahead at least a little, and 51% say the same about being Hispanic. In contrast, 59% say being white helps people's ability to get ahead. Views about the impact of being Asian or Native American are more mixed.

Blacks, Hispanics and Asians are more likely than whites to say being white helps people's ability to get ahead at least a little. Among whites, those who are more educated, as well as those who identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, are particularly likely to see advantages to being white.

The nationally representative survey of 6,637 adults was conducted online Jan. 22-Feb. 5, 2019, in English and Spanish, using Pew Research Center's American Trends Panel. In addition to exploring the public's views about the state of race relations and racial inequality in America, the survey also looks at personal experiences with racial and ethnic discrimination and the role race plays in people's lives. Among the report's key findings:

Most Americans say it's now more common for people to express racist or racially insensitive views; more than four-in-ten say it's more acceptable

Most Americans (65%) - including majorities across racial and ethnic groups - say it has become more common for people to express racist or racially insensitive views since Trump was elected president. A smaller but substantial share (45%) say this has become more acceptable.

Democrats and those who lean Democratic are more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners to say it has become more common and more acceptable for people to express racist and racially insensitive views since Trump was elected president. Among Democrats, 84% say this is now more common and 64% say it's more acceptable; fewer than half of Republicans say it has become more common (42%) and just 22% say it has become more acceptable for people to express these types of views.

Views of Trump's handling of race relations are far more negative than views of how Obama handled the issue

A majority of Americans (56%) say Trump has made race relations worse; just 15% say he has made progress toward improving race relations, while 13% say he has tried but failed to make progress and 14% say he hasn't addressed this issue. In contrast, 37% say Barack Obama made progress on race relations when he was president, and 27% say he tried but failed. A quarter of Americans say Obama made race relations worse. These retrospective views of Obama's handling of race relations are nearly identical to views expressed during Obama's last year in office.

Not surprisingly, assessments of Trump's and Obama's handling of race relations differ considerably along partisan lines. Democrats overwhelmingly say Trump has made race relations worse (84%), including large shares of black (79%) and white (86%) Democrats. Views are more divided among Republicans. About a third of Republicans (34%) say Trump has improved race relations and 25% say he has tried but failed to make progress; 19% of Republicans say he hasn't addressed the issue, while 20% say he has made race relations worse.

When it comes to views of Obama's handling of race relations, 55% of Democrats say he improved race relations during his presidency; just 8% say he made things worse. In contrast, 51% of Republicans say Obama made race relations worse, while 14% say he made progress toward improving it. As is the case with views of Trump's handling of race relations, white and black Democrats offer somewhat similar assessments of how Obama handled this issue when he was president.

Republicans and Democrats have vastly different views on race

In addition to being linked to views of Trump's handling of race relations, partisanship is strongly associated with racial attitudes more broadly. In fact, after controlling for other factors, partisanship has a greater association with views about the country's racial progress than demographic factors, though being young and more educated are also significant predictors, particularly among whites.

Because whites and nonwhites often have widely different views of racial issues, and nonwhites disproportionately identify with or lean to the Democratic Party, gaps between Republicans and Democrats are often shown among whites in this report in order to account for differences in the racial composition of the two parties.

White Democrats (64%) are far more likely than white Republicans (15%) to say the country hasn't gone far enough when it comes to giving black people equal rights with whites. About half of Republicans say it's been about right, while a sizable minority (31%) says the country has gone too far in this regard.

Eight-in-ten white Democrats - vs. 40% of white Republicans - say the legacy of slavery continues to have an impact on black people's position in American society today. And when it comes to views about racial discrimination, 78% of white Democrats say the bigger problem is people not seeing it where it really does exist, while a similar share of white Republicans say people seeing racial discrimination where it really does not exist is the bigger problem.

Blacks are more likely than other groups to say their race has had a negative impact on their ability to get ahead; whites are the most likely to say their race helped them

About half of black adults (52%) say being black has hurt their ability to get ahead at least a little, with 18% saying it has hurt a lot. About a quarter of Hispanics and Asians (24% each) and just 5% of whites say their race or ethnicity has had a negative impact. In turn, whites are more likely than other groups to say their racial background has helped them at least a little.

Among blacks, those with at least some college experience are more likely than those with less education to say being black has hurt their ability to get ahead.

Education is also linked with whites' perceptions of the impact their race has had on their ability to get ahead. Small shares of whites across educational levels say their racial background has hurt their ability to succeed, but those with a bachelor's degree are more likely than those with less education to say being white helped them at least a little.

Across all racial and ethnic groups, more point to their own hard work than to any other attribute, including their race, their gender, the people they know or their family's financial situation, as something that helped them get ahead.

Blacks, whites differ in assessments of why it may be harder for black people to get ahead

Whether or not they see their race as an obstacle for them personally, about two-thirds of blacks (68%) say being black generally hurts a person's ability to get ahead in the country; 55% of whites say the same.

Among those who say being black hurts a person's ability to get ahead, blacks are far more likely than whites to point to racial discrimination, less access to high-paying jobs and less access to good schools as major reasons why this is the case. In turn, whites are more likely than blacks to point to family instability and lack of good role models as major obstacles for black people. The same shares in both groups (22%) say a lack of motivation to work hard is to blame.

There are wide partisan gaps in these views. Most white Democrats who say being black hurts a person's ability to succeed point to racial discrimination (70%) and less access to good schools (75%) or high-paying jobs (64%) as major reasons for this (among black Democrats, the shares are 86%, 74% and 78%, respectively). By comparison, about a third or fewer white Republicans say these are major obstacles for blacks. White Republicans are more likely than white Democrats to cite family instability, lack of good role models and a lack of motivation to work hard.

Majorities of black and white adults say blacks are treated less fairly than whites in dealing with police and by the criminal justice system

Black and white adults have widely different perceptions of how blacks are treated in America, but majorities of both groups say blacks are treated less fairly than whites by the criminal justice system (87% of blacks vs. 61% of whites) and in dealing with police (84% vs. 63%, respectively).

About six-in-ten blacks or more - but fewer than half of whites - say blacks are treated less fairly than whites in hiring, pay and promotions; when applying for a loan or mortgage; in stores or restaurants; when voting in elections; and when seeking medical treatment. In each of these realms, whites tend to say blacks and whites are treated about equally; very small shares say whites are treated less fairly than blacks.

Across these different areas, there are gaps ranging from 39 to 53 percentage points in how white Democrats and white Republicans see the treatment of blacks in the U.S. About half or more white Democrats say blacks are treated less fairly than whites in dealing with the police (88% vs. 43% of white Republicans); by the criminal justice system (86% vs. 39%); in hiring, pay and promotions (72% vs. 21%); when applying for a mortgage or loan (64% vs. 17%); in stores or restaurants (62% vs. 16%); when voting in elections (60% vs. 7%); and when seeking medical treatment (48% vs. 9%).

In some of these areas, black and white Democrats express similar views, but larger shares of black Democrats say black people are treated less fairly than whites in employment situations (86%), when applying for a loan or mortgage (78%), in stores or restaurants (73%), and when seeking medical treatment (61%).

Seven-in-ten U.S. adults say they, personally, think it's never acceptable for a white person to use the N-word; 13% say this is rarely acceptable and about one-in-ten say it is always (3%) or sometimes (6%) acceptable for a white person to use the N-word. Roughly seven-in-ten whites and blacks say this is never acceptable.

A smaller share of Hispanics (58%) say it's never acceptable for a white person to use the N-word, but this is driven in part by the relatively large share of foreign-born Hispanics (28%) who say they are not sure whether it's acceptable for a white person to use the N-word. Among Hispanics born in the U.S., 67% say this is never acceptable.

When it comes to black people using the N-word, about four-in-ten adults - including similar shares of blacks and whites - say they, personally, think it is never acceptable; 15% say it is rarely acceptable and about a third say it's always (13%) or sometimes (20%) acceptable for black people to use the N-word.

Most black adults say being black is extremely or very important to how they think about themselves

Blacks are more likely than Hispanics or Asians - and much more likely than whites - to say that their race is central to their identity. About three-quarters of black adults say being black is extremely (52%) or very (22%) important to how they think of themselves; 59% of Hispanics and 56% of Asians say being Hispanic or Asian, respectively, is at least very important to their overall identity, with about three-in-ten in each group saying it's extremely important. In contrast, just 15% of whites say being white is very or extremely important to how they think of themselves; about two-thirds say it's either only a little important (18%) or not important at all (47%).

Whites and blacks younger than 30 are less likely than their older counterparts to say their race is at least very important to their overall identity. Some 64% of black adults ages 18 to 29 say being black is at least very important, compared with roughly three-quarters or more among older age groups. And while relatively few whites across age groups say being white is central to how they think about themselves, whites younger than 30 are among the least likely to say so.

Among Hispanics, those born abroad are more likely than those born in the U.S. to say being Hispanic is at least very important to how they think of themselves (65% vs. 52%).

Majorities of blacks, Hispanics and Asians say they have experienced discrimination because of their race or ethnicity

About three-quarters of blacks and Asians (76% of each) - and 58% of Hispanics - say they have experienced discrimination or have been treated unfairly because of their race or ethnicity at least from time to time. In contrast, about two-thirds of whites (67%) say they've never experienced this.

When asked about specific situations they may have experienced because of their race or ethnicity, blacks are considerably more likely than whites, Hispanics or Asians to say that people have acted as if they were suspicious of them; people have acted as if they thought they weren't smart; they have been treated unfairly by an employer in hiring, pay or promotion; or they have been unfairly stopped by police. Hispanics and Asians are more likely than whites to say each of these have happened to them.

Asians are more likely than any other group to say they have been subject to slurs or jokes because of their race or ethnicity. In turn, more whites than blacks, Hispanics or Asians say people have assumed they were prejudiced or racist; 45% of whites have had this experience.

For Hispanics, skin color is associated with experiences with discrimination

The survey asked black and Hispanic respondents to identify the skin tone that best resembles their own using a modified version of the Massey-Martin scale. A multivariate analysis suggests that Hispanics with darker skin tones are more likely than those with lighter skin to say they have ever experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly because of their race or ethnicity. Darker skin color is also associated with a higher likelihood among Hispanics of saying that - because of their race or ethnicity - people have acted as if they were suspicious of them, people have acted as if they thought they weren't smart, they have been treated unfairly in employment situations, they have subject to slurs or jokes, and that they have feared for their safety.

Among blacks, those with darker skin tones are more likely to say they have experienced racial discrimination generally, but skin color is not necessarily associated with having faced specific situations because of their race or ethnicity. In fact, for blacks, being male and having higher levels of education are more consistently associated with the specific forms of discrimination asked about in the survey.

This report has been corrected to address an error in the classification of Asian respondents. In this corrected report, Asian estimates are based on 332 respondents who self-identified as Asian or Asian American only. An earlier version of this report provided Asian estimates based on 355 respondents, which properly included the 332 single-race Asian respondents but also included 23 respondents who identified as Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander or both Asian and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. This correction did not affect any of the substantive conclusions of the study. Some estimates for Asians changed by 1 to 3 percentage points.

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Juliana Menasce Horowitz, Anna Brown and Kiana Cox

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Most Americans (65%) - including majorities across racial and ethnic groups - say it has become more common for people to express racist or racially insensitive views since Trump was elected president.

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Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project

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In 2014, as Pew Research Center prepared to conduct the first major study of the views of multiracial Americans -a group that, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, is poised to triple by 2060-we faced a fundamental and unavoidable methodological challenge: how to define and measure the concept "multiracial" in a public opinion survey context.

Racial identity is far from a straightforward concept, and when multiple strands of identity come together this has the potential to increase the complexity. An individual's racial self-identity may take into account a range of factors beyond genealogy, including family ties, physical appearance, culture and how others perceive them. In other words, being multiracial is more than just a straightforward summation of the races in an individual's family tree.

Consider, for example, a man whose mother is Asian and whose father is white. This may seem like someone who could easily be categorized as multiracial. But if this man was raised with little or no interaction with his white relatives or had experiences that were more closely aligned with those of the Asian community, he may well select "Asian" and nothing else when describing his race. Furthermore, some adults may have relatives of different races farther back in their family tree. While some people may think to include a more distant relative of a different race when asked about their racial background, others may not, even if they are aware of their family history.

With this in mind, we set out to test six different ways of defining a population of mixed-race adults to survey, using as our primary vehicle Pew Research Center's American Trends Panel (ATP), a probability-based, nationally representative online panel of adults in the United States. We tested these different approaches with impaneled individuals who participated in more than one Pew Research Center survey, allowing us to examine how the same individual might have changed his or her responses depending on the question asked.

In this report, we share the results of these six survey experiments with a focus on the ways in which the different wordings of the stem, different response options and different modes used impacted the projected size of the U.S. multiracial population. We also look at the consistency in selecting two or more races across different measures at the individual level, as well as how estimates of specific subgroups of multiracial adults-most notably white and American Indian biracial adults-vary by question type.

Standard two-question measure. The first measurement effort was the standard two-question race and ethnicity format included on most Pew Research Center polls. Similar to the method currently employed by the Census Bureau and many other survey researchers, it asks a respondent to select one or more races, with a separate question measuring Hispanic ethnicity. This produced our baseline estimate that 3.7% of American adults are mixed race, defined as selecting two or more races (defined as: white, black, Asian, American Indian/Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander; Hispanic and "some other race" are not included as races).

Census Alternative Questionnaire Experiment measure. We then tested a question being considered for the 2020 decennial census, in which the Hispanic origin response option is included with the racial categories in a "mark one or more" format. Using this measure, called the Alternative Questionnaire Experiment (AQE), we found that 4.8% of adults reported two or more races (not including Hispanic or some other race).

Census AQE measure with parents' races. Some researchers have argued that the population with a mixed racial background is likely broader than the share of adults who report two or more races when asked to identify their own race in a "mark one or more" format. One of the ways we tested this theory was by exploring the race and ethnicity of respondents' parents and grandparents. First, we asked those who chose only one race in the AQE measure whether either their mother or father was "some other race or origin" than the race they selected for themselves. This roughly doubled the share reporting a multiracial background to 10.8%.

Census AQE measure with parents' and grandparents' races. For those who said they did not have a parent of a different race, we asked whether any of their grandparents were "some other race or origin" than their own, which increased the share indicating a multiracial background to 16.6%. As discussed below, because of the way the follow-up questions were worded, we believe the share of single-race adults indicating that they have a parent or grandparent of a different race overestimates the multiracial population.

Point allocation measure. Next, we tested an experimental measure developed by University of California, Berkeley political scientist Taeku Lee in which respondents are given 10 "identity points" and asked to allocate them across different racial and ethnic categories however they see fit. For example, if they think of themselves as half white and half black, they could allocate five points to each, but if they think of themselves as mostly white, but had a black ancestor, they could allocate nine points to white and one point to black. This measure was developed to increase the share of adults reporting two or more races, and the Pew Research Center analysis finds that it does compared with the "mark one or more" approaches-some 12.7% of adults gave points to two or more races using this measure.

Attitudinal measure. Finally, we asked people directly, "Do you consider yourself to be mixed race; that is, belonging to more than one racial group?" Taking this approach, 12.0% of adults identified themselves as multiracial.

In the end, after assessing the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, we decided to cast a wide net in the 2015 survey of multiracial Americans by asking people to report their own race(s) or ethnicity using the AQE measure, as well as asking a revised version of the parent and grandparent follow-ups, in which we asked the specific race(s) and ethnicity of their biological parents, grandparents and earlier ancestors in a parallel format to the AQE measure. For the Pew Research Center analysis, we considered someone to be multiracial if their background included two or more races (not including Hispanic) when their own, their parents' and their grandparents' races were taken into account. This resulted in our estimate that 6.9% of American adults are multiracial. (Had the races of great-grandparents and earlier ancestors been taken into account, that estimate would have risen to 13.1%.)

The remainder of this report will discuss in detail the various methods Pew Research Center tested to measure respondents' racial backgrounds, including exact question wording, as well as an assessment of the resulting racial composition and of the challenges or concerns that each question elicits. Furthermore, because these questions were asked of the same individuals in different interviews, we are also able to examine whether the same individual changed his or her responses depending on the type of question asked. This report will look at the consistency in selecting two or more races at the individual level across the different methods, including among various multiracial subgroups. A more detailed breakdown of the racial composition of the adult population captured by the different measures, as well as a comparison of other demographics of the multiracial population captured by each measure, can be found in the tables in Appendix A.

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Who Is Multiracial? Depends on How You Ask

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In 2014, as Pew Research Center prepared to conduct the first major study of the views of multiracial Americans -a group that, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, is poised to triple by 2060-we faced a fundamental and unavoidable methodological challenge: how to define and measure the concept "multiracial" in a public opinion survey context.

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Theme 2: Learners must cultivate 21st‑century skills, capabilities and attributes

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Will training for the skills likely to be most important in the jobs of the future work be effective in large-scale settings by 2026? Respondents in this canvassing overwhelmingly said yes, anticipating improvements in such education will continue.

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Black and Hispanic Americans are more likely than their white counterparts to say they at least sometimes feel the need to change the way they express themselves when they are around people with different racial and ethnic backgrounds - a phenomenon sometimes called " code-switching." And black college graduates, particularly those under 50, are especially likely to feel this is necessary.

Overall, four-in-ten black and Hispanic adults and a third of whites say they often or sometimes feel the need to change the way they talk around others of different races and ethnicities, according to a survey conducted earlier this year by Pew Research Center.

Among black adults, 48% of those with at least a four-year college degree say they often or sometimes feel the need to code-switch, compared with 37% of those who do not have a college degree. Among Hispanic and white adults, there are no significant differences by education.

Black adults who do not have a college degree are nearly twice as likely as black college graduates to say they never feel the need to code-switch (38% vs. 20%).

In addition to educational differences, age plays a role when it comes to code-switching among black Americans. Younger black adults are more likely than their older counterparts to report feeling the need to switch how they express themselves when they are among people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds.

This age gap is particularly apparent among black adults with college degrees: 53% of black college graduates under age 50 say they often or sometimes change how they express themselves around people with different racial and ethnic backgrounds, compared with 38% of black college graduates ages 50 and older.

A separate Pew Research Center study in early 2019 found differences by education level in black Americans' experiences with racial discrimination. Although overwhelming majorities of black adults of all education levels say they have personally experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly because of their race or ethnicity, those with at least some college experience are more likely to say this than those with a high school education or less.
Note: See full topline results and methodology.

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Younger, college-educated black Americans are most likely to feel need to 'code-switch'

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Black and Hispanic Americans are more likely than their white counterparts to say they at least sometimes feel the need to change the way they express themselves when they are around people with different racial and ethnic backgrounds - a phenomenon sometimes called " code-switching."

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Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project

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It's hard to talk about race. Fear of saying the wrong thing, fear of expressing an unpopular view or simply the fear of offending others can dampen honest conversations about racial attitudes.

Accurately measuring racial attitudes faces another formidable obstacle. Psychologists say that biased racial views are sometimes buried deep in a person's subconscious - the byproducts of exposure to popular culture, the media and other factors.

To overcome these obstacles, Pew Research Center conducted an Implicit Association Test (IAT), a technique that psychologists say measures subconscious or "hidden" bias by tracking how quickly individuals associate good and bad words with specific racial groups.

The country is becoming more diverse and the multiracial population is growing, trends with significant implications for race relations. Pew Research Center used the IAT to explore the extent to which single-race whites, blacks and Asians have a subconscious bias for or against their own or another race, and whether similar biases exist among biracial adults. Decades of IAT testing has generally showed that most humans display a bias against out-groups - people who are different from them. The question this study sought to answer is whether multiracial adults are less likely to have those biases, or simply more divided in their racial preferences. The answer, fairly definitively, turns out to be the latter.

To test for hidden racial biases, Pew Research Center conducted an online Implicit Association Test (IAT) with single-race whites, blacks and Asians, as well as biracial white and Asian and white and black adults.

The IAT measures automatic associations between two words or concepts. Psychologists say individuals are quicker to categorize words or concepts they believe to be linked, for example "candy" with "sweet," rather than "candy" with "bitter."

In the case of the Pew Research Center IAT, the test measured differences in how quickly subjects were able to correctly categorize positive and negative words or the photos of black and white or white and Asian men. By varying the test conditions, the IAT measures, in theory, the degree to which individuals automatically and subconsciously view one race more positively or negatively than the other. Social scientists who conduct IAT studies claim that the test is a more accurate way to detect ingrained racial bias than self-reports in traditional surveys.

Researchers caution that the IAT is not a "racism test" nor does it measure overt racial prejudice. Racial prejudice is a set of explicit beliefs that an individual knowingly holds. The IAT produces an indirect measure of subconscious racial preferences that a person might be dismayed to learn they harbor.

Overall the test found that about three-quarters of respondents in each of the five racial groups, including those who are biracial, demonstrated some degree of implicit racial bias. Across the groups, only about 20% to 30% of those in the study were found to have little or no bias toward the races they were tested against. (Note: Because the pool of adults from which these samples were drawn is not representative of the adult population, the results of this study should be viewed as exploratory. See Appendix A: Methodology)

The study found wide variation in racial preferences within each of the five test groups. For example, while pluralities of whites and blacks were biased in favor of their own racial group, the same was not true among single-race Asians, who were more evenly divided in their subconscious preferences.

Single-race Asians were about as likely to show a bias for whites over Asians (38%) as they were to regard Asians more favorably than whites (42%). The remaining 20% did not clearly favor one race over the other.

By contrast, fully half of all single-race whites preferred whites over Asians, or more than double the share (20%) that preferred Asians. Three-in-ten whites favored neither race over the other.

The experiment also found that about half of all single-race whites in the Pew Research Center test automatically preferred whites over blacks (48%), including about a third (35%) who favored whites moderately to strongly. A quarter of all whites demonstrated an implicit bias for blacks, and a similar share (27%) was race-neutral.

Among single-race blacks, 45% were quicker to associate positive words with blacks and negative words with whites, including 28% with a moderate or strong automatic preference for blacks.

An additional 29% of single-race blacks favored whites, while 26% were race-neutral. (Single-race blacks and white and black biracial adults were not tested for bias against Asians. Asians and biracial white and Asian adults were not tested for bias against blacks.)

Two different but equally striking patterns emerged when the analysis turned to the level of bias among the two biracial groups. First, few biracial adults are race-neutral: Only 23% of white and black biracial adults and 22% of white and Asian biracial adults have little or no bias.

Second, in contrast to the lopsided pluralities of whites and blacks who favored their own race, biracial white and black adults were more evenly divided: 42% favored whites over blacks - including 23% who had a moderate or strong implicit preference for whites and 19% with a slight preference. At the same time, about a third (35%) preferred blacks.

A third pattern emerged from the results of those whose racial background includes both white and black ancestry: Their levels of bias look much more like those of white respondents than those of black respondents. According to the test, fully 42% of all white and black biracial adults had a pro-white bias, just short of the 48% of all whites that felt the same way and 7 percentage points higher than the share with a pro-black bias (35%).

Biracial white and Asian adults were even more divided in their subconscious racial preferences. Much like single-race Asians, about four-in-ten (39%) biracial white and Asian adults favored whites, while 38% preferred Asians.

Unlike traditional public opinion polls, which often find clear differences in racial tolerance between many key demographic groups, the Pew Research Center study found that most adults in the test samples subconsciously favored one race over another. Roughly equal levels of implicit racial bias were found among men and women, old and young, and college educated and those with a high school diploma or less formal schooling. Republicans and Democrats with the same racial background also had similar levels of underlying racial bias.

The results of the Pew Research Center IAT race experiment are similar in many respects to previous IAT studies. Data from the race IAT on the "Project Implicit" website have consistently found that most whites demonstrate a clear bias for whites and against blacks; this is consistent with the Pew Research Center findings on single-race whites. While the Pew Research Center data suggests that blacks demonstrate bias for blacks and against whites, the Project Implicit data suggests that blacks are more evenly divided.

Testing for Racial Preferences

To measure racial bias toward blacks, whites and Asians, Pew Research Center conducted an online Implicit Association Test. Study participants were drawn from the YouGov online panel and asked to complete the IAT on their home computers. A sample of 370 single-race blacks and 603 white and black biracial adults took an IAT measuring bias toward whites and blacks. A total of 404 single-race Asians and 470 biracial white and Asian adults were assigned to take an IAT comparing whites and Asians. A sample of 670 single-race whites were randomly assigned to take either the white-black or white-Asian IAT.

Following the practice of researchers who conduct race studies of this type, only those Asians who were from or whose family was originally from East Asia or the Pacific Rim were included in the single-race Asian and biracial white and Asian groups. Those countries included China, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines. About three-quarters of all Asians in the United States trace their ancestry to one or more of the East Asian or the Pacific Rim countries. Asians who trace their families back to a West Asian country - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - were not included in the samples of Asians or white and Asian biracial adults.

According to U.S. Census figures, white and black biracial adults constituted 0.6% of the U.S. population in 2010, and white and Asian biracial adults made up 0.5%. Because of the practical difficulties of sampling populations this small, the techniques used to obtain the samples of the five racial groups differ from those used in other Pew Research Center national surveys.

For this study, the samples were drawn from the YouGov panel, which is composed of approximately 1.5 million adults nationally who have volunteered to take surveys. Each sample was adjusted to match census figures for each group in terms age, gender and education, as well as to match other surveys on characteristics such as voter registration and party affiliation. Because the panel from which these samples were drawn is not representative of the adult population as a whole, both in that not everyone has the internet and that the panelists are not randomly selected, the results of this study should not be compared with the results of other Pew Research Center surveys that use probability-based sampling techniques, including the recent Multiracial in America report.

In the experiment, white and black biracial adults, single-race blacks and half the single-race white sample were tested for bias against blacks and whites. White and Asian biracial adults, single-race Asians and the other half of the white sample were tested for bias against whites and Asians.

The participants were asked to sort a series of photos and words into two categories. The names of the categories appeared at the top of the screen. Half the time the categories were "African American" and "good." On the other half of the tests, the categories were "white American" and "good." For the white-Asian version of the test, the words "Asian American" or "white American" appeared at the top of the screen along with the word "good."

Below the category and in quick succession, a word appeared that was synonymous for "good" or "bad," or the photo of a young black or a white man (or a photo of a young Asian or a white man). These words or images were the "targets" to be sorted. Participants had to correctly identify whether the word or image they saw was a synonym for the category word "good" or whether it was a photo of a member of the racial group listed at the top of the page. The time it took participants to correctly match the word or photo with the right category was carefully measured and recorded.

These reaction times, expressed as a summary statistical measure called a "D score," became the raw data used to analyze the results. The test is based on decades of psychological research findings that people are quicker to associate words or images together that are consistent with their internal beliefs, such as "flower" and "pretty," and less quick to associate concepts they view as dissimilar, such as "flower" and "ugly." In the Pew Research Center test, people who subconsciously favored whites over blacks would be expected to take less time to correctly match the picture of a white man with the category "white American" than to correctly match the picture of a black man with the category "African American" when the word "good" also appeared on the screen.

Measuring Racial Preferences

Reaction-time data for participants were used to determine subconscious bias toward the races they were tested against. Participants were grouped into seven categories based on their reaction times. For example, in the white-black version of the test, participants were sorted by their scores into those who showed a "strong" preference for whites, a "moderate" preference for whites, a "slight" preference for whites, "little or no" preference for either group, and a "slight," "moderate" or "strong" preference for blacks. Results of the white-Asian version of the test were categorized in a similar fashion.

The categories were based on a widely used scoring scale developed by psychology professor Brian Nosek of the University of Virginia, a pioneer in the use of the IAT to measure subconscious racial bias. Overall the experiment found that most people in the five racial groups had some degree of bias toward the races they were tested against.

In the white-black version of the IAT, about a quarter of white and black biracial adults (23%) were found to have little or no preference for either blacks or whites, virtually identical to the shares of single-race whites (27%) and single-race blacks (26%) who were race-neutral.

The results were similar for the white-Asian version of the experiment: 22% of white and Asian biracial adults, 30% of single-race whites and 20% of single-race Asians had no clear preference for whites or Asians.

Demographic Differences

Apart from some large differences by racial group, the Pew Research Center experiment suggests that automatic racial preferences for one race are roughly shared equally by men and women, the old and young, as well as college graduates and those with less education.

For example, among single-race whites, about half of all men (50%) and about the same share of women (46%) favored whites over blacks. Single-race black men and women were the mirror-opposite of whites: Identical shares of black men and women (45% for both) were quicker to associate positive words with blacks and negative words with whites. Among white and black biracial adults, roughly a third of men (35%) and women (34%) favored blacks, while 45% of men and 39% of women preferred whites, a difference that was not statistically significant.

While some studies have shown that younger adults are more likely to express racially tolerant views, the IAT experiment suggests a somewhat different story. Younger and older adults, regardless of their racial background, were found to have similar levels of underlying racial bias. Half of single-race whites younger than 40 favored, to varying degrees, whites over blacks - and so did 47% of those 40 and older. Similarly, 42% of younger single-race blacks and 46% of those 40 and older showed a preference for blacks.

Among biracial white and black adults, 42% of those 39 and younger and 43% of those 40 and older preferred whites over blacks. About a third of younger (35%) and older adults (34%) in this group favored blacks. The remainder had no preference for either race over the other.

Similarly, no significant differences by level of education were found. Across the three racial groups in the white and black IAT, roughly equal shares of those with a college degree (a group that included those with a two-year college degree) and those with less formal education expressed similar levels of racial bias.

When it comes to biases toward Asians and whites, the findings of the demographic analysis were less consistent. No clear differences by age, gender and education emerged among single-race Asians and white and Asian biracial adults. But among single-race whites, men were more likely than women to favor whites over Asians (60% vs. 40%). At the same time, 57% of single-race whites with a two-year college degree or more education favored whites over Asians, compared with 46% of those with less formal schooling, a difference that falls just short of being statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.

To further explore the relationship between demographics and racial bias, a multivariate linear regression analysis was conducted to assess the independent impact of race, gender, age and education on IAT scores, all other factors being equal.

This analysis offered a more nuanced view of the relationship between demographics and IAT scores. Race remained the single strongest predictor of IAT scores, but, among those who took the white and black IAT, younger adults ages 18 to 29 were slightly more likely than older adults to prefer whites to blacks, other factors being equal.

In the white-Asian test the regression findings for education were mixed. While having a two-year college degree or more education was not a significant predictor of IAT scores, when the sample was divided into those with at least a four-year college degree and those with less education, the analysis suggests that better educated adults have a slightly more favorable view of whites than those who did not graduate from a four-year college.

When party identification was added to the analysis, it proved not to be statistically significant: Democrats and Republicans were found to have roughly similar levels of racial bias in both versions of the IAT, all other factors held constant. In that case, too, race proved to be the strongest predictor of IAT scores.

Explicit vs. Implicit Measures of Bias

After completing the IAT, participants took a short survey that included questions often used in traditional public opinion polls to measure racial prejudice. Consistent with other studies, the Pew Research Center analysis found little or no relationship between IAT scores and the results of these explicit measures of racial bias. In other words, respondents with higher levels of racial bias were about as likely as those with lower levels to give unbiased - or biased - answers to survey questions.

One series of questions measured belief in racial stereotypes. Respondents were asked how well six phrases described whites, blacks and Asians. Three phrases reflected a positive stereotype: "self-reliant," "value work over pleasure" and "high achievers in school." Three were cast in the negative: "insist on special privileges," "lack good moral values" and "involved in drugs and gangs."

Respondents could answer that the phrase described the racial group "very well," "fairly well," "not too well" or "not at all well." These answers were then scored on a four-point numeric scale that ranged from zero to three. A score of zero indicated the most positive answer and three the most negative. For example, someone who responded that the phrase "lack good moral values" described whites "very well" would be coded as three; their answer would be coded as two if they said it described whites "fairly well," as one if they answered "not too well" and zero if they said "not well at all." The scoring was reversed when the phrase reflected a positive stereotype. For example, those who said the phrase "high achievers in school" described whites "very well" would be given a zero, while someone who said it described whites "not well at all" would get a three, indicating a negative view of whites.

Each respondent's answers to the six questions were then totaled to form a racial stereotype scale that ranged from zero for those who consistently offered the most positive evaluation of the target race to 18 for those who consistently had the most negative responses and somewhere in between if their answers varied.

A regression analysis was then conducted to see how closely IAT scores were correlated with the scores on the racial stereotype scale. In both the white-black and white-Asian versions of the experiment, the scores on the IAT did not predict scores on the racial stereotype scale once the independent effects of gender, age, education and racial group were accounted for in the analysis. The same pattern emerged when the analysis was reversed: Scores in the stereotype scale did not predict an individual's IAT score after age, gender, education and race were held constant.

These findings are broadly consistent with other studies comparing explicit and implicit measures of racial attitudes. A research team headed by psychologist Brian Nosek of the University of Virginia found in an experiment conducted with visitors to a website that blacks demonstrated a stronger preference for blacks over whites on the explicit measure but a weak preference for whites on the IAT. Whites had an automatic preference for whites over blacks on the IAT but a significantly weaker preference for their own race on a standard survey question testing explicit racial preferences.

In a direct comparison between IAT scores and explicit measures of racial bias, a research team headed by Stanford professor Shanto Iyengar, a consultant on the Pew Research Center IAT experiment, that "the number of respondents classified as prejudiced on the implicit measure substantially exceeds the corresponding number based on explicit indicators."

Does the IAT Predict Behavior?

Social scientists judge the value of a test such as the IAT by its ability to predict how people will act. In the case of the race IAT, the question becomes: Do IAT scores predict differences in how people treat people of different races?

In a number of studies, researchers have found that the IAT predicted a range of race-based behaviors. Alexander R. Green of Harvard Medical School led a research team that found doctors' IAT scores predicted their attitudes toward their black and white heart patients and the treatment decisions they made. Specifically Green found that the IAT "revealed implicit preference favoring white Americans...and implict stereotypes of black Americans as less cooperative with medical procedures...and less cooperative generally." The researchers also found that "as physicians' pro-white implicit bias increased, so did their likelihood of treating white patients and not treating black patients with thrombolysis," a procedure used to dissolve dangerous blood clots. Other researchers have found that anti-black implicit attitudes of white freshmen who had been randomly assigned a black roommate predicted the success of the roommate relationship.

A Swedish researcher found that implicit measures of anti-Muslim stereotypes among Swedish hiring managers predicted the decision to interview Swedes over Arab and Muslim job applicants. Moreover, the study reported that the IAT performed better than explicit measures of racial attitudes in predicting who would be interviewed for a job.

Other tests also have found that the IAT is useful in detecting views that individuals may be reluctant to divulge to others or even to admit to themselves. In one striking example, researchers used an IAT that measured an implicit sexual preference for adults or children to distinguish convicted pedophiles from other violent offenders.

Researchers caution that no social science test can perfectly predict racial prejudice or other antisocial behaviors. After reviewing 122 research reports, MahzarinR. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald, who first developed the IAT, conclude that "IAT scores correlated moderately with discriminatory judgments and behavior." Their study also found that the IAT predicted racially biased behaviors "significantly more effectively than did the types of question-asking measures that have long been used in studies of prejudice."

The findings presented in this report are primarily based on the results of an Implicit Association Test. The test measures how long people take to associate positive and negative words with different racial groups. The combined result for each participant is summarized in a statistic called a "D score." In this report the D score is referred to as the "IAT score" or "IAT effect score."

Following the practice of social scientists who have used the race IAT in their research, the terms "bias," "preference" and "automatic preference" are used interchangeably in this report.

The single-race white, black and Asian samples do not include Hispanics. Biracial white and black and white and Asian adults are no other races and not Hispanic.

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Exploring Racial Bias Among Biracial and Single-Race Adults: The IAT

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To overcome the obstacles of measuring racial attitudes, Pew Research Center conducted an Implicit Association Test (IAT), a technique that psychologists say measures subconscious or "hidden" bias by tracking how quickly individuals associate good and bad words with specific racial groups.

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Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project

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For updated findings on views about racial inequality in the U.S., see "Amid National Reckoning, Americans Divided on Whether Increased Focus on Race Will Lead to Major Policy Change."
More than 150 years after the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States, most U.S. adults say the legacy of slavery continues to have an impact on the position of black people in American society today. More than four-in-ten say the country hasn't made enough progress toward racial equality, and there is some skepticism, particularly among blacks, that black people will ever have equal rights with whites, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

Opinions about the current state of race relations - and President Donald Trump's handling of the issue - are also negative. About six-in-ten Americans (58%) say race relations in the U.S. are bad, and of those, few see them improving. Some 56% think the president has made race relations worse; just 15% say he has improved race relations and another 13% say he has tried but failed to make progress on this issue. In addition, roughly two-thirds say it's become more common for people to express racist views since Trump became president.

Blacks are particularly gloomy about the country's racial progress. More than eight-in-ten black adults say the legacy of slavery affects the position of black people in America today, including 59% who say it affects it a great deal. About eight-in-ten blacks (78%) say the country hasn't gone far enough when it comes to giving black people equal rights with whites, and fully half say it's unlikely that the country will eventually achieve racial equality.

Americans see disadvantages for blacks and Hispanics in the U.S. A majority of all adults (56%) say being black hurts people's ability to get ahead at least a little, and 51% say the same about being Hispanic. In contrast, 59% say being white helps people's ability to get ahead. Views about the impact of being Asian or Native American are more mixed.

Blacks, Hispanics and Asians are more likely than whites to say being white helps people's ability to get ahead at least a little. Among whites, those who are more educated, as well as those who identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, are particularly likely to see advantages to being white.

The nationally representative survey of 6,637 adults was conducted online Jan. 22-Feb. 5, 2019, in English and Spanish, using Pew Research Center's American Trends Panel. In addition to exploring the public's views about the state of race relations and racial inequality in America, the survey also looks at personal experiences with racial and ethnic discrimination and the role race plays in people's lives. Among the report's key findings:

Most Americans say it's now more common for people to express racist or racially insensitive views; more than four-in-ten say it's more acceptable

Most Americans (65%) - including majorities across racial and ethnic groups - say it has become more common for people to express racist or racially insensitive views since Trump was elected president. A smaller but substantial share (45%) say this has become more acceptable.

Democrats and those who lean Democratic are more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners to say it has become more common and more acceptable for people to express racist and racially insensitive views since Trump was elected president. Among Democrats, 84% say this is now more common and 64% say it's more acceptable; fewer than half of Republicans say it has become more common (42%) and just 22% say it has become more acceptable for people to express these types of views.

Views of Trump's handling of race relations are far more negative than views of how Obama handled the issue

A majority of Americans (56%) say Trump has made race relations worse; just 15% say he has made progress toward improving race relations, while 13% say he has tried but failed to make progress and 14% say he hasn't addressed this issue. In contrast, 37% say Barack Obama made progress on race relations when he was president, and 27% say he tried but failed. A quarter of Americans say Obama made race relations worse. These retrospective views of Obama's handling of race relations are nearly identical to views expressed during Obama's last year in office.

Not surprisingly, assessments of Trump's and Obama's handling of race relations differ considerably along partisan lines. Democrats overwhelmingly say Trump has made race relations worse (84%), including large shares of black (79%) and white (86%) Democrats. Views are more divided among Republicans. About a third of Republicans (34%) say Trump has improved race relations and 25% say he has tried but failed to make progress; 19% of Republicans say he hasn't addressed the issue, while 20% say he has made race relations worse.

When it comes to views of Obama's handling of race relations, 55% of Democrats say he improved race relations during his presidency; just 8% say he made things worse. In contrast, 51% of Republicans say Obama made race relations worse, while 14% say he made progress toward improving it. As is the case with views of Trump's handling of race relations, white and black Democrats offer somewhat similar assessments of how Obama handled this issue when he was president.

Republicans and Democrats have vastly different views on race

In addition to being linked to views of Trump's handling of race relations, partisanship is strongly associated with racial attitudes more broadly. In fact, after controlling for other factors, partisanship has a greater association with views about the country's racial progress than demographic factors, though being young and more educated are also significant predictors, particularly among whites.

Because whites and nonwhites often have widely different views of racial issues, and nonwhites disproportionately identify with or lean to the Democratic Party, gaps between Republicans and Democrats are often shown among whites in this report in order to account for differences in the racial composition of the two parties.

White Democrats (64%) are far more likely than white Republicans (15%) to say the country hasn't gone far enough when it comes to giving black people equal rights with whites. About half of Republicans say it's been about right, while a sizable minority (31%) says the country has gone too far in this regard.

Eight-in-ten white Democrats - vs. 40% of white Republicans - say the legacy of slavery continues to have an impact on black people's position in American society today. And when it comes to views about racial discrimination, 78% of white Democrats say the bigger problem is people not seeing it where it really does exist, while a similar share of white Republicans say people seeing racial discrimination where it really does not exist is the bigger problem.

Blacks are more likely than other groups to say their race has had a negative impact on their ability to get ahead; whites are the most likely to say their race helped them

About half of black adults (52%) say being black has hurt their ability to get ahead at least a little, with 18% saying it has hurt a lot. About a quarter of Hispanics and Asians (24% each) and just 5% of whites say their race or ethnicity has had a negative impact. In turn, whites are more likely than other groups to say their racial background has helped them at least a little.

Among blacks, those with at least some college experience are more likely than those with less education to say being black has hurt their ability to get ahead.

Education is also linked with whites' perceptions of the impact their race has had on their ability to get ahead. Small shares of whites across educational levels say their racial background has hurt their ability to succeed, but those with a bachelor's degree are more likely than those with less education to say being white helped them at least a little.

Across all racial and ethnic groups, more point to their own hard work than to any other attribute, including their race, their gender, the people they know or their family's financial situation, as something that helped them get ahead.

Blacks, whites differ in assessments of why it may be harder for black people to get ahead

Whether or not they see their race as an obstacle for them personally, about two-thirds of blacks (68%) say being black generally hurts a person's ability to get ahead in the country; 55% of whites say the same.

Among those who say being black hurts a person's ability to get ahead, blacks are far more likely than whites to point to racial discrimination, less access to high-paying jobs and less access to good schools as major reasons why this is the case. In turn, whites are more likely than blacks to point to family instability and lack of good role models as major obstacles for black people. The same shares in both groups (22%) say a lack of motivation to work hard is to blame.

There are wide partisan gaps in these views. Most white Democrats who say being black hurts a person's ability to succeed point to racial discrimination (70%) and less access to good schools (75%) or high-paying jobs (64%) as major reasons for this (among black Democrats, the shares are 86%, 74% and 78%, respectively). By comparison, about a third or fewer white Republicans say these are major obstacles for blacks. White Republicans are more likely than white Democrats to cite family instability, lack of good role models and a lack of motivation to work hard.

Majorities of black and white adults say blacks are treated less fairly than whites in dealing with police and by the criminal justice system

Black and white adults have widely different perceptions of how blacks are treated in America, but majorities of both groups say blacks are treated less fairly than whites by the criminal justice system (87% of blacks vs. 61% of whites) and in dealing with police (84% vs. 63%, respectively).

About six-in-ten blacks or more - but fewer than half of whites - say blacks are treated less fairly than whites in hiring, pay and promotions; when applying for a loan or mortgage; in stores or restaurants; when voting in elections; and when seeking medical treatment. In each of these realms, whites tend to say blacks and whites are treated about equally; very small shares say whites are treated less fairly than blacks.

Across these different areas, there are gaps ranging from 39 to 53 percentage points in how white Democrats and white Republicans see the treatment of blacks in the U.S. About half or more white Democrats say blacks are treated less fairly than whites in dealing with the police (88% vs. 43% of white Republicans); by the criminal justice system (86% vs. 39%); in hiring, pay and promotions (72% vs. 21%); when applying for a mortgage or loan (64% vs. 17%); in stores or restaurants (62% vs. 16%); when voting in elections (60% vs. 7%); and when seeking medical treatment (48% vs. 9%).

In some of these areas, black and white Democrats express similar views, but larger shares of black Democrats say black people are treated less fairly than whites in employment situations (86%), when applying for a loan or mortgage (78%), in stores or restaurants (73%), and when seeking medical treatment (61%).

Seven-in-ten U.S. adults say they, personally, think it's never acceptable for a white person to use the N-word; 13% say this is rarely acceptable and about one-in-ten say it is always (3%) or sometimes (6%) acceptable for a white person to use the N-word. Roughly seven-in-ten whites and blacks say this is never acceptable.

A smaller share of Hispanics (58%) say it's never acceptable for a white person to use the N-word, but this is driven in part by the relatively large share of foreign-born Hispanics (28%) who say they are not sure whether it's acceptable for a white person to use the N-word. Among Hispanics born in the U.S., 67% say this is never acceptable.

When it comes to black people using the N-word, about four-in-ten adults - including similar shares of blacks and whites - say they, personally, think it is never acceptable; 15% say it is rarely acceptable and about a third say it's always (13%) or sometimes (20%) acceptable for black people to use the N-word.

Most black adults say being black is extremely or very important to how they think about themselves

Blacks are more likely than Hispanics or Asians - and much more likely than whites - to say that their race is central to their identity. About three-quarters of black adults say being black is extremely (52%) or very (22%) important to how they think of themselves; 59% of Hispanics and 56% of Asians say being Hispanic or Asian, respectively, is at least very important to their overall identity, with about three-in-ten in each group saying it's extremely important. In contrast, just 15% of whites say being white is very or extremely important to how they think of themselves; about two-thirds say it's either only a little important (18%) or not important at all (47%).

Whites and blacks younger than 30 are less likely than their older counterparts to say their race is at least very important to their overall identity. Some 64% of black adults ages 18 to 29 say being black is at least very important, compared with roughly three-quarters or more among older age groups. And while relatively few whites across age groups say being white is central to how they think about themselves, whites younger than 30 are among the least likely to say so.

Among Hispanics, those born abroad are more likely than those born in the U.S. to say being Hispanic is at least very important to how they think of themselves (65% vs. 52%).

Majorities of blacks, Hispanics and Asians say they have experienced discrimination because of their race or ethnicity

About three-quarters of blacks and Asians (76% of each) - and 58% of Hispanics - say they have experienced discrimination or have been treated unfairly because of their race or ethnicity at least from time to time. In contrast, about two-thirds of whites (67%) say they've never experienced this.

When asked about specific situations they may have experienced because of their race or ethnicity, blacks are considerably more likely than whites, Hispanics or Asians to say that people have acted as if they were suspicious of them; people have acted as if they thought they weren't smart; they have been treated unfairly by an employer in hiring, pay or promotion; or they have been unfairly stopped by police. Hispanics and Asians are more likely than whites to say each of these have happened to them.

Asians are more likely than any other group to say they have been subject to slurs or jokes because of their race or ethnicity. In turn, more whites than blacks, Hispanics or Asians say people have assumed they were prejudiced or racist; 45% of whites have had this experience.

For Hispanics, skin color is associated with experiences with discrimination

The survey asked black and Hispanic respondents to identify the skin tone that best resembles their own using a modified version of the Massey-Martin scale. A multivariate analysis suggests that Hispanics with darker skin tones are more likely than those with lighter skin to say they have ever experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly because of their race or ethnicity. Darker skin color is also associated with a higher likelihood among Hispanics of saying that - because of their race or ethnicity - people have acted as if they were suspicious of them, people have acted as if they thought they weren't smart, they have been treated unfairly in employment situations, they have subject to slurs or jokes, and that they have feared for their safety.

Among blacks, those with darker skin tones are more likely to say they have experienced racial discrimination generally, but skin color is not necessarily associated with having faced specific situations because of their race or ethnicity. In fact, for blacks, being male and having higher levels of education are more consistently associated with the specific forms of discrimination asked about in the survey.

This report has been corrected to address an error in the classification of Asian respondents. In this corrected report, Asian estimates are based on 332 respondents who self-identified as Asian or Asian American only. An earlier version of this report provided Asian estimates based on 355 respondents, which properly included the 332 single-race Asian respondents but also included 23 respondents who identified as Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander or both Asian and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. This correction did not affect any of the substantive conclusions of the study. Some estimates for Asians changed by 1 to 3 percentage points.

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Juliana Menasce Horowitz, Anna Brown and Kiana Cox

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Most Americans (65%) - including majorities across racial and ethnic groups - say it has become more common for people to express racist or racially insensitive views since Trump was elected president.

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There were more 27-year-olds in the United States than people of any other age in 2018. But for white Americans, the most common age was 58, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data.

In the histogram above, which shows the total number of Americans of each age last year, non-Hispanic whites tend to skew toward the older end of the spectrum (more to the right), while racial and ethnic minority groups - who include everyone except single-race non-Hispanic whites - skew younger (more to the left).

The most common age was 11 for Hispanics, 27 for blacks and 29 for Asians as of last July, the latest estimates available. Americans of two or more races were by far the youngest racial or ethnic group in the Census Bureau data, with a most common age of just 3 years old. Among all racial and ethnic minorities, the most common age was 27.

One reason non-Hispanic whites are disproportionately older than other Americans is that they were the biggest population gainers from the post-World War II baby boom - an era before many of today's minority immigrants entered the country. Whites were the only racial or ethnic group in which Baby Boomers made up a larger share than Millennials in 2018 (26% vs. 20%).

By comparison, nearly six-in-ten minority Americans were Millennials or Generation Z and younger. ( Generation Z begins with those born in 1997, but the Center has not set an official endpoint.)

Non-Hispanic whites constituted a majority (60%) of the U.S. population in 2018, and they were also the oldest of any racial or ethnic group as measured by median age - a different statistic than most common age (mode). Whites had a median age of 44, meaning that if you lined up all whites in the U.S. from youngest to oldest, the person in the middle would be 44 years old. This compares with a median age of just 31 for minorities and 38 for the U.S. population overall.

Racial and ethnic minorities made up 40% of the U.S. population last year, an estimated increase of about 1,271,000 people from 2017. The minority population's growth stands in contrast to the non-Hispanic white population, which declined by about 257,000 between 2017 and 2018.

Americans of two or more races were the youngest racial or ethnic group in the Census Bureau data as measured by median age (21 last year). Multiracial Americans were also the only group where roughly half (53%) belonged to a single generational group - Gen Z and younger. Hispanics under the age of 22 were the second-largest such group but still only represented 38% of all U.S. Hispanics.

U.S. Hispanics were also a notably youthful group, with a median age of 30. As a separate Pew Research Center report noted, Latinos have long been one of the nation's youngest racial or ethnic groups, dating back to at least 1980. Today, the relative youth of Hispanics is driven by the U.S.-born Latino population, nearly three-quarters of whom were Millennials or younger.

Asians were older than most other racial or ethnic groups last year, though not as old as whites. Their median age was 37. The highest shares of Asians are Millennials (27%) and Gen Z and younger (25%).

The median age of black Americans was 34 last year. More than half of blacks were Millennials (24%) and Gen Z and younger (31%), while 20% were Gen Xers and another 20% were Boomers.

Minorities' higher growth rate is expected to continue, and the minority population will likely surpass whites in the next several decades. As of 2015, most Americans under the age of 5 were racial and ethnic minorities, though only by a small margin.
Note: This is an update of a post originally published on July 7, 2016, and written by George Gao, a former associate digital producer.

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The most common age among whites in U.S. is 58 - more than double that of racial and ethnic minorities

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There were more 27-year-olds in the United States than people of any other age in 2018. But for white Americans, the most common age was 58, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data.

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Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project

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As the United States becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, and as companies from Wall Street to Silicon Valley grapple with how to build workforces that reflect these changing demographics, Americans have a complicated, even contradictory, set of views about the impact of diversity and the best way to achieve it. Most say it's a good thing that the country has a diverse population, but many also say this introduces its own set of challenges. And while a majority values workplace diversity, few endorse the idea of taking race or ethnicity into consideration in hiring and promotions, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

When it comes to diversity in the communities where they live, most U.S. adults (66%) - including a majority of those who live in neighborhoods with little diversity - are satisfied with the racial mix in their area. A majority (54%) says children should go to local schools, even if that results in most schools being less diverse. Fewer (42%) say children should go to schools that are racially and ethnically mixed, even if that means some students go to school outside of their local community.

Overall, white, black and Hispanic adults are about equally likely to say it's good that the U.S. population is racially and ethnically mixed, and majorities across these groups say this has had a positive impact on U.S. culture. But black Americans place more value than whites and Hispanics on workplace diversity and school integration.

Opinions on these issues also vary considerably along party lines, with Democrats and those who lean to the Democratic Party more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners to express positive views of the importance and impact of racial and ethnic diversity. This is the case even after taking into account the differences in the racial composition of the two parties.

These are among the key findings on views about diversity from a nationally representative survey of 6,637 U.S. adults conducted online Jan. 22-Feb. 5, 2019, in English and Spanish, using Pew Research Center's American Trends Panel.
These findings are part of a larger survey that also explores Americans' attitudes about race relations and racial inequality and the role of race in people's lives. For more, see "Race in America 2019."
This survey includes an oversample of Asian respondents, for a total sample size of 332 Asians. The sample includes English-speaking Asians only and, therefore, may not be representative of the overall U.S. Asian population (66% of our weighted Asian sample was born in another country, compared with 78% of the U.S. Asian adult population overall).

Despite this limitation, it is important to report the views of Asians on race relations and racial inequality, as well as their personal experiences with racial discrimination, as the U.S. Asian population is growing faster than any other major racial or ethnic group. Measuring the attitudes of Asians on these topics is an important piece in understanding the state of race in America today.

As always, Asians' responses are incorporated into the general population figures throughout this report; data are weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population as a whole. Asians are shown as a separate group when a question was asked of the full sample. Because of the relatively small sample size and a reduction in precision due to weighting, results are not shown separately for Asians for questions that were only asked of a random half of respondents (Form 1/Form 2) or some filtered questions. We are also not able to analyze Asian respondents by demographic categories, such as gender, age or education.

More than half say racial and ethnic diversity is very good for the country

A majority of Americans (57%) say the fact that the U.S. population is made up of people of many different races and ethnicities is a very good thing for the country, and another 20% say this is somewhat good. Small shares say this is somewhat (5%) or very (1%) bad, while 17% say it is neither good nor bad for the country. Similar shares of whites (55%), blacks (59%) and Hispanics (60%) say racial and ethnic diversity is very good for the country.

Whites and blacks with at least a bachelor's degree are more likely than their less educated counterparts to say it's very good for the country to be made up of people of many races and ethnicities. About seven-in-ten whites with a bachelor's degree or more education (69%) say this, compared with 55% of whites with some college and 41% of those with a high school diploma or less education. Among blacks, 80% with at least a bachelor's degree say it's very good that the country is racially and ethnically mixed; a smaller majority of blacks with some college (65%) and 44% of those with less education say the same. The link between education and views of diversity is less clear among Hispanics.

Across party lines, majorities of Democrats and Republicans say it's at least somewhat good that the U.S. population is racially and ethnically mixed, but Democrats are far more likely to say this is a very good thing (71% vs. 39% of Republicans). Among Democrats, whites are more likely than blacks to say diversity is very good for the country (76% vs. 61%); 67% of Hispanic Democrats say the same.

Most see diversity having a positive impact on the country's culture

More than six-in-ten Americans (64%) say the fact that the U.S. population is made up of people of many different races and ethnicities has a positive impact on the country's culture; 12% say it has a negative impact and 23% say it doesn't make much difference. Hispanics (70%) are more likely than whites (64%) and blacks (58%) to say the country's racial and ethnic diversity has a positive impact on the country's culture, although majorities across all three groups say this is the case.

This view is widespread among Democrats, and particularly white and Hispanic Democrats. Fully eight-in-ten white Democrats (84%) and about three-quarters of Hispanic Democrats (76%) say this diversity has a positive impact on U.S. culture, compared with 60% of black Democrats.

Among Republicans, half say the fact that the U.S. population is made up of people of many different races and ethnicities has a positive impact on the country's culture; about one-in-five (21%) say it has a negative impact (29% say it doesn't make a difference).

While most Americans say having a population that is racially and ethnically mixed enhances U.S. culture, views are more negative when the public is asked about the prospect of blacks, Hispanics, Asians and other racial minorities making up a majority of the population (which the U.S. Census Bureau projects will happen by the year 2050). In a separate survey conducted in December 2018, more said having a majority nonwhite population will weaken American customs and values (38%) than said it will strengthen them (30%); 31% said this won't have much of an impact.

Despite generally positive views of diversity, many say it poses challenges for policymakers

A sizable share of Americans (47%) say having a population that is made up of people of many different races and ethnicities makes it harder for policymakers to solve the country's problems; a small share (7%) say it makes it easier for policymakers and 45% say it doesn't make much difference. Whites (52%) are more likely than Hispanics (42%) and blacks (30%) to say the country's diversity makes it harder for policymakers to solve problems.

There are also partisan differences on this question, with Republicans more likely than Democrats to say the country's racial and ethnic diversity poses challenges for policymakers (56% vs. 42%). Democrats are more likely to say it doesn't make much difference in this regard.

Three-quarters of Americans say it is very (49%) or somewhat (26%) important for companies and organizations to promote racial and ethnic diversity in their workplace. Blacks are particularly likely to say this is very important: 67% say this, compared with 52% of Hispanics and 43% of whites. And as is the case in views about the impact diversity has on the country overall, Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to say it's very important for employers to promote racial and ethnic diversity in their workplace (64% of Democrats vs. 29% of Republicans). These partisan differences remain when looking only at those who are white.

While most Americans say it's at least somewhat important for companies and organizations to promote racial and ethnic diversity, only about one-in-four (24%) say that, in addition to their qualifications, a person's race and ethnicity should be considered in decisions about hiring and promotions in order to increase diversity. A majority (74%) says employers should only take a person's qualifications into account when making these decisions, even if it results in less diversity in the workplace.

The view that employers should only take a person's qualifications into account is widespread among whites (78%) and Hispanics (69%); about half of blacks (54%) share this view.

Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to say a person's race and ethnicity shouldn't be a part of hiring and promotion decisions. Even so, majorities of both groups (90% vs. 62%) hold this view. Again, this partisan difference is nearly unchanged among whites.

Whites, blacks differ on the importance of students going to a racially and ethnically mixed school vs. going to a school in their local community

Mandatory busing programs aimed at desegregating schools ended years ago, but the issue of school integration remains a topic of debate in many parts of the country.

Today, more than half of Americans (54%) say students should go to school in their local community, even if it means that most schools are not racially and ethnically mixed; 42% say students should go to schools that are racially and ethnically mixed, even if it means that some students don't go to school in their local community.

Black and white adults have widely different views on this. Most whites (62%) say students should attend schools in their local community, even if most schools are less diverse as a result. In contrast, about seven-in-ten blacks (68%) think students should go to schools that are racially and ethnically mixed, even if they're not in their local community. Hispanics and Asians are about evenly divided on this issue.

Views also differ considerably along party lines, with 73% of Republicans - vs. 41% of Democrats - saying students should go to school in their local community, even if it means most schools are not racially and ethnically mixed. Black Democrats (71%) are far more likely than their white (52%), Hispanic (56%) and Asian (55%) counterparts to say students should go to schools that are racially and ethnically diverse, even if it results in some students not going to their local schools.

About a quarter of Americans wish their local community was more racially and ethnically mixed

Most Americans (66%) are satisfied with the racial mix in the community where they live; 24% wish their community was more racially mixed and 8% wish it was less so.

For whites and Hispanics, views about the racial mix in their community are strikingly consistent regardless of how diverse the community is. In this analysis, diversity is measured in terms of the share of a neighborhood's population in its largest racial or ethnic group. For example, a neighborhood that is 80% white (largest group), 10% Hispanic, 5% black and 5% Asian is considered less diverse than one that is 20% white, 60% Hispanic (largest group), 5% black and 15% Asian. The least diverse neighborhoods are those where 90% or more of the residents are part of the largest racial or ethnic group; the most diverse are neighborhoods where fewer than half of the residents are in the largest group.

About seven-in-ten whites - and about six-in-ten Hispanics - in the most and least diverse neighborhoods say the community where they live is as racially mixed as they'd like it to be. Among blacks, those in the least diverse neighborhoods are less satisfied with the racial mix in their communities.

The vast majority of whites who live in neighborhoods with very little diversity are surrounded by other whites. By contrast, for blacks who live in less diverse areas, their neighborhoods are less likely to be made up predominantly of black residents. Among black respondents, 63% of those in areas where 80% or more are in the largest racial or ethnic group are in majority black communities; 34% are in neighborhoods that are predominantly white. A large share (82%) of Hispanics who live in less diverse neighborhoods reside in predominantly Hispanic communities.

Among whites in the least diverse neighborhoods, Democrats, college graduates and those younger than 30 are less satisfied with their community's racial mix

Outlooks on community diversity vary considerably between white Democrats and white Republicans. Among white Republicans in the least diverse neighborhoods, 80% are satisfied with the amount of racial diversity in their community. White Democrats in this type of neighborhood are more divided: 51% say their community is as racially mixed as they'd like it to be and 45% wish it was more so.

Age and educational attainment are also related to these attitudes: In neighborhoods with little diversity, whites younger than 30 are far less satisfied with the racial mix in their community than older whites. About four-in-ten white young adults in some of the least diverse neighborhoods say their community is as racially mixed as they'd like it to be (43%), while a similar share (45%) wish it was more racially mixed. In contrast, most whites ages 30 to 49 (63%), 50 to 64 (79%) and 65 and older (73%) are satisfied with the racial mix in their community.

Among whites with a bachelor's degree or more education, 38% in the least diverse neighborhoods say they wish their community was more racially mixed than it is; 22% of those with some college and 16% with a high school diploma or less education say the same. Still, at least half in each group say their community is about as racially mixed as they would like it to be.

Relatively few Americans interact a lot with people from other racial and ethnic groups

Most Americans have at least some daily interaction with people who do not share their race or ethnicity, but relatively small shares say they have a lot of interaction. This is particularly the case for whites interacting with racial or ethnic minorities and nonwhites interacting with minority groups other than their own.

About a quarter of white adults say they interact with blacks (25%) and Hispanics (23%) a lot in their day-to-day life. Among blacks, 26% say they have a lot of interaction with people who are Hispanic, while one-in-five Hispanics say they have frequent interaction with people who are black. About one in-ten whites, blacks and Hispanics say they interact with Asians a lot in their daily life.

A majority of Asians (59%) say they have frequent daily interaction with whites, more than the share of blacks (47%) and Hispanics (44%) who say the same. About one-in-four Asians (27%) say they have a lot of interaction with people who are Hispanic and 15% say the same about people who are black.

Asians (48%) are less likely than whites (84%), blacks (68%) and Hispanics (60%) to say they have a lot of interaction with people in their own group. The extent to which Americans interact with various racial or ethnic groups reflects, at least in part, the shares of each group in the population.

About three-in-ten Americans say it would bother them to hear people speak a language other than English in public

Most Americans (70%) say they would not be particularly bothered if they heard people speak a language other than English in a public place, including 47% who say they would not be bothered at all. Still, a sizable share (29%) says this would bother them at least some.

Roughly a third of whites (34%) and about a quarter of blacks (24%) and Asians (24%) say they would be bothered if they heard people speak a language other than English in public; a smaller share of Hispanics (14%) say the same. About two-thirds of Hispanics (68%) say this wouldn't bother them at all, compared with half or fewer whites (41%), blacks (48%) and Asians (50%). Foreign-born Hispanics are more likely than those born in the U.S. to say they would not be bothered at all if they heard someone speak a language other than English in public (76% vs. 61%).

Among whites, reactions vary considerably by age, education and political orientation. Younger whites and those with a bachelor's degree or more education are less likely than their older and less educated counterparts to say they would be bothered by hearing a language other than English in a public place.

Views are even more divided along partisan lines. About six-in-ten white Democrats (58%) - vs. 26% of white Republicans - say this wouldn't bother them at all.

References to whites, blacks and Asians include only those who are non-Hispanic and identify as only one race. Hispanics are of any race.

All references to party affiliation include those who lean toward that party: Republicans include those who identify as Republicans and independents who say they lean toward the Republican Party, and Democrats include those who identify as Democrats and independents who say they lean toward the Democratic Party.

References to college graduates or people with a college degree comprise those with a bachelor's degree or more. "Some college" includes those with an associate degree and those who attended college but did not obtain a degree. "High school" refers to those who have a high school diploma or its equivalent, such as a General Education Development (GED) certificate.

Foreign born refers to people born outside of the United States, Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories to parents neither of whom was a U.S. citizen, regardless of legal status.

U.S. born refers to individuals who are U.S. citizens at birth, including people born in the United States, Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories, as well as those born elsewhere to parents who were U.S. citizens.

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Americans See Advantages and Challenges in Country's Growing Racial and Ethnic Diversity

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As the United States becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, and as companies from Wall Street to Silicon Valley grapple with how to build workforces that reflect these changing demographics, Americans have a complicated, even contradictory, set of views about the impact of diversity and the best way to achieve it.

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How much do people feel that what happens to members of their own racial or ethnic group affects what happens in their own lives? What about what happens to other groups? Known among researchers as "linked fate," this sense of connectedness was originally used to explain persistent Democratic voting bloc patterns among black Americans. More recently it has been used to examine not only how closely connected black Americans feel toward one another, but also connectedness between and among other racial groups.

A recent Pew Research Center survey finds that racial or ethnic group membership, education and partisanship are the most important determinants of linked fate within and across racial groups. For blacks and Hispanics specifically, experiences of discrimination increase the likelihood of saying that what happens to the other group would affect them.

When asked how much what happens to blacks, whites, Hispanics and Asians in the United States affects their own lives, U.S. adults say that what happens to their own racial or ethnic group affects them the most. This is most pronounced among black adults: 44% in this group say that what happens to other blacks impacts their own lives a lot. And it is especially true for black adults with a bachelor's degree or more education, 58% of whom say that what happens to other black people affects them a lot compared with 49% of those with some college and 33% with a high school diploma or less education. There are no gender or age differences among black people in this regard.

Conversely, only about a quarter of whites (23%) say that what happens to other white people in the country affects them a lot. This sense of linked fate with other whites does not vary by gender. However, whites under 30 (30%) are more likely than those ages 50 and older (20%) to say that their fate is closely linked to other white people. Education also matters among whites: Those with at least a bachelor's degree (26%) have a stronger sense of linked fate to other white people than those with no more than a high school diploma (19%). Additionally, white Democrats and those who lean Democratic (28%) are more likely than white Republicans and Republican leaners (20%) to say what happens to other white people affects their own lives a lot.

Among Hispanics, about three-in-ten (28%) say that what happens to other Hispanic people in the U.S. impacts them a lot. This is more likely among Hispanics under 50 (31%) than among those 50 and older (21%). U.S.-born Hispanics (27%) are about as likely as those born outside the U.S. (29%) to express a sense of linked fate with other Hispanics. This sense also does not vary by gender or education.

Likewise, 28% of Asians say that what happens to other Asians in the U.S. affects what happens in their own life a lot. Due to sample limitations, the views of Asians couldn't be analyzed separately by categories such as gender, age or education. (For more information, see " A note about the Asian sample.")

Views of linked fate across racial and ethnic groups

When it comes to a sense of linked fate across groups, no more than 20% of any one racial or ethnic group feels that what happens to any other group impacts them a lot, although more substantial shares say what happens to other groups affects their own lives some. For example, more than four-in-ten white (43%), Hispanic (46%) and Asian (49%) adults say what happens to black people affects them at least some.

White adults with a bachelor's degree or more education are more likely than whites with less education to say what happens to black (51% vs. 40%), Hispanic (47% vs. 39%) and Asian (36% vs. 28%) people in this country affects what happens in their own life.

Similarly, black people with at least a bachelor's degree have a stronger sense of linked fate to whites (60% vs. 44%) and Hispanics (59% vs. 46%) than their less educated counterparts. Black adults with some college experience (40%) are also more likely than those with a high school diploma or less education (28%) to express a sense of linked fate with Asians. Education is not associated with how strongly connected Hispanic adults feel toward black or Asian people. However, 54% of Hispanics with a bachelor's degree or more education say that what happens to white people will affect their own lives, compared with 43% of Hispanics with less education.

A sense of linked fate is also shared among blacks and Hispanics when members of both racial and ethnic groups have experienced racial discrimination. Black people who experience racial discrimination at least from time to time (55%) are more likely than those who do not (30%) to say that what happens to Hispanics will impact their lives at least some. They are also more likely (38%) than blacks who do not experience discrimination (21%) to report that what happens to Asians will impact them.

Similarly, among Hispanics, those who experience racial discrimination (56%) are more likely to say their fate is at least somewhat linked to that of black people than those who have not (31%). They are also more likely to express at least some sense of linked fate with Asians (33%) than those who do not experience discrimination (22%). Blacks (53%) and Hispanics (52%) who experience racial discrimination are also more likely than those who do not (29% and 35%, respectively) to express a sense of linked fate with whites to at least some extent.

Among whites, partisanship is another key factor in cross-racial linked fate. White Democrats (50%) are more likely than white Republicans (38%) to say that what happens to blacks will impact their personal lives at least some. The same is true for whites' sense of linked fate with Asians (38% of Democrats vs. 25% of Republicans) and Hispanics (48% of Democrats vs. 37% of Republicans).

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Most U.S. adults feel what happens to their own racial or ethnic group affects them personally

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How much do people feel that what happens to members of their own racial or ethnic group affects what happens in their own lives? What about what happens to other groups? Known among researchers as "linked fate," this sense of connectedness was originally used to explain persistent Democratic voting bloc patterns among black Americans.

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Racial and ethnic minorities accounted for 20% of all public elementary and secondary school teachers in the United States during the 2015-16 school year, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). That makes teachers considerably less racially and ethnically diverse than their students - as well as the nation as a whole.

By comparison, 51% of all public elementary and secondary school students in the U.S. were nonwhite in 2015-16, the most recent year for which NCES has published data. And 39% of all Americans were racial or ethnic minorities that year, according to U.S. Census Bureau population estimates. (Younger Americans are a more racially and ethnically diverse group than older people.)

Nonwhite teachers not only were sharply outnumbered by white teachers in America's classrooms, they also tended to work in different school environments, the NCES data show. For example, 31% of teachers in city schools were nonwhite, versus just 11% of teachers in rural schools - a reflection of the broader racial and ethnic makeup of America's communities. And while nonwhite teachers accounted for 29% of the total in public charter schools, their share was considerably lower in traditional public schools (19%).

Larger shares of teachers were nonwhite at schools with more nonwhite students, while the reverse was true for schools with more white students. For instance, nonwhites made up 55% of teachers in schools where at least 90% of students were nonwhite. By comparison, across schools where at least 90% of students were white, nearly all teachers (98%) also were white. This is similar to the experience for students: Many students go to schools where at least half of their peers are their race or ethnicity. (A recent article by the Brookings Institution argued that students benefit from a diverse teacher workforce so nonwhite teachers should be more evenly distributed.)

In addition, considerable shares of teachers were nonwhite in schools with higher percentages of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. (Such eligibility is often used as a proxy measure for lower household income.) Nonwhites represented 34% of teachers in schools where at least three-quarters of students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. In schools where a quarter or fewer students were eligible, just 11% of teachers were nonwhite.

While only one-in-five of America's public school teachers today are nonwhite, this share has increased since the 1987-88 school year (the earliest with comparable data), when about 13% of teachers were nonwhite. Hispanic and Asian teachers have accounted for much of the growth during that span. While the number of black teachers also has increased since the late '80s, the share of black teachers has declined.

In the past 30 years, Hispanic teachers have overtaken blacks as the second-largest racial or ethnic group among U.S. public school teachers. In 1987-88, there were about three times as many black public school teachers (191,000) as Hispanic teachers (69,000). Since then, the number of Hispanic teachers increased about fivefold to 338,000, while the number of black teachers increased by 34%, to 256,000. And while Hispanics still account for just 9% of teachers overall, they have accounted for a sizable share (18%) of the growth in teachers since 1987-88.

The share of Asian public school teachers has also grown steadily. Between 1987-88 and 2015-16, the number of Asian teachers roughly quadrupled, from 21,000 to 86,000. (Broadly, the Asian and Hispanic populations in the U.S. have grown dramatically in recent decades. In fact, they were the nation's first and second fastest-growing racial or ethnic groups between 2015 and 2016.)

Meanwhile, the pattern in racial and ethnic diversity among principals is similar to that of teachers. Nonwhites made up 20% of U.S. public school principals in 2015-16, a share that has grown since 1987-88, according to another NCES survey. Much of this growth can again be attributed to Hispanics and Asians, who have both doubled in number. Though Hispanics and Asians still account for very small shares of all principals (8% and 1%, respectively), they accounted for much of the growth among principals since 1987-88.

Growth in racial and ethnic diversity has been much faster among U.S. students than among both teachers and principals in recent years. During the 1986-87 school year (the earliest year with comparable data), three-in-ten students were nonwhite, but that share increased sharply over the next three decades. Growth has been especially fast among Hispanic students, from 10% of students in 1986-87 to 26% in 2015-16.

It's worth pointing out that U.S. public school teachers look different from students not just in terms of race and ethnicity, but in terms of gender. In 2015-16, roughly three-quarters of all elementary and secondary teachers were women, while students are nearly evenly split between boys and girls.

For this analysis, "nonwhite" in the 1986-87 and 1987-88 school years includes blacks, Hispanics and Asians (including Pacific Islanders), as well as Native Americans and Alaska natives. Due to methodological changes in NCES data, "nonwhite" in 2015-16 also includes people of two or more races, while Pacific Islanders were counted in a separate category from Asians.

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Public school teachers much less racially diverse than students in US

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Racial and ethnic minorities accounted for 20% of all public elementary and secondary school teachers in the United States during the 2015-16 school year, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). That makes teachers considerably less racially and ethnically diverse than their students - as well as the nation as a whole.

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“Where does one culture begin and another end when they are housed in the same person?" -Nayantara Sahgal

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“Where does one culture begin and another end when they are housed in the same person?" -Nayantara Sahgal