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Multiracialism is an ideology which emerged from a system of racial categorization that historically only acknowledged monoracial or single-race individuals as legitimate members of society. This ideology strives to emphasize that societies are increasingly composed of multiracial individuals, and champions the realities of those who do not fit into a society's clear-cut notions of race. Multiracialism attempts to accomplish these aims while also recognizing that race is a social and political construct. This was particularly salient in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries where the emergence of a growing multiracial population was seen as a dire threat to theories of racial science, a defunct pseudo science which served as the basis for understanding the human race for decades.

Furthermore, multiracialism can be applied as a framework to understand identity formation in multiracial populations. Multiracialism explores the tendency for multiracial individuals to identify with a third category of 'mixed-ness' as opposed to being a fully-accepted member of multiple racial groups. Thus, multiracialism does not merely describe how multiracial identities form, but instead, focuses on what this formation means in the context of oppressive histories and attempted cultural erasure.

Multiracialism has manifested itself in different ways across cultural identities, historical moments, and social norms; thus, the meaning of what it is to be multiracial has changed in these climates as well. As a result, multiracialism is often used to critique the continuation of race as a means of social categorization given that race is constructed, serves systems of oppression, and overlooks large populations that fall within these categorizations.

Conceptual History

Current article-- copied from Multiracialism

In the United States, the federal agency, or Office of Management & Budget are the ones who determine racial and ethnic classifications.^{[citation needed]} Examples of racial groups in the United States: White, Black, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian or Pacific Islander and Hispanic. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Bureau of Census adopted its racial classification scheme that showed that approximately 10 percent of Americans considered themselves non-white, and of that group, nearly all considered themselves as black. Since then, things have changed such as the notion of race due to an increase in intermarriage, and an increase in the growth of the Asian American and multiethnic Latino American populations. This resulted in one out of four Americans considering themselves White, Black, Asian, and/or Latino American.^{[citation needed]}

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As argued by King et al. in Global Mixed Race, racial mixing and the subsequent experiences of multiracial individuals have existed for centuries. It is common practice for the emergence of multiracial identities to be conflated with the legalization of miscegenation. The repeal of anti-miscegenation laws has been a relatively recent historical occurrence-- as seen through America removing its last law prohibiting interracial marriage in 1967-- but the existence of multiracial individuals globally did not start with the decriminalization of interracial marriages. Instead, the emergence and growth of multiracial populations can be attributed to global and transnational phenomenon such as changes in trade patterns and migration flows as a result of historical events, colonization, or globalization.

Furthermore, nations interact with the global community within different contexts and to varying extents; subsequently, their manifestation of multiracialism, in conjunction with the growth of their multiracial population, will be unique from other societies. This is particularly relevant when considering race as a social and political construct, one which was developed to more easily distribute resources and determine status within societies. Thus, the nature of race as a construct leads to racial ideals adopting additional or contrary meaning across different societies. But these formulations of meaning associated with racial groups exist in flux within societies. Increased opportunities for interracial relationships and interaction are often attributed to what Small and King-O’Riain would call tenants of globalization, which provide opportunities for racial learning and less a hegemonic understanding of unfamiliar racial groups. Small and King-O’Riain contend that globalization has opened new avenues for increasing hybridity and social acceptance of multiracial identity while recognizing that the nature of race as a construct means that these global conversations on racial ideals will ultimately manifest themselves differently across local contexts.

Asia

South America

Brazil

The colonial history of Brazil established the system of racial stratification present in the nation today. Colonial ties to Portugal provided the opportunity for European racial ideals to enter Brazil and establish Eurocentric racial projects. One of the most impactful social influences established by Portugal was the incorporation of Brazil into the African slave trade. This industry was extensive, leading Brazil to be considered one of the two largest slaveholding nations in the Americas with records showing that Brazil imported ten times as many slaves as America. Not only did these circumstances lead to the circulation of racial ideology, but they also constructed a unique racial distribution within Brazil.

Despite a lack of data during the early colonial period, scholars widely accept that white settlers in Brazil made up a minority of the population throughout this era. For example, the white population in Brazil only amounted to merely one third of the population in 1600 and estimates show that by 1798 there were thought to be around 1,000,000 white Brazilians, 1,500,000 slaves, 225,000 Freed Coloreds (typically of mixed heritage), and 250,000 Native Americans out of a population of 3 million.

And as the number of Africans in Brazil increased, they began to supplement and then replace the Native American labor force (Daniel). These three populations were placed within a racial hierarchy established around a Euro-centrist agenda; the particular system implemented in Brazil was known as the ternary racial project (link), which was popularized by anthropologist Gilberto Freyre. This system was established in order to validate the nation’s extensive miscegenation practices, creating three categories of classification: white, multiracial, and black. Brazil never passed anti-miscegenation laws, and instead, viewed miscegenation as a means to slowly whiten the Brazilian population.

In line with this agenda, social status in Brazil was not exclusively determined by race; instead, it was, and is still mostly, based off of physical appearances in conjunction with class and cultural determinants. By creating a third category in the ternary system, multiracial individuals were given more vertical social mobility than Brazilians of African decent. However, multiracial identities were further stratified, with the order of desirability being as follows: mamelincos (European and Native American), mulatto (European with either Native American or African), and catusos (Native American and African); wherein mamelincos and mullato identities had more opportunities for mobility than those of catusos heritage.

Further effects of the ternary system are seen in how Brazilian slave holders incorporated the population of Freed Coloreds, typically mulattos, as enforcers of the racial hierarchy. By buying into the enforcement of the status quo, multiracial individuals were emplacing themselves in this system-- both as superior to black Brazilians and complacent as second-class citizens to white Brazilians. This is further evidenced through what is known as the “mulatto escape hatch”, wherein individuals who were visibility of mixed heritage would be granted situational permission to identify as white due to their talents and assets such as education level. By employing this social strategy in the context of the ternary system, Brazilian elites were able to effectively keep the most outspoken and skilled multiracial individuals from critiquing the unequal status quo. Due to the operation of this racialized system, it became favorable for Brazilians to link themselves to Native American or European heritages while simultaneously distancing themselves from African descendancy.

Identity formation in Brazil although deeply rooted in the nation’s colonial past has and continues to be confronted and changed. Evidence of this is seen in the 1970s through Brazil’s Black Movement, as well as the counter movement in 2001 known as Brazil’s Multiracial Movement. These incidents among other modern developments in Brazilian politics have led to the shifting of racial discourse in the nation.

Interviews conducted by the National Public Radio (NPR) in 2019 consulted Brazilians on their experiences with multiracialism in their nation and how this impacts self-identification. The focus of the report was on the affirmative action mandate established as federal law in Brazil during 2014. This policy established a quota wherein 20% of students accepted to federal universities as well as 20% of all employed hired to civil service jobs must be black. By establishing benefits in the form of increased quality of education and financial security, the government of Brazil has effectively provided the population with an incentive to claim African heritage. And with such an extensive history of multiracial descendancy, it is difficult to visually determine whether an applicant is actually of African decent. Thus, each individual who indicates black on these applications must be verified by the anti-fraud commission and determined to be black based upon facial features-- a process which is informed by Brazilian society’s tendency to prioritize appearance over heritage in terms of identity formulation.

Interpreting Multiracial Identity

Current article-- copied from Multiracialism

The motivational basis for this behavior is varied, starting from socialization, private philosophy, to, Sexual orientation, biological (phenomenal). Throughout history, there have been mixed marriages, and unions, occurring between different racial and ethnic groups. Before 1970, it was less likely for interracial marriages to occur and most people wanted to marry within their group. However miscegenation has long occurred within the individual races due to slavery, the inadequacy of race labels applied by the United States Census and covert common law marriages. Throughout the past thirty years, interracial marriages have tripled. There are many advantages and disadvantages to growing up with a multiracial background. Children growing up in a multiracial family can sometimes face issues with identity formulation and classification. An important aspect in the lives of multiracial children is the way they are labeled by themselves, their families, and society. By being classified and labeled, this provides children with a sense of self–empowerment and self-determination.

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