Multiracial Movement Suicide? Part 1

Sometimes I wonder if the academics ever get tired of taking pot-shots at me, but then I remember they have to “publish or perish” and I stop wondering for a little while. I had been putting off reading one of the latest, “’Founding Mothers:’ White Mothers of Biracial Children in the Multiracial Movement (1979-2000),” a thesis by Alicia Doo Castagno. It’s all over the Internet, just google the author.

I agreed to two telephone interviews for this thesis. She must have asked me on a day when I wanted to set the record straight from another academic’s misquotes and inaccurate portrayals of me.

It turns out that it was really helpful for Alicia that I agreed to be interviewed because her other two interviewees were the following:

1.     Mandy (no last name) who wasn’t a “founding mother” that I know of, but was the mother of an adopted multiracial child and went to a play group.

2.     Anonymous interviewee—I-Pride. Really? Yes, and Anonymous answered six questions, but guessed at most of the brief answers.

I remember when students and academics used to really be accountable. They strove for accuracy and integrity. They welcomed interviews with credible people and using anonymous sources was simply not acceptable. Then came the multiracial advocacy academics and their poor, unsuspecting students.

Alicia misquoted me throughout the thesis, but just as bad, she drew conclusions out of thin air, added old debunked stories for effect, and even added her own emphasis to my already misquoted quotes. I managed to read through it and even laugh at a few completely erroneous items. However, there is one such “item” that has wound its way around multiracial mythology and makes such a juicy tidbit that no one wants to let it go.

Look! Here it is again on page 80 of young Alicia’s paper:

Unlike [Rainier] Spencer, Kim M. Williams does not criticize multiracial identity politics. She does, however, specifically lambast Graham:

Susan Graham did not respond to the [anti-multiracial] NAACP address, probably because she held out hope that, through the “Tiger Woods Bill” (H.R. 830), she had found a way to avoid dealing with the venerated civil rights organization altogether. (At her home in 1998, I noticed a photograph of Graham and Newt Gignrich (sic) on the living room wall…)

I will say it one last time for the slower academics among you: I have never had a picture of Newt Gingrich in any home I have ever lived in. Period.

Kim Williams may have become confused by a photo I do have in my office, which shows 18 people at our bill signing in 1993 in Georgia with former Governor, Zell Miller. I believe he had a bigger desk than Newt Gingrich at the time. Oh, and they look nothing alike! Anyway, it’s right next to the framed letter I received from President Bill Clinton, dated October 12, 1995.

Kim Williams was also very, very angry at me because she wanted free-access to look through all the Project RACE files and copy whatever she liked. During the mid-nineties there was a lot of CONFIDENTIAL

Information passed back and forth between multiracial groups’ leaders, policy-makers, legislators, etc. When something is marked CONFIDENTIAL, I go out of my way to see that it is kept CONFIDENTIAL. Perhaps Williams made up the “Newt Gingrich Fairy Tale” because she was upset with the confidential way I do business.  

Stay tuned for Part 2.

-Susan Graham

Multiracial Myths and The Multiracial Advocate

The article below appeared in The Seattle Times yesterday, which is usually one of the more credible newspapers in the country. Not this time. A columnist interviewed an academic, who apparently included me in a book she wrote, although she never spoke to me, so they apparently both are guilty of not fact-checking. The author said I had my young son testify before Congress, so that he did not have to identify as black. Huh?! Oh that crazy old misinformed notion.

We testified so that people who wanted to recognize their entire heritage could do so. Yes, we were asking the government to give up that old one-drop rule once and for all. The author apparently wants to hold on to it, since she refers to herself as a mixed-race African American, which says to me that she is still not willing to give up the one-drop rule that she accuses me of perpetuating. As far as the columnist goes, he just needs to be replaced with a real journalist.  

The academics and their vocal mouthpieces really do need to get a new rant. If they could only give up old tales about white mothers of multiracial children, perhaps they could see reality.-Susan Grahamhicsaystome that she is still not willing to give up the one-drop rule that she accuses me of perpetuating. As far as the columnist goes, he just needs to be replaced with a real journalist.  

he mics and their vocal mouthpieces really do need to get a new . If they could only give up old tales about white women of multiracial children, perhaps they could see reality. 

Mixed race in a world not yet post-racial

The increase in the nation’s mixed-racepopulation is not a sign that the U.S. is post-racial.

By Jerry Large

Seattle Times staff columnist

Populations of humans have always been mixing genes, but we still have trouble with the concept.

Two recent books by University of Washington professors address what mixed means in America, particularly examining the period between the Census Bureau’s decision in the late 1990s to allow people, beginning in 2000, to choose more than one race, and the election of Barack Obama in 2008. Both books say something about how mixed race as a category is sometimes used to further marginalize African Americans.

“Troubling the Family: The Promise of Personhood and the Rise of Multiracialism,” by Habiba Ibrahim, an assistant professor of English, is written largely for an academic audience.

“Transcending Blackness: From the New Millennium Mulatta to the Exceptional Multiracial,” is written by Ralina Joseph, associate professor in the Department of Communications.

Both are important works, but today I’m going to focus on Joseph’s book, which is also scholarly, but written with the general reader in mind.

We’re not post-racial yet, Joseph told me when we talked over coffee this week, and more mixing isn’t getting us there, because we haven’t shaken old ways of categorizing people. The combination of black and white, weighted with centuries of racism, raises the most issues.

Joseph noted the census change was most notably championed by Susan Graham, a white mother who wanted her son to be able to mark down multiracial, and, Joseph said, “had her young son testify before Congress, so that he did not have to identify as black.”
Joseph said a mother could correctly assume being black would make life more difficult for her child. She noted the volumes of data that show how deeply race affects life chances in America.
She mentioned the investigation of Seattle Public Schools’ disproportionately heavy suspensions and expulsions of black students.

But seeing multiracial as a separate category, a way of transcending blackness, is not a step forward, and it isn’t racially neutral, Joseph said. It is, instead, a new use of old concepts, an affirmation that blackness is something to escape.

Embracing all parts of a mixed heritage is a more positive act than migrating to a new category. Joseph calls herself a mixed-race African American. “One can’t think about one’s own identity choices without thinking about power realities.”

In the book, she writes that mixing generated the first race laws. The first anti-miscegenation law was passed in Maryland in 1661 as a response to black and white and Native-American pairings, and it was all about power. It was the beginning of laws that set white people apart, and above, others across the Colonies.

And, as the institution of slavery grew, white men could have sex with enslaved black women — but without marriage, the children who resulted inherited no land, no money, no power.

The African-American community has long been multiracial, ranging from milky skin and green eyes to deep chocolate, but to be counted as white still requires “purity.” It’s a protected status.

Joseph’s parents were married in Washington, D.C., in 1972, then lived in Virginia. The Supreme Court’s decision in Loving v. Virginia had struck down laws against black-white marriages only five years before.

The parents never talked with their children about race. Joseph looked for images of people like herself in magazines and on television.

In the book, she examines portrayals of mixed-race black people in books, magazines, television and other media, and finds that often two old patterns recur.

In one pattern, the mixed person, usually a woman, is troubled, torn, wild. She analyzes the sad girl in the movie “Mixing Nia,” and Jennifer Beals’ bad-girl character on “The L Word.”

In the other pattern, the multiracial person is seen as elevated above stereotypes about blackness. That “exceptional multiracial” category would include Tiger Woods before his fall and President Obama, she said. The “exceptional multiracial” is enough proof for some people that we have arrived at a post-racial time, or that with a little more mixing we soon will.

We haven’t, but Joseph sees some bright spots in the portrayal of mixed-race black people, and black people in general, especially because of the opportunities online media offer.

She mentioned the comedy duo Key & Peele, and the Web show “Totally Biased,” whose star W. Kamau Bell exhibits a type of black masculinity we don’t often see in other media. He’s a big man with an Afro, a white wife and a mixed child, and who is anti-homophobic and acknowledges America’s rich diversity. Joseph also likes the Web series, “The Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl.”

Maybe when her two children grow up, they won’t have to look so hard for positive reflections of their reality.
Source: The Seattle Times/Jerry Large

New Project RACE Advisory Member!

We are honored and thrilled to announce a new Project RACE Advisory Board Member. Barbara Showalter, MD earned her medical degree at UC San Francisco, and did her family practice residency in Merced, California, where she continues to work as a family doctor. 

She has worked with people from many cultural backgrounds, and enjoys learning languages and interpreting medical jargon into English. She has volunteered in community groups that have worked with medical issues, with building strong communities (working to decrease violence and bullying), and with youth activities.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Showalter to our Project RACE family.

"It's easier to be a good writer than it is to be a great writer and a great advocate."
                                                  Susan Graham
                                                  Founder and Executive Director
                                                  Project RACE 

Project RACE Grandparents!

We are delighted to introduce our membership to Freda Brown, President of our newest division, Project RACE Grandparents! “I am excited to become a part of the great work that Project RACE is doing on behalf of multiracial people,” Freda said.  “I am richly blessed to have three very talented, beautiful and kind multiracial grandchildren and am proud of their heritage and thankful for their individuality.” 

Freda lives in New Hope, Minnesota and actually enjoys the cold weather there. In addition to multiracial advocacy, her interests include arts and crafts, reading, and nature walks. She also loves playing computer games, which helps make her a pretty fun Grandma. But her favorite pastime is visiting her grandkids… naturally!

Help the Multiracial Advoacy!

The competition to win a chase community grant is happening now!

VOTE NOW, VOTE OFTEN, AND HELP MULTIRACIAL CHILDREN. Vote for Project RACE between September 6th and September 19th.

To vote on Facebook, log onto your Facebook account and go to:

https://www.facebook.com/ChaseCommunityGiving

Search for Project RACE and VOTE!

If you are a Chase customer, you can also vote at the Chase Giving site:

https://www.chasegiving.com

Log on with your account information and Project RACE gets TWO votes!

Advisory Board Additions to The Multiracial Advocacy Blog

Additions to Advisory Board: Project RACE and The Multiracial Advocacy Blog

We are very pleased to announce two new members of our advisory board. They are both remarkable women who have made many contributions to multiracial families. Please help welcome Kelly Baldwin and Cherrye S. Vasquez, PhD.

Kelly Baldwin earned her MBA and worked in athlete representation, sports marketing, and as a motivational speech writer before deciding to stay home to raise her three wonderful multiracial children and on make a difference in causes that are important to her. She was introduced to Project RACE when her eldest daughter, Kayci became president of Project RACE Teens in 2006. In addition to multiracial advocacy, Kelly and her husband of 23 years Keith reside in New Jersey and are active in ministry and are project coordinators with HOPE worldwide, overseeing several U.S. service projects as well as serving in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti.

Cherrye S. Vasquez is a public school administrator and an adjunct professor. She is a Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum & Instruction; a Master of Education in Special Education; and a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Pathology/Audiology. Vasquez specializes in Multi-cultural education and holds certifications in Early Childhood Handicapped, Mid-Management and Educational Diagnostician. Vasquez spends time writing and marketing her books that center on her platform topics: Diversity and Bullying issues along with managing her business: Books That Sow: Strength, Character & Diversity, DBA She lives in Houston with her husband, Roy and her daughter, Kelly.

Susan Graham Discusses Project Race 08/15 by Mixed Race Radio | Blog Talk Radio

This is MIXED RACE RADIO presentation for Wednesday, August 15, 2012, featuring the Executive Director of Project RACE, Susan Graham.

Susan Graham Discusses Project Race 08/15 by Mixed Race Radio | Blog Talk Radio

Get a Project RACE T-shirt!

We have a limited quantity of popular Project RACE t-shirts available in some sizes! See the front page of our website at www.projectrace.com to view a photo. For a $25 (tax deductible) donation, you can own one of these unique t-shirts! Please contact us prior to ordering at projectrace@projectrace.com to be certain we can reserve your size requirements.

ANNOUNCEMENT! Multiracial Advocacy News!

ANNOUNCING THE LAUNCH OF PROJECT RACE KIDS AND A NEW PROJECT RACE TEENS PRESIDENT!

We are very pleased to announce the launch of Project RACE Kids with President Karson Baldwin! We will dearly miss Project RACE Teens current President, Kendall Baldwin, and wish her the best as she leaves us to attend Harvard. We are equally as excited about the new Teens President, Olivia Mukendi!

Launch parties are taking place on the East Coast and the West Coast today--so let's get started and check here soon and often for more news!

Announcing Project RACE Kids!

Announcing Project RACE Kids!

Project RACE Kids is almost ready to go! The official launch is July 15, 2012. We have a surprise for you! Karson Baldwin has been named president of Project RACE Kids. Karson and his mother, Kelly, will be on Mixed Race Radio at  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/defaultpii2-5on WEDNESDAY, JULY 11th at noon until 12:45 EST. Below is Karson’s very professional bio:

Karson Baldwin has grown up with Project RACE (his oldest sister became President of Teen Project RACE when Karson was just 4 years old) and starting PR Kids was his great idea! “I wanted to be a part of Project RACE Teens, but I’m not a teen yet. So, I asked if we could start an organization and website for all us multiracial kids,” he said. Karson is a great student and loves to research all kinds of things. He has worked as an actor and model appearing in catalogs, commercials, movies and t.v. shows. He plays basketball every day and is a NBA and NCAA hoops fanatic. One of his proudest moments came earlier this year when he shot the game winning buzzer beater from half court!

We are very excited about Karson and Project RACE Kids! Kids ages 8 to 12 now have a safe place to talk about everything multiracial! Join us.