Children of mixed-race parents face more difficulties than those from a similar race. Biracial children are born from parents who come from two distinctive races. These children face the challenges of racial identity where they are forced to conform to a one race and neglect the other. Therefore, this article seeks to expound on the primary causes of their problems, the effects of negative experiences they face, and strategies to improve conditions for biracial children.
Primary Causes of Problems for Biracial Children
Social identity helps society classify one with various characteristics; however, being biracial poses a challenge to them. Biracial or multiracial children may face pressure to conform to one ethnic identity and dismiss or denounce the other (Weaver & Block, (2020). In the past, one’s race determined how one would be treated as their skin color gave them their social identity. White people were considered top priority where they were primarily landowners, while the Blacks were enslaved. Parents with multiracial children find it hard to socialize with their children in society. They must equip their children for the societal obstacles that their racial ancestry may bring. At times the child may pass as white, and therefore they will be given some privilege, unlike black children. Thus, the child may be forced to dismiss their black heritage due to those privileges.
Multiracial children also face victimization in school, especially from their peers. Biracial children and adolescents are subjected to peer victimization due to their skin color (Hong et al., 2022). Racist slurs, negative cultural references, and race-based teasing are all common among these children. Their peers believe they are a mistake as there are from the other races. Because their peers perceive the biracial youngster ass white, they think that it will be okay to make racially insensitive comments that are insulting to their black ancestry. Thus, the child is demoralized as they think part of their identity is not being respected.
Biracial children face systemic racism due to their mixed ethnic background. Systemic racism occurs when unequal opportunities or services are provided to all members of society (Banaji et al., 2021). It is hard for a rigid society to put biracial children in a box; therefore, these people suffer from social exclusion or isolation. The majority of these youngsters are discriminated against in both public and private organizations. Several institutions do not allow multiracial children to fill out demographic forms with more than one race. Therefore, these children end up missing out on opportunities in these institutions.
The Effects of Negative Experiences on Biracial Children
Racially mixed children experience adverse effects due to systematic racism that often causes them to be victimized. Low self-esteem, depression, poor metabolic control, cardiovascular disease, and obesity are all common outcomes of racial prejudice (Choi, K. H., and Reichman, N. E., 2019). Racists’ slurs toward children often demoralize their self-perception, thus diminishing their self-worth. These children will sometimes be spit on, physically harmed, or frequently wrongly profiled by the police. Such acts could cause trauma which, if not mitigated early enough, could cause depression and anxiety. In severe cases, depression and anxiety could lead to suicide.
Strategies to Improve Conditions for Biracial Children
Various strategies could be adopted to help biracial children overcome their negative experiences. Biracial parents could strive to help their children create healthy identities (Do & Countryman, 2008). Identity formation is a process that often evolves around reflection and observation where an individual contemplates how others perceive them and how they view themselves. Therefore, parents with biracial children could help them find their identity in society by explaining their ancestry. This will help the children appreciate their origin, thus, giving them the confidence to stand proud as a unique group.
The government could introduce multicultural education into the school curriculum. Multicultural education is a reform movement aimed at changing the academic organizations so that students from diverse cultural and racial backgrounds share a common outlook on life and exploit various opportunities in those institutions (Slamet et al., 2021). Multicultural education helps students appreciate the mixed races in the school system. Students will learn that people come from various works of life, and therefore it would be wrong to discriminate against one due to their race. Understanding diversity will also help reduce the racist slurs often directed at biracial children. Introducing multicultural education in the school curriculum will also influence the government to raise the biracial option in school form. Therefore, these children will be given a chance to exploit opportunities awarded to other races.
Potential Opposing Viewpoints
However, some studies have dispelled the allegation that biracial children face challenges compared to children from parents of similar races. Research found that children raised with a legitimate multiracial or diverse identity are often happy than minors raised with a particular ethinicity (American Academy of Children & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2016). Children with parents of white and Asian ancestry are at an advantage compared to those from the Asian community. They often pass as whites, and thus society will disregard their Asian origin. They will not be classified with other minority groups, and therefore they will get to enjoy opportunities and privileges meant for white people.
In conclusion, biracial children encounter various challenges, unlike children from parents with a similar racial origin. At most, they are wrongly profiled by society and forced to choose one racial identity at the expense of the other. This is detrimental to them as their perception often changes to fit society’s view of themselves. Therefore, parents with biracial children should help them create their own identity that helps them stand out as a unique group compared to other races.
References
American Academy of Children & Adolescent Psychiatry. (2016). Multiracial children. https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFFGuide/Multiracial-Children-071.aspx
Banaji, M., Fiske, S., & Massey, D. (2021). Systemic racism: individuals and interactions, institutions and society. Cognitive Research: Principles And Implications, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-021-00349-3
Choi, K. H., and Reichman, N. E. (2019). The health of biracial children in two-parent families in the United States. Demographic Research, 41(98), 197-230.
Do, R. H. and Countryman, J. (2008). Biracial identity development and recommendations in therapy. Psychiatry, 5(11), 37–44.
Hong, J. S., Yan, Y., Espelage, D. L., Tabb, K. M., Caravita, S. C., & Voisin, D. R. (2022). Peer victimization and adverse psychosocial wellbeing of Black/White biracial adolescents: Is ease of talking with family a protective buffer? School Psychology Review, 1-14. DOI: 10.1080/2372966X.2022.2034474
Slamet, S., Agustiningrum, M., Soelistijanto, R., Handayani, D., Widiastuti, E., & Hakasi, B. (2021). The Urgency of Multicultural Education for Children. Universal Journal Of Educational Research, 9(1), 60-66. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2021.090107
Weaver, J. Block, A. M. (2020). Identity development in biracial children: contextual factors from social work keystone. Journal of Undergraduate Research 7(1): 13-22. 2020
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