Multiracial Families

Definition

Multiracial families are those consisting of parents of different races and their biracial/multiracial offspring. Within the realm of the interracial family literature, however, there has been disagreement as to the meaning of the term multiracial. Some theorists assert that the term should be used only to describe a family composed of more than one race (e.g., a multiracial family), stating that offspring of interracial marriages have only two racial heritages (i.e., they are biracial). Others have used it to describe both families and individuals, asserting that children of a monoracial parent and a biracial parent or of two biracial parents may identity with more than two races and, therefore, would consider themselves to be multiracial. Furthermore, parents of the same race who adopt a child outside of their race also comprise multiracial families. It is important to note that multiracial families are determined by the race, not the ethnicities, of their members.

Historical Perspective

Political and federal policy changes have caused an increase in the number of interracial unions and, thereby, multiracial families, in the United States. Before 1967, 16 states still deemed it unlawful to marry outside one's racial group. Following the Supreme Court ruling of the case Loving v. Virginia, which overturned the last antimiscegenation law, the prevalence of interracial marriages increased substantially. Approximately 13% of marriages in the United States include persons of different races, and interracial marriage rates for Asians and Latinos/as are [Page 1234]nearly 3 times that of Blacks and 5 times that of Whites. In fact, by the late 1990s, more than 30% of Asian or Latino/a individuals had spouses of another race (most often White). Such changes have caused a considerable increase in the population of biracial children and multiracial families in the United States.

According to the 2000 Census, there are nearly 7 million self-identified biracial and multiracial people. Of those responders who reported a multiracial background, 93% reported two races, 6% reported three races, and 1% reported three or more races. Overall, approximately 1 in 40 persons identify as multiracial, and by the year 2050, it is estimated that 1 in 5 people will identify as multiracial.

Policy changes throughout the past several decades also have changed the face of adoption, permitting more in-country transracial and international transracial adoptions and increasing the number of multiracial families in the United States. Large numbers of interracial adoption placements began in the 1940s with a growing prevalence of international adoptions. Adoptions of Black children by White parents were not as prevalent during the 1940s and 1950s, but they grew in number during the 1960s and peaked in 1971 with approximately 2,500 Black/White transracial adoptions. In the 1970s the numbers of transracial adoptions with Asian and Latino/a children steadily rose. Because of the disproportionate number of children of color in the foster care system and the prevalence of White parents looking to adopt, legislation was passed in 1994 to encourage the practice of transracial adoption. The Multiethnic Placement Act stated that placement agencies could not delay an adoption based solely on racial factors. When agencies still did not follow this act, it was reinforced in 1996 with the Removal of Barriers to Interethnic Adoption Act and then in 1997 with the Adoption and Safe Families Act. Since that time, the number of multiracial families formed by transracial adoptions has increased.

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