Multiracial Movement

The multiracial movement emerged from a collective grassroots effort by local and national organizations. The main goal of the movement is to educate the U.S. population about multiracial identity and discrimination. Activists and researchers have referred to the movement and various waves within the movement as the mixed race movement, multiracial hapa movement, and the multiracial social movement. Since the 1970s, the first wave of the multiracial movement has promoted awareness about multiracial identity and interracial relationships on local and national levels. During the second wave of the multiracial movement, some members wanted to dismantle racial categorizations in the United States.

The 32 percent increase of multiracial individuals, those who identify with two or more races since 2000 is an indicator that the multiracial population is present and growing within the United States. This increase in multiracial classification does not mean that society is inclusive and supportive of multiracial individuals. Multiracial organizations are still present in the hope of monitoring the use of race by local and governmental platforms and to promote the inclusion of the multiracial community in future discussions of race.

The racial categories used in the U.S. census have changed multiple times since the first U.S. census in 1790. Originally, there were five categories used to identify a person: “free white male over the age of 16,” “free white male under the age of 16,” “free white women,” “all other free persons,” and “slaves.” In 1820, the census added the designation “colored person.” The census would label anyone thought to possess a racially mixed heritage as “colored.” About 20 years later, U.S. Census marshals would begin using a letter “B” if a person was black and a letter “M” if a person was mulatto. “Mulatto” was the first term used by the U.S. census to designate a mixed racial heritage.

In 1890, the U.S. census used additional categories to identify the percentage of one's mixed heritage. The census used the category “mulatto” to identify a person as half black. “Quadroon” designated a person as a quarter black, and “octoroon” noted a person as one-eighth black. In 1930, the U.S. census removed the mixed race categories and reported all mixed-race individuals by their nonwhite ancestry. For example, the U.S. census would identify a person as Chinese if he or she was born from a Chinese and white interracial union.

The 2000 U.S. Census gave multiracial individuals the ability to choose and identify with a particular multiracial categorization. There were 57 possible racial combinations on the census. However, the 2010 U.S. Census included 15 separate response categories and three areas for respondents to write in answers. Approximately 91 percent of those who chose more than one race identified as biracial. The remaining 9 percent identified with three or more racial groups.