title: Between black and brown: blaxican (black-Mexican) multiracial identity in California.
abstract: This article explores the racial/ethnic identities of multiracial Black-Mexicans or “Blaxicans.” In-depth interviews with 12 Blaxican individuals in California reveal how they negotiate distinct cultural systems to accomplish multiracial identities. I argue that choosing, accomplishing, and asserting a Blaxican identity challenges the dominant monoracial discourse in the United States, in particular among African American and Chicana/o communities. That is, Blaxican respondents are held accountable by African Americans and Chicanas/os/Mexicans to monoracial notions of “authenticity.” The process whereby Blaxicans move between these monoracial spaces to create multiracial identities illustrates crucial aspects of the social construction of race/ethnicity in the United States and the influence of social interactions in shaping how Blaxicans develop their multiracial identities.
authors: University of California, Santa Barbara.
authors: Rebecca
authors: R
authors: Romo
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000193:education / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D002140:California / Q000208:ethnology; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000193:education / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000193:education / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations / Q000266:history; D011822:Race Relations / Q000266:history / Q000523:psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D012919:Social Behavior / Q000266:history; D012933:Social Identification