Resisting Binaries? Multiracial Black/White Identity and the U.S. Racial Project

The multiracial population is growing rapidly in the United States. With President Barack Obama, a self-identified black man with white and black ancestry, as the face of our nation, and as the face of this growing population, it is evident that the U.S. has entered a new era in racial politics. I argue that since the civil rights movement, multiracial black/white identity has been elevated above blackness, but that this obscures the fact that economic inequality is increasing along racial lines. My thesis seeks to uncover the ways in which multiracial (black/white) identities have been employed by the State throughout U.S. history to the present to uphold white supremacy. I also seek to uncover the ways in which multiracial black/white identities have challenged or resisted their subjugation and to explore new ways to collectively fight for greater racial and economic justice.<strong> </strong>