Blog

New Laureate Is More than the Sum of Her Parts

...full text also found on The Huffington Post and The Root

Recently released reports by the Pew Center and the US Census Bureau indicate that intermarriage across racial and ethnic lines and an increasing non-white demographic continue to be on the rise in the U.S. Given this month’s focus on Loving Day and its impact on multiracial ancestries we can certainly take this news as cause for celebration and a reason to continue the fight for marriage equality everywhere. And, as I argue in my book Clearly Invisible: Racial Passing and the Color of Cultural Identity, we should remember that an accurate historical account of interracial sex and marriage in the U.S. should focus as much on what is now revealed as it does on what has always been concealed.


Is the Tanning of America Only Skin Deep?

...full text also found on The Huffington Post

It’s official: The United States is “tan.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s first population estimate by age, race, ethnicity, and sex since the 2010 Census, “50.4 percent of our nation's population younger than age 1 were minorities as of July 1, 2011. This is up from 49.5 percent from the 2010 Census taken April 1, 2010. The population younger than age 5 was 49.7 percent minority in 2011, up from 49.0 percent in 2010.”



Who Passes Into The Hunger Games' Future?

...full text also found on The Huffington Post

The Hunger Games, dubbed the "racial games" by some cultural commentators, takes place in the dystopian nation-state called Panem. And, as recent controversy suggests, it also takes place in our minds.


The L.A. Uprising’s 20th Anniversary and the Resurrection of Tupac Shakur

...full text also available at Truthdig

Sunday, April 29 marks the 20th anniversary of the start of the Los Angeles uprising and the two week anniversary of the resurrection of slain gangsta rapper Tupac Shakur as a hologram at Coachella. The events are not a coincidence.




Racial Passing and The Real Mitt Romney

...full text also available at Huffington Post and The Root

With Rick Santorum now out of the way it looks like the road is clear for Mitt Romney. That is, if anybody knows who he really is.


The Unboxing Experiment - Porn for Geeks or Something Else?

Is “unboxing” just porn for tech geeks or is something else going on here? I thought I’d try a little experiment to find out. See the unboxing of my new Macbook Air and leave a comment below to tell me what you think…




The Million Hoodie March: It’s About a ‘Right-or-Wrong Thing’

...full text also available at Truthdig and The Root


    

Thousands of protesters gathered in New York City’s Union Square on Wednesday evening (3/21/12) for the Million Hoodie March to demand justice and search for answers in the death of 17-year-old Florida teen Trayvon Martin.


Call for Submissions: "Mixed Race 2.0"

Call for Submissions

Synopsis
"Mixed Race 2.0: Mixing Race, Risk, and Reward in the Digital Age" is a project dedicated to examining the intersections of multiracial identities that lurk behind the scenes of everyday life in an increasingly networked world. In recent years, multiracial identities have seen increased representation in media, politics, art and activism. To explore these exciting transitions, Mixed Race 2.0 will pose questions and provide analyses that strike the core of what multiracial identities have meant, currently mean, and will mean to generations across the globe.



TIME to Think in Full Color About Race & Ethnicity

...full text also available at Huffington Post and Kirwan Institute's Race-Talk

 
TIME Mag 0224 cover Colorlines    
TIME Magazine's latest cover story (Feb. 2/24) is called "Yo Decido. Why Latinos will pick the next President." It reports that about 9% of all voters in 2012 will be Latino, up 26% from four years ago. While the Latin@ vote is definitely an important and interesting and game-changing political development, the most interesting thing about this story isn't the headline or the article's statistics. It's the cover (left).



Interracial Love Is No Societal Cure-All

...full text also available at Truthdig

 
IR Love    
A recently released report by the Pew Center is a belated Valentine’s Day gift to interracial and heterosexual families. The report indicates that intermarriage across racial and ethnic lines continues to be on the rise in the U.S. and the change is a sign that acceptance is growing. Although this is definitely cause for celebration and a reason to continue the fight for marriage equality everywhere, we should remember that a fuller and more accurate historical account of interracial sex and marriage in the U.S. should focus on social and legal constraints along with demographic patterns.