Navigating cultural identity with Multicultural individuals 

A multicultural person is an individual who is from two or more racial groups. These can be white and black, Latino and Asian, or any combination of races. For many years, interracial marriages were illegal in the United States, and even after they were legalized, there was still a stigma against those in interracial marriages.

Multicultural people are a growing population in the United States. Since 2010, the multiracial population has increased from 9 million to 33 million as of 2020 (Bureau, 2021). This rising population will only increase, requiring those in the mental health field and other fields, such as medicine, to form a better understanding of how to be culturally sensitive and find reliable methods of exploring cultural identity.  

Furthermore, this demographic still faces many of the issues of other minorities. They can face discrimination, low socioeconomic opportunities, and prejudice. The most common issue mixed heritage people reported was being subjected to slurs or racial jokes (Gaither, 2015). A crucial part of cultural exploration for mixed-race people will be learning the Bill of Rights for People of Mixed Heritage.

The Bill of Rights for People of Mixed Heritage was created in 1993 by Maria Primitiva Paz Root, Ph. D. Dr. Root has done extensive work with multicultural families (Root, 1994). The first part of the Bill of Rights is that one has the right not to justify their existence in this world, not to keep the races separate within themselves, not to justify their ethnic legitimacy, and not to be responsible for people’s discomfort with their physical or ethnic ambiguity. These are primarily to protect the individual and avoid them taking the blame for being of two different ethnic backgrounds (Root, 1994). 

Identity

The second part states that multiracial people have the right to identify themselves differently than strangers expect the individual to identify, to identify themselves differently than how their parents identify them, to identify themself differently than their brothers and sisters, and to identify themselves differently in different situations. These rights allow mixed-raced people to identify how they want, even identifying differently with certain people or in various situations. This will enable people to have a more fluid identity and be less rigid about their culture. It also allows individuals to explore their background even though the family may identify differently (Root, 1994). 

Vocabulary

The final part focuses on the rights to create a vocabulary to communicate about being multiracial or multiethnic, to change their identity over my lifetime, and more than once, to have loyalties and identification with more than one group of people, and to freely choose whom the individual befriends and loves. The focus of these rights is fluidity and empowering personal decisions about cultural expression, affiliation, and relationships (Root, 1994). 

Understanding these rights is essential when working with people of multicultural descent. Cultural sensitivity is vital when working with any person, and respecting these rights will aid a clinician in being culturally sensitive. There are positive aspects of being multiracial. Mixed-race individuals are commonly more open to other races. They are also more receptive to different cultures and religions. They are also more open to relationships with people from other ethnic backgrounds (Parker et al., 2015; Bonam, 2009).  

There is evidence to show that making mixed-race people choose to identify one way or the other causes psychological discomfort (Gaither, 2015; Townsend, 2009). Many theories and assessments only focus on one racial identity, like social identity theory. These can be worse to use with people who are of mixed-race descent since it forces them into a singular category. However, some multiracial clients who identify one way strongly can find these theories that have singular race effective (Townsend, 2009).

References

Bonam. (2009). Exploring Multiracial Individuals’ Comfort with Intimate Interracial Relationships. Journal of Social Issues., 65(1), 87–103. https://doi.org/info:doi/

Bureau, U. C. (2021, August 12). 2020 Census Illuminates Racial and Ethnic Composition of the Country. Census.gov. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/improved-race-ethnicity-measures-reveal-united-states-population-much-more-multiracial.html#:~:text=The%20Multiracial%20population%20has%20changed

Gaither, S. E. (2015). “Mixed” Results: Multiracial Research and Identity Explorations. Current Directions in Psychological Science : A Journal of the American Psychological Society, 24(2), 114–119. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721414558115

Parker, K., Horowitz, J. M., Morin, R., & Lopez, M. H. (2015, June 11). Multiracial in America: Proud, Diverse and Growing in Numbers. Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2015/06/11/multiracial-in-america/

Root, M. (1994). Bill of Rights for People of Mixed Heritage [Review of Bill of Rights for People of Mixed Heritage ]. APA; American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/pubs/videos/4310742-rights.pdf‌

Townsend. (2009). My Choice, Your Categories : The Denial of Multiracial Identities. Journal of Social Issues., 65(1), 185–204. https://doi.org/info:doi/

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