Does "Mixed Race" Emergence Mean the End of Black Momentum?

I used to wonder how people really felt after they had lived through great social upheavals.

I imagine, for example, that the advent of air travel must have been starkly unsettling to people at the turn of the 20th century, who had lived their entire lives, up to that point, knowing only travel by land and sea.

All of a sudden, the whole transportational paradigm had changed for them and they were forced to move away from that which had always been familiar and taken for granted, and toward that which was suddenly the inescapable new reality.

I’m beginning to feel that way about the emergence of the "mixed race" phenomenon, here, in the U.S. I’m not concerned, at all, that there are, now, more and more people who proudly self-identify as "mixed race." I’ve always believed that people should be proud of whoever they are.

What I am concerned about, however, is whether the “mixed race” movement carries the potential, over time, to reduce black people, the racial identity I have always known, to statistical and cultural irrelevance, in the U.S. For example, February was Black History Month. How many more years, if this trend continues, will blacks have the demographic significance to qualify for such an annual cultural recognition?

I never thought I’d ever have to think about that.

But, according to 2008 U.S. Census estimates, 5.2 million people in the U.S. identified themselves as belonging to "more than one race," an increase of 3.4 percent over the previous year, marking “mixed race” as one of the fastest-growing demographic categories in the country.

The election of the first “mixed race” president, Barack Obama, just four months after the 2008 Census data were released, is expected to encourage even more people to self-identify as “mixed race,” in future Census counts.

There are caution signs to note, however. First of all, it seems, those whose "mix" includes African genes are still finding that they are a distinct minority, in America, even as compared to their "mixed race" peers. Among those classified, now, as "mixed race," only 10.9 percent are black/white mixes. That group is outnumbered by white/Asian persons at 11.9 percent and by white/Native Americans, the highest, at 17.3 percent.

Now, I’m going to start a little trouble.

Before there can be “mixed race” children, of course, there must clearly be inter-racial parents. And, here, a PEW Research Center report points out that, in 73 percent of all black/white mixed race couples, the husband is black. That must be indicative of something, but I’ll refrain. I’m sure the “sisters” will have a great deal more to say on that topic.

For me, the issue, as always, must be reduced to a political calculation and whether "mixed race" people will, eventually, become their own separate, voting bloc. While it’s now still too early to tell, I have read that “mixed race” Americans have begun to express some dissatisfaction with President Obama, because they consider him “one of their own,” yet “he does not champion the ideas of 'mixed race' identity,” as a local woman in an inter-racial marriage was quoted.

The noise from that particular debate, I’m sure, will grow louder as we approach future election cycles.

Even at this early stage, I can’t help noticing, however, that "mixed race" self-identifiers only voted 74 percent for the new, "mixed race" president, as compared to 92 percent for the black race-only self-identifiers.

Is that where we’re heading? Will "mixed race" voters line up, more and more, to vote for "mixed race" candidates, or will they tend to vote as they did in 2008, more for the white candidate than black voters did? Even further, will they, having grown more secure in their own mixed identity, begin to move out of predominantly black and predominantly white neighborhoods and into predominantly "mixed race" communities? Will they establish "mixed race" schools and universities?

Hey, wait a minute. I’ve already seen this movie.

We’ve already had an uncomfortable history of what were, then, predominantly mulatto and light-complexioned communities, schools, churches, universities and social clubs, in the U.S. Even some of our most prominent HBCU’s were known, in years past, as being predominantly populated by mulatto or light-complexioned students. In fact, some of those institutions and organizations are still functioning today.

Hey, I remember leaving North Philadelphia one night to go to a party in what I thought was just another black community along Lincoln Drive, when I was in college. I will never forget, after approaching one of the young ladies, there, and asking her to dance, being told by her that I was "too dark," and that she just couldn’t bring herself to dance with me (I probably don't need to mention that I actually hadn’t been INVITED to that party, but that some friends and I had heard about it, on the street).

Most of that kind of complexion-based class consciousness, thank God, has begun to dissipate in our community, over recent decades. But, now, with the emergence of an otherwise sincere "mixed race" movement, I’m not so sure what to expect.

Aside from Black History Month, the question now is whether black businesses will lose customers who were previously black; and whether we will need, or support, black radio stations or newspapers, once all of those in our community, who might possibly claim "mixed race" status have done so. Will advertisers start focusing more and more on reaching "mixed race" consumers, at the expense of the black market? And, how long will it take them to determine the "annual buying power" of "mixed race" people?

Not long, I would guess.

Once those of us who are not only part-white, but also part-Asian, part-Cherokee, part-Apache, and part-Comanche, are finished self-identifying, will there be enough black Americans left to form a critical mass? How far below the current black national population count of 40 million people will the future black Census count drop?

In South Africa, during the Apartheid era, in an effort to create divisiveness among non-whites, the ruling Afrikaner population established its own racial classifications. They consisted of blacks, whites, Indians, and Coloureds (their version of people who were of "mixed race").

As part of the bargain, Coloureds were permitted to live and worship separately from black South Africans and were also permitted to vote for white candidates. In addition, they didn’t have to carry the demeaning “pass cards” that were mandatory for black South Africans. Coloureds also spoke Afrikaans, rather that the indigenous Zulu or Xhosa dialects of the dominant, black population group.

It’s interesting to note that the Coloureds who, thereby, were classified as "not quite white," but "at least not black,” in South Africa, wound up voting in significant numbers against Nelson Mandela’s presidency in 1994, in the country’s first, all-race elections. The Coloureds were reportedly concerned that a Mandela victory and a winning ANC party would take away the “privileges” they had enjoyed under Apartheid.

But that was there.

So far, there’s no reason to expect a return of the old “light, bright, damn-near white” phenomenon that existed years ago in black communities, here, or the highly separatist profile of the South African Coloureds, but.... you never know.

I used to take for granted the fact that I was part of a proud and growing community of people who would always find common ground and mutual support in their shared black experience. I took for granted that, over time, 40 million black Americans would grow to 45, 50 or 55 million. Now, I’m not so sure.

As I said, I’m beginning to feel that we’re on the verge of a very traumatic time in black history.

We’ll see.

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