ISSUE BRIEF: THE INTERSECTION OF BI- AND MULTI-RACIAL WOMEN AND GENDER ISSUES Key

Though bi-racial and multi-racial individuals have always been part of the world’s demographic makeup, including in the United States since the early days of European settlement, the Census Bureau only recently retired the so-called one-drop rule. At the direction of Congress, the Bureau now permits respondents to select more than one racial category. However, despite this progress in the area of government and the law, there continues to exist a social struggle (one of identity and community acceptance) for bi-racial and multi-racial women. This document surveys some of those challenges. Key Points • Congress retired the one-drop rule in 2000 and changed the census form to allow mixed-race individuals to mark more than one race. • Despite advances in civil rights, many Americans continue to view the interracial marriages which produce these mixed-race individuals as harmful to society. • Women’s roles as child-bearers and conveyors of culture mean mixed-race women face greater challenges than do mixed-race men or non-mixed women. • Mixed-race women who succeed in life often struggle with their identities or develop “survivor guilt ” because part their success is attributed to their fairer skin tone