Social Construction of Race and Ethnicity

Also, they are rejected from peer groups since their multiracial and multiethnic characters are perceived as threats to the classification norms. Mixed individuals are considered as culturally suspects because of their distinct physical and interactional traits. Therefore, multiracial and multiethnic individuals are faced with the challenge of feeling marginalized and struggle of wanting to identify with a specific racial or ethnic group. The discrimination brings in the idea of racialized superiority and inferiority depending on physical appearance and rejection by peers, family, ethnic and racial groups due to the multiracial and ethnic identity. These experiences are the exterior forces that influence the well-being of black communities from varied heritage. The various ethnic groups such as Asians, Whites, Latinos, African Americans, Puerto and Mexicana’s and Chinese among others were fixed into only three racial groups namely Whites, Indians and Negro.

Those were the only existing groups that were recognized by the state and federal government. The Chinese and Mexican ethnic groups were identified within the non-white racial groups for exclusionary and exploitive reasons. However, the increased immigration activities resulted to increased demand for equality and recognition by certain emerging groups pressed the government to reconsider the order of races and reexamine the definition and classification of ethnic groups. (Yanow and Dvora, 2015: np), confirms that America established the one-drop rule system that classified races thus determining the racial identity for the non-white individuals. (Ferrante-Wallace, Joan, and Brown 2015: np), emphasizes that the identity development that multiracial persons may be faced with is the variation between their interior identification and exterior identification that are reinforced to them externally.

Mixed heritage individuals therefore come across internal conflicts between how they identify themselves and how the society describes them. Nonetheless women of color utilize social interaction in diverse contexts to contend against external labeling by others. Such social interactions help them to recognize and pass their internal racial and ethnic identity. When exterior traits of racial and cultural identification are incongruent with the interior experiences, individuals are faced with the conflict of self-identification. The marginalization position is built by the dominant culture and rules and structures that guide it. For instance, being a woman of color is not a problem; in fact the problem is when the black woman becomes a member of sexist and racist society that prioritizes a certain gender and race.