The Racial and Political Self-Identification of Biracial and Multiracial Individuals

The racial and political self-identification of biracial and multiracial individuals in America is of high importance due to the growing number of individuals that identify this way. How and why these individuals form their identities will be important for politicians, the public, and lawmakers to better understand this population and how to create policies that better them. The findings from this multi-method study conform with prior research: race and political identities are intertwined. Moreover, this paper demonstrates that an individual’s identification with the minority race may be correlated with more liberal views and that greater identification with their white race may correlate with more conservative views. This paper illustrates and highlights how an individual’s primary/public identification with their white or minority racial identity may be influenced by their socioeconomic status.