Multiracial Identity | Therapy & Identity Development

Kamala Harris is going to be front and center of the news cycle for at least the next few months. Whatever you think of her politics, there’s no denying that she’s making history. As a Black and South Asian American woman set to become the Democratic nominee for president, her candidacy marks several firsts.

As a fellow multiracial American, I’ve taken notice of the ways that this has brought multiracial identities — and the misconceptions surrounding them — back on the table.

Multiracial people aren’t fractions

It’s not unusual to hear people described as a “half-Black, half-Latino” or “a quarter Chinese, and three-quarters Mexican.” And some multiracial people do choose this language to describe themselves! (I too have poured over my Ancestry.com results with fascination at the history of my ancestors broken down into percentages, as seen in my DNA.)

However, many of us reject the idea that our identities can be divided up like pie charts. I myself have shifted from describing myself as “half-Filipino, half-Ashkenazi Jewish” to saying that I’m Filipino AND Jewish over the years. 

Is it just semantics? Maybe, but language is powerful. And when people are told they’re not Black or Asian or Latinx ‘enough’ to belong, it’s an important distinction. To many multiracial people, this type of language implies being less than whole.

My family tree and my experiences may be different from monoracial folks. But to me it’s not accurate to say that I’m half of anything. I’m fully both, with all the unique experiences and perspectives that come along with being part of a mixed family.

Multiracial people don’t have to pick a side

Donald Trump is not someone who I would ever take seriously when it comes to discussing race (or anything). But it still really irked me to see him weaponizing a photo of Kamala Harris in traditionally Indian attire to question the authenticity of her Black identity. 

In the United States, multiracial people upset the “black and white” system of racial categorization and hierarchy. And so we make up rules to try to slot them into the system as it is. Famously, the ‘one-drop’ rule was encoded into law in the segregated American South. It served to uphold white supremacist views of racial purity. Under this rule, any traceable African American heritage meant one was categorically Black —  regardless of phenotype, history or identity. Although it’s no longer codified as such, it still shapes how we view race today. 

Our racial system demands that we pick a side (or accept being slotted into one). While that may fit for some people, for others, it feels inauthentic or oppressive. That can be especially true for multiracial people who do not have any white heritage — a group who are often overlooked and erased from the discussion.

It’s perfectly normal for multiracial people’s identity to evolve over time

Multiracial people’s identity can be quite complex.  A number of factors go into how strongly we connect with different parts of our heritage. A person who grew up with only one side of their family may feel disconnected from the heritage of their other parent. Someone who phenotypically looks more like one group — and is treated as such by the world — may connect more with that community. Gender even plays a role, with kids tending to identify more with the cultural heritage of their same-gender parent. 

That’s all to say, as multiracial people we may not have a perfectly equal level of connection to every part of our heritage. We may not even have been raised with much knowledge of it. It doesn’t mean that they are not still real and valid parts of who we are.

In fact, studies have shown it’s very common to identify more strongly with different aspects of our heritage at different parts in our lives. It shouldn’t be treated with suspicion or derision when we seek to connect with a part of ourselves that has been previously unexplored. 

If you’re on that journey, or it’s something you’re ready to explore more, therapy can be a tool to support the process. You can have space to explore your multiracial identity, with a person who is interested in seeing the whole you. Being able to be seen for all your parts, as an integrated whole, can be enormously healing.