The readings required for week six included “The Current State of Multiracial Discourse” by Molly Littlewood McKibbin, “‘Only the News They Want to Print’: Mainstream Media and Critical Mixed-RaceStudies” by Rainier Spencer, “Radical Love: A Transatlantic Dialogue about Race and Mixed Race” by Daniel McNeil and Leanne Taylor, and “Lebanon in Two Hemisphere: Posts from a Post-Colonial World” by Shannon O’Neill and Amira Pierce. The readings provided apply to the theme of "New Frontiers in Mixed Race Studies" as these authors review the progression of mixed race studies in academics, while highlighting the importance of deconstructing the notion of race itself. The authors for this week challenge preconceptions and stereotypes of the term “mixed race” and ensure the readers’ understanding that it is not about racial categorization or classification, but rather about becoming aware of mixed race peoples’ experiences and the existence of a racial hierarchy in contemporary society. In “The Current State of Multiracial Discourse” by Molly Littlewood McKibbin, the author discusses the concept of a “mixed race identity” and whether “mixed race” is a different racial category or a separate racial concept. She also covers the different opinions on how to socialize mixed race children in helping them find this so called “mixed race identity.” This section of the reading reminded me of a discussion from the week 5 presentation where after a viewing of Logic’s “Black Spiderman” music video, we considered that some who identify as mixed race want to be seen as “just human” and not the color of their skin or their racial background. However, the author points out that the “color-blind” abolitionists are seeking the removal of official racial classifications rather than social equality, thus only taking down the social racial structures but not the ideologies that root it (193). So with that being said, how are ways in which we can eliminate the ideologies that uphold the racial hierarchy?
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