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Blaxican Identity: An Exploratory Study Of Blacks/Chicanas/Os In California, Rebecca Romo

NACCS Annual Conference Proceedings

Abstract:

This paper explores the racial/ethnic identities of multiracial Black-Mexicans or ‘Blaxicans.’ In- depth interviews with 12 Blaxican individuals in California reveal how they negotiate distinct cultural systems to accomplish multiracial identities. I argue that choosing, accomplishing, and asserting a Blaxican identity challenges the dominant monoracial discourse in the United States, in particular among African American and Chicana/o communities. That is, Blaxican respondents are held accountable by African Americans and Chicanas/os/Mexicans to monoracial notions of ‘authenticity.’ The process whereby Blaxicans move between these monoracial spaces to create multiracial identities illustrates crucial aspects of the social construction of race/ethnicity in the …