This project would not have been possible without the invaluable help and support of a number of people. I would like to thank first and foremost my patient, understanding, dedicated, and loving wife Lorena, and my wonderful, brilliant, and caring son Johan. They sacrificed time and resources so that I could undertake this work, and they kept me from going insane throughout the process.

I would also like to thank my parents Lloyd and Jan Keller for all of their encouragement and prayers, as well as their emotional and material assistance throughout the pursuit of my advanced degree. Thanks also to my brother Dan, my sister Nancy, her husband Rich, and their two sons Josh and Jake for their good wishes and words of encouragement.
My sincere thanks go also to my adviser Dave Wilson and my professor Helen Moore for their guidance, suggestions, and feedback, as well as for their participation on my committee. I am also extremely grateful to the many Biracial and Multiracial students who have taught me so much over the years, and to Shaunna Meyer for her emotional and psychological support, especially during the coursework. Thanks also to Teresita Aguilar for starting me out on this journey.

Last, but certainly not least, my heartfelt gratitude goes to Lisa for allowing me into her life and sharing her experience and wisdom with the world. I truly appreciate her willingness to participate in this project, and her courage for facing the trials she has encountered. I wish her success in her future endeavors, and I know she will make an excellent teacher.

Introduction:

The lack of comprehensive data in terms of Biracial identity formation, and the lack of tested and documented strategies for assisting and supporting Biracial children in their development, should be a concern to people in all segments of society. Nowhere is this lack of awareness and information going to be more keenly felt, however, than in the nation's schools and universities. With the ever-increasing number of interracial marriages and the exponential growth of the Biracial and Multiracial population, programs that provide support for Biracial young people, as well as the infusion of materials into the curriculum, need to be instituted immediately.

It is my hypothesis that Biracial youth, especially adolescent females, are particularly at risk of having difficulties in the formation of their racial identities. At a time in a young woman's life that is already filled with a host of new physical problems and emotional confusion, the issue of "fitting in" is already particularly challenging. Add to that not knowing to which race you belong, let alone society's perceptions of you, and you have a recipe for even more conflict. The reason that I focus on females is that, due to the already marginalized status of women of color, the issue of biracialness becomes even more problematic for women of mixed-race heritage.

Review of current literature:
According to figures from the U.S. Bureau of the Census (Census online, 2001), there were over 1.4 million interracial couples (householder and spouse or partner) in the United States in 1990, accounting for almost 3% of total couples. This number is up from approximately 157,000 in 1960 when interracial couples made up only .4% of total couples, and it is three times the number of interracial couples in 1970. The number of Biracial or Multiracial children and adults living in the United States, however, is virtually unknown. The reason for this absence of data is that there has been no category on the census for people to designate a mixed racial background. Although this changed for the Census 2000 when people were given the opportunity to "mark or select one or more races" (Census online, 2001), it illustrates quite clearly that the very existence of, let alone the issues of, Biracial and Multiracial people has been largely ignored in this country. While racial identity models have been developed for some racial groups -- mostly African Americans and Whites (Poston, 1990) -- and the number of case studies and the amount of statistical data on the psychological implications for these groups are fairly voluminous, the information in these areas as they relate to Biracial and Multiracial people, especially young people, is practically non-existent.

A review of current literature and studies shows a significant shortage of quantitative and qualitative data on this subject. The implications for everyone involved with the raising of Biracial youth -- parents, educators, counselors, etc.-- are significant. Teachers and counselors, at both the secondary and college levels, must become knowledgeable of, and be ready to deal with, the issues of these students if they wish to be of help to them (Poston, 1990).

The research suggests that there are five major areas where the greatest attention should be focused. These areas include: 1) research information (and the lack thereof) in regard to this population specifically, 2) racial identity formation, (and the scarcity of workable models,) 3) the family structure and the level of parental involvement, 4) societal issues and influences and their impact, and 5) issues related to high school and college instructors and counselors. Within these areas, however, there are varied opinions as to whether, and to what extent, certain problems exist, what those problems are, and what should be done to help Biracial and Multiracial young people become well-adjusted, self-actualized members of society.

As noted in much of the literature, there exists very little empirical research in the area of Biracial identity formation. Of the few qualitative studies that have been conducted in this area, one in particular conducted by Kerwin, Ponterotto, Jackson and Harris (1993), yielded findings that ran counter to problems conjectured in the counseling and related literature, namely that children would feel marginalized because of their position between cultures. "Children and adolescents did not appear to perceive themselves as 'marginal' in two cultures. The majority of participant children, adolescents, and adults demonstrated sensitivity to the views, cultures, and values of both the Black and White communities" (Kerwin, 1993, p. 221). The overall impressions given by the findings in this study seem to suggest that Biracial youth are not having difficulties in forming their own identities, that they seem to be well-adjusted, and that they have a unique capacity for understanding both sides of racial conflicts.

A closer examination of the parameters of the study, however, reveals some areas of possible bias, which the researchers themselves acknowledge in their discussion (Kerwin, 1993). One area of concern is the fact that the sample of families used in the study, (six families with a total of nine children participating) were all intact, that is consisting of a mother and father still living together, with the exception of one family in which the father had recently died. All resided within 75 miles of New York City, and many lived in or near a small city 50 miles north of New York City which has a high proportion of interracial families. The majority of participant families were above the average for the area in terms of economic and educational background, and many of the families reported an openness to talking about racial issues within their families. In addition, the parents had a good sense of their own racial identity, reported no
alienation from their extended families, and tended to be familiar with social science research (Kerwin, 1993).

The researchers recognized the limitations and possible bias of the sample, but said, "It is nevertheless significant that members of the six participant families reported many of the same issues and absence of the same problems" (Kerwin, 1993, p. 228). It is also significant that many potential participants refused to consider participation in the study. By having self-selected participants in a study that may potentially bring up some very emotional issues, it seems logical to assume that the sample will not necessarily be a representative one (Poussaint, 1984). Poussaint's own study consisted primarily of Harvard graduates. Researchers also acknowledged that the responses of the participants may not have been completely accurate, because "in a face-to-face interview it may be difficult for individuals to state what they perceive to be socially unacceptable viewpoints" (Kerwin, 1993, p. 229).

In the end, the researchers, while pointing out shortcomings, still remained optimistic about the validity of their findings. "Whereas one may seek to replicate this study and its findings, it is more appropriate to attempt to seek out cultural meaning without intending to generalize findings to the population at large" (Kerwin, 1993, p229).

Consider the case study of a Biracial student at risk conducted in that same year (Kennedy, 1993) in which a 14 year-old-young woman, "Iesha," told of her experiences being expelled from a number of schools. Many of the incidents which precipitated the expulsions were race-related. In particular was an incident in which a male student asked Iesha how come she was Black and her mom was White. She answered that her dad was Black. The other student responded by saying that Iesha's mother was a "Nigger Lover." Iesha then began picking up chairs and throwing them at the male student. She also hit a teacher with a book when the teacher tried to grab her. In Iesha's words, "I just cannot stand nobody talking about the color somebody is" (Kennedy, 1993, p. 9). When Iesha was in schools where the student population was mostly Black, she had no problems, but when she moved to schools that were predominantly White, she encountered many problems. In fact, she was expelled for more days than she attended. Again, given the fact that these incidents were race-related, and often specifically evolved in response to her biracialness, it is clear that the experiences of Biracial youth can be complex and potentially detrimental to a healthy learning environment.

In contrast to Kerwin, a study investigating self-identification among 69 Multiracial and multiethnic women in the Chicago area (Johnson, et al., 1997) recruited a wider variety of prospective participants by using numerous sources including advertisements in more than a dozen Chicago and Champaign-Urbana newspapers which served specific community or cultural groups, personal contacts with, and requests for assistance from, community organization members, recruitment flyers posted in neighborhoods surrounding the college campuses, as well as convenience and snowball methods. This study focused on how Multiracial and multiethnic women self-identified in terms of their race and ethnicity given a variety of options on three different forms. The researchers found that the majority of women in the study chose a "Multiracial" label when it was offered. They also acknowledged a limitation in that because the sample was self-selected it may have over-represented women who were more likely to identify as Multiracial or multiethnic (Johnson, et al., 1997, p.684).

In a study of 24 participants (fifteen women and nine men) conducted at three undergraduate-focused institutions, including an Ivy League university, a Catholic university, and a liberal arts college, researchers found that the concept of space -- both physical and psychological -- was an important issue for Multiracial students (Renn, 1998). Participants talked of the necessity of defining themselves for others in public spaces, such as residence halls, classrooms, and student organizations where peer culture was enacted, as well as needing private spaces to define their own identities. "These were the private spaces created as individuals sorted through the meanings of peer culture, race and self" (Renn, 1998, p. 10). Incidents that occurred in public spaces tended to shape the students' ability to make sense of their identity, but at the same time students brought their ideas about race, culture and identity into the public spaces as well, creating a symbiotic relationship, making the question of who influences whom somewhat unclear. Was their external environment defining their identities, or were their identities influencing the way they were perceived by their external environment?

Phinney and Alpuria (1996), who conducted a study of 47 multiethnic or racially mixed university students -- 21 from an ethnically diverse campus and 26 from a predominantly White campus -- to determine any variance in self-esteem and attitudes toward other groups, found differing results between the two campuses. Over half of the students at the predominantly White university who had one White and one Black parent identified as White, but only one student on the ethnically diverse campus used the White label to self-identify. However, Phinney and Alpuria found overall that multiethnic people were not psychologically disadvantaged because of their mixed-race background, and that they were not troubled, marginal people (1996). They went on to suggest that "[p]eople who identify with and participate in two cultures may further the appreciation of diversity and the reduction of intergroup conflict" (Phinney and Alpuria, 1996, p. 153). Perhaps, consciously or unconsciously, they selected environments that supported their identities.

If the intersectionality of being both Black and a woman, as explored by Patricia Hill Collins (1998), poses significant problems for Black women legally, professionally, economically, socially, and personally, then how much are those problems multiplied for mixed-race women whose experiences are not only excluded from the various arenas of White women and Black men, but who are also excluded from the discussion of the experiences of Black women? If Black women are at the intersection of race, economic class, and gender, as Collins suggested, then Biracial/Multiracial women are, if we can extend the metaphor, on the sidewalk of that intersection. They are not included in discussions of the issues and concerns of monoracial Black people in general, and they are additionally excluded from discussions of the issues and concerns of Black women. We see in monoracial college campus groups and organizations that the exclusivity of Black people in those groups is pronounced to the point that Biracial/Multiracial people find it difficult to be accepted and that the authenticity of their membership is suspect (Renn, 1998).

Racial Identity Formation
One important tool in the process of Biracial identity formation has been the "Biracial Identity Model" developed by W.S. Carlos Poston (Poston, 1990) who realized that the formation of identity for Biracial youth presents some problems that are unique to their particular situations and require some special considerations. Racial identity models, which rely on the person immersing herself/himself in the minority culture to develop self-confidence and pride, do not address the needs of mixed-race students who cannot become completely immersed in one of their component cultures without denying other aspects of their heritage (Poston, 1990). He suggested a progressive, developmental model, which he described as "tentative and based on the scant amount of research on Biracial individuals and information from support groups that serve this population" (Poston, 1990, p. 153). In this model he adopted the term "reference group orientation (RGO) attitudes" from W.E. Cross' work on identity formation of Black children. (Cross, 1987, as cited in Poston, 1990, p. 153). Cross "distinguished between personal identity (PI), which includes constructs such as self-esteem, self-worth, and interpersonal competence, which are independent of racial categorization, and reference group orientation (RGO), which includes constructs such as racial identity, racial esteem, and racial ideology, noting that neither is necessarily predictive of the other" (Poston, 1990, p. 153). He went on to identify five stages that greatly influence personal identity constructs for Biracial individuals: Personal Identity, Choice of Group Categorization, Enmeshment/Denial, Appreciation, and Integration.

But while Poston's model was stage-based, the postmodern approach says that identity is created in social interactions where multiraciality is seen as a state of "positive marginality in which the goal of Multiracial identity formation is an individual's ability to engage in a variety of 'border crossings' (Giroux, 1992) between and among social contexts defined by race and ethnicity " (Renn, 1998). Root's (1996) theory also focuses on the individual's ability to be comfortable defining herself/himself across and/or in between categories, and resolving "other" status by using four specific tactics: "1) being able to hold and merge multiple perspectives simultaneously; 2) situational ethnicity and race or consciously shifting racial foreground and background in different settings; 3) a decision to sit on the border, claiming a Multiracial central reference point; and 4) creating a home base in one identity and making forays into others" (Root, 1996 cited in Renn, 1998).
Brandell (1998) came to the rather simplistic conclusion that even if Biracial children have painful experiences due to their unique racial situation -- such as the inability in adolescence to date the same White friends they grew up with (see Fly, 1995), or enduring the insults of classmates for having a parent that doesn't resemble them -- if they are brought up in a "nurturing and empathic environment" they will probably emerge with a healthy self-structure (Brandell, 1998, p. 181). But what happens to that self-structure in a college environment where, when students do engage with monocultural students, they are often rejected if they express their multiraciality (Renn, 1998)? They become what Renn calls "Nesters," students who become established in one or two monocultural groups, or "Nomads," those who flow across boundaries established by peer groups (Renn, 1998, p. 9).

Morrison (1996) noted that Biracial children's identity is both Black and White in combination, not isolated. Fly (1995) asserted that inadequate identity development will ultimately end in confusion and "intimacy conflicts." Fly also noted that identifying as Biracial, which may help to develop identity, also "brings about a certain isolation" in that the child then has a limited group with which to identify (Fly, 1995, p. 8). A group of students at one of the campuses in Renn's (1999) study dealt with this problem by creating a student group specifically for mixed-race students, becoming members of various committees within the community of monoracial students, writing to and for campus newspapers, and planning activities for other Multiracial students. It should be noted, however, that the student group had been established at only one of the three universities mentioned in the study. On the other two campuses, Multiracial students felt more isolated (Renn, 1998).

Brandell (1998) also related the case study of a 7 1/2 year-old Biracial girl who underwent tremendously painful identity issues due in large part to the fact that she didn't have that nurturing, empathic environment. "Roberta" spoke of hating her own skin color, hating herself, and hating Black people. Brandell attributed this hatred of Black people to the fact that her father, who was Black, rarely visited her or made contact (Brandell, 1998). Even if the child doesn't have equal exposure to both sides of her/his cultural heritage, she/he will "absorb the values, perceptions, and normative behaviors of two cultural systems" (Morrison, 1996, p. 30). This presumes, of course, that there is at least some exposure to both cultures.

Helms (1989) asserted that "an individual's racial identity might differ depending on what aspect of his or her life one is considering" (Helms, 1989, p. 242). For example, in a work environment, she/he might be influenced by one aspect of her/his racial identity, while in a social relationship, a different aspect may appear. The issue of social relationships, in particular dating, was addressed by Solsberry (1994) who pointed out that while the majority of interracial dating takes place among college students -- perhaps because of an increase in opportunities within educational institutions which are becoming more integrated -- most interracial marriages occur between somewhat older, middle-class individuals who have typically been married before, and who live and work in more integrated environments. This is a trend that is likely to continue (Solsberry, 1994).

Several researchers noted a number of advantages to being Biracial. These positive aspects were generally reported by individuals in the studies, however others were reported by the researchers as part of their findings. Johnson (1995) found that Biracial people have the advantage of having "first-hand experience in dealing with diverse groups of people and operating between and within these groups" (Johnson, 1995, p. 23). Nash (1995) asserted that Biracial individuals are also bicultural, which makes them better equipped to get along in a variety of situations (Nash, 1995). The respondents themselves echoed these ideas. In a study by Poussaint (1984) subjects repeatedly said that being raised in interracial environments made them "more objective and less prone to strong biased feelings toward groups of people." They also reported that this upbringing helped them to be "less intimidated in the White world" (Poussaint, 1984, p. 10).

Family
One element that seemed to remain strong in all the research was the effect of the family environment on the development of the Biracial child. Wardle (1992) stated that the child's positive identity development "depends on a secure sense of who they are, where they come from, and how their families and communities support their identity" (Wardle, 1992, p. 167). This can be difficult when the societal element is introduced. Nash (1995) asserted that a Biracial child who wants to identify with both parents may be emotionally hurt if society rejects her/his racial duality. Another possible consequence is that a Biracial child may develop feelings of hatred for the Black parent for making her/him a person of color in a world of racial discrimination, or the child may hate the White parent for belonging to a group that perpetuates the racism that will inevitably be directed at her/him (Fly, 1995).

Reddy (1994) presented another aspect to the discussion, by introducing the problem of being the White mother of a Biracial male child who has physical features that society will interpret as "Black." She grappled with the issue of having to prepare her son for the racist incidents that will inevitably occur in his life. She noted that the White mother of a White child never has to have that conversation, and the Black mother of a Black child will have some personal experiences and family support to draw from. The White mother with a Black child starts from scratch (Reddy, 1994).

In Kerwin's study (1993), two distinct themes emerged from the sample group: one from the parents, and a different set from the children. While both groups discussed the issue of labels, the parents saw not having a specific label to identify with as the core problem of identity formation, while the children largely identified by labels other than racial characteristics such as religion. The researchers also identified "preparation for anticipated discrimination" as a major theme among the parents, as well as "location" in terms of where to raise their children. They specifically sought out racially mixed neighborhoods. Among the children the researchers identified the themes of "self-description" (in terms of physical appearance) and "racial awareness" (being made aware of their dissimilarity in appearance to one parent) (Kerwin, 1993, pp. 225-227).

Wardle (1992) had some specific suggestions for the parents of Biracial children. Among these were the ideas that children "need to be able to ask questions about race, should be allowed to experiment (with labels, ideas, concepts, etc.), do not have a fixed or sophisticated idea about racial identity, [and] need a single word to label who they are" (Wardle, 1992, p. 166). Wardle also suggested that parents and teachers discuss the issue of the child's identity as soon as possible.

Societal Issues/Influences
As discussed earlier, the issue of categorization on the census, specifically the absence of a way for Biracial or Multiracial people to be counted as such, was a significant one in the literature presented here. While that issue was resolved with the addition of a "mark or select one or more races" option (Census online, 2001), the problem for Biracial children of dealing with society's perception of them seems destined to remain for some time (Steel, 1995).

As Brandell (1998) pointed out, although "all children of color in this society are subject to the oppression of racism in its various forms, and thus, every minority child will in greater or lesser degree suffer certain narcissistic injuries," Biracial children might well be more vulnerable to these attacks because of their ambiguous racial status (Brandell, 1998, p. 180). Certainly the issue of dating taboos presents a unique problem for Biracial youth in that their dating experience will by definition be interracial and therefore subject to the critical evaluation of both society (Fly, 1995) and the minority group represented by part of their heritage (Wardle, 1992). Many members of minority groups believe that interracial marriage will endanger federal funding, while others maintain that those who marry across racial or ethnic lines are "rejecting a pride and ownership in their own group" (Wardle, 1992, p. 164). The students in Renn's (1998) study reported that one way they knew when they had been fully accepted into the mainstream culture was when White students felt comfortable enough to make racist jokes or comments in their presence.

Society can also subtly adversely influence the development of a Biracial child's identity by presenting, in all forms of media, a concept of beauty that sets White people as the standard (Nash, 1995). Neto and Paiva (1998) conducted a study of color and racial attitudes in White, Black, and Biracial children in Portugal where they found what they called "pancultural tendencies" in all three groups to favor light-skinned persons over dark-skinned persons. Students in Renn's (1998) study also noted a trend in advertising to sell the image of mixed-race women as the "exotic other," thus commodifying the bodies of women whose appearance is racially ambiguous (Renn, 1998, p. 12).

Chiong (1998) describes a situation in which a doctor in New England racially identified a woman's children differently based on whether or not the father (who is Black) was present at birth. When the father was there, the doctor identified the child as Black. When only the mother (who is White) was present, then the doctor identified the baby as White. This woman had several children by the same father all with different racial identifiers (Chiong, 1998). Poussaint (1984) notes that often psychiatrists tend to label all interracial relationships "pathological" because they only counsel the troubled families. (Poussaint, 1984).

The issue of society labeling Biracial children can be traced back to the late18th and early 19th centuries when the census specified that "slaves were to be identified with a "B" if they were Black, and an "M" if they were mulatto" (Steel, 1995, p. 47). Thomas Jefferson actually formulated an equation to determine the percentage and purity of race-mixed blood. His calculations determined that it was possible to "clear" the blood of Black traces by continued mixing with White blood (Steel, 1995). Recent DNA findings regarding Jefferson's siring of Biracial children may provide some insight as to his motivation for devising such a formula (Foster, et al., 1998).

School-Related Issues
One issue related to the categorization on the census form, is that of racial categorization on school forms. In the Lincoln Public Schools, in Lincoln, Nebraska, the standard school admission form lists a category for children or their parents to mark "other," however, it is connected to the category for "White." The space is labeled, "White/Other_______" which means that if a child marks this space she/he is counted as White since there is no method of separating the two labels (Lincoln Public Schools District Office, personal communication, July 21, 1999).

Chiong (1998) noted that often parents choose to identify their children differently based on different circumstances. Parents may "choose to report the race that was "most needed" to racially balance the schools" (Chiong, 1998 p. 78). This also happens when parentschoose "White" to ensure that their child gets into a "good" school that has a high racial minority ratio (Chiong, 1998). In some cases, if the blank is left unmarked by the parent, the school staff is instructed to make a "best guess" (Nishimura, 1995). Chideya (1999) points out that sometimes a parent's best intentions to give their children the best educational opportunities result in making the children more "socially vulnerable" by placing them in schools where their racial status may not be accepted.

Several themes emerged from a majority of the literature in terms of implications for teachers and counselors. One was the idea that teachers and counselors should do everything they can to learn about issues related to Biracial students (Herring, 1995; Morrison, 1996; Wardle, 1992). Another repeated idea was that teachers and counselors should honestly examine their own feelings about both interracial relationships and Biracial children (Fly, 1995; Johnson, 1995; Morrison, 1996). Wardle (1992) even goes so far as to say that if teachers find that they are not open to changing their negative beliefs, "they should not work with Biracial children" (Wardle, 1992, p. 167).

The most common suggestion given by the researchers, however, was that teachers and counselors should not assume that being Biracial is the cause of whatever problem the student might have (Johnson, 1995; Wardle, 1992; Fly, 1995; Herring, 1995). Herring (1995) went on to elaborate that many professionals tend to incorrectly assume that one method of intervention can be universally applied to every member of a particular cultural or ethnic group because the professional believes the members to be essentially the same. Johnson (1995) also pointed out that because many people "project their own feelings of fear and confusion about 'interracial' sexuality," they tend to label Multiracial people as confused rather than examining their own ambiguous feelings (Johnson, 1995, p. 23).

The other suggestions tended to fall into the categories of providing materials and support for the Biracial child, and preparing teachers and counselors to work with Biracial children. It was also suggested to create a safe atmosphere for the student to discuss personal issues with others of similar experience (Fly, 1995; Johnson, 1995; Morrison, 1996) as well as providing physical activities, such as role playing, keeping diaries, and creative writing (Herring, 1995), and materials such as "pictures of themselves and their families as well as accurate art representations (skin color, hair texture, and so on)" (Morrison, 1996, p. 31) and books (Nash, 1995).

It was also suggested that it is important to prepare professionals to "include diversity issues when planning curriculum for children" (Morrison, 1996, p. 30) and to help teachers and counselors overcome their own prejudices, gain information to destroy myths, [and] provide experiences to support the identity development of Biracial children (Wardle, 1992). Morrison (1996) also stressed the importance that the teacher must be "accepting of the child's cultural heritage, knowledgeable of the need to promote Biracial identification, and willing to plan the curriculum appropriately" (Morrison, 1996, p. 33). Wardle (1992) concluded by stating that the teacher should meet and discuss with the parent(s) the issue of the child's identity and find out how they want it supported in the classroom. As noted in Renn (1998) as well, the issue of place is extremely important. College administrators and faculty should pay attention to the concerns of Multiracial students, as well as to the racial climate and dynamics on campus, and make a concerted effort to help Multiracial students "find their places on campus where they can try on different identities and find identity-based spaces that suit them" (Renn, 1998, p. 26).

Discussion

The findings of what little research there has been seem to suggest a need for an overall broadening of knowledge in terms of the Biracial experience, sensitivity and awareness of issues specific to this population, support for Biracial youth, and a concerted effort to ensure that all kinds of forms that ask for racial identification information include some way for Biracial and Multiracial people to be identified. With no official count of Multiracial students and no system in place to deal with the new "check-all-that-apply" option -- not to mention the increasing population of mixed-race students on college campuses -- we can expect the awareness of the issue of Biracial identity formation to continue to increase.

Educators and counselors at both the high school and college level should be made aware of the unique experiences of children of mixed-race heritage in order to be better prepared to help Biracial adolescents through their identity development, and to provide opportunities for them to discuss their experiences and feelings with peers and adults openly and safely. Even students for whom identity development is not difficult or painful can benefit from discussing their experiences with others, and may, in fact, assist other students who are having less success. In addition, these insights may also help educators to find better ways to teach Biracial and Multiracial children in the classroom. By knowing something about the potential issues faced by children of mixed-race heritage, teachers may be able to anticipate problems and address them in a positive way.

Methodology:

Research Barriers
One of the most persistent problems in addressing this issue is simply identifying Biracial students from whom to get information. Since current school records don't identify students as "Biracial," it can be difficult to find students to interview. As stated above, in schools where the only option is to mark "White/Other" the difficulty remains since it is impossible to separate the responses. Thus, there is currently no way to know how many Biracial/Multiracial students there are in a given school or across the district. One possible solution would be to ask students an additional question that asks them to identify the races of each parent.

Another problem is finding Biracial adolescents who are comfortable enough with their identity to articulate their experiences in a way that illuminates the problems they face. Many Biracial students may be reluctant to discuss painful experiences and may gloss over these to present a more well-adjusted facade. Students for whom the experiences of growing up as a child of mixed-race heritage were unpleasant, may be reluctant to want to participate in any kind of research that would recall those events.

Research Strategy
My research consisted of a case study involving one Biracial female. The subject was a student at the high school where I teach, and I have known her since she was a sophomore. I first became acquainted with her when she joined a club that I sponsored called, "Biracial/Multiracial Caucus." Though she was never a classroom student of mine, she was an active participant in the club and later became president during her senior year.

I conducted a series of one-on-one video- and audio-taped interviews of the subject in two different locations; one in my classroom at the high school that she attended, and the other in her dormitory room at college where she is currently a sophomore. Some of the questions were specific and addressed particular issues, and others were more general, which allowed the subject to cover material that she felt was important that I may not have considered.

Based on information found in my review of the literature, I chose a variety of topics within the context of which several questions were asked (See Interview Guide, Appendix C). These questions were related to the available theories in regard to Biracial identity formation. They were not asked in any particular order, but served as a reminder for me to touch on the various topics throughout the course of the interview. The format of the interview was not a formal question-and-answer session. Rather, it followed a conversational format which facilitated a more natural and comprehensive exchange.

The participant was encouraged to follow her own path in terms of subject area in order to get as complete a picture as possible of her experiences. I adapted questions and followed up on unanticipated questions in order to accommodate changes in topic. The responses of the participant dictated the direction of the conversation, rather than relying on the prepared questions. The result was a narrative account of her life, experiences, and perspective, an analysis of her own development, and insight into her identity formation. Tapes of the interviews were transcribed verbatim by me using a Dictaphone Desktop Voice Processor and coded thematically.

Respondent's Rights and Responsibilities
The respondent was given both an oral and written explanation of her rights, responsibilities, and expectations for participating in this study. She was also given opportunities to ask questions and seek clarification, all of which were answered to her satisfaction. Her acceptance of the parameters of this project is indicated by her signature on the Informed Consent Form (Appendix A) which is on file with the University of Nebraska Lincoln Research Compliance Services Institutional Review Board (IRB #2000-12-102EP). The IRB Expedited Review Protocol Information (Appendix B) and Interview Guide (Appendix C) were also submitted and approved by the Institutional Review Board.

All of the names of persons mentioned herein have been changed to preserve anonymity, and the disposition of the originals and copies of the interview tapes, both audio and video, were left up to the respondent.

Introduction to the Narrative:

In a society that is becoming more and more race conscious, or at least one in which the dialogue concerning race has become more ubiquitous, the question of where people of mixed-race heritage fit into the equation poses unique problems, both for those individuals and for the general population. As members of racial groups become more polarized, and conversations about race become more intense, Biracial and Multiracial people find themselves constantly under pressure to decide upon which side of various issues they stand. They are being asked at every turn, directly and indirectly, to make choices about their very identity as human beings. Can they make such decisions, or has society already chosen for them? Is it possible to legitimately claim multiple components of a racial identity, to label yourself differently in different situations? What does it mean to be Biracial? These are questions that need to be addressed by both Biracial youth and the educational professionals who will be helping them to create, define, and affirm their racial identity as they grow into adulthood.

This is the case study of one Biracial young adult female. Lisa (pseudonym) was chosen for this study for a number of reasons. In addition to fitting the general criteria of being a Biracial female, Lisa is also young enough to remember clearly the experiences of her racial identity formation during earlychildhood and adolescence, and she is also old enough and far enough removed from those early experiences to be able to examine them from the perspective of an adult. She now has a vocabulary she lacked as a child to express what was happening to her intellectually and emotionally.

As a college student now, she also finds herself revisiting some of the same issues she thought she had already resolved. Rather than progressing from stage to stage in an orderly fashion, as some identity model theorists have suggested, instead she spirals through the process of discovering what it means to be a Biracial female in today's society; a journey which takes her sometimes forward, sometimes backward, but one which is always in motion.

Before I began this study, it seemed to me that Biracial youth, especially adolescent females, are particularly at risk of having difficulties in the formation of their racial identities. While Lisa's story confirms that identity formation was difficult for her in some aspects, it also points the way to a number of areas for future study, and it introduced some strategies for educators that may help students through the process. Her story is not meant to be a blueprint of what all Biracial females experience. As she states during the interview, her experiences were very different from other Biracial females she has known. But in the telling of her story, she sheds light on a number of issues that most Biracial females will eventually face in the course of their development. While her response to those issues was unique, the issues themselves, according to her peers and the literature, were fairly typical.

Lisa's story will unfold chronologically for the most part, although connections will be made to issues and events that occurred at different times in her life. It is important to see how her identity progressed over time in a variety of circumstances, as well as how various incidents shaped that progression.

The literature suggested four main areas of focus: Racial Identity Formation, Family, Societal Influences, and School-Related Issues. Throughout the course of the interviews, Lisa provided insights into all of these areas; however additional themes also emerged into which her experiences fell. Some were expansions of those stated above, but others were distinct, and so I have grouped them separately.

Within the area of School-Related Issues, I have included two additional sub-themes: Successful Interventions and Recommendations for Teachers. I have also grouped her responses about College Experiences as a category unto themselves. While in some aspects very similar to her elementary and secondary experiences, college posed some unique problems for her, as well as providing her with some opportunities which were not available to her before.

Within the category of College Experiences, there appear sub-topics such as: Representing, Personal Appearance Issues, and Educating White People. Other separate themes include Intersectionality, and Friendships/Relationships.

Participant Description:

Lisa is a 20 year-old female college sophomore in Nebraska. She has dark golden brown, shoulder-length, tightly-curled hair, which she most often wears greased and pulled back in a pony tail. Her skin is light tan, and her eyes are green. I include these details in part to give the reader an idea of what she looks like physically, but also because these simple descriptors carry enormous significance for her. They are attributes that seem very basic to most people, yet for her, each of them has been a catalyst for incidents that have helped to shape her racial identity throughout her life.
She currently attends a small, predominantly White college where she is studying to be a teacher. She hopes to teach middle school when she graduates, and her experiences all through her formal education have given her insights that may help other young Biracial people through the process of forming their own racial identity.
She talked openly and easily about her experiences growing up, and she also talked about more recent events that have affirmed and challenged the decisions she made in the past. She is articulate and insightful, and she was very much at ease during the interviews.

Racial Identity Formation:

Lisa was raised primarily by her mother, whose heritage is part Danish and part Native American Indian. Her father is African American, but her parents separated when she was 6 months old, at which time her father moved out of the home. Although she visited him on a number of occasions over the years, he was essentially absent from her daily life. After the divorce was finalized, her mother and older brother began living with an African American male friend of her mother's (Robert) who also had two Biracial children. While she didn't have the constant presence of her biological father, Lisa did have the cultural and racial influence of an African American adult male in her life.
As for her racial identity, she labels herself in different ways in different situations which is consistent with the findings of Root (1996) as a strategy for resolving "other" status.

Well, it's changed throughout the years. So. Right now I'd probably say I mainly describe myself as African American/Caucasian, or Black and White, or Biracial. Mixed. It depends on who I'm around, what situation it is. Sometimes I just say, "I'm Black," but it's pretty obvious that they know that I'm like not just Black, and I'm Black and White. I guess it all just depends on the situation and who I'm around.

Therein lies the heart of the matter. What effect does it have on someone's self-concept, her basic identity as a person, when a seemingly simple question like, "How do you describe yourself in terms of your race?" can elicit such a complicated response? Even a more direct question such as, "What are the races of each of your parents?" demonstrates the complex nature of the situation.

My mom is, well it's kind of confusing. My dad is African American, Black, whatever, and he has Native American in him. My great grandma was half, so, I just recently found out all of this. When I was growing up I didn't really consider Native American a part of my races. And my mom was adopted, so she has White on her birth certificate, but she is actually like 3/4 Native American, which I did not know that she was that much. And she's Danish and so, it's kind of confusing (laughs). So I'm more Native American than I thought I was.

I always knew my mom was adopted and stuff, so and she always said she was Native American but it's kind of messed up, because she's adopted, and they put White on her birth certificate, and she can't like claim it legally or anything like that, unless a tribe like wants to adopt her.

Lisa's first memory of her race being as issue came about at an early age, and it was sparked by, of all things, a crayon.

I was either in Head Start, so I was like 3 or 4, or in Kindergarten, 5, so I was pretty young. We were asked to draw a picture of our family and ourselves and what have you, and I remember looking around thinking, looking at all the other kids, and I'm sitting here with a peach crayon and the brown crayon in my hand, and I'm looking at them and I'm looking at everybody else, and it seems like everyone else is just coloring away and I'm sitting here still trying to decide which color I'm going to use for myself and my family and everything. So I'm sitting here and I'm like, I know I'm darker than this, but I'm lighter than this. So I colored with the peach crayon and then I colored the brown crayon over it. So that's when I first realized that I was different from other kids, because everybody seemed to have a crayon and I didn't have a crayon.

The incident had a lasting impact on her, and when she becomes a teacher, she plans to be sensitive to students' feelings about their race, their skin color, their hair texture, and their self-concept.

[Being Biracial is] part of my identity, just like being a female, just like being low income, just like being a college student. That's part of my culture. That's who I am. When teachers say, "Well, I don't see color." Well, you need to. Because, when you don't see.. if you classify them as just everybody else, you're missing something, because their race.. race, especially in junior high, race is going to affect them. Maybe even in high school, it affects, it's part of who you are. You know? It's part of your identity.

Would a simple thing like having appropriate colors for a variety of skin tones have solved all of her future issues with her racial identity? Probably not, she admits, but it might have sent a message that someone else understood at least part of her experience. By being aware of the nature of her potential identity issues and supporting them (Wardle, 1992), and providing appropriate art materials (Morrison, 1996), Lisa's teacher might have helped her to feel less different.

Lisa is already prepared for her future classroom. She has purchased a set of multicultural markers which have a wide variety of shades of brown that she frequently uses for skin tones. She notes that they are only available at an art supply store. At the end of this session she takes me on a tour of the photos and posters around her room. She shows me a "four square life map" that she did for her Practicum I class. The map is divided into fourths, each square showing a particular aspect of her life. In the square showing her future, she has drawn a house, interlocking wedding rings, and four children standing outside the house. The children have been colored using the multicultural crayons, and each is a different color.

That's my four kids that I want to have. Which, they'd probably end up looking like that. They'd be as, you know, (she points to a photo of herself next to her sister) as dark as my sister and as light as me.

In support of some of Kerwin's findings, (1993) Lisa appears to be able to appreciate the perspectives of both Black and White communities.

I'm identifying a lot more now with African Americans just because of the environment I'm in, but I still you know I still say that I'm Black and White. You know? Because it's a big part of who I am. I'm going back to feeling special and happy and privileged that I am both races, because I feel like I get to see both sides. I get to be in different situations where I get to see both of the Black and White issues.

Unfortunately this means that she is also exposed to the negative aspects of both sides.

I remember the first time being called the 'N' word. I was like 7. My friend, her dad was not exactly thrilled that she was playing with me because I was Black, and we got in a fight one day over Barbies or, I don't know something, and she yelled off and called me that, and I was like, oh my gosh. I didn't really know, but I knew then that it was the bad word for Black people andshe shouldn't have been calling me that. So I hauled off and called her, you know, honkey. No idea what that was, but I was like, well she called me that so I'm going to call her this, you know 'cause that just seemed like that's what you were supposed to do.

This put Lisa's mother in a similar position to Reddy (1994) who, as a White mother of a Biracial child who had "Black" features, was unequipped to prepare her child for racist incidents.

I remember that vividly, and I went into mom and she tried comforting me. I don't know what she said, but she said something that made me feel a little bit better.

The issue was somewhat ameliorated by a strategy employed by parents in Kerwin's study (1993); that of seeking out racially mixed neighborhoods. However, the solution created a new set of problems for Lisa.

When I got a little bit older we also changed neighborhoods too, and it was more, there was more African American people, so then I started being called like "zebra" and "oreo" and "half breed" and all the other nice playing little degrading names that they can come up with. More people asked me a lot, "Are you mixed?"

In Lisa's case, as a child, the opportunities for what Giroux (1992) calls "border crossings" were absent. Instead she felt only isolation, a term she would use throughout the course of the interviews a total of 25 times.

Growing up it was just different, because I knew there was just some things that I didn't fit in to. 'Cause like my best friend in elementary school she was White and there was always differences there and a feeling of isolation there and you know comments about my hair, and why is my hair like that, and why do I put grease in my hair, and just things like that that hurt you as a nine year-old and don't understand why your best friend is saying these things. And then not understanding why when you want to jump rope with the, you know double dutch, with the Black girls in the neighborhood why they won't let you. So I didn't really have any friends.

It was hard for her, as a child, to rationalize the treatment from her peers, which led to feelings of confusion.

It was like I knew I wasn't all White and I knew I wasn't all Black, but it was a no-win situation, you know? I didn't fit in with the Black girls, I didn't fit in with the White girls, I was just there. I mean within my family I felt I "belonged" and everything like that, but when I got along with my peers, there was just something about I felt like I didn't fit in.

Contrary to the participants in Kerwin's study (1993), she did in fact perceive herself to be 'marginal' in two cultures and it affected her self-concept.

In 9th grade, I hated being both Black and White. I hated it. I wanted to be just one or the other.. because I just felt like it would make my life so much easier. Like I could finally find a place, because I never felt like I belonged. I wrote in journals a lot, and I remember always writing and just talking about how I hated being Black, and I just wanted to be one or the other. I didn't care which race it was, I just wanted to be one or the other. 'Cause it just seemed so much simpler. And you know it always seemed like I was being called White girl and always talking about how I wasn't Black enough and everything, and that just really hurt.

But again, she is able to take these painful experiences and turn them into learning opportunities for herself as a future teacher, unknowingly employing a journaling strategy suggested by Herring (1995).

And that's another reason why I keep my journals and everything, 'cause I have journals from like 9th grade, 8th grade. I mean peak of junior high, let's talk about it. And it's very important you know when I become a teacher and to be able to relate to the students and understand how traumatizing middle school can be (laugh).

Family:

In talking about her family, Lisa indicates that her home life was very supportive and safe. This sympathetic family structure, as mentioned by Wardle (1992), played a key role in Lisa's development. The issue of her racial identity was never discussed explicitly, but it was addressed in a more integrated way.

It didn't become an issue unless outside people made it an issue. Inside the family it was like you are who you are, and I mean of course when [my mother] signed us up for school she put us as Black, you know, but it's not like when we were growing up she was like, "You're Black." It was pretty obvious that we were Biracial, so I don't know, it was never really an issue. She always made us feel special. It was just kind of intertwined. It just seems like I kind of always knew, and so I was surrounded by it. I mean 'cause we started living with my mom's friend when I was like one. So, it was just kind of, it was just always there. Your mom's your mom and your dad's your dad you think everybody's family is like that.

The varied racial make-up of the other members of her family helped to create an environment where she could be herself. Robert's children were also Biracial.

And I think that kind of played along with it, too. 'Cause growing up you know they were like my brother and sister, too. And so for a long time the girl, who was two years older than me, she was like my best friend, we grew up together, we fought together, you know, all the sibling stuff. So it was just like all kids were like us.

Her biological siblings are not physically similar to Lisa. She describes them in terms of the way society sees them.

Me and my brother we have the same dad, so he's a little bit darker than me. I'm like the lightest one. He looks more Hispanic, I would say, a lot of people think that he is. My sister, there's no denying that she's Black. She's the darkest one of us all. She has a different dad, and I mean it's going to be different for her because she's darker than me. If anything they're gonna be confused on how she has a White mom.

Lisa talked quite a bit about her younger sister throughout the interviews. Lisa has discussed most of these issues with her sister over the years and has taken on the responsibility of trying to prepare her for incidents before they occur. Her sister, however, doesn't seem to have the same issues as Lisa had.

I asked her about it the other day and she's like, "No, I don't' think about that." You know it's no big deal, but she also hasn't hit junior high yet either. I told her "Don't ever let anybody make you choose. You are both, and you don't have to choose." And maybe that's why she doesn't have issues right now.

Lisa thinks that another factor may be that the attitudes of society may be changing.

She's more along that generation where there's more awareness about it and more emphasis on it in certain schools and you see it more on TV and you see more Blacks and Whites together. I mean it's not there yet, but, plus she had us growing up.

The pervasive presentation of White people as the standard of beauty, however, and the tendency to favor light-skinned persons over dark-skinned persons is well-documented (Neto and Paiva, 1998). An incident that had a long-lasting positive effect on Lisa when she was very young came in the form of a doll. When she was 3 or 4, her grandfather sent her a Cabbage Patch Kid that had dark skin.

She was a little bit darker, but she wasn't like Black, but she wasn't White. So my mom told me she was mixed like me, so I thought I was all special and everything and I had a doll just like me. So that was like a big thing. I think my mom just kind of, she always made it a point to make us feel like we were special.

In a study by Brandell (1998), the Biracial subject spoke of hating Black people, which Brandell attributed to the fact that the father, who was Black, rarely made contact with the subject. Although Lisa's father was similarly absent, she seems to have come to terms with it.

I don't know, it doesn't really affect me so, I mean of course it does, you know, but I, I guess I have other people in my life to fulfill that. I mean at one time it really did bother me, but now I'm just like, it's his loss, you know? He doesn't know me.

She ponders the question of whether she might feel differently about her racial identity had her father been more a part of her life.

I don't really think so, I mean I always wanted that like little perfect family with the mom and the dad and the dog and the cat and whatever, but as opposed to like racial identity, I don't think so, you know, 'cause I think my mom did a good job there. Robert was like there, so it's not like I never had like contact with African Americans or anything.

School-Related Issues:

Lisa attended a large, racially mixed high school in Lincoln, Nebraska. She graduated in the top 15% of her class of 665 students, and she received a scholarship to the private liberal arts college she now attends. In response to a question about whether or not being Biracial had any effect on her scholastically, Lisa said:

In elementary school probably not. At all. Junior high, you know everything affects you in junior high. What doesn't? So in junior high I'd have to say yes, because junior high, beyond everything else that likes sucks, you just have one more thing that's added to how am I, my identity and fitting in and belonging and not having a place in the world.

The transition from family to school wasn't easy for Lisa. Going from an environment where there were plenty of people who understood her, to a much larger environment without that understanding was a source of anxiety for her.

It wasn't until I got into school that I started feeling isolated, because in my family it was never like that. It was like in [elementary and junior high] that I felt isolated and I thought well, where do I belong? I would never want to be that age for nothing. Everything smacks you in the face. It seems like all of a sudden you're grown, which you're really not, but you're grown and all of these things that you never thought about or never really knew about were right here. I mean, you know drugs, sex, race. It was just all kind of smacked in your face and you're like, wow I'm not a little kid any more. And so, I think race became an issue because in junior high it is an issue.

As Johnson (1995) suggested, the importance of having someone with similar experiences to discuss personal issues with was extremely helpful during this time.

Junior high was weird because I met Sandy for the first time, and we've been friends since 7th grade - who's also Multiracial - and that was like the first person that I just clicked with and I was just like wow, you know we got something in common, and you know we feel the same way about things.

The creation of a safe space, as emphasized by Fly (1995), also became very important to Lisa. In this case a lunchroom table where all of the Biracial girls sat, provided a place where they all felt comfortable for at least part of the school day.

When I think to like the lunch table that I had in middle school, we were all mixed, with something. We were all like Black and White or Native American. We were all proud of it and everything.

Lisa later attended a summer program at the local university. There she had a problem of acceptance with her roommate who wanted to change room assignments so that she could share a room with a "Negro" student. This reinforced the perception of Lisa's that African American girls disliked her because she wasn't Black enough. "None of the Black girls liked me. I had maybe one or two friends and felt very isolated," she said.

The director of the program, an African American male, decided not to separate them and told Lisa she needed to "deal with it." She felt trapped in a no-win situation once again. "I can't change the way that she wants me to choose between my races, and I'm not Black enough for her," Lisa said.

I mean I have to say that was one of the worst summers of my life. Just of the isolation and not fitting in, and just not being accepted and not knowing how to stop.

As Fly (1995) suggested, teachers and counselors need to honestly examine their own feelings about both interracial relationships and Biracial children in addition to becoming as knowledgeable as possible about the issues facing them.
In middle school Lisa faced a very concrete example of having to choose not only between her races, but between physical groups of people. As a result of a conflict between the "grungers," a group categorized by Lisa as "alternative," and the African American students, Lisa faced the decision of choosing which group to side with. Having friends in both groups, this decision was particularly difficult. In the end she sided, physically and philosophically, with the African American students, even though she often felt excluded by them. Perhaps this was because in matters of race, society would always see her as Black and not White.

I figured you know I wanted to be with the people that I knew in the end if it would ever come down to race where I was going to end up, and I was going to end up with the Black people.

One of the more disturbing findings by Renn (1998) in terms of acceptance by White students was the idea that Biracial people could tell when they had been dubiously accepted when White students told racist jokes in their presence. Lisa had similar experiences.

It was just it was weird because when they would sit there on the bus and like talk about White people. They'd be like, oh, well no offense, you know. But you know I didn't say nothing and, I mean just comments like that just, I think I internalized them. It was all these external factors of what it means to be White and what it means to be Black. And you know in junior high, what other people say is extremely important to you. It just kind of made me feel awkward. Kind of like. Well, okay, you know. You don't really say nothing. It's like okay, I'm not really White. It's always weird because when you're in a different situation, it's different. It seems like on campus, it's mainly White people. So there's a definite [feeling] of "I'm Black."

Lisa recalls a time in high school when she participated in a videotape discussion about being Biracial. One of the questions was in regard to which race she identified more with. The answer she gave at the time upsets her now.

I remember, (sigh) I remember going back through our senior year when we replayed that, and I was kind of disturbed by some of the things that I said. Because I remember saying I, you know, which culture, which race do you think you identify with more. And I said White. And when I thought about it, the reason I said White was that's not necessarily how I saw myself, but that's how other people saw me. They figured that I identified more with White people, so I said it because that's how other people saw me. So that bothered me.

When I'm around all Black people I think I, it depends on what they're talking about, I'm more Black, but I know like on [my college] campus, I'm Black, you know, and that's okay. I identify more of Black and yes, I say things more that I'm just seeing a different side of it now. I just identify more with that right now, at the time of my life, and I know it's going to change again later on.

Successful Interventions:

One of the turning points in Lisa's life was finding a place within the school system officially supported her racial identity; a place where she could be herself without having to choose.

I remember the first time sitting in the Biracial/Multiracial Caucus. First off I was thrilled that there was even a club or anything that had to do with being mixed, a club that was especially for me. I was so happy. And it was for the first time that I was just like.. I'm welcome, I'm loved. We introduced ourselves and we went around and identified how we saw ourselves racially and everything. And that was nice just to see how other people identified themselves and how other people saw things.

The timing was critical for Lisa, because she was bringing with her to high school some destructive issues from junior high.

My 9th grade year was when I was at the peak of, "I hate being both races, I wish I was just one, I don't care which one I just want to be one." I think there was still a little bit of that when I entered into high school. It was just nice that finally I felt like I could just be who I've always thought I was and always been just me instead of, "No, you can't be both you have to be Black or you have to be White. You can't be mixed." Just knowing that it's there. Even if we didn't have to do anything, just knowing that it's there was nice.

Being involved in the caucus gave her the support to help her be more confident about her abilities, her attitudes, and her identity.

So throughout the years of high school different classes, I became more accepting of who I was, and accepting of both the races that no matter how people saw me. I am what I am - I am Black and White, and no matter what people say is going to change that. I'm going to act the way I'm going to act, and if that makes me more White, more Black, that's too bad. This is who I am, and that's how I'm going to be.

She saw the importance of the need for support groups once she left high school and entered a college environment that offered little in the way of what Renn (1998) referred to as "identity-based spaces."

Going to [this college], I started seeing.the need of having a group and having a place of their own, because on such a small campus, you feel isolated and you do need that like support system. But see in high school I didn't need that so much in school because I had it everywhere else. I had it at home, I had it with teachers, I had it with my friends. So for me, socially with my peers like in classes, I didn't feel it needed to be just confined to one group of people, and I had friends all over the place. But at [this college], there's a limited amount of kinds of people you can be friends with, and I knew that all of the African Americans were having the same goal as me. Trying to graduate from college and go on to higher learning. Not necessarily all of the African Americans in high school were thinking that way.

Recommendations for Teachers:

As a future teacher, Lisa has spent a great deal of time thinking about how she can help her Biracial students through difficult times of identity issues. Her experiences have given her an informed perspective, and she has specific suggestions as to what teachers can do to provide emotional support and to create a physical environment, with a variety of materials, that is affirming and accepting.

I think the most a teacher can do is just, especially since my emphasis is in middle school 'cause that's when it comes up the most, but probably even in high school, just let that child of mixed race know that it's okay to be however you are. It's okay if you act a little more White or if you act Black, or, it's okay to identify yourself as both. And its' okay to identify yourself differently in different situations.

Another of her suggestions mirrors the findings of Nash (1995) in regard to providing books where Biracial students can see people that look like them. Lisa brings out two children's books that she has found that directly address the issue of being Biracial. One is called, Less Than Half, More Than Whole, by Kathleen Lacapa. It is the story is of a young boy named Tony who is half Native American and half Caucasian. One of his friends who is full-blooded Native American remarks that Tony is "less than half" Indian and that's why his skin is lighter. Eventually Tony talks to his grandfather who explains it to him by comparing him to an ear of corn that has kernels of many different colors.

"Some will see only the blue in this ear of corn, and others will see only the red. But I do not see anything less than a whole ear of corn and all that is and all that it means to our people. You are not half a person because of your color, my son, you are a whole, beautiful person."
(excerpt from Less Than Half, More Than Whole)

Another of her favorite books, called, All the Colors of the Earth, by Sheila Hamanaka has photographs of children with various shades of skin, eye, and hair color.

I just think it's very important to have children's books like that, 'cause I think, growing up, there would have never been a book like this. And even if I would have read this in junior high, that would have helped meI just don't remember it being there. Maybe it was, but I think if maybe I went to a school that it's so blatantly all over the place, that we're all unique, we're all, whatever, I would have felt a lot more like, yeah, I belong here. And maybe in high school you can't do as much murals and stuff, but I still think it's important. I guess in the individual classrooms you can tell that where you feel like you belong and where you don't.

Working on a project for one of her education classes she came across a book she liked as a child. As she looks at the book now, she wonders what it was that drew her to it, and she speculates that the races of the main characters may have played a part.

One of my favorite books was Corduroy, and it just never dawned on me that the little girl in there was African American. I wonder if that's what attracted me to that book. And then there was another book, The Snowy Day. And the boy in there is African American, too.

As for suggestions for teachers, it's a question she's been asked many times.

(Sigh) I think it's important for teachers to emphasize uniqueness and that they [Biracial children] don't have to choose, they can be whoever they are and there's no such thing as acting White and acting Black and being more Black and being more White. It's just the fact that you should be happy with who you are. I think if I would have just had a teacher tell me, it's okay to be both. It's okay, you don't have to choose. It would have just been like, okay. It would have just been so nice. And for someone to say that to a child that's like struggling with, well I don't know where I belong or who I am. You are who you are, you belong here and you don't have to choose. You don't have to choose! That's the big thing.

This is a message that she feels needs to be communicated by someone outside of the family, someone who has a position that the child may look up to.

It's one thing for your Mom to say that but it's another thing for another outside individual to say, "You don't have to choose." And it's like anything else like with drugs and alcohol, and you know, peer pressure, it's all that having to choose and having to define who you are today. You don't have to define who you are today. It's a gradual process, it's ongoing for the rest of your life with who you are and finding out who you are and what you're all about, but in junior high you think it's affecting you like the here and the now. Well I have to decide today who I am. So, I mean I think if a teacher would have just been like, "Lisa, it's okay, you know, you don't have to choose." I think that would have just helped tremendously.

She also reemphasizes the need for official support groups where Biracial children can discuss issues of identity with other Biracial children.

I think, you know maybe they should have caucuses and clubs in junior high. Maybe upper elementary, but it's so hard to be in clubs when you're in elementary. Teachers can make it known. Junior high is when it seemed like race was always there. White girls trying to act Black, Black girls that were not Black enough, and there was always this thing of how White and how Black you acted. As if you can act White and Black.

College Experiences:

The college Lisa attends now has a student population of 980, of which, only 30 are students of color according to the Office of the Registrar, (personal communication, April 2, 2001). There was an incident on campus the week before the interview, involving a friend of Lisa's who is also Biracial. During a racism awareness panel discussion, her friend - who many people had previously assumed was White - asked a question of a panelist, identifying herself as being Biracial. That evening, the girlreceived a racist telephone message from an anonymous caller. The incident upset Lisa, especially since she helped organize the event, and she talks about how it has effected her.

At one o'clock on Tuesday afternoon someone left a message that said, 'We didn't know it before, but you're nothing but a nigger bitch, and we'll see ya around.' So. We didn't know it before because you're so light or something like that. So I was like, nice. Don't know what to say to that. It's very disturbing. I mean I've never had anything that blatantly happen to me on campus, but, figure, if they think that about her, they think that about me.

The other female students of color provided support for both Dana and Lisa after the incident. Many of the studies stressed the need to create groups where Biracial students could feel support. At a college with such a small population of students of color, she found that the qualifications for inclusion had been expanded.

[This] was the first place where I actually had African American females that really accepted me that were my friends and they didn't care how I acted. We had a gathering they always try to do at the beginning of the year, get all the minority students together so we kind of know who everybody is. I've always had friends that are White, and I've always had mixed friends, but I've never really had close girlfriends that were Black. I mean granted I have like a few friends in high school that were African Americans but it's not like we hung out on the weekends or anything like that. I mean we talked in school, we talked in class, things like that, but even with that I felt isolated, I felt different.

Whereas Lisa was excluded by African American females in high school, she found herself accepted in an environment with little diversity. In a manner similar to the junior high lunch table of Biracial students, the few students who were in the larger category of "not white" set aside smaller differences to find solidarity in the broader similarities.

Granted you know we probably came together because we were minorities on a predominantly White campus, but all that's past. And we have a lot of the same issues. And it's nice to know that we have somebody elsewe have someone to talk to on campus. When we talk about it, when we're trying to make the school more aware and trying to do more things, it's important to them, too. And it's just like a little support system. It's nice. I don't know how to describe it, it's just we know that we're there for each other and we have some of the same issues. And just to vent. And just be able to leave it and not have to try to explain it while you vent.

Representing:

Lisa spoke at length about the frustration with feeling the pressure to "represent" her race on campus, which is a significant problem for someone who is unsure which race they are representing.

When I first got down there, there was this overwhelming pressure to represent my whole entire race. And I'm like well, how am I supposed to do this? I don't even know.. Just because I feel this way doesn't mean that other people feel that way and my experiences as being Biracial is different than experiences of being just African American. And how am I supposed to represent this race that I've experienced totally different?

It is suggested in some of the literature that Biracial people may be well-equipped to act as ambassadors between cultures. Lisa was asked if she felt a responsibility to educate White people under the assumption that they might be more willing to listen to her.

Sometimes. I mean With anything you've got to do it in a non-threatening way. And I try to. And that's hard, because it's all on your shoulders. If I can do it in a way at a time when it's non-threatening and everything but it's also really exhausting. I mean 'cause it feels like you're always on. So that's stressful too. And I think that's a lot of the reasons I get stressed at school is 'cause there's that added just stress of like, okay I'm just I can't do it any more. When people meet me, and they find out my race if they didn't already know, their impression of me is going to reflect how they see other people. It is exhausting to represent all the time and to discuss and to shed light on and try to make people understand.

She recognizes that her experiences at a predominantly Black college would likely have been very different.

I know when I was looking for colleges, I didn't even think about going to a Black college. I remember telling one of my friends I was like, I don't think I'd go to a Black college, because I think it would be the same thing but just reversed. I think I'd still feel isolated. I would still feel weird because for one thing I'm light. You know? There's no denying that I'm, I'm White. I have White in me. But also that the fact that I haven't always been accepted I've been accepted by guys, it's never been a problem, but I haven't always been accepted by [Black] females, so I think that would have been an issue.

Personal Appearance Issues:

Lisa talks about another Biracial student on campus who was raised in a small town of mostly White people. She expresses sympathy for the girl because she never had any other people of color to connect with.

I wouldn't know what it's like to grow up without ever seeing anyone like yourself, and never having anybody to identify with. And to have role models. I mean, when I think about it, teachers in junior high and high school and just people I've surrounded [myself] with, it was really important to have role models, female role models. I never had like a Biracial one, but African American teachers, females, that's just really important to have someone that you can talk to about that and to identify with.

Lisa has tried to ensure that her sister doesn't have some of the same negative experiences that Lisa has had by trying to be a positive role model.

For my sister it's very important for me so she can have somebody growing up. And that's one reason I want to send her to Park [a local middle school with a diverse student population], because they do a good job at incorporating multiculturalism. I think if I would have had that in junior high, I wouldn't have had so many identity issues, and hating myself of who I was. I mean nobody should hate who they are. I mean 'cause despite the fact that you know my mom does care so much and she understands a lot, she I think the closest you can get as a White person to understanding is either being married to someone of a different race or having children [with] a person of a different race. My mom does understand a lot, but there's some things that she doesn't she won't understand.

Lisa also ponders the influential factors that led her to go into education as a career choice.

I mean, who knows, I think about this because I want to become a teacher. Is it because the only role I could see myself in? Because I just happened to be lucky and in my early years before I got to high school I had two African American women teachers? And so I could like see myself in that role?

And in college, as it was i n elementary school, hair is an issue again.

Sometimes I still have issues with my hair, but that's.. in high school it wasn't really a big deal, but being here surrounded by predominantly White people I still kind of go back to elementary school. Sometimes I feel like I'm back in elementary school. So I'm cautious about my hair. Is my hair sticking up? I can't go out in the hallway if my hair's sticking up because everybody's going to look at me. Do I like the way I look? Yeah. I wish I was a little darker sometimes, but. And that kind of bothers me when girls fake bake and they can be darker than me. They think this is just a tan, you know. And that irritates me when people are like, "Well, you got a nice tan." No, this is natural.

When asked why she wanted to be darker, she replied:

I don't know. I just like darker skin. I mean not like real dark just like, you know, just a few shades darker. Like the way I get in the summer time. Just that bronze color. 'Cause I think it's nice. I'm sensitive about my skin color, and it upsets me when people don't realize that I'm Biracial, I'm like, how can you not notice? It's so obvious.

Educating White People:

In a college of mostly White students, the majority of whom have come from smaller, mostly White communities, the burden of educating them about racial and cultural diversity often falls to the students of color.

When I first went down to [college] I was really like in this "I hate White people" [mode] I mean really bitter person coming out. I just get tired of just the ignorance of it all. And if you catch me on a bad day, it's not goodBut you know, things happen. You come out, you're kind of bitter and it was at the beginning of the year I was still trying to handle everything. I just didn't think it was going to be like that. I mean 'cause in high school you know I had White friends, my mom's White, and you know it'sit was different. It's not White people from a small town and White people from Lincoln are a little bit different.

Lisa's friendship with a White girl in one of her classes helped her overcome some of that bitterness. The friend was trying to come to terms with the issue of racism, and at first Lisa was angry. "I'm just thinking, 'What does she know?'" she said. But as they continued to talk about it, Lisa found common ground upon which to build an understanding.

She's a little more optimistic about things like, "Save the World," but we have the common goal. We want to work with the same kinds of kids, do the same kind of things, but we just go about it differently. So that helped me, having a friendship with her helped me to get back to where I wanted to be like where I was at in high school where race didn't matter. You're my friend because we have something in common and not because of the color of your skin.

Making friends with White students on campus has been hard for Lisa because so much of what they know about racism comes from the media rather than personal experience. She talks of putting people through an informal kind of test in order to protect herself.

You do test people. You can't be open arms to everybody because in the end you'll get hurt. What's really even more hurtful is when they say things and they don't realize that they shouldn't say it. Like "colored." No. No, I'm sorry, you know. No. And then they don't understand the difference between "people of color" and "colored."

She acknowledges a difference in the types of White people she has encountered. Coming from a relatively large city with a fair amount of racial diversity, she had not interacted much with White people from smaller communities.

A lot of the White people on campus are different. It's not.. it's like a different kind of White people. Way different culture of.. it's the small town culture of it all. And it kind of seems like we categorize them as White people, but even in our group we know we have friends that are White, and on campus and when we're talking about White people, we know what we're talking about.

When asked to clarify which White people she was referring to she replied:

Just the ignorant ones (laugh). Not our friends and not the ones in class that we get along with.

She tells the story of two of her closest White friends who were talking about knocking on people's doors and then running away as a prank. They referred to it as "nigger knocking" in front of Lisa.

They looked at me and they were like, "Oh my God. I'm so sorry I said it." And I wasn't upset about it because I knew they didn't mean it like that and that they didn't see me like that. I wasn't upset that they said it, I wasn't even hurt that they said it, I didn't even take it personally that they said it. I mean they were more upset that they said it than I was and I'm like, you know, that's okay.

Lisa remarked that the issues she was faced with when she came to the college campus in many ways resembled those that she faced in junior high. She said that it seemed like she had gone in cycles throughout school. In elementary school race wasn't really an issue, and then in junior high it became a big issue. In high school, since her environment was so diverse and she had some support, it seemed to be less of an issue again. But coming to a college that is predominantly White, many of those junior high sensitivities have resurfaced.

I feel like sometimes when I'm back on campus I feel like I'm back in junior high. You know college is supposed to be where you grow and there's all this personal growth and expanding and experiencing new things. I feel like I'm too busy trying to keep hold to what I already know is right and what I feel is true and not rubbing off to like the ignorance of other people.

As she had Biracial Caucus in high school to help her sort through some issues, in college she had a Multicultural Education class that allowed her to address them in a structured, supportive way. It also helped her to understand the perspectives of White students.

I probably wouldn't have made it through the semester without that class, because I got to vent a lot, and it kind of made me understand where these people were coming from. It didn't make me so angry at them that they were so ignorant, to the way the world was, and it made me more compassionate, more understanding and more wanting to be like, well I want to help you understand, you know? So by the end of the year. . I know amongst the friends that I had that were White, I felt very comfortable with them. It was just like friends, it wasn't like they were friends with me because I was Black, or because of whatever. To them race wasn't an issue.

Another reoccurring conflict came with the experience of having a roommate. Unlike the summer program experience where her Black roommate felt that Lisa wasn't Black enough, in college she found that she was too Black for her White roommates. One was intimidated by her, another was uncomfortable with other Black students visiting the room, and another wouldn't address the issue of racism because she felt that race just wasn't an issue and it didn't matter what color a person was. "And I'm just thinking, 'But it does. Because that's just part of who I am. Race does matter,'" Lisa said. Conversely, another roommate wanted to talk all the time.

On this campus it always seems like I always have to explain myself so many times, and I get tired of it. And half the time I don't even know how to explain myself anymore. I'm more than willing in class to talk and share my experiences, and you know knowledge or whatever, but when I'm in my room, I'm in my room and I'm just me, and I needed a space where I could just be Lisa, and I wasn't Black Lisa, I wasn't the mean girl, or anything like that. I was just Lisa. I need my space.

Intersectionality:

Patricia Hill Collins (1998) has suggested that the experiences of African American females in the context of racism are substantively different than those of African American males. Rather than being additive in nature, being a woman plus being African American, Collins argues that the difference is multiplicative. How much more complex then, are the experiences of Biracial women? When your racial identity places you outside of most groups with whom you might share some common experiences ­ in fact by the very virtue of being a specific combination of races the odds of finding someone with whom to truly identify is practically impossible ­ how much more of a feeling of isolation must there be?

I think African American women, we might have some of the same struggles, but I also have the struggle of you know being Biracial and being light. I don't know what it's like to be all African American, I don't know what it's like to be African American in a bigger city. I don't know what it's like to be Biracial in a bigger city or a small town or anything like that. I just know what it's like to be Lisa growing up in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Despite a wide range of differences, which she feels are significant, White students still have a tendency to group all women of color together.

Even among African American females ones that are of lower income have different struggles than of those with higher income. I know everybody thinks of us on this [campus] when we're together they just, they think of us all the same and everything, but between us all we're so unique and we're so individuals and we're so different. I mean we have common things, but we're, none of us are exactly alike. And we all have different beliefs and experiences and so, we're unique. We're individuals.

As an additional layer of the separateness her racial identity initiates, Lisa emphasizes the qualitative and quantitative differences between the issues faced by Biracial females as opposed to the issues faced by Biracial males.

And I think as a female it's harder. I've never had a guy, as many Biracial guys that I've talked to, it's never it never seems like it's been as hard for them as it has been for the females I've talked to. I mean I think anybody that's Biracial has at least a period in their life, you know a day a week, where they come in -- a month a couple years -- where they come in contact with the pressure of deciding between the races or accepting both races or whatever, but it just seemed like for me it was always for a long period of time and I think it lasts longer for females. Most of the mixed girls that I've talked to it's almost like they go through an identity crisis. Females just have more societal pressure as it is. And I mean, when you think about it, junior high, body image, and hair, every time I talk to a mixed girl there's always something about hair that's involved. Because hair in junior high is a big deal. Guys have short hair. [There's] variation of what you can do with your hair and what you can put in your hair, and if you can use African American products or if you can use White products.

Some of those appearance issues, ironically, would turn out to be the catalyst that would bring her together with the African American females on the college campus. Having to face similar kinds of trials created a sort of solidarity with them, and it led to a kind of acceptance.

Friendships/Relationships:

Dana, the Biracial student who received the racist phone message, and Lisa have become close friends. They share a common interest in acting, they face some of the same issues due to their light complexion, and they discovered another similarity that makes them even more alike: they have the exact same amount of Native American ancestry.

She's just nice to hang out with, and finally it's nice that it feels like in high school you know? Some of the friends I'm friends with, we became friends because of our race. I mean I like the girls beyond just them being African Americans or whatever, but it was just like me and Dana would have been friends. I'm not saying the other girls wouldn't have been, but it's just the same, you know. It's like we're so much alike and we're both light skinned and we just have a lot in common and it's just nice. I feel like I can totally be myself around her. Like, totally be myself around her.

Throughout all of her experiences, the importance of friendship has had a profound impact on her development. Whether it was at the elementary school lunch table, on the corner with "grungers" in junior high, in Biracial Caucus in high school, or with Dana in college, having someone with a common frame of reference to share experiences and ideas with seems to have made a significant contribution. And in the end, her confidence in herself and her comfort with who she is has opened the door for new relationships and given her a place to stand.

I've had a lot of important things in my life, and a lot of it happened in high school, so that gave me the confidence to go on and be who I am. And so maybe that's another reason why now I can have friends across the boardbecause I am confident in who I am for the most part (laugh) I am confident in who I am, and so if you're happy with who you are, other people are going to you know just accept you.

Summary of Findings:

Lisa's responses would seem to support the findings of Wardle (1992) and Brandell (1998) to the extent that a supportive, communicative, and nurturing home environment can play a significant role in the development of a positive Biracial identity. There can be no denying that the home environment is a critical element of the identity development in any child. It also seems clear, however, that there are additional factors outside the home that make a difference. Although teachers have no control over the family dynamics of their students, in the school environment they have the ability to initiate or reinforce a message that may or may not be communicated at home. Again and again Lisa responded that if an adult outside the home had ever taken the time when she was younger to tell her that it was okay to be Biracial, and that she didn't have to choose between the races, it would have made a profound difference to her. Perhaps she still would have faced issues related to her racial identity, but just knowing that someone "official" thought that it was all right and supported her, might have relieved some of the pressure and isolation she felt.

In addition to having a teacher provide support, both the literature and Lisa emphasized the importance of having safe spaces (Fly, 1995), sanctioned groups (Renn, 1998), and informal support structures (Johnson, 1997) in place to provide a foundation for Biracial students who might be struggling with identity issues. Considering the absence of readily available and appropriate classroom and curriculum materials (Nash, 1995), teachers bear the responsibility of becoming knowledgeable about these issues in order to be of assistance to their Biracial students (Wardle,1992). As the incident with the summer program director demonstrated, the necessity for teachers and administrators to examine their own feelings about Biracial individuals (Fly, 1995) is also crucial.

Lisa also seemed to confirm Kerwin's (1993) idea that Biracial individuals have the ability to appreciate both sides of racial issues, but some of the consequences may not always be positive. Contrary to Kerwin's assertion, Lisa did in fact feel marginal in two cultures during many periods of her life, and solutions like moving to a more diverse neighborhood also brought with it new obstacles to overcome, specifically the issue of not being Black enough for her new peers.

While Lisa's experiences seem to indicate at least visitations to the five stages of Poston's Biracial Identity Model (Poston, 1990, pp.153-154), she doesn't seem to have encountered them in order, and she seems to have gone back to some more than once. Contrary to Poston, Lisa's experiences seem to suggest that rather than moving from one stage to another in an orderly progression -- toward the final destination of Integration where she will achieve wholeness and the ability to recognize and value all of her ethnic identities -- she has moved in spirals, revisiting some issues again and again throughout her life. Instead of progressing smoothly from one step to the next, or becoming stuck in a circle of repetition, she has made steady but circuitous progress over sometimes familiar territory to become the person she is today.

The repetitious nature of her past experiences suggest that she may not be finished with her journey just yet, but she does seem better prepared for whatever lies ahead. And perhaps that is what educators should aspire to; helping their students to outfit themselves with the tools necessary to navigate their own course successfully.

Limitations:

As in any case study, the findings here are not meant to be a "one-size-fits-all" template for the experiences of all Biracial people. Precisely because of the uniqueness of their experiences, due to their particular blend of racial and cultural elements (physical and emotional), any attempt to make generalizations about Biracial people as a group should be suspect. In focusing on the life experiences of one Biracial individual, however, we can get a glimpse of some of the kinds of issues that other people of mixed-race heritage might face. Although the way they deal with the issues may vary, many of the scenarios they face will likely be similar.

It should also be noted that my interpretation of Lisa's responses was based solely on the answers she gave during the interview. She was not given an opportunity to read the transcript of the interviews and clarify her responses. This was done intentionally to preserve the raw honesty and authenticity of her answers without attempting to polish them which, in my estimation, would have diluted the results.

Recommendations:

After reviewing the data collected from these interviews, there are several recommendations to be made to professional educators and counselors at all levels regarding the assistance and support of Biracial students throughout their racial identity formation. It is clear from both the literature and from Lisa's personal experiences that an accepting, nurturing home environment is crucial. In addition to, or in the absence of, such an environment educational institutions should provide:

1. A formal, sanctioned support group of some kind where students of mixed-race heritage can get together with each other to discuss issues related to their racial identities.

2. Teachers and counselors to act as facilitators during group meetings. Preferably the teachers or counselors should be Biracial/Multiracial themselves. If that is not possible they should at least be knowledgeable about, and comfortable with discussing, the issues related to Biracial/Multiracial students.

3. Curriculum and classroom materials that portray people with a variety of skin color, hair texture, etc., so that Biracial/Multiracial students see people who look like them in the regular course of their education.

4. Age-appropriate books and other reading materials that directly address the issues of Biracial/Multiracial people, or that have Biracial/Multiracial people as positive characters or subjects.

5. Teacher training, materials, and support to help educators understand the issues and needs of Biracial/Multiracial students.

Future Research:

In the absence of a great deal of research in the area of Biracial Identity Formation, the opportunities are almost limitless. Lisa discussed several areas that warrant further study. Specifically it would be of interest to examine more closely the differences between the experiences of Biracial females and Biracial males. Focusing on family dynamics, one might also look at the experiences of oldest children compared to youngest children, and/or single parent families compared to two parent families. Lisa also said several times that she felt the reasons for some of her difficulties were exacerbated by her low socioeconomic status. Each of these areas should provide ample material for future study.

INFORMED CONSENT FORM

IRB# IRB#2000-12-102EP

Identification of Project:

Purpose of Research:
This is a research project that will focus on the experiences of an individual biracial/multiracial female in terms of her identity formation throughout childhood, adolescence, and into young adulthood. The purpose of gathering this information is to assist educators in understanding and working more effectively with students of mixed-race heritage in the school environment. You must be a biracial/multiracial female of at least 19 years of age in order to participate.

Procedures:
Participation in this study will require you to attend up to 3 separate sessions of approximately 2 hours each. These sessions will consist of video- and audio-taped interviews in which you will answer questions rel ated to your experiences growing up as a person of mixed-race heritage. This will include questions about your feelings related to experiences at home, at school, with family, and with peer groups.
In order to get as much useful information as possible, it is important that you be willing to discuss issues/experiences that may be emotionally uncomfortable. You may decline to answer any questions, but it is the expectation of the researcher that you give as much information as possible. Your anonymity will be preserved in any written/oral form submitted for publication or review, and the tapes of the sessions will either be destroyed or turned over to you at your discretion.

Benefits:
This project should benefit you by giving you a chance to express your feelings and memories in relation to your experiences growing up as a person of mixed-race heritage. You may gain some insight into your own identity formation, and you may benefit from articulating thoughts and ideas that you have not previously expressed.

Risks and/or Discomforts:
The only foreseeable risk to you in this project is in the form of emotional pain or discomfort in recalling difficult childhood experiences and memories. As stated above, you may decline to answer questions with which you feel uncomfortable. In the unlikely event of problems resulting from participation in the study, psychological treatment is available at the UNL Psychological Consultation Center (402) 472-2351. Payment for services, which are assessed on a sliding scale, will be the sole responsibility of the participant.

Confidentiality:
Any information obtained during this study which could identify you will be kept strictly confidential. The data will be stored in a locked cabinet in the investigator's office and will only be seen by the investigator. The information obtained in this study will be used for the investigator's master's thesis and will be published for that purpose. The information may also be published in academic journals or presented at academic meetings/conferences. Your identity will be concealed by the use of a fictitious name within the materials, and the tapes will either be destroyed or turned over to you at your discretion.

Opportunity to Ask Questions:
You may ask questions concerning this research and have those questions answered before agreeing to participate in, or during, the experiment. You may call the investigator at any time. Office Phone: (402) 436-1529. Home Phone: (402) 477-7567. You may also contact the Graduate Programs Coordinator, Dave Wilson, Ph.D., at (4-02) 472-3386.
If you have questions concerning your rights as a research subject that have not been answered by the investigator, you may contact the University of Nebraska Lincoln Institutional Review Board (402) 472-6965.

Freedom to Withdraw:
You are free to decide not to participate in this study or to withdraw at any time without adversely affecting your relationship with the investigators, the University of Nebraska, or other participating agent. Your decision will not result in any loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.

Compensations:
There will be no compensation for participation in this study.

Consent, Right to Receive a Copy:
You are voluntarily making a decision whether or not to participate in this research study. Your signature certifies that you have decided to participate having read and understood the informationpresented. You will be given a copy of this consent form to keep for your records.

Signature of Subject:

Signature of Research Participant Date

Name and Phone Number of Investigator:
Gregory L. Keller, Principal Investigator Office: (402) 436-1529
Home: (402) 477-7567

Description of significance of project:
The number of interracial marriages and relationships is rising exponentially in this country. As a result, the number of children of mixed-race heritage is also increasing. This project will be of particular use to secondary and post-secondary educators in terms of providing insight into the experiences that have helped biracial/multiracial students form their individual identities. It will also bring up issues of identity formation that are unique to biracial/multiracial people. It is my hope that the results of this project may help educators to be better prepared to help students of mixed-race heritage, both emotionally and academically, by understanding more about the students' backgrounds.

Description of methods and procedures:
This project will be a case study. It will consist of extensive interviews with one biracial female. The interviews will be video- and audio-taped for the purposes of accurate transcripts of the interviews. The tapes will either be destroyed after they have been transcribed, or given to the interviewee depending on her preference.

Describe participants:
The principal participant in this study will be a 20 year-old, biracial female. The justification for restricting participants to females is to focus on the effects of the intersectionality of race and gender as a significant element of biracial identity formation. The justification for restricting participants to young adults, is to be able to gain the perspective of someone who is close enough to the age when identity formation is likely to occur, yet old enough to be likely to articulate her experiences from a more mature perspective.

Describe compensation:
There will be no compensation for participation in the project.

Describe benefits and risks:
This project should benefit the participant by giving her a chance to express her feelings and memories in relation to her experiences growing up as a person of mixed-race heritage. She may gain some insight into her own identity formation, and she may benefit from articulating thoughts and ideas that she has not previously expressed. The only foreseeable risks to her consist of the emotional pain of recalling difficult childhood experiences and memories. She will be instructed to feel free to decline to answer any questions she feels uncomfortable with.

Describe recruiting procedures:
I have worked with biracial/multiracial students over the past 6 years at the high school where I teach. I have already contacted a former student who is now a sophomore in college where she is studying to be an elementary school teacher. She has tentatively agreed to participate in the project.

State how informed consent will be obtained:
I will give the participant a copy of the consent form. I will explain both the form and the project in detail with her, and I will ask her to sign the form if she wishes to participate.

Describe how confidentiality will be maintained:
I will use a fictitious name for the participant, and the video and audio tapes will either be destroyed or given to the participant as stated above. The interviews themselves will be conducted in private, at a location to be decided by the participant.

Copy of informed consent:
(Attached)

Copy of questionnaire, survey, or testing instrument:
(Interview Guide Attached)

Copies of institutional or organizational approvals:
(Not Applicable)

Copy of funding proposal:
(No funding necessary)

Description of Interview:

Based on information found in the literature review, I have chosen a variety of topics within the context of which several questions will be asked. These questions are related to the available theories in regard to biracial identity formation. They will not be asked in any particular order, but will serve as a reminder to the interviewer to touch on the various topics throughout the course of the interview. The format of the interview will not be a formal question and answer session. Rather, it will follow a conversational format which should facilitate a more natural and comprehensive exchange between the interviewer and the participant.

The participant will be encouraged to follow her own path in terms of subject area in order to get as complete a picture as possible of her experiences. The interviewer will adapt questions and follow up on unanticipated questions in order to accommodate any change in topic. The responses of the participant will dictate the direction of the conversation, rather than relying on the prepared questions of the interviewer.

The interview will be conducted at a location selected by the participant in order to make her the most comfortable. The interview will begin with some general factual questions such as the participant's age, full name, place of birth, educational background, etc. The interview will then progress to more specific questions about the participant's experiences.

Before subsequent sessions, the interviewer will transcribe the tapes and examine the written record. The interviewer will then formulate additional questions to fill in any gaps or to expand on any responses that he feels need more clarification or detail.

The final interview will be strictly for the purposes of allowing the participant one last chance to add anything relevant and/or for the interviewer to tie up any loose ends.

PERSONAL LIFE:

Self-Description/ Labels
What are the races of each of your parents?
How do you describe yourself in terms of your race?
Do you identify with the race of either parent more than the other?
When you are asked to identify your race, in person or on a form, what do you answer?
When did you decide on that label?
Have you always identified that way?
Do you ever identify as biracial? Why?/Why not?
If not, what were the other terms you used?
What caused you to change?
How did you arrive at your current label/description?

Self-Identity/Racial Awareness
When did you first become aware of your racial identity?
What memories do you have of a time when your racial identity was an issue? Explain.

Self-Esteem
How do you feel about yourself?
Do you consider yourself a confident person? Explain.
How do you feel about your racial make-up?
Has it ever been a significant asset or liability?

Physical Appearance
How do you feel about your physical appearance/features?
Has your opinion changed over the years?
What caused the changes?
Has your physical appearance caused any problems or create any positive opportunities
for you?
How are you generally perceived by others?
What race do most people think you belong to?

SOCIETY:

Cultural Acceptance
How do you think society in general feels about biracial people?
Have you ever been in a situation where your racial ambiguity created an uncomfortable experience for you? Explain.
How have you been treated by members of each of your respective races? Explain.

Dual Socialization
Do you feel that you have been socialized in two different cultures? Explain.
Do you feel more comfortable in situations where one race or the other is predominantly represented? Which one? Why?
Do you feel equally capable of interacting in groups of people who are predominantly race or the other? Explain.

Discrimination Societal/Personal
Have you ever been the victim of discrimination based on your race? Explain.
Was it directed at you personally, or in general at the members of one of the races with which you identify?
How did you feel at the time of the incident?
How do you feel about it now?
What was the outcome of the incident? How was it resolved (if at all)?
What do you feel you learned from it?

FAMILY:

*Races of Parents
What are the races of your parents?
Are your parents still together? If not, please explain the current situation.
Did they ever say how they were treated by their family members when they got married?
What do you remember as a child about their interactions with each other?
How do you think your parents feel about their own particular race?
How do you think each of your parents feels about the race of the other?
Do you think those feelings have changed over time? How? Why?

Family's Coping Skills
Was your race ever discussed by you or family members in your home? If so, when was discussed, and what were the conditions of the discussion?
Did you feel comfortable talking about your racial identity with either of your parents? Why or why not?
How did your family members respond to incidents that called attention to your race?
Did you ever experience any confusion as to your racial identity because of a difference in appearance between you and your parent(s)? Explain.

**Relationship With Each Parent
Describe your relationship with each of your parents today.
Describe your relationship with each of your parents as you were growing up.
What, if anything, has changed? Why, when, and how did it change?

Extended Family Relationships
How are/were you treated by members of your parents' families?

Use of Interracial Label at Home
How did your parents refer to your racial status?

Location of Home
Where have you and your family lived over the course of your life?
What places did you like best? Why?

Siblings
Do you have any brothers or sisters?
Are they biracial as well?
Compare/Contrast their experiences with yours as much as you are able.

Dating Restrictions/Advice
Did either of your parents impose any restrictions on your dating practices? What were they, and how did you respond?

SCHOOL:

Developmental Issues/Problems
Do you remember having any particular problems adjusting to various school situations?
Describe your development emotionally, and socially throughout your school experiences.
Were there any problems that you encountered that were perceived by teachers to be as a result of your racial identity?
What was your perspective on those problems at the time?
What is your perspective on those problems now?

Treatment By Other Students and Teachers
How were you treated by other students in the school?
Were you treated differently by the students of each of your races? Explain.
How were you treated by your teachers?

Expectations/Opportunities in Elementary/Middle/Secondary/Post-Secondary
What do you think the teachers thought of you as a student?
Do you think your race had any impact, positively or negatively, on their opinion?
Did teachers tend to have fair expectations of you as a student? Explain.

FRIENDS/PEER GROUPS:

Border-Crossings
Did/Do you feel comfortable interacting with peers of either race?
Has this always been the case? What was different? What changed? Why?
What kind of people do you feel most comfortable with? In what situations?

Dating
Do you date? When did you first start dating? Talk about some of those experiences.
Have you placed any restrictions on yourself in terms of who you will or
will not date? Why or why not?
How do you feel about dating people who are racially different than you?
Since your children will be multiracial, what will you do to prepare them?

*I understand that under normal circumstances these questions would not be appropriate, however, since the focus of this research is centered around race as an element of the subject's identity, it is important to be clear about the racial aspects of her heritage in order to put her responses in context. According to the literature, most often problems dealing with issues of biracial identity seem to occur in young people with one white parent and one black parent. Perhaps because some of the most heated and visible conflicts in our history, such as slavery, segregation, and civil rights struggles, have been between black people and white people, the issue of racial identity in a person who is a product of these two races is particularly volatile.

To understand how she arrived at her current identity, it is important to know, not only the races of her parents, but also how she feels they viewed their own race, their interracial relationship, and their attitudes toward other members of the spouse's race.

Since I am interviewing her and not her parents, I understand that she will be interpreting her parents' attitudes. How she makes sense of her perceptions is what is of interest to me. I want to find out how their perceived attitudes impacted her throughout her development. To that end, I have purposely worded the questions to illicit her interpretations, rather than asking her to speak for them.

**Again, much of the literature suggests that some of the identity problems faced by biracial youth may be related to the quality of relationships with their parents. Specifically in single parent homes, where the child is not exposed to the cultural experiences and perspectives of both parents, often the child harbors ill feelings toward the absent parent and projects those feelings onto others of that parent's race.

If the parent with whom the child lives openly expresses ill feelings about the absent parent and/or members of that parent's race, the child may grow to have those same feelings. Consequently, the child may also identify with those characteristics, because of her physical connection to the absent parent, and internalize them. This, in turn, could affect her self-esteem as well as her perception of her mother's feelings toward her. I have purposely worded the questions to be open-ended and ambiguous.

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