Multiracial identities, single race history: Contemporary consequences of historical race and marriage laws for racial classification
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-1-2017
Abstract
This work interrogates the role of the law as an “actor” in the spatial patterning of racial classification. Laws governing racial intermarriage represent key ways that rigid distinctions between groups were codified. Critically, there is a great deal of state variation in these laws. We draw on a unique data set that combines samples from the 1990 and 2000 Census (5 percent IPUMS) and the 2009–2011 estimates from the American Community Survey with information on state-specific legal bans against intermarriage. Results from multilevel logistic and multinomial analyses indicate that a past of legal regulation is associated with a lower likelihood of a “mixed” classification for the offspring of black-white interracial unions, particularly in the 2009–11 period. Our results provide evidence that place-specific institutional legacies are imprinted on the classification choices made even in the midst of expanding options.
Publication Source (Journal or Book title)
Social Science Research
First Page
102
Last Page
116
Recommended Citation
Bratter, J., & O'Connell, H. (2017). Multiracial identities, single race history: Contemporary consequences of historical race and marriage laws for racial classification. Social Science Research, 68, 102-116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2017.08.010