Y. Xie et K. Goyette, THE RACIAL IDENTIFICATION OF BIRACIAL-CHILDREN WITH ONE ASIAN PARENT - EVIDENCE FROM THE 1990 CENSUS, Social forces, 76(2), 1997, pp. 547-570
This article examines the socioeconomic and demographic correlates tha
t are associated with whether biracial children with an Asian parent a
re racially identified with their Asian parent or with their non-Asian
parent. With data extracted from the 5-percent Public Use Microdata S
ample (PUMS) of the 1990 census, we take into account explanatory vari
ables at three levels: the child's characteristics, the parents' chara
cteristics, and the locale's racial composition. Our results indicate
that the racial identification of biracial children with an Asian pare
nt is to a large extent an arbitrary option within today's prevailing
racial classification scheme. We find empirical evidence in support of
the theoretical proposition that both assimilation and awareness of A
sian heritage affect the racial identification of biracial children wi
th an Asian parent.