THE RACIAL IDENTIFICATION OF BIRACIAL-CHILDREN WITH ONE ASIAN PARENT - EVIDENCE FROM THE 1990 CENSUS

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.