Heather M. Dalmage (Ed.), The Politics of Multiracialism: Challenging Racial Thinking.

Heather M. Dalmage (Ed.), The Politics of Multiracialism: Challenging Racial Thinking. Albany, NY.: State University of New York Press, 2004. $65.50 hardcover, $21.95 papercover.

This book is one among the extensive body of literature on multiculturalism, multiracialism, diversity, and racial identity. However, multiracialism is a political movement which should not be confused with multiculturalism. Many readers, African Americans in particular, will find the contents of this book informative, provocative and at times, disturbing to read. The color blind emphasis (or attempts to erase the color line) which characterizes the overall multiracial movement in some ways seems a setback to the civil rights movement and in other ways may be seen as helping the ideals of the civil rights movement come to fruition. This social movement consists of organized activities at the community level, political activism and is manifest in academic life and various media outlets. While some perspectives in the movement are more liberal than others, it should be thought of as having a conservative agenda, at times coming across as anti-black.

Included in this anthology are twelve articles which attempt to provide an understanding of multiracial thinking from both an historical and a contemporary perspective. The multiracial movement is comprised of mixed race families who attempt to promote social justice through organized political and other activities which de-emphasizes race. The context, discourses, and lessons from the movement are described in this edited collection. The movement has benefited greatly from the social gains achieved from the civil rights movement of the sixties. While in many respects, the ideology of multiracialism undermines the traditional civil rights movement, in effect, the multiracial movement has benefited immensely from the social gains achieved during the sixties because of the organized civil rights struggle. Multiracialism or the mere existence of multiracial families is certainly possible because of the civil rights movement, but as a whole, the ideology is contrary to civil rights thinking.

The chapter on transracial adoptions is an anecdotal and personal account from a scholar and white parent of an adopted African American child who acknowledges that the activities of the sixties made transracial adoptions appealing. The author, Barbara Katz Rothman is not advocating for or against transracial adoptions, but calls attention to the fact that such children in such situations, straddle the color line, and that racism must be taken into account. Acknowledging oppression, exclusion and discrimination based on race and how race has divided us both currently and historically, the author does not deny the importance of race as a social construct, but suggests that, for the future, hard work is necessary to create a better worldview and social reality about physical differences. Most proponents of civil rights would be in accord with this slant on multiracialism. Many civil rights proponents would not argue against the fact that race is more a social construct than a biological construct, but civil rights proponents would not negate the importance of the continued need for attention to governmental race-based initiatives such as affirmative action. As expressed in the views of the outspoken African American, Ward Connerly, the prevailing ideology of the multiracial movement is in opposition to race-based initiatives such as affirmative action. For example, Connerly received the 2000 Racial Harmony Hall of Fame award from A Place For Us Ministry for Interracial Couples. This multiracial organization is politically more conservative than some of the other organizations and proponents of the movement.

It appears that there are different perspectives within the movement. As noted by Dalmage, there are contending ideologies within the movement, with some views overlapping with others as well as other views that seem contradictory. No matter in which form the ideology is expressed, the movement's ultimate goal is to alter racial thinking in this country, to promote color blind worldviews, and to ultimately achieve social justice by diluting white power and privilege. Multiracial families have emphasized the fluidity of racial categories and developed strategies such as influencing the way race related data was collected in the 2000 Census, resulting in expanded options for categorizing race.

Collectively, the multiracial movement, its organization and various manifestations, is a social movement which is counter to the thinking of civil rights organizations such as the National Council of LaRaza, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Urban League, and the National Congress of American Indians. This anthology sheds light on this new social movement and this new way of thinking about race, or better yet, not thinking about race. Clearly, the multiracial movement is a political force to be reckoned with!

Wilma Peebles-Wilkins

Boston University