Transcending Blackness : from the new millennium Mulatta to the exceptional multiracial / Ralina L. Joseph.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Joseph, Ralina L. (Ralina Landwehr), 1974-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Multiracial people--Race identity--United States.

Multiracial people.

Multiracial people--Race identity.

African American women--Race identity.

African American women.

United States.

Racism in mass media.

Minorities in mass media.

Physical Description:

pages cm

Place of Publication:

Durham, NC : Duke University Press, 2013.

Summary:

Representations of multiracial Americans, especially those with one black and one white parent, appear everywhere in contemporary culture, from reality shows to presidential politics. Some depict multiracial individuals as mired in painful confusion; others equate them with progress, as the embodiment of a postracial utopia. In Transcending Blackness, Ralina L. Joseph critiques both depictions as being rooted in-and still defined by-the racist notion that blackness is a deficit that must be overcome.

Analyzing emblematic representations of multiracial figures in popular culture-Jennifer Beals's character in the The L Word; the protagonist in Danny Senza's novel Caucasia; the title character in the independent film Mixing Nia; and contestants in a controversial episode of the reality show America's Next Top Model, who had to "switch ethnicities" for a photo shoot-Joseph identifies the persistence of two widespread stereotypes about mixed-race African Americans, those of "new millennium mulattas" and "exceptional multiracials." The former inscribes multiracial African Americans as tragic figures whose blackness predestines them for misfortune; the latter rewards mixed-race African Americans for successfully erasing their blackness. Addressing questions of authenticity, sexuality, and privilege, Transcending Blackness refutes the idea that race no longer matters in American society. Book jacket.

Contents:

Televising the bad race girl : Jennifer Beals, the race card and the punishment of mixed-race Blackness

The sad race girl : passing and the new millennium Mulatta in Danzy Senna's Caucasia

Transitioning to the exceptional multiracial : escaping tragedy through Black

Transcendence in Mixing Nia

Recursive racial transformation : selling the exceptional multiracial on America's Next Top Model

Racist jokes and the exceptional multiracial, or why transcending Blackness is a terrible proposition.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780822352778

082235277X

9780822352921

0822352923

OCLC:

783520883