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Racial and Ethnic Identity Development in White Mothers of Biracial, Black-White Children

New York University School of Social Work, and a social worker in the Newark, New Jersey, public schools; 116 Squire Hill Road, Montclair, NJ 07043modonog730{at}aol.com

This article reports on a qualitative research study of the racial and ethnic identity of 11 White mothers who were married to Black (specifically African American) men and were raising biracial children. The uniqueness of these women’s lives, as Whites with an intimate knowledge of the Black experience, makes it difficult to place them within the levels described by current models of racial identity. Through their parenting of biracial children, the mothers had come to a greater sense of their own racial identity and to recognize White privilege and their own White identity. Their specific ethnic identity, as ethnic Whites, has not been passed on to their children.

Key Words: ethnic identity • interracial families • mothers of biracial children • racial identity

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