Supporting biracial children's identity development

Childhood Education, Spring 2001 by Morrison, Johnetta Wade, Bordere, Tashel

In societies that fail to acknowledge their ethnic and racil backgrounds, biracial children often struggle as they attempt to merge their dual heritage without compromising either one.

One of the goals of high-quality early care and education programs is to support young children's identity development. This goal is important for all children, but proves to be particularly challenging for those who are of dual heritage parentage. The challenge must be met, however, as the number of biracial children in the United States is increasing each year (Korgen, 1998). Reports indicate that, as of 1998, over 2 million children of dual racial parentage were being taught in preschool and public school classrooms (Chiong, 1998). For the purposes of this article, "biracial" will be used to denote a person with a white parent and a parent of another race.

According to Erikson (1968), identity development is a never-ending process. Helms (1990) considers identity to have both a racial and an ethnic side. Ethnic and racial identity begins to develop during the preschool years (Katz, 1987; Ramsey, 1987), and adolescence is an especially crucial period. Rosenthal (1987) emphasized that achieving a sense of identity is an important psychological task for children. Children's behavioral and psychological development suffers when they do not achieve a firm sense of identity. That sense of identity is based on certain social contexts, including gender, class, ethnic, or racial group membership (Rosenthal, 1987).

Maintaining an ethnic identity is particularly relevant when one's ethnic group is a minority group in the society (Rosenthal, 1987). As they seek their identity, however, biracial children often have trouble identifying with a particular ethnic group. U.S. children of black and white parentage have additional difficulties due to the polarization of blacks and whites (Chiong, 1998).

In societies that fail to acknowledge their ethnic and racial backgrounds, biracial children often struggle as they attempt to merge their dual heritage without compromising either one. In the U.S., for example, the dual heritage of many biracial children is virtually invisible. Chiong (1998) theorized that this invisibility occurs because society attempts to keep the races "pure," in spite of the fact that such purity does not exist. Most often, children of dual racial parentage are identified with whichever race their physical features most reflect (Chiong, 1998; Korgen, 1998; Nash, 1995). Typically, children of dual racial parentage suffer from the same racism and prejudice (Korgen, 1998; O'Hearn, 1998) that befalls those of unmixed minority heritage.

While children's biracial status is more acknowledged and accepted now, teachers have little information concerning how to support identity development for these children. Effective early childhood programs need to establish goals that include assisting identity development (Derman-Sparks & the ABC Task Force, 1989). Teachers who have some understanding of the importance of identity development are more likely to create not only a supportive classroom environment, but also one that encourages parents to discuss issues.

This article discusses developmental stages of identity development in early childhood, as well as ways teachers can be supportive of that development. Attention will be given to the early childhood educator who might face certain challenges when dealing with diversity. The data that serve as the basis for this article are from research conducted with interracial-- black and white-couples and their biracial children. The majority of the conclusions and suggestions offered here, however, are appropriate for children of any racial combination.

Components of Identity Development

The search for an identity, while difficult for most children, can be facilitated if the early childhood classroom environment supports the holistic needs of all children and focuses on children's identity development. Children from groups that have traditionally experienced prejudice associated with race would, in particular, benefit from such classroom experiences.

In addition to race, such factors as class, ethnicity, gender, and personality characteristics affect children's identity development. With regard to race, membership in a racial group is usually assumed by physical characteristics, such as skin color. Race is socially constructed, however, and there is no biological way to distinguish among the races (Korgen, 1998). Racial identity often is determined by one's selection of a government-designated monoracial group, such as American Indian, Eskimo, and Aleut; Asian and Pacific Islander; black; and white. Children's selection of racial identity labels is affected by their perceptions of themselves in relation to a racial group (Rotheram & Phinney, 1987).

The attitudes of biracial children are mainly influenced by parents, teachers, peers, and extended family, all of whom have a major role in facilitating a child's acceptance and pride in his or her racial identity (Kick, 1996). To a certain degree, one's feelings, perceptions, and behaviors are a product of ethnic group membership. Members of an ethnic group often share a common culture, traditions, values, and/or beliefs. Having positive feelings about ethnic identity, therefore, is a critical part of one's development (Phinney & Rosenthal, 1992).