Intergenerational Transmission of Race, 1960 to 2010

Carolyn A. Liebler, University of Minnesota

Virtually all research on the racial identification of multiracial individuals has used data from 1990 or later, yet multiracial individuals have existed since long before then. American Indians have been forming interracial unions for many generations. In this project, I focus on these groups as well as more commonly studied groups (e.g., whites, blacks, and Asians) to summarize how children of interracially married parents are racially labeled on Census forms and how that has changed between 1960 and 2010. To provide the most accurate estimates, I use dense restricted-use census data housed in the Census Research Data Centers. This research provides a rich background for the expansion of knowledge about multiracial identification to more types of people and to more historical contexts.