Ethics

This paper argues that the youth now are less colorblind than people of the same ages before the Civil Rights era, because they can interact and be friends with different races. However, they continue to consider race in more important social, political, and economic decisions, but not mostly because of racial discrimination, but because of social capital and cultural preferences. It is possible that culture is becoming more defined now, when multiracial identities blur the perceptions of racial identities.  It is even possible that the youth finds it harder to characterize their identities according to race, if they are multiracial, and they would rather desire to define their identities based on culture and subcultures, and then connect those cultures with race, only if needed. Thus, as the younger generations become more colorblind, they can become more culturally defined.

The United States is becoming more and more interracial, with the increase of biracial and multiracial marriages and romantic interrelations. According to the 2010 Census, mixed-race marriages have increased by 20 from the year 2000 to 4.5 million, which now represent 8 of the whole population (El Nasser 2010).  The Census has then included the option of allowing people to define themselves as some other race, and not merely one or two races (El Nasser 2010). This brings people to reflect on their race and do some soul searching and how they perceive themselves, in terms of their race or ethnicity (El Nasser 2010).   For the younger part of our society, race is going to be less of a factor when they decide partners, whom theyre going to church with, where theyre going to live, Frey says. It wont be exactly color-blind but much more color-blind (El Nasser 2010). This essay argues that Frey is both right and wrong. The younger generation is less color-blind, in terms of choosing their friends, especially when compared to pre-Civil Rights era, but they still think about race when they make important life decisions, such as social, political, and employment decisions, because of cultural considerations that can still be tied back to blurred racial identities.

The younger generation is less color-blind, in terms of choosing their friends, especially when compared to pre-Civil Rights era. Perez and Hirschman (2009) discuss how the younger generations are now less choosy with their personal social relations. They agree that the boundaries between races are blurring, because of interracial marriages and the preponderance of equal rights for all races and ethnicities. I can also observe that in the film industry, and how some films show that different races can also be friends and have intimate relationships. Television shows, such as the Disney channel, also illustrate that people from different races can be good friends. This is seen as an attempt to send the message to the youth that race should not a deciding factor in choosing who we want to be with and that, instead, people should be more pluralistic in their choices of social relations. This is not the same perception before the Civil Rights era, when many white people saw black and other minorities as different from them, or even, lower or inferior. That is no longer a predominant perception now, at least according to laws and the advances made in racial equality in the social, political, and economic sense. In fact, we even have a black president, which means that many people consider blackness as no longer a glass ceiling to political leadership. I also have many friends who are biracial or multiracial. I asked them also what they think about race and its impact on their social interactions, and they said that race do not bother them at all and that they have many friends who are also biracial or multiracial. This means that the younger generation is less color-blind, in terms of choosing their friends, especially when compared to pre-Civil Rights era.

On the other hand, based on research and my informal interviews, the younger generations still think about race when they make important life decisions, such as social, political, and employment decisions. El Nasser (2010) stresses that many multiracial people do not like being boxed up in one or two races, when they feel that they should underline all the races they identify with. However, in terms of marriage decisions, they still marry other people who are part of their races, especially those races that they strongly identify with. I have Asian friends and many of them still prefer to marry people with Asian heritage or race. For them, they want to choose someone who they share similar cultural beliefs, especially when it comes to marriage and raising a family. Many of my black friends also prefer marrying black women. One black male friend said Well come to think about it, I still prefer black women when dating people. Now if you ask me about marriage, I will prefer black women again. I guess it is more of culture, but then culture is also racialized. I asked him if race will then still affect his social decisions and he said Yes. I guess it still will. Culture is deeply embedded in race and I would want to marry someone who shares the same cultural beliefs and attitudes that I do. It will make us more compatible in the long run. My understanding of this is that the youth is not even that comfortable of talking about race and important life decisions. This is probably because they are very careful in not being branded as racists. I do not think they are racists though for choosing someone from their race because they feel they will be more compatible. I believe that this is more of a cultural and personal decision that race intersects, though not in a negative discrimination way.

The younger generations also still think about race in making political decisions. One good example is the election of Obama. In a news article, Dewan (2008) explores the perceptions of college students about voting for a black president. She asked William Osborne, a second-year student political science major and member of the all-white University of Kentucky chapter of FarmHouse, an international fraternity, about hearing that other people in his fraternity said that they would not vote for Senator Barack Obama because he is black. She describes the uneasiness of Osborne about this topic his voice dropped to a barely perceptible level. Osborne also admitted that it was hard to talk about race issues and politics altogether. Dewan (2008) also noted surveys, wherein one says that the youth value race for the upcoming elections more than older generations, and another survey of a predominantly black population says that the younger generations are ready for a black president. She also reported about some comments from college students that if Obama wins, White House would become more ghetto with barbecues on the front lawn (Dewan 2008). This article demonstrates that people still reflect on race and its implications when making voting decisions. This indicates that the younger generation is not at all color-blind when it comes to political rights and participation. This could be because they have strong affiliations with certain races or ethnicities, or because it is possible that racial discrimination subtly exists up to now. Is the joke on a ghetto White House done in humor for real or does it reveal underlying prejudice against black leadership There is a need for future research on these perceptions, in order to identify how racial prejudice persists or not for the younger generation. At the most, it can only be inferred that there are many reasons for the younger people to still find race as a crucial determining factor for their voting decisions.

Furthermore, the younger population also find race as something that affects their employment decisions, and even other kinds of life decisions. Sundar (2008) study the perception of identity for second-generation multiracial youth. Findings showed that the youth see race as a strategy for their life purposes and that they brown it up or bring down the brown depending on their social capital needs and circumstances they are in. For instance, some of the youth would identify themselves as Hispanics with their families and friends, but abroad, they identify themselves as Canadians or Americans. This article demonstrates that race is also seen as an economic and social variable for accumulating social capital. The younger generations also understand that race is still very much a part of their lives and their development, and so they use racial distinctions, according to their social capital needs. I also asked my friends how race will affect their employment decisions. Many of them also agreed that they would prefer a workplace wherein they can find multiracial co-employees. Many of them confirmed that they would prefer certain races over others, for professional and work relations issues. This shows that they still think about race in employment environments and that they are not entirely colorblind.

This paper argues that the youth now are less colorblind than people of the same ages before the Civil Rights era. However, they continue to value race in more important social, political, and economic decisions, but not predominantly because of racial discrimination, but because of social capital and cultural preferences. It is possible that culture is becoming more defined now, when multiracial identities blur the perceptions of racial identities.  It is even possible that the youth finds it harder to define their identities according to race, if they are multiracial, and they would rather prefer to define their identities based on culture and subcultures, and then connect those cultures with race. Thus, as the younger generations become more colorblind, they can become more culturally defined.