Transcending Blackness: From the New Millennium Mulatta to the Exceptional Multiracial

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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. Preface. From Biracial to Multiracial to Mixed-Race to Critical Mixed-Race Studies ix Introduction. Reading Mixed-Race African American Representations in the New Millennium 1 Part I: The New Millennium Mulatta 1. Televising the Bad Race Girl: Jennifer Beals on The L Word, the Race Card, and the Punishment of Mixed-Race Blackness 37 2. The Sad Race Girl: Passing and the New Millennium Mulatta in Danzy Senna's Caucasia 67 Part II: The Exceptional Multiracial 3. Transitioning to the Exceptional Multiracial: Escaping Tragedy through Black Transcendence in Mixing Nia 95 4. Recursive Racial Transformation: Selling the Exceptional Multiracial on America's Next Top Model 125 Conclusion. Racist Jokes and the Exceptional Multiracial, or Why Transcending Blackness Is a Terrible Proposition 155 Notes 173 Bibliography 201 Index 219