Responses on: "Please specify why you answered the way you did on the previous question."

Informant #32282: I think that the person may have a hard time feeling accepted depending on their actual physical appearance and their surroundings. For instance when a darker skinned child is walking with a parent that is very light skinned and is assumed to be white. I don't think that other people would automatically assume that they are in fact child and parent and if told so, it may come as a shock to them. This could be positive or negative and depending on how other people might react to relationships like these it could have an effect on someone that is biracial.

Informant #32285: Being that I am biracial, I can say that I have had problems feeling accepted by the members of the races that I am only partially a member of, especially here at Penn State. I think some people have a problem accepting people as being more than one thing, and because of that they try and force you into only one group, and not acknowlegde both sides of your herritage. I think this is mainly with people that haven't grown up around a lot of diversity or come from families that are not accepting of diversity. Where I am from I've never had a big problem with being accepted because I am from a diverse area, where a lot of people are biracial, multiracial, or in an interracial relationship.

Informant #32479: Biracial children have a harder time because the same race people are the ones who are creating the problems for biracial children.

Informant #32500: They are never considered 'pure' in their race.

Informant #32547: i know people of biracial backgrounds, their experiences have been challenging

Informant #32906: i think it can be awkward for them cause they do not belong to an individual race and they may find it difficult to identify with one over the other

Informant #32907: I feel that biracial children would have a hard time identifying with one or the other race.

Informant #32908: They might be seen as an outsider as well as having an internal conflict with which race they choose to call their own.

Informant #32909: I think it's harder for biracial children to be able to identify with any one race. I'm white, and I identify with that. Biracial children may not feel this identity. Then again, they may not mind that.

Informant #32910: Depending on the living conditions and location, i belive that children in general will be biased from other people/children, because they look different. Also, because the people being bias don't know.

Informant #32911: I come from the DC metro area where it is highly diverse, so it is not uncommon to see bi-racial couples, children, etc. It is the norm in my area, granted in other smaller rural areas they may have issues, but what I have seen in mine it is quite common.

Informant #32913: I feel that they cannot fully say they are one thing so that is harder to identify with a group.

Informant #32914: Race/Ethnicity has become such an integrated subject. There are very few individuals who are strictly one ethnicity, and yet people like to generalize and say all African Americans are the same, all Latinos are the same, all Caucasians are the same, etc so people who are obviously of two or more distinguishable races have no large majority in which to be identified. Humans have a very distinctive trait of always having the need to identify and "gruop".

Informant #32915: I am not sure because I am not biracial, but I am sure that there are instances where they do have a hard time being accepted, but it depends on the environment they are in.

Informant #32916: I have just heard a lot of stories about biracial children not being accepted because they really aren't either a true white person or a true black person if that was the two races that were mixed.

Informant #32917: I think that when people who have friends that are biracial, if the biracial friend acts differently one time, the other friends blame it on their other race and it creates problems.

Informant #32918: I just feel that biracial children have a harder time being accepted into a specific race because in a way it is hard for them to relate to one or the other and can be discriminated against from either race. For example if there is a biracial child between a white person and a black person they may have a hard time relating to the white culture versus the black culture and vice versa.

Informant #32919: at a younger age children dont know maybe and will make fun of biracials such as half white / half black are called oreos, etc.

Informant #32920: well i know that i am very proud of being puertorican and when othe people tell me their only half puerto rican its kind of a let down. i would marry a black person and would have children with them but i think i would prefer a puertorican jus to keep it true to my roots. but for some reason half black half puertoricans i think are still pretty cool it bothers me more when its like half white half puertorican or half some other spanish country. i cant really explain why its jus how it seems.

Informant #32921: Biracial people have told me they have a hard time.

Informant #32922: I that biracial children may have a harder time because for instance they may be teased because they aren't full African-American or full Caucasian, but instead they are a mixture of both.

Informant #32923: They don't really "belong" anywhere.

Informant #32925: I am not an biracial child and so I do not know what it feels like and whether or not they are accepted or not.

Informant #32932: I am not sure because I have never asked someone who was biracial if they had a harder time. However I think it would be hard for white people to accept a biracial individual as also being "white"

Informant #32933: I do not know much about this subject, but from what I've heard, many biracial people have trouble fitting in because they do not know with whom to identify.

Informant #32934: I am good friends with a half black half white person, and he is part of a predominantly white group of friends...i don't know how it is for other people though.

Informant #32937: I believe that people won't see them as an Asian or whatever other race because they are not 100%. The child might feel at a loss and confused to which race to associate himself to. Also, people of a race might only notice the part of him that isn't Asian for example--they'll just point out the "White" half.

Informant #32938: Someone's level of acceptance depends on their parents, their family, and what community they live in.

Informant #32939: I have never had any exposure to the acceptance of biracial children by members of the race they partially belong to.

Informant #32940: i dont think it makes a difference

Informant #32941: simply because they are not one race or the other and therefore not accepted by either race.

Informant #32942: because there is still a lot of subtle racism in our society today

Informant #32943: they may not feel accepted by certain closed minded people from those certain races. it also depends where they grow up and the racial makeup of that area.

Informant #32944: There's a uniqueness to every story. However there's always tension for people who aren't necessarily "in" a given group when they try to join a group.

Informant #32945: We are all Americans and have mixed ancestry. We may not be from parents of different color, but maybe different nationalities in the same continent. I would not expect such a problem, but may not be shocked if it was.

Informant #32946: Many times they are confused and unsure of who they can relate to and who will understand what they are going through.

Informant #32948: there is no doubt that any child has issues fitting in, if you are biracial, you may find yourself not fitting into either race and it could be really hard in the early goings, kids are tough

Informant #32949: cause some people don't accept them for the partial race they are. etc.

Informant #32951: People feel prejudice from both races. Biracial friends of mine have experienced this.

Informant #32952: I am biracial and since my skin is not white like my mother's skin, as a small child white people always stared at us while in public. There was even an incident while I was in kindergarten that a mother (who was white) of one of my classmates was telling other parents that I was adopted, which was not at all true. Also, since I do not look white a lot of people, even friends of mine, think that I am just not white even though they know I am half. For instance this past St.Patty's Day my one friend was like why are celebrating your not Irish, even thought she knows I am part Irish, I guess she just decided my ethnicity by the color of my skin. I do not feel my Polynesian side has a hard time accepting me to the race, but most definitely my white side does because I do not look like them.

Informant #32954: Depending on their living environment some people would harass people who are "different."

Informant #32955: From my observations, biracial children have an easy time connecting with different races(the ones that are part of their make-up), but as of being accepted? Because of the bi-commitment to all thier races, they may float in between, or choose one part (race) to identify with more and therefore have a harder time with acceptance with the other group, or both.

Informant #32956: Some people of a race may not accept them because they are not fully that race. The

Informant #32957: It depends I guess. I think for the most part, children wouldn't really care unless it was pointed out as a negative/weird thing.

Informant #32958: I've never known anyone in the situation.

Informant #32960: It seems like people that are part something have a tougher time being accepted by the people of the minority that they belong to in my experiences at least

Informant #32962: I don't think it matters at all.

Informant #32963: I think they might feel like they don't fit completely in a certain group, and may be judged.

Informant #32964: I believe that people now don't look at race, they look at personality.

Informant #32967: They often have a hard time distinguishing themselves between races and can often be confused if they are not accepted because of their mixed races.

Informant #32969: I think children are a lot more accpeting than adults.

Informant #32970: I feel it would be hard to understand unless i actually experienced being biracial myself. But i assume it would be slightly more difficult to be accepted.

Informant #32971: People feel their race is the best so they wouldn't want it to be changed at all.

Informant #32972: I have many biracial friends and no one within our (mostly white) group of friends seems to care.

Informant #32973: I think only ignorant people would make them feel like they didn't belong. And ignorant people will find any way to make you feel unwanted.

Informant #32975: I have a few biracial friends who have been through problems with being accepted, even to the extent of being excluded from things and assaulted due to it. However, this is not the case among everyone.

Informant #32978: I see the way that biracial children are treated by the races that they beling to.

Informant #32979: it completly depends on the views of the particular person. everybody feels differently.

Informant #32980: I do not know anybody that is biracial. I would be answering the above question, solely based on stereotypes. I choose not to do that.

Informant #32981: I believe it is harder for people of mixed races to be accepted by others of the smae race. I feel as though it's harder for them to be accepted because they have two races to please, and sometimes one race is harder on them then the other, so at times bi-racial people will affilate more so with one race then both equally.

Informant #32982: I think it depends in what community the biracial children will grow up in. Upper class suburban society may not be as accepting as the city.

Informant #32983: I think that in today's society, people are finding it more socially acceptable to see interracial couples. While, many of them may not partake in such activities, they "don't mind" it happening.

Informant #32984: I have alot of friends that are biracial. It only comes up once in a blue moon that they are insulted/hurt about it.

Informant #32985: I don't feel that I have the life experience to answer that question.

Informant #32987: Yes, because in our society we like to define people as one thing or another thing, and biracial children can't exactly fit into one "category."

Informant #32988: I don't know anyone who is of mixed race well enough to understand their experiences.

Informant #32989: I don't know many biracial people; therefore, I have no view on the subject.

Informant #32991: becuase some people might be racist and my chidren than would be both sideded

Informant #32993: I believe that biracial children have a hard time associating themselves with one particular group, and the children around them have a hard time fully accepting them.

Informant #32995: I agree with this because they the people won't see them as being truly from that race. So, in essence, they're almost like outsiders.

Informant #32996: A half-black, half-white kid would have a harder time than a white kid.

Informant #32998: There are lasting stigmas that havent yet been erased in some parts of America

Informant #32999: I am not sure.

Informant #33000: Not being biracial I can only imagine how hard it would be to asscimilate to a race that you belong to genetically but don't physically look like that particular race. I think one would feel like they didn't belong to any group because they are not clearly defined as one or the other. That would have to be tough.

Informant #33001: From experience of seeing it around me.

Informant #33002: My roommate is half Chinese and half Puerto Rican. She's shared her struggles with me.

Informant #33005: I think because people still aren't comfortable with the idea of interracial couples together. And because there is nothing they can do to the parents they take it out on the children instead.

Informant #33006: Sometimes they don't feel they belong to either race, so they don't feel like they relate to those people of those races.

Informant #33009: They will be teased for being different, and not having a strong identity. Mostly alot of teasing.

Informant #33010: My cousins are biracial and they have told me stories

Informant #33011: I think that for the most part in today's times, from what I have personally seen, even with people against interracial couples, they tend not to blame the biracial child. Also, there are numerous "black parties" on campus and biracials are welcome, and although sometimes they don't feel welcomed (a friend of mine does not) they are definitely treated the same.

Informant #33012: Society's reactions today proves that some biracial children "have a harder time being accepted by members of the race they partially belong to."

Informant #33013: Depends on the races and they are not part of just one race so people may not accept that they are also a different race

Informant #33017: I have a few friends each with one white parent and one black parent and they fit in fine, we joke about it but I dont think their race keeps them from making friends

Informant #33018: My little sisters are biracial (they are adopted) and I can see already in my sisters kindergarden class already see her as different.

Informant #33020: I think that every person is treated differently. Sometimes race isnt an issue, every persons situation is different

Informant #33021: I think they might have a harder time feeling accepted. Possibly because of the people in the races they partially belong to having trouble accepting them into their race.

Informant #33022: From seeing a friend go trough it.

Informant #33024: Bi-racial children may have a problem excepting a part of themselves (white/black) that would then cause problems in the future

Informant #33025: They have problems with friends at school accepting them

Informant #33029: some people are not as open as others. There is obviously still rasicm in the world and some people are not able to accept such changes.

Informant #33031: in today's society, there is a large amount of the population that is made up of more than one race. I find that many people are intrigued by a persons ethnic background, and discrimination is slowly starting to disappear.

Informant #33032: I just think it would be harder for them to adjust, being that they are biracial.

Informant #33035: Biracial children are forced to choose between the two races that run through their blood. For example, half-black/half-white children have to choose which race they would like to follow because each one is so different from the other. Black people, I think, feel like they are more a union than individual people. They have much different cultural beliefs than do white people. This proves to be a problem for children resulting from interracial relationships.

Informant #33038: I don't know a lot about it, but I have heard of people being discriminated against for that reason in some areas.

Informant #33041: I think in the past this was in issue, but I'm not sure if it is today.

Informant #33042: Racism is slowly declining as older generations pass away.

Informant #33045: People are more accepting towards these things.

Informant #33046: Depends on the situation and environment

Informant #33047: I have known people who are biracial and say they do not feel fully accepted

Informant #33048: Due to the injustice, racism, and ignorance that still exists in this society and which has been passed down from generation to generation.

Informant #33049: I know many biracial people, and they don't have any trouble being accepted as far as I know.

Informant #33051: I am biracial and I have had no problem being accepted, by the races, as well as people in general. Of course theere are always those people who are going to disagree with it.

Informant #33052: Some people feel that they are not pure of a particular race so they do not belong.

Informant #33054: From what I've seen in my personal experience I think that they do fall to some prejudice.

Informant #33057: I believe that children in these situations do not know where they belong.

Informant #33058: I grew up with two different cultures on each side of the family. My mother's family is Jewish and My Father's family is Catholic. I try hard not to favor a side and still have trouble finding which side I would want to belong in or fit in the most.

Informant #33059: I think that it is harder for them to identify with a group, and when you are akidd you are just trying to figure out where you fit in.

Informant #33060: Never had any biracial friends who weren't accepted, but I don't know what it is like for others

Informant #33063: I don't think they have that hard of time because nowadays there are so many different races out there. On the other hand, it may be kind of difficult because there may be cliques made from races and if they are not one race, they may not feel like they belong in one single group.

Informant #33065: I think in some cases they would have a harder time fitting in, like in a city, if there is a lot of discrimination. But, I've found that in college and back home (suburbia), that if you are bi-racial, you fit in with many groups easier because you are partially this and that.

Informant #33066: i feel like its hard for kids to identify with themselves and other people because they are slightly confused about who they are

Informant #33067: Because it is almost as if they aren't a member of either group, to a certain extent they're stuck in limbo (does not apply to all cases)

Informant #33068: it depends on a lot of different things, could be different in any case

Informant #33075: I know many biracial children who are greatly accepted

Informant #33076: that is bullshit. a half black kid still looks black and just appears light-skinned. Same with half asians and so on

Informant #33090: Children need to feel like they belong somewhere, and if both or all races they represent do not totally accept them, they will have a harder time with themselves and being accepted.

Informant #33094: it's not who you are but were you grow up

Informant #33098: I have friends who are biracial and they have expressed the difficulty and confusion they face as the result of their background

Informant #33099: I think that some people may feel the child may not be able to fully inderstand the adversities the race may be against. Perhaps they feel the child may not be a total member of one race but of a different race (for example many people refer to half asians as Happa).

Informant #33102: Just because of racism in general.

Informant #33106: i dont know but i think they would be more accepted by both than if they were not biracial

Informant #33113: Just because some many people are agaisnt it

Informant #33114: From my personal Experience of being slightly rejected for being only half sicilian, i can assume it happens to biracial children

Informant #33125: I've only noticed one instance in my high school, but a boy a year younger than me was of interracial marriage. He was either too white or too black for people.

Informant #33130: I know that a lot of children from biracial marriages experience various things. It depends a lot on the environment in which they grow up in.

Informant #33134: I feel as if biracial children might have a harder time fitting in and finding their niche in their race, but that shouldn't stop biracial couples from having children.

Informant #33135: Because kids don't understand people who don't look like them

Informant #33141: I don't see them being viewed as different from any other child

Informant #33142: they do not belong to either group fully...confusion may occur. i have seen it through my cousins who are biracial and my neighbors

Informant #33144: I know someone in that situation and it was not hard for them.

Informant #33149: A lot of people see kids who look white who are actually mulatto and people don't take them seriously.

Informant #33150: i've seen it first hand, people from my school have made fun of those with interracial parents

Informant #33158: I feel that biracial children tend to be accepted very well from my experience.

Informant #33159: some tend to be rejected by both races they are born to because they aren't 100%

Informant #33164: It depends on the family

Informant #33171: im not in that situation, nor know anyone that is

Informant #33180: Because there will always be some judgement placed upon them for simply being biracial.

Informant #33181: Society deems biracial children as something unacceptable making it difficult to fit in

Informant #33182: The children can identify with more than one race and some people of one race may feel those children are not a part of their culture because they are biracial and shouldn't try and identify themselves as a certain race because they are only part that race.

Informant #33198: They are disowned in ways by both races, and have a hard time aligning with a singular racial group

Informant #33203: Possible sense of unsureness as to which racial group to identify themselves with.

Informant #33244: It has a lot to do with how children are raised within both racial cultures.

Informant #33264: sometimes ppl inside a race dislike half-breeds

Informant #33278: it depends on what they look like... if they end up looking white then they will be considered white more so than african american even if they're mixed... if they end up looking african american.. they will be considered african american more so than they will be considered white

Informant #33288: I feel they may have identity issues and may possiblely have problems being accepted.

Informant #33292: Well from where i grew up you really didnt even notice what color you were unless you had just came straight from a country. With those type of people around they became more offended by people interracially dating just because of traditions and in their culture traditions are valued greatly.

Informant #33354: Race is such a strong personal determinant of where we belong and who we feel comfortable with.

Informant #33381: some people stil aren't accepting biracial babies because they are set in their ways

Informant #33412: I don't think they should have a hard time being accepted by members of the race because they are technically still part of that race.

Informant #33437: Biracial children often have a difficult time adjusting and or accepting one race.. I know some personally who consider themselves black and others who consider themselves white. and in any situation it is hard to be accepted by the oppisite race of your choice

Informant #33572: I think biracial children find a hard time identifying with one race group, making it hard for them to be accepted from their peers

Informant #33578: Because they dont feel like they belong to one particular group, they are always an outsider to people of each race they come from. It isn't necessarily a bad thing but I'm sure it can be difficult for the child.

Informant #33652: It depends on what they child looks like. If they look all Black or White then the other race might disown them, but since the number of biracial children is rising so rapidly then I don't think a lot of people will disown them. It is starting to become a way of life to Americans. I personally believe that biracial children are beautiful and their complex make up, makes them even more wonderful.

Informant #33860: Sometimes biracial children may feel compelled to choose one race over the other because of what their peers may think, and if they choose one over the other, the one they neglect can become offended

Informant #34212: until we absolve ourselves from seeing color and not who they are, having children that belong to two or more ethnic and racial groups isn't very considerate...even in the smallest sense, what do you answer in the blacks in the beginning, for example? what is your race if you are of many?

Informant #34526: I think that people may not be completely accepting of someone who has other racial roots because they are probably not fully integrated into only one culture.

Informant #41990: It's not an issue anymore. At least not here in Australia. Virtually everyone is multicultural.

Informant #50374: My mom doesn't like the idea of biracial children, so it's a difficult idea/decision for me.

Informant #152913: well i think race is stupid. and the fact that there is still racism out there a biracial child will have problems fitting in .

Informant #155426: I have known people who have had problems

Informant #171139: Times are changing. For thew most part there is no longer the stigma, although I can not say it is gone entirely.

Informant #261938: It's gotten better for biracial children compared to the past but sadly there is still ignorance in this world.

Informant #288026: I think mixed children are beautiful and are accepted by kids their age and other kids around them. The only problem I think they have is with the adults who were raised to believe that color mix is wrong and the colors should remain separate.