In 2010, over nine million Americans (2.9% of the population) identified as multiracial on the US Census—a 32% increase in the last decade (Jones and Bullock, 2012). Harris and Sim (2002: 625, emphases added), however, noting the fluidity of racial identity among multiracial people, claim that the Census likely failed to fully capture the number of Americans with ancestors from two or more racial groups, arguing that these numbers merely reflect a “count of a multiracial population, not the multiracial population.”

Put simply, multiracial ancestry does not necessarily translate into multiracial identity. Someone other than the multiracial person may fill out the Census questionnaire—often parents fill out the Census for their multiracial children—and how multiracial children self-identify and how their parents identify them may not match (Harris and Sim, 2002; Campbell and Eggerling-Boeck, 2006). Studies also show that identity is fluid and inconsistent—multiracial people may change their identification over time (Hitlin et al, 2006) and/or self-identify differently in different contexts (Burke and Kao, 2010). Harris and Sim (2002), for instance, found that some multiracial adolescents identified as multiracial in some contexts but not in others (e.g., some identified as multiracial at school, but not at home). Further, racial identity is shaped by a multitude of factors, including (but not limited to): knowledge of one's ancestry (Morning, 2000); racial appearance (Brunsma and Rockquemore, 2001; Khanna, 2004); cultural exposure (Stephan, 1992; Khanna, 2004); family structural variables (Dalmage, 2000; Harris and Sim, 2002; Herman, 2004; Rockquemore and Laszloffy, 2005); family and peer socialization (Rockquemore and Brunsma, 2002; Rockquemore et al, 2006); regionality (Brunsma, 2005); age (Morning, 2000; Harris and Sim, 2002); social norms (e.g., the onedrop rule) (Davis, 1991; Daniel, 2002; Harris and Sim, 2002; Roth, 2005; Herman, 2010; Khanna, 2010a, 2010b); social networks (Hall, 1980; Root, 1990; Saenz et al, 1995; Xie and Goyette, 1997; Harris and Sim, 2002; Rockquemore and Brunsma, 2002; Herman, 2004); and social class (Daniel, 2002; Rockquemore and Brunsma, 2002; Herman, 2004; Khanna, 2010; see also Korgen, 2010).

The influence of social class on racial identity

Studies on multiracial Americans reveal a link between social class and racial identity.