Migrating mixedness: exploring mixed identity development in New York City

There is a wide range of research in the social sciences on mixed or multiracial identity, yet existing research in the United States looks primarily at the multiracial identity choices of U.S. born Black–White or White-Asian multiracial individuals. Therefore, this paper will expand the discussion through in-depth interviews with 22 young adults with parents of different races and ethnicities, who currently live in New York City, focusing on individuals with first-generation mixed background with varied racial/ethnic combinations, most of whom have transnational families with different religious and geographical background. This offers a more nuanced and global view and expands on previous research findings through an exploration of how factors such as family and community influence their identity choices. Yet recognizing how racial and ethnic identities exist and operate globally in different ways, we will focus on how living in a diverse global city with transnational ties affect these young adults, as they navigate their mixed identities. In particular, the varied ways young people’s families, and different communities, influenced their identity development is central, especially when there are strong transnational ties.