Multiracial young adults’ experiences of Whiteness as a wage and tax

Debates persist on the racial position of multiracial Americans, namely whether this population will “become White” or not. However, the premise of this question is predicated on a monoracial paradigm of race that cannot fully account for the experiences of multiracial individuals. Multiracial experiences with Whiteness, including ways they conform to and confound monoracial expectations, have the potential to reshape our understandings of racial constructions, boundaries, and futures, particularly considering shifting racial demographics. One necessary precursor toward these insights lies in the distinctions between how multiracial and monoracial individuals experience Whiteness. Drawing on thirty-seven in-depth interviews with multiracial young adults with White ancestry in the Midwest, I argue that multiracial individuals experience Whiteness as a wage (privileges) and a tax (costs). Like monoracial Whites, multiracial individuals viewed as White can receive public and psychological wages, yet these wages are offset by an inseparable “racial tax,” which is predicated on the contingent and exclusive nature of Whiteness. These results underscore the utility of calling attention to the monoracial structure, as well as recognizing and theorizing beyond its limits.