Multiracial Americans: The History and future of racially-mixed communities in the United States

4 credits · Undergraduate

In this course, we study three multiracial communities with a Dutch-American connection, one that identifies as African American, one as Native American and one as Asian American, and take these cases as a point of departure for a broader discussion on the history and future of racially-mixed people in American society. This focus is important considering that people of mixed race have experienced a long history of discrimination in the United States. Racial mixture was long associated with degeneration, and racial theorists claimed that it weakened physical, intellectual and moral qualities such as strength, endurance, honesty, and even fertility.