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The Fragility of Post-Racial Ideology in American (Visual) Culture

The Changing Face of America (2)

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National Geographic's The Changing Face Of America
The most important component of a ‘post-racial’ America are its members: the Americans living and thriving without the consideration of race in their daily lives are what make the concept of post racial a reality. But who are these members? What kind of face and features mark a person that no longer is associated with race? The most obvious answer, the one that articles like National Geographic’s The Changing Face of America point towards as the future of America, is an America made up of mixed race individuals. A mixed race individual points to the declining significance of race in their very creation, for “through the intensity and virtual involuntariness of the bonds created by marriage or parenthood, family relations hold the key to the resolution of racial conflicts.” (Chen via Anderson) Further, a mixed race individual often induces ambiguity in the process of another trying to classify the person of mixed race. With this ambiguity in mind, the ability to discriminate based on race decreases due to an inability to categorize. As shown by the 2010 census, the growing population of mixed race individuals by 50% since 2000 will inevitably become the majority in the United States. By becoming the new norm, mixed race individuals will in turn solve the issue of race because, as Lise Funderburg concluded the article in National Geographic’s The Changing Face of America, “if we can’t slot people into familiar categories, perhaps we’ll be forced to reconsider existing definitions of race and identity, presumptions about who is us and who is them.”
The article is not definite in the assertion that a majority of mixed race individuals in America is the eventual solution to the problem of race -- it is in fact wary of the label “post-racial” in America -- however, Schoeller Martin’s photographs for The Changing Face of America display individuals of mixed race to authenticate the possibility of post-racial America. The suggestion of a multiracial population being the new norm, as well as a means to cause America to reconsider their notions of race, leads to why mixed race individuals are highlighted as the future.
What a responsibility, to have the future of post-racial America on one’s shoulders, depending on how quickly their population grows. Schoeller Martin’s photographs attempt to demonstrate the growing numbers of multiracial citizens in the United States, and how varied a mixed race individual can look. This variation and racial ambiguity, as well as their growing population, are the main arguments posing mixed race individuals as indicators of a post-racial society. In reality, the experiences of multiracial individuals often gives prominence to race -- their racial ambiguity often confuses people and leads to the question: “What are you?”