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| {{short description|Cultural identity}}
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| {{about|transracial people or transracial identity|other uses|Transracial (disambiguation)}}
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| {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}}
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| A '''transracial''' person is one who identifies as a different [[Race (human categorization)|race]] than the one associated with their biological ancestry. They may adjust their appearance to make themselves look more like that race, and may participate in activities associated with that race. Use of the word ''transracial'' to describe this is new and has been criticized, because the word was historically used to describe a person raised by adoptive parents of a different ethnic or racial background, such as a [[Black people|Black]] child [[Interracial adoption|adopted]] and raised by a [[White people|White]] couple. | | A '''transracial''' person is one who identifies as a different [[Race (human categorization)|race]] than the one associated with their biological ancestry. They may adjust their appearance to make themselves look more like that race, and may participate in activities associated with that race. Use of the word ''transracial'' to describe this is new and has been criticized, because the word was historically used to describe a person raised by adoptive parents of a different ethnic or racial background, such as a [[Black people|Black]] child [[Interracial adoption|adopted]] and raised by a [[White people|White]] couple. |
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| ==History and usage==
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| Historically, the term ''transracial'' was used solely to describe parents who adopt a child of a different race.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Valby|first=Karen|title=The Realities of Raising a Kid of a Different Race|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|url=http://time.com/the-realities-of-raising-a-kid-of-a-different-race/|access-date=December 17, 2017|archive-date=December 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171218064725/http://time.com/the-realities-of-raising-a-kid-of-a-different-race/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=|date=January 26, 2014|title=Growing Up 'White,' Transracial Adoptee Learned To Be Black|publisher=[[NPR]]|url=https://www.npr.org/2014/01/26/266434175/growing-up-white-transracial-adoptee-learned-to-be-black|access-date=December 17, 2017|archive-date=December 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225023736/https://www.npr.org/2014/01/26/266434175/growing-up-white-transracial-adoptee-learned-to-be-black|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Adoptees NBC 07.17.15">{{cite news|last=Kai-Hwa Wang|first=Frances|author-link=Frances Kai-Hwa Wang|date=June 17, 2015|title=Adoptees to Rachel Dolezal: You're Not Transracial|publisher=[[NBC News]]|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/adoptees-rachel-dolezal-youre-not-transracial-n377121|access-date=December 17, 2017|archive-date=January 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101213224/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/adoptees-rachel-dolezal-youre-not-transracial-n377121|url-status=live}}</ref>
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| The use of the term to describe changing racial identity has been criticized by members of the [[transracial adoption]] community. Kevin H. Vollmers, executive director of an adoption non-profit, said the term is being "appropriated and co-opted" and that this is a "slap in the face" to transracial adoptees.<ref name="Adoptees NBC 07.17.15"/> In June 2015, about two dozen transracial adoptees, transracial parents and academics published an [[open letter]] in which they condemned the new usage as "erroneous, ahistorical, and dangerous."<ref name="Adoptees NBC 07.17.15"/><ref name="Adoptees WaPo 07.17.15">{{cite news|last=Moyer|first=Justin Wm.|author-link=Justin Moyer|date=June 17, 2015|title=Rachel Dolezal draws ire of transracial adoptees|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/06/17/rachel-dolezal-draws-ire-of-transracial-adoptees/|access-date=December 17, 2017|archive-date=September 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924183332/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/06/17/rachel-dolezal-draws-ire-of-transracial-adoptees/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://medium.com/@Andy_Marra/an-open-letter-why-co-opting-transracial-in-the-case-of-rachel-dolezal-is-problematic-249f79f6d83c |title=An Open Letter: Why Co-opting "Transracial" in the Case of Rachel Dolezal is Problematic |author=Kimberly McKee, PhD |display-authors=etal |date=June 16, 2015 |access-date=December 17, 2017 |archive-date=March 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313155125/https://medium.com/@Andy_Marra/an-open-letter-why-co-opting-transracial-in-the-case-of-rachel-dolezal-is-problematic-249f79f6d83c |url-status=live }}</ref>
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| In April 2017, the [[feminist philosophy]] journal [[Hypatia (journal)|''Hypatia'']] published an academic paper in support of recognizing transracialism and drawing parallels between transracial and [[transgender]] identity.<ref name="Tuvel2017">{{cite journal|last1=Tuvel|first1=Rebecca|author-link=Hypatia transracialism controversy#Author|year=2017|title=In Defense of Transracialism|journal=[[Hypatia (journal)|Hypatia]]|volume=32|issue=2|pages=263–278|doi=10.1111/hypa.12327|issn=0887-5367|s2cid=151630261}}</ref> Publication of this paper [[Hypatia transracialism controversy|resulted in considerable controversy]]. The subject was also explored in ''[[Trans: Gender and Race in an Age of Unsettled Identities]]'', a 2016 book by UCLA sociology professor [[Rogers Brubaker]], who argues that the phenomenon, though offensive to many, is psychologically real to many people, and has many examples throughout history.<ref>{{cite book|title=Trans: Gender and Race in an Age of Unsettled Identities|date=October 4, 2016 |url=https://press.princeton.edu/titles/10800.html|access-date=March 13, 2018|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|isbn=9780691172354 |archive-date=November 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129084551/https://press.princeton.edu/titles/10800.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Brubaker|first=Rogers|title=Trans: Gender and Race in an Age of Unsettled Identities|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|year=2016|isbn=9780691172354|location=Princeton, N.J.|pages=1–11|chapter=Introduction|author-link=Rogers Brubaker|access-date=March 13, 2018|chapter-url=http://assets.press.princeton.edu/chapters/i10800.pdf|archive-date=May 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527170034/http://assets.press.princeton.edu/chapters/i10800.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
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| ==Examples==
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| * [[Rachel Dolezal]], known for identifying as a black woman despite having been born to [[White people|white]] parents,<ref name="Tuvel2017" /><ref name="Brubaker2015">{{cite journal|last1=Brubaker|first1=Rogers|author-link=Rogers Brubaker|year=2015|title=The Dolezal affair: race, gender, and the micropolitics of identity|journal=[[Ethnic and Racial Studies]]|volume=39|issue=3|pages=414–448|doi=10.1080/01419870.2015.1084430|issn=0141-9870|s2cid=146583317}}</ref><ref name="Horne2021">{{Cite news|last=Horne|first=Marc|date=2021-10-12|title=Members can identify as black, disabled or female, university union insists|language=en|work=[[The Times]]|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/members-can-identify-as-black-disabled-or-female-university-union-insists-qx098wq5k|url-status=live|url-access=subscription|access-date=2021-10-20|archive-url=https://archive.today/20211013082054/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/members-can-identify-as-black-disabled-or-female-university-union-insists-qx098wq5k|archive-date=2021-10-13}}</ref> successfully [[Passing (racial identity)|passed]] as black, to the extent that she took over leadership of the Spokane branch of the [[NAACP]] in 2014, a year before she was "outed" in 2015
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| * [[Martina Big]], who was featured on ''[[Maury (TV series)|Maury]]'' in September 2017, a woman of white ancestry who identifies as black,<ref name="Mirror2017">{{cite web|last=Lubin|first=Rhian|date=September 22, 2017|title=White glamour model with size 32S breasts who spent £50k on cosmetic surgery now 'identifies as a black woman'|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/white-glamour-model-size-32s-11217500|url-status=live|access-date=October 1, 2017|website=[[Daily Mirror]]|archive-date=October 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001213708/http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/white-glamour-model-size-32s-11217500}}</ref><ref name="DailyDot2017">{{cite web|last=Valens|first=Ana|date=September 22, 2017|title=White woman who 'transitioned' races to Black is back|url=https://www.dailydot.com/irl/white-woman-transitioned-race/|url-status=live|access-date=October 1, 2017|website=[[The Daily Dot]]|archive-date=September 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929044222/https://www.dailydot.com/irl/white-woman-transitioned-race/}}</ref><ref name="Bido 2018">{{cite web |last=Bido |first=Tatiana |title=Woman Totally Changes Skin Tone Using Illegal and Harmful 'Barbie Drug' |website=Yahoo Life |date=20 March 2018 |url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/woman-totally-changes-skin-tone-205231721.html |access-date=6 January 2024}}</ref> has had [[melanotan II|melanotan]] injections administered by a physician to darken her skin and hair<ref name="Mirror2017" /><ref name="DailyDot2017" /><ref name="Bido 2018"/>
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| * [[Jessica Krug]], a white Jewish-American woman who identified as various black and Afro-Latina ethnicities over time, including "North African Blackness," "US rooted Blackness," and "Caribbean rooted Bronx Blackness"<ref name="Nast 2020">{{cite web |title=The Layered Deceptions of Jessica Krug, the Black-Studies Professor Who Hid That She Is White |website=The New Yorker |date=12 September 2020 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-layered-deceptions-of-jessica-krug-the-black-studies-professor-who-hid-that-she-is-white |access-date=7 January 2024}}</ref><ref name="WaPoAdmits">{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/09/03/white-gwu-professor-admits-she-falsely-claimed-black-identity/|title=White GWU professor admits she falsely claimed Black identity|first1=Lauren|last1=Lumpkin|first2=Susan|last2=Svrluga|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=September 3, 2020|access-date=September 5, 2020 |archive-date=September 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200905002311/https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/09/03/white-gwu-professor-admits-she-falsely-claimed-black-identity/|url-status=live}}</ref>
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| * [[Oli London]], British influencer and singer who previously identified as Korean, and had numerous plastic surgeries to confirm his racial identity, modelled his appearance on his idol, [[BTS]] singer [[Jimin (singer, born 1995)|Jimin]]<ref>{{cite news|last1=Neumann|first1=Laiken|date=2021-06-21|title='This is my new official flag': White influencer says they identify as Korean|work=[[The Daily Dot]]|url=https://www.dailydot.com/irl/white-influencer-nonbinary-korean/|access-date=June 25, 2021|archive-date=June 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625014216/https://www.dailydot.com/irl/white-influencer-nonbinary-korean/|url-status=live}}</ref>
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| * [[Korla Pandit]], African-American musician who posed as an [[India]]n from [[New Delhi]] in both his public and private life, was born John Roland Redd<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Spickard |first1=Paul |title=Shape Shifting: Toward a Theory of Racial Change |journal=Genealogy |date=June 2022 |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=48 |doi=10.3390/genealogy6020048 |language=en |issn=2313-5778 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
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| == See also ==
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| * [[Interracial adoption]]
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| *''[[Black Like Me]]''
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| * [[Ethnic plastic surgery]]
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| * [[Passing (racial identity)]]
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| * [[Racial misrepresentation]]
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| == References ==
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| {{reflist|33em}}
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| == Further reading ==
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| * {{cite book|first=Rogers|last=Brubaker|author-link=Rogers Brubaker|title=Trans: Gender and Race in an Age of Unsettled Identities|year=2016|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, N.J.|isbn=978-0-691-17235-4}}
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| * {{cite book|first=Rachel|last=Dolezal|author-link=Rachel Dolezal|others=with Storms Reback|title=In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World|year=2017|publisher=BenBella Books|location=Dallas|isbn=978-1-944648-17-6}}
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| {{Multiethnicity}}
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| {{Ethnicity}}
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| {{Historical definitions of race}}
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| [[Category:Transracial (identity)| ]]
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| [[Category:Cultural assimilation]]
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| [[Category:Collective identity]]
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| [[Category:Passing (sociology)]]
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| [[Category:Race (human categorization)]]
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| [[Category:Race and society]]
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| [[Category:Subcultures]]
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