Embodying resistance: Understanding identity in a globalized digital future through the lens of mixed and multiracial Caribbeans

ABSTRACT

Mixed and multiracial individuals embody an increasingly transnational world and develop identities that identify with and integrate multiple racial and ethnic groups. The current research explores how online platforms allow mixed and multiracial Caribbean people to promote understandings of identities on a globalized scale. Through a content analysis of public posts on Twitter and interviews with nine self-identified mixed and multiracial Caribbean people, three primary strategies emerged: (1) navigating racial rhetoric, (2) displaying a cohesive identity, and (3) negotiating discriminatory rhetoric. Findings are discussed as contributions to online critical race theory and insights into the experiences of the digital citizenship.

KEYWORDS:

• Multiracial
• ethnic identity
• Caribbean
• social media
• globalization

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the reviewers for their attentiveness in helping this manuscript to completion.

Notes

1 We capitalize the word “Black” when referencing people (such as “Black users”) and use lowercased “black” when indicating more abstract terms, such as “blackness” and “black cultures.” For more, see Gates (2018).

2 We use uppercase letters for “Black” and lowercase letters for “white” in this article. The term “white” has historically been used as a signifier for social domination and privilege. In response, scholars (e.g. Davis, 2018; Touré, 2011) are changing the capitalization scheme so as to subvert and resist the effects of racism and white privilege.

3 Emoticons, such as :-P, are “graphic representations of facial expressions that many...users embed in their messages” (Walther & D'Addario, 2001). The emoticon :-P is meant to symbolize a tongue and cheek response.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Raven Maragh-Lloyd

Raven Maragh-Lloyd is an Assistant Professor in the Department of African and African American Studies and Program in Film and Media Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. Her primary area of research explores digital media culture and its connections to critical race and gender studies. Contact: [email protected]; [email protected] (corresponding author).

Charisse L'Pree Corsbie-Massay

Charisse L'Pree Corsbie-Massay is currently an Associate Professor at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Her research investigates the intersection of communication technology and psychology and how media can be used to improve self-perceptions and intergroup relations. Contact: [email protected].