Access Type

Open Access Thesis

Date of Award

January 2012

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Department

Sociology

First Advisor

Heather E. Dillaway

Abstract

Most literature on racial ambiguity focuses on individuals of mixed-race. While this type of literature is invaluable in understanding racial identity and all of its intricacies, the experiences of single-race individuals are marginalized. How do people who are single race experience racial ambiguity? Do their experiences differ from those of mixed-race individuals? For this study, nineteen individuals (single and mixed-race) who consider themselves to be racially ambiguous were interviewed and asked open-ended questions. The transcribed and coded interviews yielded important information on their self-perceptions, what they get mistaken for, how it makes them feel, and how they deal with their racial ambiguity. The findings provide a more complex definition of "racial ambiguity," and also open the door to possible future study on the differentiation between the terms "race" and "ethnicity."

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