Transcending Blackness: From the New Millennium Mulatta to the Exceptional Multiracial

Analyzing emblematic representations of multiracial figures in popular culture—Jennifer Beals's character in the The L Word; the protagonist in Danny Senza's novel Caucasia; the title character in the independent film Mixing Nia; and contestants in a controversial episode of the reality show America's Next Top Model, who had to "switch ethnicities" for a photo shoot—Joseph identifies the persistence of two widespread stereotypes about mixed-race African Americans, those of "new millennium mulattas" and "exceptional multiracials." The former inscribes multiracial African Americans as tragic figures whose blackness predestines them for misfortune; the latter rewards mixed-race African Americans for successfully erasing their blackness. Addressing questions of authenticity, sexuality, and privilege, Transcending Blackness refutes the idea that race no longer matters in American society.

• Hands Up, Don’t Shoot
• The Black Revolution on Campus
• Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Martin Luther King, Jr., Eight White Religious Leaders, and the "Letter from Birmingham Jail"
• The White Man's Burden: Historical Origins of Racism in the United States (Galaxy Books)
• Caucasia: A Novel
• The Wilmington Ten: Violence, Injustice, and the Rise of Black Politics in the 1970s
• The Souls of Mixed Folk: Race, Politics, and Aesthetics in the New Millennium