1 of 3 | America's multiracial population is growing at a rate three times faster than the overall population, with Native Americans and whites growing the fastest. Screenshot from Pew Research Center
WASHINGTON, June 11 (UPI) -- America's multiracial population is growing at a rate three times faster than the overall population, with Native Americans and whites as the largest group of mixed-race people, a new survey found.
The Pew Research Center found biracial adults who are white and American Indian feel loose ties to their Native American heritage: Some 22 percent say they have a lot in common with those who are American Indian and 61 percent say they have a lot in common with whites.
Overall, researchers found nearly seven percent of Americans are of mixed-race heritage, sharply higher than the roughly two percent found by the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The Pew report depicts multiracial Americans as "young, proud, tolerant" and "at the cutting edge of social and demographic change."
"At the same time, a majority (55 percent) say they have been subjected to racial slurs or jokes, and about one-in-four (24 percent) have felt annoyed because people have made assumptions about their racial background," the report says.
The report also found about 57 percent of multiracial adults identify with or lean to the Democratic Party, while 37 percent to the Republican Party. In the general public, about 53 percent tend to lean Democrat, while 41 percent support or lean to the GOP.
"About 89 percent of biracial black and American Indian adults identify or lean toward the Democratic Party, as do 92 percent of all single-race blacks. By contrast, single-race whites favor the Republican Party over the Democrats by a ratio of 55 percent to 41 percent," the survey found.
Other key findings:
*White and American Indian biracial adults are the only group where political conservatives outnumber liberals, 37 percent to 18 percent. Biracial Americans who are white and Asian or white and black lean to the political left.
* About nine percent of multiracial adults say a relative or member of their extended family has treated them poorly because they are mixed race, but the experiences vary greatly by multiracial group.
*About 46 percent of multiracial parents say they talked to their adult children when they were growing up about having a mixed-race background. By contrast, about 32 percent say their parents had similar conversations with them.
*One in four mixed-race adults say people are confused by their racial background. About 19 percent say they have felt like "they were a go-between or 'bridge' between different racial groups.'
*About 26 percent of multiracial people say their racial background is essential to their identity, compared to 28 percent of all adults. Both multiracial adults and the general public are more likely to identify gender or religion as an essential component of their identity.
