On the Margins: Racially Ambiguous People of Color, Mental Health, and Society

Race has consistently been used as a metric for determining and maintaining social hierarchies and statuses. Despite an increased research focus on race, ethnicity, and identities, distinct racial categories persist and people who are racially ambiguous have largely been overlooked. Racial ambiguity refers to people whose outward presentations are inconsistent with preexisting beliefs about racial categorization (i.e., racial essentialism). Existing research on racial ambiguity has often focused on the social experiences of and perceptions toward racially ambiguous people. Further, being racially ambiguous has historically been conflated with identifying as solely biracial or multiracial. This phenomenological study addresses the existing gap in the literature by reporting on the lived experiences of racially ambiguous people of color with both monoracial and multiracial heritages. The results highlight unique mental health considerations of racially ambiguous participants of color (n = 14), including their cognitive, emotional, and social experiences. Implications and recommendations for counseling professionals are provided.