Maryland’s Growing Multiracial Voters Are Changing the Politics of Identity

As a Black and Indian woman and former prosecutor-turned-politician, Wanika Fisher has been dubbed the Kamala Harris of Maryland. The two, who share many of the same viewpoints on issues, are even part of the same sorority.

So, when Donald Trump questioned the racial identity of Harris this summer — asking “is she Indian or is she Black?” in a room filled with Black journalists in Chicago — Fisher also couldn’t help feeling attacked.

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Trump’s comments reopened centuries-old debates and discussions the role of race in American life. Racial identification has been a way to classify, divide and discriminate against segments of the population dating back to the founding of the United States. It has been used to determine land ownership, voting rights and freedom. And for some, Trump’s words reminded them of that.

Those who identify as multiracial in the United States more than tripled from 9 million in 2010 to 33.8 million in 2020, according to the 2020 Census, as the agency allowed people to choose from more options for race and identity. The multiracial population grew by 164%, cumulatively, for every age category, the census shows.

The 65-and-older age category had the largest percentage change (670.4%), while the 18-44 age category had the largest numeric increase (9,535,241), growing by 300%. The growth shows no signs of slowing, as multiracial people are also the youngest of any race group — those who reported two or more races accounted for 32.5% of respondents under age 18 in 2020.

Maryland’s multiracial population has seen a big boost since 2020, to the tune of nearly 52,000 new multiracial residents. There are now around 534,000 people who identify as multiracial in the state. Of those, almost two-thirds are at least 18 years old and multiracial adults now make up about 7% of Maryland’s electorate.

Trump’s attack on Harris’ identity will “absolutely haunt” him with mixed-race voters, said Jé St Sume, an assistant professor of political science at the University Maryland, Baltimore County.

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Social scientists have shown that mixed-race people are more tolerant of other racial groups than their monoracial counterparts, St Sume said.

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The attack on Harris particularly stung Ally Waldon.

“When you are biracial or multiracial, race is intensely personal,” said the 37-year-old Hamilton resident, who identifies as biracial and is perceived by others as being a Black woman, which is “totally fine” by her.

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Multiracial people — particularly when Black ancestry is part of the equation — have a complicated history in America.

For a number of biracial and multiracial people who present as Black or primarily exist in Black culture, the attack on Harris’ Blackness brought back years of struggle and painful memories.

Others point to the hypocrisy of Trump — a white man — questioning Harris’ Blackness when white people created and operated on a ‘one-drop rule,’ which essentially says that in America you are considered Black when you come from any Black lineage.

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Trump’s efforts to undermine Harris’ Blackness — particularly among the Black men Trump is hoping to coax away from voting Democratic — fell flat in part because of his limited views of Black America, said Amanda Lewis, director of the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy at the University of Illinois Chicago.

“He said that to a group that has a more sophisticated sense of their identity than he gave them credit for,” Lewis said. “Black folks in general have a complex understanding of race and identity and have no problem seeing that she could be both Black and South Asian at the same time.”

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Stacey Antoine, 38, said Harris is inspirational to him and to countless other people of color.

“She’s already inspiring younger youth. She will inspire a nation for a long time. And she’ll inspire people of color whether they are Black or biracial,” said Antoine, who identifies as a mix of Black and white.

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