The Colors of Love

In The Colors of Love, Melinda A. Mills asks whether strict racial categorizations can be disrupted by multiracials in interracial relationships. She explores how multiracials and their partners continuously navigate racial boundaries in the presence of strangers, friends, families, and even themselves. Ultimately, she shows us that multiracial individuals were most likely to choose racial identities and romantic partners that render invisible the multiple racial identities straddled by them and their partners. This well-researched and nuanced monograph is an important read for anyone interested in the future of racial categories. ~Grace Kao, co-author of The Company We Keep: Interracial Friendships and Romantic Relationships from Adolescence to Adulthood

In The Colors of Love, Melinda A. Mills explores how children of interracial couples understand their multiracial identity within their mixed-race families and through their choices for romantic partners. This book presents compelling evidence that multiracial identity is not static, but often shifts in ways that maintain the dominant racial structure rooted in anti-Blackness. ~Elizabeth Hughes, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Penn State Abington

The Colors of Love challenges us to consider the complexities of who is multiracial, shifting notions of in/visible mixture, and the racial borders that multiracial people live and love within. Through rich descriptive narratives of multiracial people’s experiences, Mills offers a cutting edge and innovative look at the ways that multiracial people navigate their racial identities and romantic relationships amidst the complicated and often conflicting messages from their parents, families and partners. Well researched and engaging, The Colors of Love will have a significant impact on our understandings of not only multiracial people, but also the larger issues of colorism and racism that underlie their experiences. ~Erica Chito Childs, editor of The Boundaries of Mixedness: A Global Perspective

Mills’ findings contribute to our understanding of multiracial identities, intimate relationships, specifically, interracial relationships, and questions surrounding how/if multiracials blur color lines and the existing racial order. ~Sociology of Race and Ethnicity

Relying on interviews with a snowball sample of 60 individuals to illustrate her theoretical analysis, Mills dives deeply into exploring this well-patrolled world. Her unique focus is useful for understanding the range of issues that American society, which is highly racialized, presents to those crossing long-standing barriers. This is a must read for anyone seriously examining race in the US, especially scholars with a social psychological interest.

~Choice