"The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”
~ Ida B. Wells
~ Ida B. Wells
My research addresses five main areas: race and racism, inequality and mobility, intersectional analysis, qualitative methods and the pedagogy of race and ethnicity. My research on multiracialism ties together the important work on shifting racial identities and the persistence of racism; I study how these two forces interact to influence multiracials' identities on the micro level and shape the racial hierarchy on the macro level. In addition to my current book and articles, I'm writing a new book, utilizing a critical race theory framework, that synthesizes the research on multiraciality (under contract with Polity). Throughout my work I use an intersectional lens to evaluate how people's experiences vary based on the matrix of their identities, working to reveal how race and racism manifests in relationship to intersecting structures of oppression.
Much of my research is also on the pedagogy of race and ethnicity. The article "More Than a Knapsack: The White Supremacy Flower as a New Model for Teaching Racism" is already being employed in the classroom by many professors and has been a featured teaching resource on the ASA website. The basis of this article can also be viewed through the related TEDx talk, "Understanding Our Roots: White Supremacy is More Than the KKK." My approach to teaching an introductory race and ethnicity course can be seen through the organization and features of my co-edited volume, with Milton Vickerman (University of Virginia), Race and Ethnicity (Cognella). My recently released book, Understanding Racism, reviews and explains 13 major theories of racism; this book is valuable for undergraduate and graduate students as well as community activists and learning circles (published by SAGE).
Please see below for more information on my books and selected articles.
Much of my research is also on the pedagogy of race and ethnicity. The article "More Than a Knapsack: The White Supremacy Flower as a New Model for Teaching Racism" is already being employed in the classroom by many professors and has been a featured teaching resource on the ASA website. The basis of this article can also be viewed through the related TEDx talk, "Understanding Our Roots: White Supremacy is More Than the KKK." My approach to teaching an introductory race and ethnicity course can be seen through the organization and features of my co-edited volume, with Milton Vickerman (University of Virginia), Race and Ethnicity (Cognella). My recently released book, Understanding Racism, reviews and explains 13 major theories of racism; this book is valuable for undergraduate and graduate students as well as community activists and learning circles (published by SAGE).
Please see below for more information on my books and selected articles.
Understanding Racism systematically examines the theories and theorists that have contributed the most to our contemporary understanding of racism in its various forms—making it easier for students to understand the multiple dynamics of how racism operates. In every chapter, activist and award-winning sociologist Hephzibah Strmic-Pawl describes the emergence of a theory and the problem it addresses; discusses the scholars who are most closely associated with the theory; and explores the strengths and limitations of the theory. From foundational theories such as Prejudice and White Privilege to contemporary theories such as Color-Blind Racism, Understanding Racism is the first text to present thirteen approaches for explaining racism in one book. The book's systematic organization and pedagogical features will help students think theoretically about race and racism at different levels of analysis, as well as reflect and discuss how to challenge racism.
Multiracialism and Its Discontents:
A Comparative Analysis of Asian-White and Black-White Multiracials
A Comparative Analysis of Asian-White and Black-White Multiracials
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Multiracialism and Its Discontents: A Comparative Analysis of Asian-White and Black-White Multiracials addresses how racial identities and racial discrimination are evolving in the United States. The book is based on a unique comparison of how two groups of multiracials, Asian-Whites and Black-Whites, vary in their multiracial experience in the United States. Through a qualitative analysis of seventy multiracials, the book reveals the interacting forces among multiracials, racial ideologies, and the racial hierarchy. Results show how multiracialism is maturing into a dominant force in the racial landscape and how those who identify as mixed-race perceive common bonds among themselves. This finding, however, is countered with important insights into how persisting racial discrimination and racist ideologies inhibit multiracialism from leading to racial reconciliation.
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Reviews
Review by Peter J. Aspinall in Ethnic and Racial Studies
In Multiracialism and Its Discontents: A Comparative Analysis of Asian-White and Black-White Multiracials, Hephzibah V. Strmic-Pawl breaks new ground in critical race and multiracial scholarship. She provides empirical evidence of both the reality of multiracialism and the diversity of multiracial experiences in the U.S. In doing so, she shows how multiracialism challenges and reconfigures but does not dismantle the racial hierarchy. This bookis an immensely valuable read for anyone interested in better understanding multiracialisms, racialization, and the persistence of racism in the United States today.
— Kathleen Odell Korgen, William Paterson University
The mixed-race population in the United States stands around seven percent. This multiracial category is growing three times faster than the general population. One in seven newlyweds are interracial. Yet, the multiracial category is understudied. Addressing this blind spot is Hephzibah V. Strmic-Pawl's needed and outstanding comparative study that focuses on how this increasingly acknowledged category can affect race relations and the situational and positional identity options used by those who self-identify as being from more than one race.
— Charles A. Gallagher, La Salle University
Review by Peter J. Aspinall in Ethnic and Racial Studies
In Multiracialism and Its Discontents: A Comparative Analysis of Asian-White and Black-White Multiracials, Hephzibah V. Strmic-Pawl breaks new ground in critical race and multiracial scholarship. She provides empirical evidence of both the reality of multiracialism and the diversity of multiracial experiences in the U.S. In doing so, she shows how multiracialism challenges and reconfigures but does not dismantle the racial hierarchy. This bookis an immensely valuable read for anyone interested in better understanding multiracialisms, racialization, and the persistence of racism in the United States today.
— Kathleen Odell Korgen, William Paterson University
The mixed-race population in the United States stands around seven percent. This multiracial category is growing three times faster than the general population. One in seven newlyweds are interracial. Yet, the multiracial category is understudied. Addressing this blind spot is Hephzibah V. Strmic-Pawl's needed and outstanding comparative study that focuses on how this increasingly acknowledged category can affect race relations and the situational and positional identity options used by those who self-identify as being from more than one race.
— Charles A. Gallagher, La Salle University
Other Selected Publications
Strmic-Pawl, Hephzibah, Brandon A. Jackson, and Steve Garner. Race Counts: Racial and Ethnic Data on the U.S. Census and the Implications for Tracking Inequality." Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 4(1): 1-13.
Strmic-Pawl, Hephzibah. 2015. "More Than a Knapsack: The White Supremacy Flower as a New Model for Teaching Racism." Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 1(1): 192-197.
Strmic-Pawl, Hephzibah. 2014. “The Influences Affecting and the Influential Effects of Multiracials: Multiracialism and Stratification.” Sociology Compass. 8(1): 63-77.
Strmic-Pawl, H. & P. Leffler. 2011. “Black Families and Fostering of Leadership.” Ethnicities. 11(2): 139-162.
Strmic Pawl.Ethnicities.pdf
Strmic-Pawl, Hephzibah, Brandon A. Jackson, and Steve Garner. Race Counts: Racial and Ethnic Data on the U.S. Census and the Implications for Tracking Inequality." Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 4(1): 1-13.
Strmic-Pawl, Hephzibah. 2015. "More Than a Knapsack: The White Supremacy Flower as a New Model for Teaching Racism." Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 1(1): 192-197.
- This article has instructors as the target audience. Another version of this article is available for students as the target audience and is a chapter in my co-edited volume, Race and Ethnicity: Constancy in Change. The White Supremacy Flower: A Model for Understanding Racism
Strmic-Pawl, Hephzibah. 2014. “The Influences Affecting and the Influential Effects of Multiracials: Multiracialism and Stratification.” Sociology Compass. 8(1): 63-77.
Strmic-Pawl, H. & P. Leffler. 2011. “Black Families and Fostering of Leadership.” Ethnicities. 11(2): 139-162.
Strmic Pawl.Ethnicities.pdf
