As many race scholars have pointed out (e.g., Bonilla-Silva, 2013; Brunsma, 2006; Gallagher, 2007), growing numbers of Americans have turned against the one-drop rule and other traditional forms of racial identification. The spread of the color-blind ideology and the multiracial movement have led to vigorous debates about the necessity of racial categorizations and the move by the US Census to allow people to select more than one race. As other authors note in this volume, many people with mixed racial backgrounds demand a multiracial label and/or the abolishment of all racial labels (see also Daniel, 2002; Rockquemore and Brunsma, 2002; Spencer, 2006; Williams, 2008; Project Race, 2014).

The color-blind perspective on race goes along with the notion that we are in a post-racial society, as evidenced by the election of Barack Obama. The media often portray President Obama (who acknowledges his mixed racial background but identifies as Black), like other high-status multiracial persons, as able to make their race disappear by “transcending race” (e.g., Helman, 2007; Will, 2007). Noting that a Black President is indicative of a post-racial society, they maintain that racism is a remnant of the past and that racial categorizations—and discussions about racial inequality—only serve to needlessly divide people (Bonilla-Silva, 2013). Angie Beeman (2015: 237) describes the negative consequence of this color-blind practice as “racism evasiveness,” explaining that “what people are ultimately avoiding when they say they do not see color, when they overlook differences in power, or avoid ‘race words’ is racism.” The fact that increasing numbers of people with mixed-race heritages identify as multiracial indicates that racial identity and boundaries have become more fluid. It does not mean that racism no longer exists. The color-blind ideology and practices of racism evasiveness have, however, made the prevalence of racism, as well as people's racial identity, harder to gauge.

Researchers such as Harris and Sim (2002), Campbell (2010), and Burke and Kao (2010) show that different types of questions (open- or close-ended), answer selections (a “check all that apply” or a multiracial option), and where the survey is conducted (e.g., home or school) can influence whether or not people identify as monoracial or multiracial.