MASC continually advocates for policies that serve the interests of the multiracial community. Visit this page regularly to remain current with MASC’s stand on issues critical to mixed race people.
CLICK HERE FOR POLICY STATEMENTS
RECENT ACTIONS
September 2025
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| MASC Board Member Thomas Lopez joins Women’s March Founder Emiliana Guereca for The Women’s Lounge podcast |
| The Women’s Lounge hosted by Emiliana Guereca, President of Women’s March Foundation, is a weekly podcast that explores culture, identity, and womanhood through bold, unfiltered conversations. This week MASC Board Member Thomas Lopez joins discuss DEI under the theme “Why DEI Isn’t Dead. It’s Evolving.” You can check it out here: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-womens-lounge/id1831633274Podbean: www.thewomenslounge.comWomen’s March Foundation-Persist. Resist. Organize |
2024
| MASC Responds to Trump Campaign Madison Square Garden Rally October 30, 2024 Multiracial Americans of Southern California (MASC) condemns the disturbing and harmful statements made at the recent Trump Campaign Madison Square Garden rally. The rhetoric deployed against Vice President Kamala Harris and Puerto Rican communities by speakers at this event exemplifies precisely the kind of divisive, uninformed, and racially charged language that erodes the dignity of our diverse nation. These attacks, which ridicule heritage and resort to baseless and racially loaded mischaracterizations, harm not only Vice President Harris but also our entire multiracial community. The labeling of Vice President Harris, who proudly represents both Indian and Jamaican heritages, as “Samoan-Malaysian” is a careless and offensive erasure of her identity. It reflects the confusion of those who misunderstand and stereotype multiracial individuals, not of those of us who live confidently in our identities. Multiracial people know exactly who they are; they are clear in their identities, their heritages, and their value to this nation. We denounce these microaggressions that have been historically used to demean and belittle our multiracial community. Likewise, labeling Puerto Rico—a vibrant U.S. territory—as a “floating island of garbage” is both a cruel slander and a deeply offensive mischaracterization. This harmful language belittles millions of Puerto Ricans who contribute to our nation’s culture, economy, and history. Such language is designed to fuel division rather than bring people together, at a time when unity is essential. MASC stands firmly against this harmful rhetoric. As multiracial Americans, we know the struggles and beauty of navigating multiple identities, and we reject any attempt to deny our belonging or value. We call upon leaders across the political spectrum to rise above this language of division and instead foster a nation that celebrates its diversity. We encourage our communities to stand together against this divisive rhetoric and support candidates and policies that affirm inclusion, respect, and dignity for all. Enough is enough. |
| MASC is a 501c3 non-profit corporation and does not endorse or detract from any political candidate or party. MASC responds to comments and issues of special interest to the multiracial community. LOMA is a program of MASC. |
MASC Holds zoom meetings and discussions regarding the exploitation of mixed-race identity in politics during the months of August through October.
MASC RESPONDS TO COMMENTS BY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DONALD TRUMP
August 4, 2024
Multiracial Americans, alongside the rest of the world, watched in appalled shock as headlines rolled in, reporting that at the National Association of Black Journalists Annual Convention, former United States President Donald J. Trump questioned United States Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity.
Donald J. Trump, asserted regarding United States Vice President Kamala Harris: “I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black,” the former president said of Harris. “Is she Indian or is she Black? Because she was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person.”
Adding insult to injury, Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, who endorses the ideas of Kevin Roberts, leader of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, quipped: “So what he said, I thought it was hysterical. I think he pointed out the fundamental chameleon-like nature of Kamala Harris,” Vance said. “She’s flip-flopped on every issue. She’s fake. She’s phony. And I think our whole campaign is going to have a very fun time pointing that out. And it sounds like the president kicked us off in stride.”
The Multiracial community is far too familiar with abhorrent stances such as those expressed in Trump’s inflammatory comment. Microaggressions like these, which question an individual’s racial identity, are rooted in white supremacy and may be seen by many as a blatant display of racism. We encourage you to recognize and acknowledge how you might feel in an environment that tolerates these statements.
As mixed individuals our experience is unique from being identified solely as any one background. Multiracial Americans advocates instead we may identify with any of the many ethnic and cultural backgrounds that make up the multiracial community.
The 2020 Census shows the U.S. “Two or More Races” population at 33.8 million — up from 9 million in 2010, a 276% increase. We hope these new numbers illustrate how connected we are as a country and how much more we have in common than in difference. We are the bridge, not the divide. We leave you with the video from our community, “How Kamala Harris Reflects a Multiracial America,” from the 2020 election. Stay tuned as we will be announcing a few exciting events that you won’t want to miss.
Source: Los Angeles Times
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-09-15/how-kamala-harris-reflects-a-multiracial-america-2020-election
Source: USA Today
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/07/31/donald-trump-nabj-conference-kamala-harris/74615587007/
2023
Multiracial Americans meet with the Singapore Government
On August 1st, 2023, Multiracial Americans met with representatives from the Singapore Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) to share the many ways MASC programming seeks to improve race relations in the United States. We had a very engaging discussion with well-informed representatives that were very receptive to what we had to present. It is our hope they will be able to take what they have learned from us to improve relations in Singapore and look forward to future engagement.
https://www.mccy.gov.sg/
MCCY work revolves around strengthening community bonds and promoting social cohesion in Singapore through policies, programmes and community partnerships. We endeavour to create a cohesive, caring and confident society where the people in Singapore have a shared sense of belonging and work together to build a shared future. My division in the Ministry oversees policies and programmes to promote racial and religious harmony in Singapore, in partnership with our community and religious leaders and stakeholders.
-Yu Xin Lim, Senior Manager
2022
Office of Management and Budget
Listening session of updates to Policy Directive No. 15 (Directive No. 15): Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity
CLICK HERE for comments made.
November 21
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 23, 2022
MASC’s STATEMENT ON ARGUMENTS BEFORE FEDERAL COURT BY THE STATES OF ALABAMA AND LOUISIANA
Multiracial Americans absolutely rejects the cynical political argument by the States of Alabama and Louisiana to not accept black people as black if they identify with more than one race or Latino for the purposes of setting congressional district boundaries. Before the US Supreme Court and lower courts, the States of Alabama and Louisiana tried to argue that their congressional representative district maps were not discriminatory against black people in part because mixed-race black people were not actually black. To be specific, Louisiana officials called the current legal interpretation of mixed-race black people as being black to be an “independent legal error warranting this Court’s intervention,” as reported by National Public Radio.
We insist that the US Supreme Court and all lower courts respect US Supreme Court precedent and Office of Management and Budget guidelines that direct mixed-race people to be counted among singular race reporting groups for the purposes of enforcing provisions of the Voting Rights Act. Failing to do so causes harm against multiracial people on multiple dimensions.
The proposed policy by the States is based on the erroneous assumption that multiracial people cease to be members of the communities from which they were birthed. Identity is not a mutually exclusive zero-sum game. Multiracial identity is certainly a valid form of identification, but Multiracial Americans has been advocating for decades the ability to simultaneously identify with multiple groups at the same time. In fact, it is generally considered more psychologically healthy to identify with all of one’s heritages.
Psychological damage may also occur when multiracial people are questioned about their loyalties if identifying as multiracial may result in harm to singular racial communities, especially people of color. The irony is that it is not self-identification that determines discrimination. Studies, case law, and common sense establish that it is the perception of someone’s race by the perpetrator of discriminatory acts that determines what happens to people.
Finally, using multiracial people as political pawns in this way can take us back in time as a nation to dark days when individuals had to quantify their identity in numerical terms. Black ancestry was used to deny people their rights under a policy colloquially known as the “one drop rule” assigning multiracial people to solely a black identity. American Indians were treated in a similar but reverse methodology where minimal Indian ancestry could lead to the denial of benefits meant for Indians such as access to reservation land. Multiracial people have been the victims of wielders of privilege and control. The States of Alabama and Louisiana are seeking to perpetuate this awful tradition.
2020
MASC conducted a study of agencies in California for compliance to California Government Code section 8310.9 that mandates agencies that report racial or ethnic data to the state must:
1) Allow for multiple response
2) Report number for each race in combination with other races and two or more total
The report, titled Half Measures, is available for download with supporting data HERE. The provisions of California Government Code section 8310.9 become effective by January 1, 2022. No agencies were found compliant
2017
MASC joined the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and PolicyLink to develop recommendations for the benefits of racial disaggregation to improve health outcomes. Racial disaggregation is the collection of racial data using finely defined racial categories rather than the roll-up of identity into broadly defined groups.
Please see the findings of the report here : https://www.policylink.org/our-work/community/health-equity/data-disaggregation
2016 to 2017
The Census Bureau has been developing updated Federal standards for the collection of racial data. During open comment periods MASC submitted comments and encouraged the public to submit their own.
OUR INITIATIVES
MASC has prepared the following policy recommendations for consideration:
1) We call upon the Office of Management and Budget to revise standards to allow for mixed Latino and non-Latino identification.
2) We call upon all federal agencies and federally funded agencies, schools, and programs that collect racial demographic information to be in compliance with Office of Management and Budget Directive No. 15.
3) We call upon all corporations (for profit and non-profit) that collect racial demographic information to adopt a methodology that respects multiracial identity.
4) We call upon the California Department of Finance to convene a racially diverse advisory committee, including person(s) of mixed heritage, to review their methodology for tabulating racial demographics.
2020
MASC will share results and data following the 2020 census release