The leveraging of mixed-race figures to project national and transnational identities of racial harmony results in lingering historical inequities and diminished calls for structural change. Yet, how public figures racially identify themselves does not always comport with their representation (Mitchell, 2020). From Olympians Sydney McLaughlin of the United States and Marta Vieira da Silva of Brazil to Brazilian actress Camila Pitanga and United States actor Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson to Vice President Kamala Harris, multiracial public figures are heralded as proof of racial progress or harmony.
