In the United States, although attention towards race and identity is ubiquitous, this focus often remains narrow – seeing racial identity as a rigid, permanent trait clearly defined for all. Yet growing immigration rates and racial intermarriage have left many with racially ambiguous positions in US society. Accordingly, burgeoning research on ‘racial fluidity’ has sought to better understand these shifting contours of race. In recent research, I take one step in this endeavour, evaluating how the same Americans change the way they racially self-identify over time.