When my wife and I were first together we visited one of those computerized photo booths where they can combine your photos to give you an idea of what your child might look like. It’s completely scientific, I’m sure. You have to select the race of the child in the morphed image and I believe the options were black, white, Hispanic or Asian. Since I am white and my wife is black and you couldn’t choose two races or biracial, we decided to choose a Hispanic girl. I won’t go into what the photo looked like, especially with the wisp of a goatee she apparently would inherit from my side. But, it struck me that if we had kids, there would be these types of issues we would have to address.

In fact, whenever I bring up raising mixed-race children, the first question that comes up is, “which box do I check?” So, I did a little research. I started my investigation with the obvious and timely – the U.S. census. United States census 2010 is quickly approaching and with it, controversy regarding how we count our citizenry. In 1997 the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced revised standards for federal data on race and ethnicity. The categories are now American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, White and Some Other race. Included on the census are two categories for ethnicity, Hispanic or Latino and Not Hispanic or Latino since Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race. Also under consideration was a multiracial category but the OMB decided instead to allow people to check more than one category. So, there’s your answer as far as the United States government is concerned, check all that apply.

When I brought this up to my wife, she asked me how race was defined by the United States government, what the difference between race and ethnicity is and why it matters when the constitution dictates merely “enumeration shall be made….” I realized then that the discussion needs to encompass how and why we define our race and how and why others might.

So, in order to be more exhaustive, here is the exact wording of the U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Census of Population, Public Law 94-171 Redistricting Data File, Appendix B, page 2.

“The concept of race as used by the Census Bureau reflects self-identification by people according to the race or races with which they most closely identify. These categories are sociopolitical constructs and should not be interpreted as being scientific or anthropological in nature. Furthermore, the race categories include both racial and national-origin groups.” They break down each category specifically as well (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/meta/long_68178.htm). As far as the only choice for ethnicity on the Census, The Census Bureau defines Hispanic or Latino as “a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.” To be all-inclusive, there is also write-in space for tribe affiliation and other races that one may choose to define themselves.

So, basically race is what we, the people, say it is. In fact, it is proven scientifically that race cannot be determined biologically. Biologically, human beings are greater than 99% similar and any genetic differences between “races” are fewer than between people of the same “race.” There are obvious physical similarities between, for instance, geological groupings of people but they are trivial in the scope of overall genetic make-up. Certainly, I am not saying we are clones of each other but the differences between us are significant only at the individual level, making each one of us a unique member of the human race.

I could go into the complicated formulae the government or anthropologists use to determine the various race categories but a blog entry should probably not be 100,000 words. The obvious and more important question is the one my wife asked – Why does race matter? Why do we even need these categories and classifications if everyone is so similar? The answer simply is that race exists because racism exists. We classify people so that data can be tracked and the problem of prejudice can be illustrated so it can be overcome.

Although so many are working to eradicate it and progress is slow but positive, racism is still everywhere in our society. Health care, housing, employment, education, congressional redistricting (the issue du jour) and other societal resources and benefits are affected by past and current, personal and institutional prejudice. This needs to be made as visible as possible in order to combat it. That is why racial classifications exist, at least for the time being.

As far as checking more than one box, the NAACP complained that it dilutes their racial representation and thereby whitewashes their issues (please excuse the unintentional pun). But, at least where the census is concerned, when you check multiple boxes, the data represents you as each of those races independently and as multiple races. So, specific races are not losing people that associate with multiple races. Others may feel that identifying racial data benefits groups by reverse racism or that by associating with groups that are “stereotyped” in a positive light; a mixed-race person will gain greater privileges. But, without identifying racial data, none of this can be analyzed and the playing field may never approach even. As the world becomes a smaller place with knowledge sharing and as generations mix more and more, I believe we will focus more on our similarities and not our differences, prejudice will dissipate and eventually it won’t matter because we will all check human race.

Share on Facebook