Wednesday, December 31, 2003
I've decided I'm going to stop checking the "white/Caucasian" label. I'm checking the "mixed racial background" box, if there is one.
I've been filling out a lot of forms lately for one reason or another. I have a friend who was born and raised in South Africa, but he happens to be white. He left South Africa because of his disgust over his family's involvement with the repression of Black South Africans, but he still checks "African-American" on any forms he gets (Unless it says "black/African-American").
I have some American Indian/Native American blood in my veins. It's thin and not enough (as far as I have been able to ascertain) to get me any scholarships or jobs - but it's there. I'm mostly German and Irish, with some English and Scottish thrown in - but I have some Indian ancestry.
So, to protest the ridiculous attempts to define someone by their racial category merely because it fits some affirmative action policy I am checking the "mixed racial background" box - because it is true.
I've been filling out a lot of forms lately for one reason or another. I have a friend who was born and raised in South Africa, but he happens to be white. He left South Africa because of his disgust over his family's involvement with the repression of Black South Africans, but he still checks "African-American" on any forms he gets (Unless it says "black/African-American").
I have some American Indian/Native American blood in my veins. It's thin and not enough (as far as I have been able to ascertain) to get me any scholarships or jobs - but it's there. I'm mostly German and Irish, with some English and Scottish thrown in - but I have some Indian ancestry.
So, to protest the ridiculous attempts to define someone by their racial category merely because it fits some affirmative action policy I am checking the "mixed racial background" box - because it is true.
