Rainier Spencer, the director of the Afro-American studies program at University of Nevada-Las Vegas, is the author, most recently, of "Reproducing Race: The Paradox of Generation Mix."
The Education Department’s provision on “mixed race” violates both the letter and spirit of federal policy set in 1997 and 2000 regarding, respectively, the non-acceptability of a multiracial category and the establishment of strict rules regarding how multiple-race responses are to be counted.
The change endangers the accurate monitoring of civil rights compliance in education. Despite the important gains of the civil rights movement, much discrimination still exists, albeit in less overt forms. Civil rights compliance monitoring -- the use of racial statistics to uncover suspicious patterns in education, housing, employment, etc. -- is our very best means of detecting covert and institutional discrimination. It is the reason for all those “check boxes" for racial identity that no one loves.
By placing students who check more than one box in a “two or more races” category, the Education Department’s provision surreptitiously and illegally creates a multiracial category in education. It does this not because of the questions asked of respondents, but in a backdoor way, through the tabulation results of students who check more than one box.
The government rejected a multiracial category because such a category would provide nothing useful, as no relevant medical, social, educational or housing data are obtained when ethnic and racial differences are collapsed and, in effect, rendered meaningless. The "two or more races" label would put people who are black and white, and who are Asian and Native American, for example, in the same category. This system would make it impossible to compare new statistics to the huge stores of historical data.
People, including students, are not discriminated against on the basis of being mixed-race, but rather on the basis of being one part of that mixture The federal race categories, crude as they might be, allow us to track how people are treated based on how they are perceived by others. The dangerous result of the Education Department’s provision will be two-fold.
On one hand, the “two or more races” category will provide no useful data for compliance monitoring; while on the other, real racial discrimination against some students will go untracked by the compliance monitoring apparatus because students who check more than one box will not be placed in the categories that are in fact motivating their unjust treatment.
Even though race is a fiction, racism remains real, and can be tracked most effectively by the federal race categories that are expressed, you might say, in the language of the racist. To hinder this ability to track racial discrimination for the sake of instituting what is essentially a multiracial category is unconscionable.
This article really shocked me. For someone who is considered of mixed race, it must be very confusing, especially as a child. This article explains how the Education Department does not really care that the student has more than one race. They care what races they are and if one of them is worth considering. So, in other words, if someone is half white and half black, the government would over look the part about the student being white and look right at the student being black. It is like when we talked in class about President Obama getting all the fame as being the first black president, when he really would be the check box saying, "two or more races" because he is half white. I really like how this article says "race is fiction," because before reading this chapter, I did not realize how much race changes from place to place and people to people.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Emma, it seems like the Education Department does not care really care about if somebody is multiracial at all. The main idea that they focus on is, if somebody has a race that is considered to be "noticeable". Like Emma said, being white is constantly overlooked in society, to the point where it's not even considered to be a factor if they are multiracial. Often, people are profiled by the race they consider to be more noticeable in an individual, therefore, increasing racism throughout society. It surprises me that they would add a more than one race category, because it will not help track discrimination. In fact, it will make it nearly untraceable.
ReplyDeleteIt's terrible that people of multiracial backgrounds are placed in the same category as the minority race they belong to. I’d be upset if I were black and white, yet being placed just with the black category; it would be leaving half of my heritage out. On the other hand, I wouldn’t like to be multiracial but placed in a category with all other multiracial people. For example, if I were black and white but being placed in the same category as Hispanic Asians I would be offended that my personal race wasn’t being represented. The only solution would be to have a specific category for each mixed race; then all races would be represented, mixed or otherwise. There wouldn’t be preference towards minority races when the checks were being counted and there wouldn’t be a combined group for all multiracial people.
ReplyDeleteEmma's comment that race changes from place to place and people to people is very true. President Obama's mixed racial identity has been the topic of many debates. Some people identify with his black category. They are very excited that America has its first black president. Other people identify him by his mixed racial identity and question how he can be white or black when he is mixed. In a few years, the media may report that America has its first woman President. Wouldn't it be great if 4 years after that, the media reported that America had a new President period! Suppose there was no concern about race, ethnicity, sex and religious beliefs. Will that ever happen?
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of these comments and especially when Emma said that this picking of the predominant race in a child can be extremely confusing. Multi-cultural individuals should be able to make every race that they are acounted for, instead of overlooking a major part of their ancestory. If someone were to start labeling themselves as one race, when they may in fact be 2 or more that person will start to forget their background and solely focus on the label that society has given them. This is not fair for individuals of multi-cultural races.
ReplyDeleteThere should be seperate catergories for each mixed race. Every multiracial person should not be categorized as the same race because they each come from various backgrounds. An Asian American is definitely not the same as a black American. The government would be discriminating against the different cultures if it attempted to group the mixed races together. Each person whould be proud of thier individual heritage. There is no pride in saying I am part of the mixed race, along with every other person who is more than one race. If white and black creates a mixed race, why doesn't German and Mexican also?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Kaylin; every heritage mix that exists in our country should be equally recognized, and if the government made all of these laws forbidding discrimination or prejudice in any kind, then why isn't it following the same laws by recognizing and accepting every multiracial person?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kaylin. Every multiracial person has a different background and should therefore be reflected as such. There should be more distinction made than just "two or more races." If that was the only option, I'm sure people would choose that one in an overwhelming majority, yet that answer doesn't give us any specific insight into what races specifically make up an individual person. It is necessary to be more in-depth than to just say that someone is mixed race.
ReplyDeleteThis is just plain wrong! Since when should we feel okay about labeling multiracial people as just ONE race. Every one of us has more than that and we should be able to feel proud about that. When we label people as the predominant race all were doing is causing them to forget their true backgrounds. I'd be upset to if I was being placed into the same category as the minorities. It's the same as what's happening with half black half white kids. All society sees is the black and associate them as such.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Kaylin's idea for separate categories for every mixed race. Even if it makes for hundreds of categories, it is the only way that a system like this can truly work. Instead of choosing just one race or having to generalize with every other possible mixed race, people should be able to identify themselves as what they truly are. Even if every possible combination of races are not listed as options, people should at least be allowed to write in what they designate themselves as.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kaylin’s assessment that we need to address the categories that are made available for individuals to check. However, I think it will be a monumental task to try and put every conceivable race mix on a form. I don’t know what the answer to this problem is but I believe it is something that the Educational system needs to look into further. For now, the Education Department needs to use the crude method developed by the federal government, which accurately allows the tracking of how people are treated based on others perception of them, until they can come up with a satisfactory method that does not discriminate against multiracial individuals.
ReplyDeleteThere is no biological difference between people of different races, in today’s society race is about the classification and division of people to fit a demographic. I believe that the government rejected a multiracial category because due to America’s recent racial and ethnic diversity it is getting harder for Americans to simply choose one box. The government must find new ways to classify multi-ethnic people.
ReplyDeleteCreating a multiracial category would be an extremely bad idea. Accurate racial data for census information would be inaccurate. if for, instance, an Indian- English individual were to be placed with a native American- African American, they would be under a category of the same name. their ethnicity wouldn't be acknowledged in data findings and the overall number of single races would be diminished. The solution to this would be to count the individual for each race they are part of. The Indian-english person for example, would be essentially two people on a census. There would be an Indian person, then an English person and both would be put in their respective categories and presented in the data.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the point that Olivia said - for people who are of equally mixed backgrounds it must be extremely frustrating to only be classified in one of those categories. The idea to have a separate category for each race makes sense, but would be difficult because our culture is only becoming increasingly diverse.
ReplyDeleteAs a person of multi races I find this article truly shocking. The Board of Education does not care for my actual genetics or ethnic background and to make some one, like myself check a box that does not pertain to my self classification makes it seem like I do not know my own race. It should be categorized for each race so that there may be valid and reliable data.
ReplyDeletei agree with Emma's comment as well as everyone else's. It is insulting that the board of education doesn't take in consideration that now a days people are more than one race. This makes me feel that by placing only a selected few race option makes me feel that maybe other races are just not important. which isn't true. Not one race is better than the other they should let more races in the category too choose from.
ReplyDeleteThe Board of Education should really be focusing on the ethnicity of the children in their school. I know that my mom, who is an assistant principal in a Baltimore county school, can apply for grants because they have a certain amount of multiracial families so why wouldn't the Board of Education want you to specify your exact heritage. The Board of Education needs to rethink their way of categorizing students in order to get the results the school really wants and needs.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read Kichonee's comment it gave me a different perspective on this article. I was kind of thinking of this from an outsiders point of view but the truth is who would want to just be a name in a category when truthfully they are much more then that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Christina, Kichonee's comment gave me a different view to this reading. The board of education do not care about each individual child but if they have diversity in their schools. It is sad that discrimination still exists today.
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