Introduction
An article in a Times series on the growing mixed-race population in the United States describes a debate over new Education Department rules for how schools from kindergarten through college count students by race and ethnicity. Students of mixed parentage who choose more than one race will be placed in a "two or more races" category.
But those identifying themselves as Hispanic will be reported only as Hispanic, regardless of their race. Some civil rights leaders and educators say that these new classifications will complicate efforts to track academic inequities and represent a step backward in addressing them.
Do the new federal requirements make sense? What are the possible pitfalls?
I feel that these federal requirements could cause things to be more confusing. A person that is Hispanic could ver well be someone of :two or more races" so these classifications could be wildly incorrect. I personally think that if I was a scientist studying academic patterns, I would not feel confident that I was recording accurate data about Latino and "mixed" students if this method of choosing race was enforced.
ReplyDeleteThe new way of designating any multicultural person as of “Two or More Races” is distorted because if someone were half black and half white, they would be put into the same category as someone who is half Middle Eastern and half Native American. Those two people would have come from completely different cultural experiences and they could therefore not be lumped together. People of the United States have increasingly diverse combinations of race and ethnicity and a system that does not reflect the population paints an inaccurate picture of the country as a whole. If someone were to recognize both sides of their racial distinction, they would actually be negating any sense of a race because they wouldn’t be counted in either of the categories and instead placed in the “two or more races” category that does not specify of what two or more races a person is. If a multiracial person were to choose just one race to identify with, they would at least be counted as having a distinct race but they would be leaving out the other category or categories that they also fit into. Either way, the system is flawed and cannot accurately represent the population.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Susu, the “Two or More Races” category is totally distorted and completely lumps people with no ethnic connection into one group. Eventually, if we continue to lump people together like this we will have more people in the “two or more” group than any other. As Susu stated, “the system is flawed” and with the exploding multiracial population it is definitely a subject that needs to be addressed. If we are to get an accurate reflection of our society the “two or more” category needs to be removed from the Education Departments survey and replaced with an option that better fits into our diversified population.
ReplyDeleteSusu, I agree with the point that you made about the distortion that accompanies labeling someone who is multicultural as "two or more races". Grouping people who come from diverse backgrounds as being just "two or more races" eliminates the individuality of these rich cultures. It takes away how important each of these cultures are and makes the people who are categorized as such lose their pride in their culture.
ReplyDeleteThese new requirements are completely ridiculous. Categorizing someone takes away from the person already so at least give them the decency to choose more than one race. Since when are Hispanics just Hispanic and nothing else? They should be seen as their own person just like everyone else.
ReplyDelete