Census questions

So it is census time again and the talk of the town in Race. There are about 15boxes to mark in that category and those boxes then determine what races make up the good old US of A. (White, Black, American Indian, Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Other Asian, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Native Hawaiian, Guamanian, Samoan or Other Pacific Islander) Now this list has a lot of variety, but there are a lot of things that this list tells me.

First, some categories are specific to color, others to nationality. How is race really defined. If an Asian person can be defined as Japanese, why can't a White person be defined as British? Or same with Ethnicity...Those with Hispanic Ethnicity are allowed to break that down further to Puerto Rican or Mexican, but Black people are not given a choice to break down there Ethnicity to Ethiopian or Colombian or Haitian?


The second is that some race or ethnicity categories are just plain missing. This was brought up on NPR the other day... The reporter was interviewing Iranian Americans. They have no choice on the form. No Middle Easterner's do. Are they then White? Is that the default? If they are white, then why is there so much "racial profiling" and prejudice?


I guess what I wonder is how does the census define race and why do they define it the way they do? Does race trump Ethnicity? Does Ethnicity trump Citizenship? Why does the census only define us by race? How did they decide that was the most important factor? I may be a White, Dutch, American, but does that make me the same as all other White Dutch Americans? Does it matter that I am middle class? A woman? A Mothers? A Social Worker? Tall, brown hair, green eyes, a bit chubby? Or how about that I am a Christian, or Democrat or optimist or environmentalist?


Am I still in the same category of people that share those traits? Some days I feel more similar to my poor, black, Ethiopian, short, Orthodox, brown eyed, skinny friends that I do my tall Dutch American neighbors.


Sometimes I feel "less" of an American, that a refugee who spent the last 10 years of his life fleeing for his safety and acclimating to America. He is the one who is proud to be American who worked HARD to be an American. For me, it just sits in my back pocket all the time. No big deal...

So where am I going with this? I am not really sure, but really I think that regardless how many races and ethnicity's are on the census, it is all pretty meaningless, but what does it really define? I want my country to see me more than White. But that is the ONLY option I have. So I will be happy that the important people in my life see me as more than that. Way more.

So I filled out my census, and mailed it out and will continue to be way more that what box they think I fit in.