Pick your box
Written by ARP editor Tami Winfrey Harris
Washington Postreporter Jonathan Weisman proclaimed during an online chat Monday that Barack Obama is “much more white than black.” According to The Huffington Post:
The comment came as part of an answer to a question asking why a recent Obama ad, seen below, was “playing up his white family.” Obama’s mother was white and his father, who he was not close to growing up, was black. Visit the site to read the full question and answer.
If it wasn’t already abundantly clear, this presidential election cycle, which features a bi-racial candidate, has highlighted that in this society it is very important to assign a race—one race—to everyone. People believe it means something—to be able to say “he is black” or “she is white” or “he is Korean.” And it does mean something, but not everything.
We are each a product of our unique life experiences, which may be influenced by class, geography, sexuality, parentage, nationality and education as much as race. And we are each a product of how we are perceived by others, which may be influenced by class, geography, sexuality, parentage, nationality and education as much as race. But in American, race is all. Folks have to know where you fit. If you won’t choose your box, someone else will eagerly do it for you.
Our culture doesn’t quite know what to do with bi-racial people—how to read them. Witness the attempts to define Barack Obama. For some, it is tough to square the new campaign ad that focuses on the white family that raised Obama with the “unashamedly black” church of his adulthood or his choice of a wife or the fact that he self-identifies as a black man. Because you can’t be the product of a white Kansan family and the member of a church that preaches Black Liberation theology. And some people, like columnist Debra Dickerson, herself the black mother of bi-racial children, figure you can’t be the child of a white mother and an African father and call yourself a black man.
All of this arguing over who is what neglects that a person can be one thing, or two things or many things at once. And it ignores a fact of history—that many Americans, particularly the descendants of African slaves, are indeed multi-racial, though by our society’s narrow definition of race, we are “just black.”
I find the way we view and discuss race in this country extremely frustrating, and a hindrance to anti-racist work. How can we ever get people to examine institutional racism and bias, if most of us still stubbornly cling to a “pick your box” mentality?
I’m not sure where I’m going with this post or that I articulated successfully what I’m feeling. But I just recoiled after reading the Weisman’s quote, which I found arrogant and misinformed.
Let’s just call this an open thread to discuss society’s view of racial definition and how it effects us. What do you think?
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Jeff wrote:
I’m reminded of the old Pete Seeger song “Little boxes”. The song’s very cynical but make a good point about the trade off between the intellectual convenience of ‘little boxes’ and freedom, individuality and, frankly, humanity. He sings it, too, like a happy little children’s folk tune. Subversive!
Phillipe Copeland was writing the other day about W.E.B. DuBois’ conception of “conservation of race.” DuBois was talking about whether it was possible to self-identify as both Black and American or if for the good of society it was better to abandon degrees of classification and seek out a definition of “American” that could apply to all regardless of the color of their skin. I think the “Obama issue” that’s being addressed right now is trying to look at similar issues, though hardly anyone talking about it seems to be informed enough to know that it’s an issue that already has had great minds exploring it. DuBois asks, “Am I an American or am I a Negro? Can I be both?” I agree with Tami that DuBois and Obama can be both, and more.
I feel that Americans are lacking in the understanding of history and philosophy that they need to have perspective on this issue and many other issues in our culture today, myself included. Where are the educators who can stand up and be heard, who can help us gain perspective? Love of humanity, love of diversity is not enough in this case. We need a shared conceptual framework, a language of discussion, to turn our emotions (love, hope, insecurity, etc) into words as well as a way to evaluate other people’s ideas. A language more accurate than little boxes.
-Jeff
Little boxes
by Pete Seeger
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes
Little boxes
Little boxes all the same
There’s a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same
And the people in the houses all go to the university
And they all get put in boxes, little boxes all the same
And there’s doctors and there’s lawyers
And business executives
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same
And they all play on the golf course and drink their martini dry
And they all have pretty children and the children go to school
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university
And they all get put in boxes, and they all come out the same
And the boys go into business and marry and raise a family
And they all get put in boxes, little boxes all the same
There’s a green one, and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same
Posted 25 Jun 2008 at 11:49 am ¶
Elton wrote:
I am an Asian-American, a Southerner, and an atheist from a working-class background. I’m not supposed to exist, according to the media.
The most irritating incongruity, to me, is probably the working-class and Asian-American identities working against each other. Because of that “model minority” bullshit, the long history of Asian-Americans being pressured to work menial labor such as restaurants, laundries, grocery stores, etc. have been passed over by the media. Those socioeconomic pressures still exist today AND THEY ARE BIGGER THAN EVER. Just because many young Asian-Americans are going to college doesn’t mean that it’s easy to escape the working-class holding patterns of their ancestors.
Don’t assume that because I’m Asian and I’m highly educated that I don’t know what it’s like to wash dishes.
Posted 25 Jun 2008 at 1:39 pm ¶
Rose wrote:
What is society’s view of racial definition and how does it affect us?? I don’t know. I think you are right when you say that for each of us that can mean something different depending on background, community, etc…I have been trying to figure out my place for 37 years now. My mother was Vietnamese, my father and American. I was born in Saigon, South Vietnam in 1971 durring the war. We moved to America and I was raised in a small predominantly Caucasion town. Growning up I looked Asian. I got the sterotypical things said to me. As I got older, my father’s American genes started to predominate my looks, and I looked more Caucasion. But I do American things, and I also participate in Vietnamese things…..so for a long time I struggled with what I should identify with. I guess you can say I’ve “seen both sides of the coin.” It was only this year that I finally concluded that I am both. There is no way to split it down the middle for me. I can identilfy with both, I don’t choose one over the other…….why do I need to choose? My racial definition is Asian, and Caucasion.
What is societie’s view? I don’t know. Maybe it depends on what society you live in… But I do know that as time goes on this topic will most likley be a topic of a lot of discussion.
Posted 25 Jun 2008 at 5:15 pm ¶
Terri wrote:
For anyone who is multiracial or children are, there is a great organization called MAVIN which addresses multiracial and biracial concerns. You can reach them at http://www.mavinfoundation.org/
Posted 26 Jun 2008 at 11:14 am ¶
gm wrote:
I think it’s how you self-identify. This informs the perspective from which a person views the world. It doesn’t tell the whole story but it’s a good place to start.
Posted 26 Jun 2008 at 4:12 pm ¶
Janine deManda wrote:
as the mixed blood offspring of mixed blood parents, i can attest to the nearly overwhelming pressure to choose a damn box already! after years of struggling with it, i came to a comfortable place with myself at around 30, but i still get people trying to move me the hell out of it ‘cuz it’s not inside a box. sometimes they’re earnest and tentative, and sometimes they’re rude as hell, but every single time it’s hurtful and exhausting. i’m hoping to be able to better equip my daughter to find and hold her place for herself even when that shifts for her and to hell with where everyone else thinks that place should be. i’m hopeful, too, that with more and more folks having these sorts of discussions and sharing stories in a variety of forums and mediums that the tenor of the mainstream conversation will change as well, though i don’t expect anything near utopic to be achieved in my or my daughter’s lifetimes. every little bit helps . . .
Posted 26 Jun 2008 at 4:16 pm ¶
Korolev wrote:
It’s true - people have a tendency to lump others into categories - many people look at someone who is half black and say “he/she is black”. Not everyone does, but most do, because people of mixed descent are still relatively rare (although their numbers are growing), and people are not taught much about mixed-race people.
I define myself as human. Simply human. The fact that two races could produce fertile offspring is biological proof that all races are part of the human species.
I am half-chinese, half english. I can’t call myself Chinese or English - half of my DNA came from both sides. It’s pure genetics, and I can’t escape that, no matter how I rationalize it.
If you define yourself based on how others treat you, that hands them power. A person should define who they are personally (but within reason). Allowing society to put a label on you, regardless of your real heritage, reinforces the fact that race is a social construct.
Which in the end, it is, to some extent. While different races exist, the genetic differences are so minor, they don’t matter at all. From a biological perspective, we are all one species. So this separation of human beings, based on race, is a social construct, based on the fact that humans have a primitive instinct to lump people into categories based on appearance.
It’s a confusing issue - if people allow society to define who they are, it reinforces the fact that, biologically, race is insignificant. However, doesn’t this mean that the issue of “identity” has been solved? If race is biologically unimportant, then why not identify ourselves as human? I understand that society still insists of putting labels on people, but why don’t we all take a stand and say “I am a human, I am a full member of Homo sapiens sapiens, I am part of the human species”. Why don’t we all say that?
Race is a divider. Society still insists on putting labels on us. But we don’t have to accept it. I am half-chinese, half english, in terms of ethnicity. But I regard that aspect of myself as mostly irrelevant. I am human. It doesn’t matter where I came from - being half chinese or half english doesn’t instill any properties that make me better or worse than anyone else. My worth as a human is determined solely by me, and only me. Only my actions count, not the actions of my ancestors, in shaping how I perceive myself, and to hell to anyone else who draws a conclusion based on my race.
It’s foolish for me to be proud of my heritage. Why should I be proud to be chinese/english? Why is that any different from being Arab, or Indian, or Inuit, or African? I am a human, just like them. I have the same emotions, thoughts, feelings, body structure as them. Why insist on separating cultures? If we are all human, don’t we have a right to share HUMAN culture, HUMAN history, HUMAN accomplishments and failures?
I share whatever my species has done, good and bad. I don’t have a drop of German ethnicity in me, yet I feel, as a human, shamed of the Holocaust. I don’t have a drop of Rwandan blood in me, yet, has a human, I am full of regret and sadness when I see what happened in that country. I don’t have a shred of Japanese blood in me, yet when I see the latest robotic accomplishments of the Japanese, I am filled with pride, as a human. I have no Arabic or Indian ancestry, yet when I read about the history of Arabic and Indian mathematicians and chemists, I am filled with pride.
We are simple one species. The sooner we learn that that is the only definition that means anything, the better we are.
Posted 29 Jun 2008 at 9:07 am ¶
Korolev wrote:
I realize I might not have been clear in my last post - when I say I have no reason to be proud of my heritage, I meant that I have no reason to be proud of my ethnic heritage. My race is unimportant, as unimportant in shaping who I am as my zodiac sign.
By I am proud to be a human. I am reminded, constantly, of how far we’ve come, how much progress we’ve made. Problems, grave problems, remain, but that doesn’t diminish the progress of our species. We’ve achieved satellite communication, we’ve designed vaccines, and created mathematics that allows us to peer deep into the fundamental levels of the universe. Problems remain, yes, but the progress we’ve made is genuine. We are living longer lives than ever before (humans used to only live 28-30 years, now some can reach 80). The progress hasn’t been as even as I would have liked, but everywhere, people have gone further than ever before.
All races played a part in where we are today. We all have the right, the fundamental right, as humans to feel proud of who we are, proud of our history, proud of our accomplishments.
Posted 29 Jun 2008 at 9:20 am ¶
Lyonside wrote:
Korolev:
>It’s true - people have a tendency to lump others into categories - many people look at someone who is half black and say “he/she is black”.
Um, not if that person appears more ambiguous. Really, it’s not (just) rarity, but stereotypes about how mixed people of any particular background are supposed to look that makes for conflict.
>I define myself as human. Simply human.
I’ve tried answering “human.” It doesn’t get you very far. People KNOW they’re being snarked upon, and sometimes jump to the “chip on the shoulder/defensive about race” conclusion. However, when meeting fellow geeks in safe spaces, I have been known to say, “Human, Vulcan, Romulan, and maybe some Aldabaran for the stubborn streak.” Heh.
Funny thing is, how WE define ourselves doesn’t matter if racism still exists and affects our lives. Doesn’t help with day-to-day petty crap or institutional racism either, or in addressing past institutional wrongs.
Yes, “race” is invalid and nonsensical from a biological POV. However, ethnicity is a reality - based on language and culture, which includes learned personality traits and modes of expression, religious principles, family structures, common foods, etc. Ethnicity is non-uniform and fluid, but at least can be assessed in a way “race” cannot.
When people use the much more polite version of “What are you?” and ask my ethnicity, I lay it all out there (all 5 known regions/countries), but then I usually have to sum-up what that means, either by assigning those ethnicities to either parent, or by abbreviating it. And saying “black/white biracial” is the shorthand that most people I’m around recognize.
>The fact that two races could produce fertile offspring is biological proof that all races are part of the human species.
I’m not clear on whether you think “race” exists or not. Phenotypic differences are just variation within human populations. And for those of us who adhere to the scientific/biological spheres, we need to ditch the “all races” language. Not sure what we’d replace it with, although I’ve been known to go on about historically isolated geographic sub-populations. Which… well, gets old. Which is where I start making ethnicity/regional generalities.
Posted 30 Jun 2008 at 7:56 am ¶
Gillian wrote:
I am not an American, so I can only comment on ‘race in American society’ from an outsider’s point of view. However, as a biracial person who has lived in several countries, I can comment that how people of mixed ethnicity are seen and treated is fairly common across the board: we are invisible.
I was struck by gm’s comment that it’s how you self-identify. How you self-identify is inextricably linked with how society identifies you and others like you. It takes a lot of courage and and hard work to do the necessary soul-searching to reach an identity that is real. Most of us make do with what we’re given…
For me, the major problem is that race and culture are completely confused in people’s minds, and this is a direct product of how the dominant race sees things. Being English, American, French, etc equals being white as a default, even in the minds of those who are both American and Black, French and Arab, English and Asian. This is the message we all receive constantly, and the one we internalise.
And yet, American is a nationality also. To hold an American passport you do not have to be racially white. But it would seem that you must at least adhere to some basic principles of American culture. What these are however, remains pretty vague, leaving room, one can presume, for expressing your individual culture, received from your parents or added by yourself. Whether you are a white American born and bred in California, a white American born and bred in Maine, a black American from New Orleans, a black American from Chicago, a chinese American from San Francisco or a viet American from Houston, you each have a specific blend of race and culture to add to your American nationality.
It seems to me that once these three concepts are clear in people’s minds, there will finally be room for everyone in society.
Re Korolev’s comment, I understand your reasoning, but it’s a shame to identify by the lowest common denominator. As long as everyone adheres to the psychological and neo-Christian propaganda that stressing only what we all have in common is the only way to promote harmony, we will never accept difference. Yes, we do have one thing in common: we are all different.
Posted 02 Jul 2008 at 9:07 am ¶
C wrote:
Unfortunately, this issue has been an on-going theme in my life. I consider my own bi-racial background irrelevant to who I am and what I do, yet many others won’t let it go. The minute someone sees my Asian surname, I morph into a full-blooded Chinese for them. It is assumed that I am adopted (?), that I worship Buddha, that I eat Chinese food all the time, that China is my homeland, or, if not, I must visit all the time, right? Wrong on all counts.
One particular highlight occurred last summer during a hiking trip, when one person, an enthusiast of all things Asian, asked me if I spoke the language. (I think he was hoping to find a conversation partner in me.) When I replied in the negative, he exclaimed, “That’s such a shame!”
How exactly do I respond to that? And how did he think such a reaction would make me feel?
As a full-blooded European descendant, he made the choice, out of interest, to take Chinese lessons, and study Asian culture. He could just as easily have chosen German, Turkish or Aboriginal Australian. Again, he had a choice. His response to me said: “You have no choice, you are ethnically obligated. ”
I was almost moved to ask him about his European background, and inform him that it was a shame he didn’t speak Gaelic, Italian, French or whatever. But as this person was a stranger, and it was a friendly hiking trip, I had no desire to be as rude.
I wish that this had been an isolated incident, but it has happened quite a few times. I can’t bring myself to hope that it’s the last.
Posted 11 Jul 2008 at 12:38 pm ¶