One of the things that really ticks me off, yet somehow still manages to be a source of amusement, is the frequency with which I am forced to check the 'OTHER' box under the 'race/ethnicity' category on a majority of forms.
My first encounter with the 'OTHER' box was in middle school once standardized testing started. The FCATs, the SATs, they all instructed to please pick one. Being comprised of more than one race - two in fact, in equal amounts - the 'pick one' or 'OTHER' choice irks me.
I have seen Eskimo as a choice on a standardized test before. If that's a choice in Florida, of all places, the people who make these tests could stand to add a 'biracial/multiracial bubble on their tests!
(On a related note, multiple people i've encountered aren't aware of the demography of the UK. On a few occasions, people have asked me 'What are you?' - like i'm a freakin' space alien with five arms - and upon hearing that i'm half black and half white ask 'Wait... there are black people in England?!?!' I've also heard 'Oh, you're from England? So you don't shave your pits, right?'
Are. You. Serious?
However, most of the people who asked me these questions were middle schoolers, so hopefully they know better now. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. However, it still makes me giggle when I tell people my dad's from Guyana and they pretend to know where it is.)
Isn't the whole point of inquiring of race on tests to collect data and statistics? You can't possibly gather accurate data if biracial and multiracial people are forced to either pick only one portion of their racial make up or lump themselves in with all the other 'others'.
In a world that is becoming more accepting of interracial marriage and multiracial families, you'd think the option to 'choose all that apply' would appear on tests more than it does. I hate having to pick one race over the other. I am both black and white, and neither one is more integral than the other in how I identify my race.
But of course, I have to check the 'African American' box (I hate the term African American - not all black people are from Africa, or American), because my skin is darker and i'd just look like I was in serious denial if I checked the 'White/Caucasian' box. Where did the word 'Caucasian' even come from? Did white people feel left out when black people got their politically correct title, and they wanted their own?
My most recent run-in with the 'OTHER' box was when Gary and I went to get our marriage certificate in October. As we were filling in the paperwork, I was happy to see that under the race/ethnicity category, there was an empty box to write in. I said to Gary 'Hey, this is awesome, i'll actually get to have 'biracial' appear on our marriage license and certificate!'
So we finish filling in the forms, and when we are seated with the clerk she starts entering our information into the computer. She's typing for a while and then looks up, looks at me, and goes 'OK, which do you want to be, black, white, or other?'
Firstly, I hope those weren't the only three options for race, and they don't just lump everyone who is neither black nor white into one ambiguous category.
Secondly, if those weren't the only three race options, that means that the clerk actually guessed my racial make up correctly, which only a handful of people have been able to do my entire life. I am guessed to be Hispanic the most, followed by Asian/black, and sometimes even Middle Eastern. It would have sucked for the clerk if she was completely off base!
Lady deserves a cookie or a gold star or something.
The 'OTHER' wins again, for now.
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