The Census and Race

When we got our Census forms in the mail the other day, I looked them over and thought "Oh, this looks pretty simple."  For each member of the family, I needed to supply name, age, and...race?

The race question made me hesitate for a minute.  I was kind of tempted to check "other" and fill in the blank "human," but after a little thought, I decided that I wanted to represent for my multi-ethnic babies.  So I checked both "white" and "black" under each of my sons' names, feeling thankful that at least I could check more than one box, an option that didn't exist as recently as the 1990 Census.

I've tried a few times to explain "race" to Elijah, and there's something about seeing things through a five-year-old's eyes that makes you realize how ridiculous it all is.  I try to explain what it means to be black, and how most people would probably call him black; and as the words are coming out of my mouth, I'm thinking, he's not going to understand this because it doesn't make any sense.  And sure enough, he looks at me blankly, then tells me about how he is kind of lightish brown, Noah is darkish-lightish brown, Daddy is all-the-way-dark brown, and Mama is brighter brown, by which I think he means lighter brown.

Now if I can't even explain race to him, how am I going to explain racism?  Not that I haven't tried--for instance, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I tried to explain who MLK was; but in order to explain what he stood for, I have to explain what he stood against; and it's all just so ridiculous.  "Back in the day a lot of white people thought that black people shouldn't enjoy the same privileges they did."  "But why, Mama?"  "Uh, um, I don't know, because people are stupid?"  Except that I can't say that, because we don't call people stupid in our house. :p

I was thinking about this again today as I came across a couple of articles about the Census and race (here's an example).  I also came across this site: onehumanrace.com, which argues from a Biblical standpoint that "there is one race, the human race," an argument I've heard before from Mr. Voddie Baucham, and with which I'm inclined to agree.*  What I hadn't realized before perusing this site was the connection between race theory and evolutionary theory.  This site is also strong on the topic of interracial marriage.  I highly recommend that y'all check it out. :)

*I'm not saying that we need to be "color-blind" or that we should give up labeling ethnic groups entirely--I think it's equally silly to pretend that there are no differences between us at all.  Of course we have our cultural differences, and I think that we should make an effort to learn about those differences and to appreciate them.  And I think we need to be conscious of the fact that we tend to be afraid of people who are different from us, and be careful that we don't allow those fears to stop us from reaching out to those people.  Why do I feel like I'm being preachy?  Maybe because I am?  *sigh* Okay, I give up, no more blogging about race.

Interesting article

A friend recently posted their dismay that a "socialist" has been elected president, and wished that McCain had been elected instead. I tried to point out that Bush and McCain are pretty socialist as well, but I think my point was perhaps not getting across very well.

Here's an interesting article for your perusal:

Like Barack Obama, John McCain is a Socialist

Note that the New American is a very conservative publication. I say this to point out that you don't have to be a "radical left-wing nut" to disagree with Bush and McCain's policies.

And to clarify, I did not vote for Obama because I am very strongly pro-life (the only vote I cast this election cycle was for this guy), but I am excited to see an African-American family in the White House. I will be praying that Mr. Obama and his family are kept safe and sound, and not hurt by the racist hate that is unfortunately still alive and well in our society. I will also be praying that Mr. Obama has a change of heart regarding the rights of the unborn (but I'm not holding my breath on that one).

This saddens me

I don't know why I'm trying to post when I have to leave in fifteen minutes, but this really struck me (in a sad way) and I felt like I ought to share it.

http://news.yahoo.com/page/election-2008-political-pulse-obama-race

Take a look at the box on the left--survey respondents were asked to pick adjectives that describe blacks. Notice where white republicans fall on this graph (the red squares). They are the least likely, of all white political groups, to apply positive adjectives to blacks, and among the most likely to think that negative adjectives apply. Note that less than 15% of white republicans think that the word "law-abiding" applies to most blacks! That's right, 85% of white republicans think that most black people are NOT law-abiding! Yikes!

This makes me wonder how many white republicans actually *know* any black people. I would have liked to see that question in the survey--how often do you interact with black people, and on what level?--and to see how the answer to that question correlates to the adjectives chosen.

But to a certain extent, your familiarity with black people ought to be irrelevant--surely any charitable American would be willing to assume the best about people that they don't know?

Racist Incidents Give Obama Campaigners Pause

Sadly, I think most white Americans (at least the ones I know) are unaware that this kind of blatant racism is still alive and well in the United States. I have certainly witnessed more than I care to have witnessed, and it saddens me greatly to know that my children will most likely experience this kind of racism for themselves.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051203014.html?sid=ST2008051301359

I think most of the racism my kids will encounter is the kind based in ignorance rather than malice, i.e. "You are such an articulate young man!" "So, do you play basketball?" "Hey bro, do you know where I can score some weed?" which is bad enough...but the odds are, they will also encounter the more malicious stuff at some point in their lives. I wish I knew how best to prepare them for it. :(

On a lighter note, I am out of coffee!!!! Aaaaahhhh! Must run to the store before the girls I watch arrive!!!!