But, is he White? Is he Asian? Is he Eurasian? Why does it even matter? I wasn’t sure what to write, so in the end, I scribbled ”Human”.
The New Age of Identity Theft
August 17, 2006
Egads, what is he?
So, I am sending off the application for Arun’s certified birth certificate - I was given something from the hospital and that is what I have been using while traveling, but I need something state official-esque for his passport. As I was filling out the application, I came to a blank labeled “Race”. Frankly, I was dumbfounded. Sure, I love to make Snide Asides about my little half-breed demi-desi, but in reality, I don’t think of him as Either/Or. While my finger itched to list him as ”Asian" for future scholarship possibilities, or ”bug-eyed freak” as a joke, or hell, even ”Hybrid” in light of our pending Energy Crisis, that just seemed Wrong.
But, is he White? Is he Asian? Is he Eurasian? Why does it even matter? I wasn’t sure what to write, so in the end, I scribbled ”Human”.
The New Age of Identity Theft
But, is he White? Is he Asian? Is he Eurasian? Why does it even matter? I wasn’t sure what to write, so in the end, I scribbled ”Human”.
The New Age of Identity Theft
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7 comments:
I remember before the prevalence of South Asian I used to be torn between "Caucasian" and "Asian"-because honestly? They didn't Desi (Bang-Pak-Indo-Sri-Lanka-Nepal)-Asian-Middle-Eastern-North-African in regards to "Asian"-they meant mostly "East Asian"-and technically we're all still classified as Caucasians anthropologically.
So technically technically Arun still falls under Caucasian...but as you aptly noted with the "Human" category, these labels tend to give short shrift to multi-culti kids or kids who hail from cultures that are located in a "crossroads" area of the world. The race categories are pretty retarded anyway-I think Middle East North Africa and the Caspian Sea area still gets hosed. Gah!!!
Oh, and Arun's category should be "really really ridiculously good-looking"
Monkey,
You are SO right. I tend to use Asian to make a point that Asia is a BIG ASS continent with lots and lots of diversity. In fact, X says "asian" and "indian" interchangeably. Also, it used to piss me off when people would refer to Pakistanis as Arabs.
Wordnerd,
Maybe I should have considered "Hunka hunka burning love"?
All,
Of course, the bigger question is "Soes this mean he's shut out of the AKC for GOOD"? :-)
Tell me you weren't itching to put 'simian'.
Forms are difficult things for confirmed smart-asses like us.
And, yes, he's unbelievably adorable.
How about "Nascar"?
Yea, really....why does he have to be ANYTHING? I know people who are like 5 differnt things....do they make a list? They should just get rid of that box completely.
http://americanfamily.typepad.com has done some interesting writing about race. She's White, her husband is Chinese-American, they have a bio daughter together and are in the process of adopting from China.
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