#racial classification

hey! most kurds consider themselves to be brown in terms of racial classification, however, different censuses around the world classify kurds and middle easterners differently. for example in the US, middle easterners are classified as white (wrong for many reasons).

The U.S. Census Bureau must adhere to the 1997 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) standards on race and ethnicity which guide the Census Bureau in classifying written responses to the race question:

White – A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. (x)

in canada, the following categories are used in terms of classification:

White, South Asian (e.g., East Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, etc.), Chinese, Black, Filipino, Latin American, Arab, Southeast Asian (e.g., Vietnamese, Cambodian, Malaysian, Laotian, etc.), West Asian (e.g., Iranian, Afghan, etc.), Korean, Japanese, Other – Specify

TSM22-37. David E. Bernstein. American Racial Classifications

Their Story Matters with Sara Troy and her guest David Bernstein, on air from September 6th Classified: The Untold Story of Racial Classification in America By David E. Bernstein. American racial classifications A call for the separation of race and state, backed by a deep dive into the surreal world of racial classification in America. Americans are understandably squeamish about official…

Earlier this month Mike Dzange, a waiter at a Camps Bay restaurant called The Bungalow sparked a Twitter debate and quite a few columns when he opted to include “2 BLACKS” on the docket of a couple he was serving. The couple was black, as was the waiter – and while that doesn’t preclude the possibility of the waiter himself having internalised some racist attitudes (here, simply meaning that he…

Chinese term => translation => what they really mean

So, I’m finally reading the actual text of the Supreme Court Decision in the Fisher case — for class, obviously (I’ve got to get better at reading important things fully not just because I have to teach them) and I’m shocked by the incredible desire of the court to find a “race-neutral alternative." The problem with all of these decisions by the court rest not on any one decision, but on this idea that race is a bad quality to use to identify and classify people.  At one point, Justice Kennedy cites an earlier case discussing race, "[B]ecause racial characteristics so seldom provide a relevant basis for disparate treatment" Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co. quoting the dissent of Stevens in Fullilove v. Klutznick. 

I’m sorry, WHAT?!  Since when is that true?  Certainly it wasn’t true in 1980 when Fullilove was decided.  It’s also, however, not true now.

Race-neutral alternatives to promote racial diversity are not the answer.  In fact, they don’t make any sense.  Let’s make up for the lack of racial diversity by acquiring racial diversity through other means?  No. Let’s make up for racial diversity, by seeking it. And socio-economic diversity by seeking it. And religious diversity by seeking it.  Actively.