Thursday, February 10, 2011
Why Don't We Just Stop Counting?
The federal Department of Education would categorize Michelle López-Mullins — a university student who is of Peruvian, Chinese, Irish, Shawnee and Cherokee descent — as “Hispanic.” But the National Center for Health Statistics, the government agency that tracks data on births and deaths, would pronounce her “Asian.” And what does Ms. López-Mullins’s birth certificate from the State of Maryland say? It doesn’t mention her race.Why don't we just stop counting? What purpose does it serve anymore, other than to perpetuate racial divides and entitlements based on criteria which no longer have meaning.
Our system of racial and ethnic categorization is outdated and now serves a negative purpose. Get rid of it.
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