Kathryn
It was on fire when I laid down on it.
Let me tell a personal story about how complicated this whole race thing can get (STUPIDLY complicated in my opinion!).
I was enrolling my youngest son in first grade at a new school. I filled out all the paperwork except for one part. This part was about race, and it stated in bolded letters, "Which ONE category describes the child's race? Choose only ONE of the following categories:" Then it had all the usual - White, non hispanic/Hispanic/
Black/Asian/Native American/Pacific Islander (forgive me if I've left any special interest groups out).
Anyway, since my children are multi racial, I just left that ONE question blank (out of about 10 pages of paperwork). That page was toward the back of the packet. I walked back up to the secretary and gave her the packet. Before I could even make it to the door, she hollered out, "HEY. You didn't finish the paperwork." I stopped and said, "Oh, I'm sorry - what did I forget to do?" She said, "You HAVE TO fill out the part about your kid's race."
Now - I'm not overly defensive or paranoid, but she had to have flipped immediately to that page to see what I'd written. I said to her, "That section appears to be incomplete and therefore impossible for me to answer accurately."
She stared at me with a sullen gaze and said, "Well, you have to check one category for your kid's race." I said, "Well, no, actually I DON'T have to check one category." I started to just turn and leave - I had my little boy WITH me for Pete's sake. As I was leaving, she started yelling behind me, "If you don't complete the paperwork, we won't let your son attend school!!!" I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around and put my arm around my son and said quietly,"I'd just like to see you try to stop him."
Then I took him to get an ice cream cone and assured him that she was wrong about the paperwork and that he'd be able to go to school the next week with no problems.
What a goober!
So - see...labels and words ARE important to some people. I wish we lived in a society where it absolutely just didn't MATTER what one's race was.
I was enrolling my youngest son in first grade at a new school. I filled out all the paperwork except for one part. This part was about race, and it stated in bolded letters, "Which ONE category describes the child's race? Choose only ONE of the following categories:" Then it had all the usual - White, non hispanic/Hispanic/
Black/Asian/Native American/Pacific Islander (forgive me if I've left any special interest groups out).
Anyway, since my children are multi racial, I just left that ONE question blank (out of about 10 pages of paperwork). That page was toward the back of the packet. I walked back up to the secretary and gave her the packet. Before I could even make it to the door, she hollered out, "HEY. You didn't finish the paperwork." I stopped and said, "Oh, I'm sorry - what did I forget to do?" She said, "You HAVE TO fill out the part about your kid's race."
Now - I'm not overly defensive or paranoid, but she had to have flipped immediately to that page to see what I'd written. I said to her, "That section appears to be incomplete and therefore impossible for me to answer accurately."
She stared at me with a sullen gaze and said, "Well, you have to check one category for your kid's race." I said, "Well, no, actually I DON'T have to check one category." I started to just turn and leave - I had my little boy WITH me for Pete's sake. As I was leaving, she started yelling behind me, "If you don't complete the paperwork, we won't let your son attend school!!!" I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around and put my arm around my son and said quietly,"I'd just like to see you try to stop him."
Then I took him to get an ice cream cone and assured him that she was wrong about the paperwork and that he'd be able to go to school the next week with no problems.
What a goober!
So - see...labels and words ARE important to some people. I wish we lived in a society where it absolutely just didn't MATTER what one's race was.