I just took a survey for a prestigious North American company. When the survey got to the question about race/ethnicity, it listed several, including: Hispanic, Pacific Islander, African American, Native American, and Asian, among others. However, it listed "White" as the alternative race to all of those.
Um, excuse me? There were no other colors listed in this section.
Why would a prestigious company list a proper race/ethnicity for every other group and choose not to put "Caucasian" down as one of them? Or, at least, why not write "Caucasian/White?"
This makes no sense to me. White is a color, not a race or ethnicity. I nearly selected "Other" and wrote in "Caucasian" just to make a point.
In an attempt to be racially sensitive to others, this North American company wound up being insensitive to a primary race/ethnicity. Shame on them.
Great insight!! It is the PC thing to be tactful about how one refers to one's fellow beings ... unless, of course, one is NOT "of color," meaning white. Your observation that white IS a color is spot-on.
ReplyDeleteThis is what offends me most when the discussion turns to racism: it's okay to be racist when one's skin color is NOT white, but if/when a person with white skin makes a comment and defines the person by the color of the individual's skin, it's RACIST because anyone with skin color other than white says so.
I don't get it. You are right to hold the perpetuators of this discrete form of discrimination accountable for it!
*farse: actually an apt phonetic word verification!!
An interesting topic. It's not the "white" option that bothers me, it's the "Caucasian" that bothers me. I know that this is broadly meant for those of us who don't fall into any of the other colour categories. I am not Caucasian. I have absolutely no heritage from the Caucasus region and I resent being forced to apparently confirm my heritage as such every single time I fill out a form. Also, folks from that region have decidedly darker skin and very different facial features from those of my ancesters. Because of this I prefer white over Caucasian as an option.
ReplyDeleteLiza, I agree with your comment that it is somehow quite ok for someone who is not white to be racist. It frustrates me. /sigh
I didn't name the races; that was determined well before I was born. Right or wrong, good or bad, the "white" race is called "Caucasian," as that's where they think the genetic traits that make us up come from originally. Therefore, if you have a list of races or ethnicities that includes every other race/ethnicity, and no other colors, then I want my own race/ethnicity listed rather than a color. If someone wants to come up with a better term than "Caucasian" for that race/ethnicity (and "white- non-Hispanic" does not count), I'll jump on the bandwagon and use it. But, for now, that term is Caucasian, so I'll stick with that.
ReplyDelete