School rules change forces racial choice

http://www.chicagotribune.com ^ | 1/11/2004 | Ana Beatriz Cholo

[spintreebob]

Multiethnic kids must list 1 race

Brandon is 7 with an afro, green eyes, skin the color of caramel.

He is white, like his father; black, like his mother. In Champaign Community Unit School District 4, he can't be both.

Officials infuriated his parents by sending a letter last year saying they must identify Brandon on school paperwork by only one race or ethnicity. "Multiethnic," the district's term for students of mixed heritage, was no longer an option.

[spintreebob]

My kids had same experience. My daughter put half and half. She was told she could not be both and must choose one or the other. My wife and I were told to mark the minority because that way the school would get more funding. Two more minority students would qualify them for a certain category of money. That was in 1990.

In the 60's I knew Whites with EZ at the end of their name. They were counted as Hispanic to get special pots of money, despite the fact that they could trace the name ending in EZ back 200 years in the hills of WV and KY.

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[go star go]

i think the whole country is nutts. why the hell does the school care what race someone is?

[boris]

How about 'human' race?

[spintreebob]

Obviously the next story after mixed dating, mixed marriage is single race children.

When cops stop my kids, should they be labeled the
White Race?
Hispanic Race?
American? or
Human Race?

[muawiyah]

The "school" cares because it is directed by the law to do so.

Frankly the law is an a$$. Here we have teachers and administrators who are considered too stupid to differentiate between aspirin and methamphetamine yet they are required to judge who belongs to what race.

It's nuts. Time for a revolution or two, maybe three.

[facedown]

Similar changes will take place in districts across the state this year as the Illinois State Board of Education eliminates "other" as a racial classification on its standardized tests--in part because of pressures imposed by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

How did I just know that this would turn out to be Bush's fault.

[af_vet_1981]

How about 'human' race?

That is my designation.

Apparently we are in a minority.

[Khurkris]

Its all about the $$$. Nothing more, just $$$ for the school district.

[Eris]

I always write in "Texan."


We're a higher form of life.

[ladylib]

Because it is. He signed off on the law. (Even though I don't think he really knows what's in it. He just wanted a law to sign).

[Paleo Conservative]

I alway would claim "American Indian". I actually am at least 1/16th Cherokee, but I had very light blond hair all the way through high school so I had some difficutly getting people to believe me. I just loved messing up the bureaucracy.

[Arpege92]

"I always write in 'Texan'."

I like that....my son asks me what he is and I tell him he is a "mutt". His father is 100% Italian and I've got German, Irish, Portugese as far as I know. My hubby just say's he is American and that's the end of that!

[muawiyah]

Proving an important point - it's virtually impossible for anyone to determine the correct racial affiliation of anyone through simple visual observation.

DNA tests are going to eventually be needed to keep up this nonsense.

[breakem]

I remember when the designation Negro was used to refer to people with dark skin. Now people in the US want to be called African-American, which is not a racial designation but a geographic one. So here's what happens. White people from Africa can put African-American on government forms. My best friend at work was born of Italian parents in Ethiopia. Used to drive people crazy.

[tet68]

Put down AMERICAN. Let them figure it out.

[tet68]

I'm always tempted to put down Samoan.
Don't know why, guess it's the lure of the islands.

[truth_seeker]

"My best friend at work was born of Italian parents in Ethiopia. Used to drive people crazy."

Does that yield African-Italian-American?

[breakem]

I don't know, but have you ever had pasta and mustard greens?

[DeaconBenjamin]

No, but I bet it would be good with mesquite-grilled chicken.