PREFER NOT TO ANSWER

I’m going out on a limb here, but after seeing recent articles about non-white births outnumbering white births for the first time in history, I want to ask several questions:

  ---who cares? (obviously, many people do, but I wish we could get beyond all of this.)

  ---do other countries keep track of such births as ours does?

  ---do the numbers mean much to anyone other than folks who like to fiddle around with demographics?

  ---why is race so important to institutions like colleges? To me, affirmative action should be directed toward admitting the best students or hiring the best employees, regardless of race, gender, etc.

  ---why do they ask you to select and check your race on various surveys and questionnaires?  I’m thinking of checking “Prefer not to answer” from now on.

Now I’ll state a few of my own views:

  ---I am getting tired of “ – Americans”.  I will be pleased – though I must admit it won’t happen in my lifetime – when there are no longer “Afro-Americans”, or “Muslim Americans”, or “Spanish Americans”, or even “Native Americans”.  I will be pleased when we are no longer defined first by our color, religion, or country of origin. If you are an American citizen you are just, though not merely, an American. 

  ---It should be against the law, even on the U.S. census, to require, or even

politely ask, on any questionnaire, survey, or application, about any one’s race or religion or country of origin. (I think I could admit an exception to this rule on an application for American citizenship. It would be interesting to keep track of the countries of origin.)

   ---I will be pleased – and again, it won’t happen in my lifetime – when the angst over what is perceived as our many differences – the “us vs. them" mentality - gives way to a celebration of our colorful diversity within our unity. We’ve got a slew of slogans out there, but we rarely live by them. Sometimes I think it would wake us all up if real ALFs showed up.

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May 29, 2012 - I just saw this story in Slate.  It interets me because I am 1/16 Cherokee by blood. I didn't feel the necessity to include that information in the above piece. My grandmother's grandmother was full-blooded Cherokee. But I am an American - just, not merely, an American.