Editorial

Editorial Race, Ethnicity, and Minority Status At one time or another we all have come across the theme that race is an artificial construct, but that racism is real. Any attempt to categorize the human race—the one true race—into separate, discrete categories is doomed to failure . Humans from different groups have been interbreeding since the dawn of time and will continue to do so. As a result, attempts to classify individuals are inevitably ambiguous and inefficient. We are faced with a situation in which segments of our population historically endured discrimination, oppression, and even slavery. These wrongs must be redressed. One question is how to make our systems of classification, admittedly artificial, as practical as possible. Recently, the federal government released a report stating that for the first time the number of Hispanic Americans exceeded that of African Americans for ages 18 years and below. The report then went on to discuss the implications of the increasing diversity of the American population , the decline in the black and white segments of the population, and future projections. There were two startling contradictions in the report. First, the black and white populations of the United States, as defined by the federal government, are continuing to increase, although their percentage of the total population is decreasing. Second, the government uses quasi racial definitions for "white"and "black" Americans (I am trying to keep the use of quotation marks down, but it is difficult.), but ethnic definitions for Hispanic Americans. The report acknowledged the dilemma this creates by stating something to the effect that if one included the number of black Hispanic Americans in the black category then Hispanic Americans have not surpassed black Americans up to age 18 ! Although most Hispanic Americans self-identify as white, substantial numbers self-identify as black. I believe the above example illustrates the awkwardness of our system, no matter how well intentioned. It is rigid and inaccurate. A few years ago I was conducting a seminar for a visiting group of Egyptian educators, who were intrigued by the American conception of African American and its apparent equation with the term "black." Since the members of the group were not black and Egypt has been an identifiable part of Africa for more than 5,000 years, they were somewhat bemused. One asked if he became an American citizen, would he be considered a European American. My stumbling response was no, I did not think so. I believed the term used by the federal government was "black, of African origin." He would be considered Egyptian American or white of African origin, but I really was not sure. I quickly steered the conversation back to curriculum development for deaf children, an area in which I had a little more background! In an attempt to get some clarity, I turned to the Websters New College Dictionary and found the following definitions: Ethnic: Of or relating to a religious, racial, national, or cultural group. Ethnicity. The state of belonging to an ethnic group. Race. A local, geographic or human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics. (Italics added) Racism: The notion that one's own ethnic stock is superior. These definitions are useless. Racism is equated with ethnicity, but ethnicity can include religious, national, or cultural identity separate from race. I turned to a colleague who had worked with the Commission on Civil Rights for clarification. Any following mistakes are mine, not his. Essentially, although terminology and definitions have varied over the past 40 years, the federal government uses five categories. States can and do vary. The federal categories roughly are·. 1. Black, not Hispanic 2. White, not Hispanic 3. Hispanic 4. Asian/Pacific Island 5. Native American Until the present time, these categories have been treated as separate, although millions of Americans could claim membership in two or more of the groups. Volume 143, No. 4, 1998 American Annals of the Deaf Editorial The term, "black" refers to African origins, hence the relationship with the term "African American." Although Melanesians may tend to be darker than African Americans,, they fall within the Pacific Island grouping. Also, the origins of an African American...