I
made my own personal list of what I consider as major ethnicities and major
races in the United States; I compared my list to the U.S. Census. There were
slight differences between the two lists; I noticed that I had dramatically
more ethnicities and races listed as an option for individuals to associate
with. The major difference between my list of ethnicities and races compared to
the Census was that I did not have an “Other Asian” category for individuals to
check mark and fill in their ethnicity below in given space available. I listed
each respected ethnicity and/or race separately instead of bundling different
population into one single option, to be labeled as “OTHER of…” I believe the
reason why there are differences between my list of race and ethnicity compared
to the U.S. Census is because we have different opinions and views of
recognizing the diverse races and ethnicities that exist, and because of the
different perspectives the acknowledgement and recognition of the “other”
population list will vary between people.
When
I was asked to fill out the U.S. Census, I marked first on the list, “No, not
of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin.” Then I selected “Other Asian” and
filled in at bottom given space Cambodian. It wasn’t really difficult for me to
fill out.
I
personally believe that the Census has a huge influence on the racial and
ethnic categories that we use on an everyday basis. The Census shows the
populations who are acknowledge as a race or ethnicity and the population has
no other options given but to accept or omitting the survey. If your ethnicity
or race is not listed as an option to check off, than you have to accept that
you are just “some other race” and then you are to pencil in the declare
ethnicity or race you identify with.
With the general population filling out the Census, we collectively
accept the Census list of acknowledged/recognized races and ethnicities and
ignore those are not listed as “others”. The influence that the Census has on
ethnic categories that we used everyday is by giving us only a select amount of
options of acknowledged races and ethnic group and labeling those that are not
others.
Hi Soap,
ReplyDeleteYour insight into the problematic 'other' category, is spot on. It reminds me of the book by Moustafa Bayoumi, "How Does it Feel to be a Problem?", but here it must be "How Does it feel to be an Other?". In Ethnic Studies, particularly those that look a colonization and imperialism, we speak a lot about 'becoming an other', or the process of becoming defined as oppositional and 'different' from Whites (which is , unsurprisingly viewed as the normal one). In this sense, the Census does this- it 'others' those that sees as not numerically or culturally significant to join the list of options. Your observation of the omission of Cambodian made me look again and I find it weird that the Census 'others' most SE Asian populations- even though their mass immigration to the United States was some of most recent- we can definitely discuss why this might be in class this week.
--eas