Race Identity

Today, on National Public Radio (NPR 90.1 Philadelphia) I heard a riveting show about race in America. In particular, the debate focused on Barack Obama's race identity. I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the portion of the show that I heard. If nothing else, I think President-Elect Obama's racial identity has sparked a long overdue conversation in America. In recent years race has been the "elephant in the room." We all see it, but few acknowledge that America is still fraught with racial problems. These problems are so engrained in our society that people often (and I believe genuinely - in some cases) don't understand their part or that of other's in perpetuating hostility toward people of color (whether overt or covert).

Some people say that race doesn't matter. I believe that is inherently true. However, race has been made to be important in American society. Other than identifying someone by their skin color or ethnic features to separate and treat them differently, I fail to understand the significance or usefulness of one's race.

According to our birth certificates: In 1933 when my mother was born, she was "colored". In 1955 when my brother was born, he was "negro." In 1961 when I was born, I was "black". And, in 1995 my youngest daughter was "African-American," which in her case is accurate being the daughter of my second husband, who is from Cote D'Ivoire, West Africa and I being from the United States. It seems to me that the need for naming or labeling comes from outside of ourselves. In this country (America) if others can't categorize you, they dont know how they should treat you...as though treating everyone fairly and the same would be a bad thing. This is illustrated by the "colored" people who used to pass as white and were treated well in society but, when discovered to be black were treated horrifically.

The questions on today's show about why Obama does not self-identify as "mixed" or "bi-racial" is clear to me. In this society, if you have the appearance of being "black" or "African-American" that is how you are treated. Fair-skinned, straight hair, thin lips, etc. do not trump the long held prejudices people have about what it means to be "black" or "African-American." It's not so much how you see or identify yourself, its how others categorize you and ultimately treat you.