Nationality and Race

Recently when completing a form for Micah’s preschool, there was a question that asked “Nationality?”  According to dictionary.com, this word means “the status of belonging to a particular nation, whether by birth or naturalization.”  I was thinking of how I would answer this question about our adopted child one day.  Our adopted child will become an American citizen upon landing on U.S. soil, so that would make him or her American.  But that sort of neglects a large part of his or her heritage, seeing as the child was literally born in Ethiopia.  I would venture to guess that virtually all the children attending this preschool are American, either by birth or naturalization.  So why even ask one’s nationality? 

That brings me to the topic of race.  Am I the only person who gets a little confused?  Do I say Caucasian?  White?  Of European descent?  When I looked up the meaning of the word, it was just as vague.  According to dictionary.com, “race” means:

1.  a group of persons related by common descent or heredity.

 

2. a population so related.

3. Anthropology .
     a. any of the traditional divisions of humankind, the commonest being the Caucasian, Mongoloid, and Negro, characterized by supposedly distinctive and universal physical characteristics: no longer in technical use.
     b. an arbitrary classification of modern humans, sometimes, especially formerly, based on any or a combination of various physical characteristics, as skin color, facial form, or eye shape, and now frequently based on such genetic markers as blood groups.
     c. a human population partially isolated reproductively from other populations, whose members share a greater degree of physical and genetic similarity with one another than with other humans.

4. a group of tribes or peoples forming an ethnic stock: the Slavic race.

5. any people united by common history, language, cultural traits, etc.: the Dutch race

 

Ummm. . .so how do I answer again?  The definition actually includes the word arbitrary.  That means “contingent on one’s discretion.”  So basically, one’s race can be totally whatever group he or she wishes to associate with.  If I am confused, and I look am a typical, white girl, I can’t imagine how hard this question is for someone who is biracial.  They usually only let you bubble in one answer.  Then again, most of us are actually biracial since there aren’t many “purebred” humans anymore (and if you don't believe me, research your family's genealogy).

The thought has occurred to Brad and I that we will likely have some combination of black, white, and biracial grandchildren one day.  We went to Spring Park a few weeks ago and there was a family reunion celebrating at one of the pavilions.  I had this image in my head of our family reunion one day and it made me smile, particularly how perplexed it would make people when they saw all these different colored people running around in “Bernard Family Reunion” T-shirts.

 I always get the feeling that when race is asked, they really just want to know your skin color.  Anyone besides me think that?  Maybe they just want to know if two women walk into the room, and they know my “race,” they will know which one I am.

Micah loves to sing “Jesus Loves the Little Children.”  Remember the part in the song when it says, “Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world”?  Not to go off on a tangent, but Micah actually changes the words to “Red and blue and black and white…” which causes Brandon to giggle at the idea of a blue person.  Micah doesn’t realize she has the words wrong (and I won’t tell her because I love her version) so when his laugh interrupts her, she pouts, “Now I have to start over again!” and the whole process repeats itself again and again.  My fingers and toes actually turn blue in the winter with my poor circulation so I would argue a person can be blue. . . Smurfs are blue, right?

Anyway, the Nationality question got me thinking about all of this.  I'm not sure now if I put American, Caucasian, or white, though I should have just answered “Human.”

I think I would like it if instead they asked Red? Yellow? Black? White? . . .and maybe throw in a Pink? Brown? Other? and Blue?, too!