Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: brimic on May 21, 2019, 01:49:11 PM
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I got this email from our division HR manager today:
Dear Employee,
As part of a government record keeping and reporting requirements, the government requires us to report our employee race/ethnicity in one of 7 race categories. In other to comply with these laws, we invite you to voluntarily self-identify your race/ethnicity.
Submission of this information is voluntary and refusal to provide it will not subject you to any adverse treatment. The information will be kept confidential, as provided by law, and may only be used in accordance with the provisions of applicable laws, executive orders, and regulations, including those that require the information to be summarized and reported to the federal government for civil rights enforcement. When reported, the data will not identify any specific individual.
If you elect to voluntarily self-identify, Pls log into your workday account and update your personal information by May 25th.
Sweet!, I thought... I was trying to decide between Khajiit for stealth abilities or High Elf for magic.... I was underwhelmed by the choices given, so I decided not to play.
Then I noticed this little nugget further down the email:
“***If you choose not to self-identify your race/ethnicity at this time, the federal government requires the company to determine this information by visual survey or other available information***.”
How progressive! We will now help with equal opportunity enforcement by judging people by their outward appearances. Perhaps they could create a publication on identifying different races and ethnicities, so that people can be properly categorized...
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Sounds like profiling.
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As part of a government record keeping and reporting requirements, the government requires us to report our employee race/ethnicity in one of 7 race categories.
??? I thought "race" and "ethnicity" were two different things. There was no question that my late wife was white (which is a color, not a race, but -- whatever). But she was from South America. Various .gov entities, both state and federal, kept wanting to classify her as "Hispanic." She objected. She spoke Spanish as her native language, but she had never been to Spain, and nobody in her family had ever been to Spain. So she didn't consider herself to be "Hispanic."
The dictionary defines "ethnicity" as:
ethnicity noun
eth·nic·i·ty | \ eth-ˈni-sə-tē
\
plural ethnicities
Definition of ethnicity
1 : ethnic quality or affiliation aspects of ethnicity
2 : a particular ethnic affiliation or group students of diverse ethnicities
Well, that's helpful -- not. Talk about using a word to define itself. Moving right along, then, we find:
ethnic adjective
eth·nic | \ ˈeth-nik
\
Definition of ethnic
(Entry 1 of 2)
1a : of or relating to large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background ethnic minorities ethnic enclaves
b : being a member of a specified ethnic group an ethnic German
c : of, relating to, or characteristic of a minority ethnic group ethnic neighborhoods ethnic foods
2 : of or relating to the Gentiles or to nations not converted to Christianity : heathen, pagan … ancient ethnic revels of a faith long since forsaken …— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
ethnic noun
Definition of ethnic (Entry 2 of 2)
chiefly US
: a member of an ethnic group especially : a member of a minority group who retains the customs, language, or social views of the group
So ethnicity isn't race. Ethnicity is a function of the customs, language, and (maybe) the social views of a group of people. So, for example, someone who is black and who was born and raised in Germany would be "black" by race, but Germanic by ethnicity. Which says to me that there should be a LOT more than 7 choices if they want to classify by ethnicity.
When did our .gov stop using "Caucasian" as a race and start using "white"? If I'm white and my ancestors have come from the United States since before there was a United States, why am I not "Native American"? (Elizabeth Warren's issues with Native American-ness notwithstanding.) On the other hand, for ethnicity I sometimes choose "Other." I think if ethnicity reflects customs, language, and social customs that WASP should be an ethnic classification.
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And, why would a white person born and raised in South Africa and now a nationalized US citizen not be African-American?
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In certain settings, we are now required to ask the patient about their race, and if they refuse to specify, we are supposed to eyeball the patient and guess.
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I can guarantee the first time someone asks me my race verbally I am going to tell them I prefer the middle distances but can do sprints if needed. I just want to see the look on their face. :)
bob
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^^^ Reminds me of a blogger who told of a time when he was sitting across the desk from a lady who was questioning him to fill out a very boring form. It was so routine that she hadn't really looked at him. She would say "name", "address", "employer", etc, and she would dutifully type his answers. She said "position" and he replied "missionary". That got her attention and she looked up to blast such a smart a$$ answer, only to see him tugging at his white missionary collar. He knew it would wake her up, but he couldn't resist.
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I can guarantee the first time someone asks me my race verbally I am going to tell them I prefer the middle distances but can do sprints if needed. I just want to see the look on their face. :)
bob
For The Win!!!!
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In certain settings, we are now required to ask the patient about their race, and if they refuse to specify, we are supposed to eyeball the patient and guess.
There's a certain sort of "sort of light brown" person, that could be from any number of places. One of the deputies for the sheriff's dept I do support for, is Am. Indian (by descent). Looks like an stereotypical Arab. Berbers (been in Africa 10000 years) look the same, as do other circum-Mediterranians. And also the lady at church who's native Hawaiian.
Eyeball them and guess, you'll probably be wrong.
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??? I thought "race" and "ethnicity" were two different things. There was no question that my late wife was white (which is a color, not a race, but -- whatever). But she was from South America. Various .gov entities, both state and federal, kept wanting to classify her as "Hispanic." She objected. She spoke Spanish as her native language, but she had never been to Spain, and nobody in her family had ever been to Spain. So she didn't consider herself to be "Hispanic."
Two of my nieces are half Japanese. Japan is an island in the Pacific. But, they can't check "Pacific islander" in the ethnic stereotyping check boxes.
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Since it is optional I have been many things on a 4473.
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Seeing as my family has been here in the US since it was a Colony, can I be Native American too? I believe I am about 1/32 - 1/64 by blood already (Choctaw and Cherokee).
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In certain settings, we are now required to ask the patient about their race, and if they refuse to specify, we are supposed to eyeball the patient and guess.
And if you saw Megan Markle sitting in your waiting room, what race would you assign her to (or to her)?
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Two of my nieces are half Japanese. Japan is an island in the Pacific. But, they can't check "Pacific islander" in the ethnic stereotyping check boxes.
Are you saying they're not allowed to self-identify as what they actually are?
CALL OUT THE SJW BRIGADES! I think if anatomical and chromosomal males can "self-identify" as women, and vice versa, someone whose ancestry is from an island in the Pacific should most certainly be allowed to self-identify as Pacific Islander.
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Two of my nieces are half Japanese. Japan is an island in the Pacific. But, they can't check "Pacific islander" in the ethnic stereotyping check boxes.
Why not? What's to keep them from checking any box they want?
In one of the past 2 censuses (don't remember which one) they asked about ethnicity and I wrote in "American"
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Are there more or less races than sexes now?
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My race? Human.
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I thought there were three races, four if you separate pygmies?
There are many more ethnicities.
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I thought there were three races, four if you separate pygmies?
There are many more ethnicities.
Four. "Red and yellow, black and white. They are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world." :) The funny thing is, from what I've read the song is accurate. Anthropologist divide us into 4 races along skin-color lines. But there is some dissent that maybe brown is a race too (red, brown, yellow, black, and white...)
I will see if I can find a scholarly source; it was 20 years ago when I read about it.
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I started putting Northern European American on a lot of forms I've had to fill out in the past. Made some people... not happy.
Woman who lived next to me for awhile was whiter than me, descendants of Dutch Boer settlers in South Africa. When she came to the United States and obtained her citizenship she started putting African American on her forms... You can imagine the hilarity that ensued from that.
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Homo Sapiens
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Woman who lived next to me for awhile was whiter than me, descendants of Dutch Boer settlers in South Africa. When she came to the United States and obtained her citizenship she started putting African American on her forms... You can imagine the hilarity that ensued from that.
Some people really don''t have a sense of humor when asked to point out on a map just where is Africa-America
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I always check "Other"
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I work with a lot of people from the Middle East and India. They run the entire spectrum of Caucasian from blonde hair/blue eyes, to having darker features than most ‘Africa-Americans.’
Hispanics same thing.
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And if you saw Megan Markle sitting in your waiting room, what race would you assign her to (or to her)?
Pick a day? Some pictures I see of her she looks more "tan" and I would say mixed race. Other pictures, she looks pretty light skinned. I have seen typical white women who are not far off in looks. Personally, I don't care.
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I work with a lot of people from the Middle East and India. They run the entire spectrum of Caucasian from blonde hair/blue eyes, to having darker features than most ‘Africa-Americans.’
Hispanics same thing.
Yup. Race is actually defined by skull type, not skin color. Arabs and Indians (dot) are Cacuasians (though Indians do have some admixture of another race).
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Yup. Race is actually defined by skull type, not skin color. Arabs and Indians (dot) are Cacuasians (though Indians do have some admixture of another race).
Yep, so the lefticles in government are interested in dividing people by bone shapes, facial features, hair types, and geneology... I think I've seen this movie before.
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Yup. Race is actually defined by skull type, not skin color. Arabs and Indians (dot) are Cacuasians (though Indians do have some admixture of another race).
Where do American Indians fit in the Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid categories? (not that it matters, but I'm curious)
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Where do American Indians fit in the Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid categories? (not that it matters, but I'm curious)
They fall under the mongoloid classification because the accepted theory is that all North American Indians descended from Asians that crossed the land bridge into North America a few years ago. It is especially apparent if you take a look at the tribes of the Northern Plains.
bob
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Pick a day? Some pictures I see of her she looks more "tan" and I would say mixed race. Other pictures, she looks pretty light skinned. I have seen typical white women who are not far off in looks. Personally, I don't care.
I don't care, either. But your response to my question amply demonstrates the fallacy of trying to classify race based on exterior appearance.
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And, why would a white person born and raised in South Africa and now a nationalized US citizen not be African-American?
When I was working registration in college, I actually signed up one such person, originally from Pretoria, RSA.
Of course, I honestly identified myself on various forms as a Native American, having been born in Chicago.
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Some people really don''t have a sense of humor when asked to point out on a map just where is Africa-America
Is that before or after breaking into a rousing rendition of the African-American National Anthem?
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And if you saw Megan Markle sitting in your waiting room, what race would you assign her to (or to her)?
Human.