I have actually never self-identified as white, though I have naturally been aware of my complexion. Nor have I ever thought of being white as granting me any privilege, but that may be because I was raised by my factory-working mother and grandmother. I remain immensely grateful to both. I also never expected to live in a world that had gone daft.
Have you never filled out a census form, or one of the many other forms that ask for such information?
ReplyDeleteI will be glad to see the usage "identify as" join "emblematic" on the pile of expressions that once seemed impressive.
I've seen forms asking what my race is, but not what one I identify with. I mean, do I have the right to identify as a Hottentot?
ReplyDeleteI won't fight to the death to defend it, but i guess you do. A lawyer I once knew said that for 10 years the Census had him listed as a woman of Samoan descent, one of the few in upstate New York; this is why, he said, one perhaps should not send the forms to fraternity houses.
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