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A Blank
American
By Kevin Johnson
A few weeks ago I had the privilege of being summoned for jury
duty. The summons contained information regarding time, date,
location, etc. as well as a juror questionnaire. The questionnaire
had several boxes for gathering information one of which was
the box for "Race (required by State Law):." I read
over all of the materials carefully; but, I chose to leave that
box blank and wait to see what would happen when I got to court.
On the day of my jury service I took a seat on the second middle
row and read a book. While reading I could not help but overhear
parts of the conversation of a young guy with some folks in the
front row seats just ahead of me. Comments about race/ethnicity
identities were on the floor but I stayed out of it and kept on
reading. I overheard the young guy state that his ancestry
was from a couple of European groups ( I don't recall which) but
he considered himself simply "American". He later
explained that he had trouble with all of the hyphenated American
terms like "African American". " First of all you
weren't born in Africa - thank you very much..", he went on
to explain to his front row audience. I found this
conversation that I was trying to stay out of to be more
intriguing than the book I was reading; but, I kept reading
anyway. Later, the young guy had turned the discussion to criminal
justice and sentencing. He explained that this person could get
this amount of time in prison for a crime, this person would
probably get that amount, and " the gentleman behind you
would get ...years because he is ----" ( referring
undoubtedly to me ).
The irony/hypocrisy of the young man's arguments mirror the
irony/hypocrisy of the American society. And, I bear my own
hypocrisy/irony.
Texas requires race to be invoked/considered when it comes to
consideration for jury service, registration for secondary school,
birth certificates, application for driver's license, historically
underutilized businesses, and the formation of various state
committees or boards. But, Texas forbids consideration of race
when it comes to Employment in secondary schools and colleges,
admission to colleges and universities, voter registration, and
candidacy for public office.
The U.S. government encourages race/ethnicity be invoked in the undertaking
of the census. The application for a Social Security card or for a
government insured mortgage lists Race as an optional bit of data
to supply. However, the US government forbids use of race to steer
an individual into or away from certain neighborhoods because of
race.
Sometimes the government wants you to show race/ethnicity.
Sometimes they want you to ignore it.
There have been times when I've left the "Race Box"
empty. When my kids were born someone on the hospital staff
filled-in the "race" box and a similar thing occurred
when I enrolled them in public school. When I applied for my Texas
Driver's License the staff filled-in the "Race"
information on the computer since I gave no answer. When I applied
for a mortgage loan I selected the " I do not wish to supply
this information" option regarding race. When we got to
closing I noted that a "race box" was chosen for me.
Every time I've ever tried to be a blank American someone has
filled the blank in. I suppose the blank represented to them some
sort of emptiness which needed to be filled.
In the area of medicine the bone marrow donor coordinators try to
match people up based on Race. But, that may be one of the few
exceptions where Race of a donor is considered.
The most rigorous questioning I had to undergo was when I
voluntarily donated blood. There was a long list of probing
questions into my lifestyle and my contacts with people possibly
from certain foreign countries, etc. I was surprised that those
sorts of questions could even be asked "in public". I
don't think I was asked about my Race. But, I know for
certain that I was NOT asked - "what blood type are
you?" Ironically, I still don't KNOW what blood type I am.
That IS a blank that I'd like to fill.
Society tells us to consider race and not consider race while
expecting everyone to be crystal clear on how to communicate and
interact. The young man in front of me that day at jury service
was trying to make sense of the non-sense and mixed signals that
he saw/heard. First he wrapped himself in the flag of patriotism
with the aura of our all being one great American people no matter
where your 500 year ancestral line came from. But, later he admits
that in reality this society is imperfect and the roots of your
ancestry DOES in fact make a difference. This guy was my hero
because he chose to struggle with the issue.
Where your ancestors lived 510 years ago defines what type of
hyphenated American you are according to the best rule of thumb
that I can offer. African American or Black, American Indian,
Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Alaska Native, White, etc.
are the sorts of names which apply. It is usually up to the
individual to self identify but it has been my experience that
others will take the liberty to do it for you if you leave a
blank.
To prove my point I'll assert that I'm a [ ] American. See for
yourself whether you avoid filling in that [ ].
As for my day in jury duty, it ended with my whole panel's being
dismissed. Thus, the jury is still out on how the blank on the
jury questionnaire would have played out. |
