About three weeks ago I found myself puzzled as I finished answering an evaluation after attending an event. As I came across the question of "What is your race?" I was stopped on my tracks suddenly. My choices were White, Black, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American or Other.
Not being able to answer any of those choices, I am Mexican. My father was light skinned and my mother is brown skin. But yet my brain could not conjecture a picture of me as any of those choices above, all I could think of was "but I'm brown and that is not a choice". So, at the risk of being thought of as ignorant or plain irrational I left the question blank.
On my way to work, though, it suddenly hit me that this terminology about race and illegal is something the majority uses as a way to control and manipulate any discussion about some form of equality.
Being foreign born, my brain does not simply separate people based on color. Yes, we have social classes in Mexico but not, we don't think some of us are more Mexican than others. When I think of Raza as some nativist condemn the word as being racially inflamatory, I think of family and people I relate to but never implying we are better than others.
Illegal is another term that implies an action. Smoking is illegal, drinking while driving is illegal. The fact of "being" is not. How can someone be characterized and defined as such simply by being. This is not fair especially for DREAMers, who the majority of them had not direct responsibility for being or growing up here and thus would not qualify under the term illegal, since it seems to convey a direct action or behavior.
All in all, let's not forget we are talking about quantifying, categorizing and labeling human beings. If history serves us right, doing this only leads to bad consequences.
So, next time someone uses a word loosely such as race or illegal, ask them what they mean? And demand to be explained in detail why are they defining someone as such.
Spread the word about dropping the I and the R words.
