Comments on "The 'Other' box" - Faerye Net

An exception (albeit not a fatal one) of a recalcitrant Dane

2007-12-06T00:45:48+00:00

I have to admit to conformism (gasp) on this particular topic. I check the ‘Caucasian’ box. I could check the ‘other’ box, but then I’d have to jot down a rather boring formula involving 8ths – specifically 1 Swedish, 1 Romany and 6 additional unspecified parts of more or less Germanic Danishness.

I suppose I could proudly tout my Romany heritage, but that would undoubtedly be an insult to the Romany. And Swedish – I’d rather not think too much about that, but that would obviously be ‘Caucasian origin’ just as well as the 6 parts Dane.

Checking the ‘Caucasian’ box seems harmless enough and just about as much trouble, in my perspective, as the matter merits. ;)

Reasons I (humbly) disagree:

2007-11-29T15:24:50+00:00

A) I find statistics, when taken and displayed accurately, to be interesting, and potentially useful. Affirmative action (once its most egregious flaws are fettered out) is still a lesser of several evils. For marketing surveys (which I think it easily the majority of time I see the question) it’s not a big deal if somebody wants to be imprecise. I don’t mind giving data, because the more of people like me they think are around, the more I’ll get marketed to/designed for. I like this happening.

B) We are talking about words having meaning. And most people use ‘white’ and ‘Caucasian’ interchangeably. They (almost) never mean people whose skin reflects all light, nor people from Caucasus. So for me to take a different referent than what I know they mean would be silly and self-defeating. I stopped correcting people’s ‘can I have a cookie?’ long ago. If they use podium when talking of a lectern, it matters not to me, unless they’re one of the people I expect to know better and like teasing. But marketers and surveyors don’t fall into that category.

C) ‘Black’ is another horridly imprecise word, but mostly people take it how it’s meant by its users. It’s difficult for me to think of racial terms that don’t contain potentially offensive levels of ambiguity and imprecision.

D) If there is an other box with a write-in, you’re absolutely correct: the ability to have some other more whimsical response trumps all the above. Otherwise, meh; use other people’s referents, not words.

Re: No subject

2007-11-27T04:43:04+00:00

I used to do that. Also, in high school, “VW Driver”. Alas, this form has no write-in. Other’s just Other.

No subject

2007-11-25T20:26:42+00:00

I generally check other and go with “human.”

Not much more helpful than declines to state, I suppose. But it might give the human (when there is one) who is forced to transcribe a chuckle, and raise a database query game.

Re: Caucasians

2007-11-24T20:15:20+00:00

According to the wikipeedz, a German naturalist back in the bad old days found a Caucasian skull with many points of similarity to German skulls and hypothesized that Western Europeans arose in those parts. And apparently that they were the first race? I dunno why, but I bet it has to do with colonialism and white supremacy!

Caucasians

2007-11-24T19:14:14+00:00

I’ve actually met a true Caucasian—the kind from Caucasus. I wonder how it came to be that so many of us are ethnically classified as tracing our roots to a small country on the Russian border that most Americans probably don’t even know exists?