Check One Box: Reconsidering Directive No. 15 and the Classification of Mixed-Race People

Check One Box: Reconsidering Directive No. 15 and the Classification of Mixed-Race People

California Law Review
Volume 84, Number 4 (July, 1996)
pages 1233-1291

Kenneth E. Payson

Introduction

“What are you?” As the child of a Japanese mother and a White father, I have often been asked this question. While I am also male, heterosexual, law student, spouse, sibling, and child, this query is usually directed at my racial identity. As a mixed-race person, I am part of an ill-defined, amorphous group of persons who are increasingly becoming the subject of private and public scrutiny. As one commentator quipped, one “cannot turn on ‘Oprah’ without seeing a segment on multiraciality…” The simple question “What are you?” illustrates the fundamental role race plays in defining our relationships with others. When faced with ambiguous morphology, we seek clarification of another’s racial identity so that we may begin defining our…

Read the entire article here.

Tags: , ,