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I finally got around to signing in to the company intranet the other day to take a look and double-check the personal information The Corporation keeps on me.
I was stopped and then annoyed -- as this usually strikes a chord with me -- when I got to "race," which listed me as "Asian/Pacific Islander."
Who filled that in for me?
Does the company want to know what you think your race is or what others think your race is?
If a form asks me for my race, I typically will try to select more than one field or select "other."
If it allows for only one selection -- which is the least accommodating and tolerant -- I normally select "white/caucasian." Why? I'm not completely white. I'm not completely Asian, either. But having been born and raised in the U.S. and being closer to my American father, I mentally identify with being white. So, if pressed, I will reluctantly check "white."
Someone who must have met me during the hiring process took the liberty to choose my race for me, and that's where my annoyance started.
Knowing that -- and the fact that I would have chosen differently -- doesn't make me feel like I was hired solely for my skills, though I know that was a factor. That makes me feel like I'm filling a quota. That I was a tally mark in a computer. That the person who chose my race for me probably thought he was scoring points with the company's "diversity" cheerleaders.
I used to work with someone who was white but had a Hispanic last name. He obviously was several generations removed from his Latin ancestry. The company considered him Hispanic. Clearly it didn't matter to HR that he was tall, lanky and had blond hair and blue eyes. They only needed to see his last name to consider him a minority.
I'm in no way implying that "white" is the more desirable racial group. I'm questioning the need for such firmly deliniated categories and the overzealousness of the company to lump anyone it possibly can into a minority group to meet a quota.
My boyfriend is a similar example. His great-grandfather was from Spain, so he has inherited a Spanish last name. Stephen was born here, as was his father and grandfathers, and has never been to Spain. But the company has gleefully checked "Latin" next to his name. And voila, his department is more diverse. And can someone from Spain -- a European country -- even be considered a minority?
One of my closest friends, who is black, told me before he went away to college that he would not accept any scholarships offered to him that were only awarded to minorities. Offer me money for my intelligence or athletic ability, he said, but don't offer me money for being black. I told him what my dad once told me: "You might someday be offered money or a job because of your race. Hopefully not. But if you accept it, it's up to you to show you earned it, deserved it and prove to them that it wasn't because of what you looked like after all."
I submitted a request through the intranet to change my listed race from "Asian/Pacific Islander" to "other" (I think that was what it was called). I don't like knowing that someone in corporate HR who doesn't know the first thing about me can and will lump me into whatever racial group he wants just by reading a file. lt isn't necessary for anyone to know what my race is, but if they need to know, they can meet me in person.
Replies: 1 shoutout
For a minute there I thought you were going to say you're Samoan, which I've always suspected.
Posted by ~ @ 02/08/2003 07:34 AM EST