Multiple Choices: Identifying With More Than One Race
California is poised to become the first state to allow mixed race persons to check more than one race box on government forms.
When Megan Emiko Scott, 25, fills out government forms in her home state of California, she’s forced to make a decision 7 million of her fellow mixed race individuals must make: which one race category is she going to choose — White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American or Other?
In Scott’s case it’s a choice between Asian or White and more often she chooses Asian since she knows a lot of government data is collected from the forms she fills out. But she often wonders, why can’t she choose to identity with both her Asian and White ancestry?
The answer may come in the form of Senate Bill 1615, “The Ethnic Heritage Respect and Recognition Act,” proposed by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, that will allow all mixed race Californians the option to check more than one race box when filling out official government forms. If passed, California would become the first state to follow in the footsteps of a similar bill passed by the federal government in 1997.
“SB 1615 is an essential move by the state of California to respond to and recognize its growing mixed heritage population. California currently has the largest number of mixed heritage residents — 1 in 6 babies born in this state are multiracial,” said Scott, a Bay Area chapter leader of Swirl, Inc., a social justice organization serving the mixed heritage community. “If passed, SB 1615 will set an important precedent for similar legislation in other states.”
SB 1615 was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 25 but still needs to get the nod from both the Senate and House appropriations committees since the bill would have a fiscal impact. The bill requires that the state record and report the number of persons who identify as being multiracial and also contains safeguards to allow for the continued enforcement and monitoring of civil rights.
Mixed race persons know they still have a long fight ahead, especially since some Republicans have already voiced their opposition, but believe the passage of this bill is important in reaffirming their right to identify with more than just “one box.”
“Every mixed-race person alive can relate a story about the first time he or she ever came face to face with a standardized form and was forced to choose one side over another,” said Jonathan Masaji Brent, executive director of Multiracial Americans of Southern California (MASC). “By passing SB 1615, the California State Senate affirms the right of these mixed race children to be part of two communities. This bill will not change our world over night, but it is a crucial step in the right direction.”
In addition to self-identity, proponents of the bill say it will finally allow for accurate data collection on the mixed race community that up until now has been sorely lacking, especially in areas like health and education. With recent studies claiming a higher occurrence of violence and drug abuse among mixed race youth, a closer look at this community needs to begin.
“Are these studies accurate? Is there a need for additional programs related to drug abuse and violence that specifically target mixed race youth? Maybe, maybe not. However, this underscores the importance of a full understanding of the community, one that can only come if agencies that collect data cease to assign mixed-race people to one group or another,” said Brent. “Without knowing where we are as a community, it is impossible to know where we could or should be going.”
In 2000, the federal government for the first time allowed mixed race persons to select more than one race box in the U.S. Census. As a result more than 7 million people took up the government’s offer, including 1.6 million Californians, the home of the largest mixed race population. But the fight to pass legislation at the federal level took several years of advocacy by mixed race individuals and organizations and many believe the current efforts at the state level are going to follow the same route. They believe many in power find the current race categories “convenient” and changing to a multirace option would not only be costly but time-consuming.
“By recognizing that individuals are becoming more diverse, California is recognizing the importance of multiple races in one’s identity as opposed to one that’s ‘most important,’” said Joshua Spry, national JACL youth council chair. “This might allow the state government to custom services not only to White, Black, Latino, or Asian, but to the African-Asian American, the Thai-Cambodian American, and in the end allow for services that try to fit individual needs, identities, and experiences more closely.”
The Asian American community has been noticeably vocal in the current debates. Of all mixed race persons, AAs have the highest outmarriage rates, making the impact of SB 1615 on this group potentially huge.
“SB 1615 is supported by many Asian American organizations,” said Scott, but added, “While this support is important and encouraging there’s still more education and outreach to be done by and for mixed heritage individuals within the Asian American community, as well as other traditional communities of color.”
“I think that our community feels like it’s shrinking. The phrase ‘outmarriage’ even implies that you marry and you or your children are out of the circle, so to speak, never to come back in,” said Spry. “I think recording data showing the growing diversity in demographics, will prove to our community that it’s changing, but not being destroyed.”
Although the 2000 U.S. Census resulted in some important changes for the mixed race community, much more still needs to be done at both the federal and state levels. If SB 1615 is successful, proponents hope that other states will be encouraged to follow California’s lead.
“California is the first state to propose such legislation. We are hopeful that other states will follow suit,” said Scott.
“Every mixed race person can remember the first time he or she came face to face with a standardized form. And those of us who raised our hands and spoke up will tell you that our voices seemed quite soft in comparison to the rigidity of the constructs before us. But seven million voices in unison are pretty damn loud,” said Brent.
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