Who's Winning this Race?

As I've discussed before, I don't understand what race means.  How do we decide what our race is.  Do we go by color alone? Because basically all the people I've seen are on a continuum of the brown family.  Somewhere between ecru to dark mahogany.
Is President Obama Black or White? Well, he's brown, too.

 I don't think African American is a very accurate descriptor either for most dark brown people in the US.  The term African American makes sense to me if someone moves here from Africa and becomes a citizen.  Actually, it would make more sense in that case to say Kenyan-American or Tanzanian-American.  What if an ecru person moves here from South Africa and becomes a citizen.  Is he then an African-American, Caucasian, Aryan?  My ex could be called New Zealand American or an Australian American because he came from Downunder and became a US citizen.  My current husband is a Canadian, not a Canadian American because he is not a US citizen. But they are both usually just considered White.

An old beau of mine is considered African-American, but he nor his parents have ever even been to Africa, and due to some relatives somewhere along the line, he has medium brown skin and gorgeous green eyes.  He hasn't traced his family tree back to Africa.  I haven't either, though if anthropologists are correct, we all technically could.  I guess the consensus now is that humans started somewhere in Africa, so that would make us all African-Americans, eh?

No one refers to me as Scots/German American.  Takes too long to say.  They do call me White.  In fact, they call me very white since I don't tan at all.  But I'm actually light tan. Sometimes bright pink.

Of course, it's illegal in the US - and it should be - to discriminate on the basis of race.  Yet one of the first things asked on any government form is race.  I usually mark "other." Who can claim just one race? Who even knows what all the choices are? There are some neonazis who claim to be pure, but I reckon if one dug  deeply enough, they'd find some great, great uncle who wasn't completely Aryan and probably couldn't define Aryan.

 Some show on the History Channel explained that though the Nazis had a very clear definition of how Jewish someone could be - I think it was at least one great, great grandparent of 16 could be Jewish and one would be considered a Jew, but don't hold me to that - Hitler himself probably was a Jew by that definition.  Or at least he had to doctor his heritage to pass for "pure Aryan." 

Certainly in the US we see every conceivable shade along that ecru - mahogany continuum.  In Sunday School I sang a song about "Red and yellow, black and white, we are precious in His sight. . . "  People aren't red, yellow, black, or white. We are all colored.  We are brown.

I have a friend I sometimes call Negro.  Once someone overheard me and thought I was very, very wrong.  She can call me Caucasian, I don't care.  It would make more sense to call me Fay.  She could call me woman, human, tree-hugger, old hippy - all of those things would be partially descriptive of me, as is Caucasian.  It would make more sense for me to call Tiffani woman, mother of my would-be grand babies, professional, nursing student. . . . but hey, I don't always make sense.

When I am filling out a form about someone, I always ask them their race.  I've never had anyone get upset, which in itself is something amazing since some clients get upset when you ask them what day it is.  Some people are mildly amused when I ask them their race, but very often people like to talk about their heritage.  If they say "My great great uncle on my sister's side was 1/5 Japanese and Grandma was born and raised in Ireland, so I usually just say, American Eskimo."  I'll write down American Eskimo.

So here's what I propose we do.  Be creative with your race the next time you have to fill in a form.  Answer brown or green or yes or Formula One or Rat. These answers make at least as much sense at the questions.

City on the Hill

I know government is complicated.  There's all that go along to get along, I'll vote for this if you vote for that, you donate X to my campaign and I'll do such and such. Some politicians probably go into the work with good intentions, who knows? But one thing is sure, our big government isn't efficient. 

Yet we expect it to go around the world fixing everything.  Earthquakes, starvation, lack of education, lack of health care, floods, corrupt officials - the U.S. government is supposed to clean up everything.  I think the U.S. government should take care of people who're affected by earthquakes, without enough food, who lack education, who lack heath care, etc.  It should take care of American people. 

It should make sure every American has the basics of health care, education, food, housing - you know, the basics.  As for corrupt officials and bad tyrannical governors, it has enough to deal with right here at home.  It is ridiculously arrogant of it to go to work on the flecks in its neighbors' eyes when it has a couple of 4 X 6s in both its eyes. When the U.S. is perfect - when all our people are fed, housed, educated, have health care, then perhaps the government can go help others countries.  But we're a long way from that. A long way.

I'm not unconcerned about the plight of people in other countries.  I'm very proud of the way the American people individually and as part American non-profit organizations  help people, other animals, and their habitats all over the world.  Non-profits are held accountable for their efficiency and we as individuals can choose which ones to help through.  I'm proud to be an American!  Just think how much more the American people could help if we were all secure.

And yes, I think the government must defend us from all enemies that threaten to harm us.  I just don't think we need to go far to find threats.  Our biggest threats are those we face right here.  You need only to go to an ER, look under bridges, listen to a high school English class, or talk to a 15 year old about to give birth to get an idea of what threatens us.  I would be no less proud of our soldiers if they were engineering our roads, turning around street gangs, and providing health care here at home.  And I don't think it's too much to ask of all young Americans to serve their country for a couple of years.

We are the city on the hill.  We'd better fix our roofs, wash our windows and grow healthy gardens if we expect to set a good example.

It's unrealistic for us to expect our government to be efficient if we expect it to be all things to all people.  The government, brothers and sisters, had better be us. If you aren't letting your elected representatives know exactly want you want on a  regular basis, then you aren't doing your job.  How can they represent us if they don't hear from us.  Obviously, it doesn't work when the only people they hear from are the ones who give huge gifts to their campaigns. 

It's supposed to be of the people, by the people, for the people. I reckon that means the people of the United States.