Black or biracial? Census forces a choice for some

There were 784,764 U.S. residents who described their race as white and black in the last census. But that number didn't include Laura Martin, whose father is black and mother is white. Friday was the deadline to mail 2010 census forms. The results are expected to show an increase in the number of multiracial people, some African-Americans with one white parent are deciding to "stay black." This is the only second census to allow people to identify themselves by more than one race. About 7 million people, or 2.4 percent of the United States population, chose that option in 2000. It's clear that the decision to check only one box, or more, on the census is based on history, culture, pride, and mentality. For example, President Barack Obama declined to check the box for "white" on his census form, despite having a white mother. "Being black in this country is a political construct," Leila McDowell (vice president of communications for NAACP) said. "Even though my father is white and I have half his genes, when I apply for a loan, when I walk into the car lot, when I apply for a job, they don't see me as half white, they see me as black. If you have any identifying characteristics, you're black." This also may represent a new twist on the "one drop" concept, which for centuries held that even one black ancestor made a person black. Now a brown-skinned man is president, and for many white people, one white parent means you are NOT black. "The system is breaking down, and I hope it continues to break down," Tony Spearman says, "Because when it fully breaks down, we'll start to measure people by the content of their hearts."

I agree with what Tony Spearman has to say. "It's what's inside that counts." Overall I thought this article was interesting. Prior to this, I never knew that most people don't choose to check more than one box when it comes to ethnicity. I guess there is actually a thinking process when it comes to filling out your ethnicity. Whenever I fill anything that asks for my ethnicity, I just check the box for "Asian" or "Chinese" without hesitation. It would be interesting if I were biracial and to see whether or not I would choose both ethnicities or just one. I can't even imagine what kind of questions would pop in to my head as I try to decide what boxes to check. Kind of makes you wonder.