Rants & Raves

I was reading an editorial in Time Magazine about how the Democrats shouldn’t take the black vote for granted and how it’s the perfect time, after Trent Lott’s endorsement of Strom Thurmond’s Dixieland presidential campaign, for Republicans to denounce what has been said and try to court the black community to vote for their party. This is a laudable view to have, but it’s way too simplistic. It’s sad that we, as a country, have to separate people by what they look like or, in some cases, how they live their lives. Politicians have to try to please each and every person so that they can get elected to do whatever they wanted to do in the first place. We all know this, but it took this article to really bring it home to me.

When I was applying to colleges in the winter of 1995/6, I found that there was no space in the “Race” column that fit what I am, a West Indian-German-Scottish-American (if you really want to get specific.) I didn’t fit neatly into any of the pre-chosen categories given to me, so I chose “Other”. It seemed to me the logical choice, since I wanted to be truthful on all my legal documents (which meant I had to get a new Social Security card - you don’t need a leap of faith to see that “Alexandra Star Doering-Dorival” on the document is the same as “Alexandra Doering Dorival” on the SS card.) My mother was so proud of me for choosing “Other” and showed me an article about how I was one of a growing number of students who were tired of trying to fit in and chose just what I did (try as I might, I couldn’t find any articles on this.)

Why does that have to be such a brave choice to make? I don’t think of myself as an exceptionally brave individual; I just do what I think is right after weighing the benefits and consequences. The little stand I did make on my college applications was that I didn’t want to be chosen based on my skin color, but on my merits, so I never included a picture with my application. I figure, what’s that got to do with anything? Do colleges need people who look good so that their college lookbook pictures are fantastic?

So what does this have to do with politics, you ask? Well, everything actually. Our census forms now give you the option to choose any many “Race” boxes you want to accurately describe who you identify as. Of course, I don’t believe there should be a “Race” box, but an “Ethnicity” box. I am not a part of any race but the human one. However, I am rich with ethnicity, as is everyone else on this planet. But I digress, and I’ll continue to call it “race” for now. Politicians look at how many people of a certain race live in an area and court these people according to how the politicians think they should be courted. The census is meant to be an almost definitive depiction of who needs what where. If an area is living below the poverty level, America as a whole needs to help it out, and so on. Unfortunately, politicians, well actually everyone, has used this information to keep people separate and treat different groups differently.

If we have to check a box narrowing our heritage to a single label, I’m proud to check “Other” instead of checking multiple boxes. If enough people do this, maybe politicians running for office will do one of two things. One, they might just campaign on how they truly feel about the issues and let us decide. Two, they might just go out and really take note of how we feel about the issues, then make a decision and run on that ticket. Either way, the people are in control and politicians don’t have to go after “the black vote”, or any group vote, to win. It’s a preposterous idea that should be banned before it goes any further. As Abraham Lincoln said, “You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.” The same holds true for trying to please everyone.