6 ms·

The Obama White House has proposed adding a new racial category for Middle Easterners to the census. It is a poor plan for many reasons; now we have another. h

The Obama White House has proposed adding a new racial category for Middle Easterners to the census. It is a poor plan for many reasons; now we have another. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/09/30/white-house-wants-add-new-racial-category-middle-eastern-people/91322064/ http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/09/30/white...

mc32 10y ago
It's not that unusual. The UK's IC codes[1] are more fine grained than those in the US. With all the information organizations have on people, I'm not sure the government having official classifications makes any difference. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_codes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_codes
- ue_ 10y ago
  If my memory is correct, the Japanese census does not collect data on ethnicity/race at all.
  - mc32 10y ago
    Did they have need to, given they are pretty homogeneous? On the other hand you have to register with the local Koseki[1] and last names are positive indicators of ethnicity for the non-Japanese [except for haafu with ethnic Japanese fathers]. On the other hand, France by law does not track race characteristics, so they can't rely on census statistics to know how well or poorly a population is doing. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koseki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koseki
    - ue_ 10y ago
      The irony is that we don't know, other than anecdotally or non-official sources, how racially/ethically homogeneous Japan is, unless I am mistaken. Is it not true that non-citizens do not have entries in the koseki system? I may be misunderstanding. Is it not also true that on becoming a citizen, a "Japanese name" must be selected? Though I habe heard that such a name can be entirely in katakana, and simply a transliteration of a Western or Chinese name. I know however that one may select an entirely "native Japanese" name upon naturalisation.
      - mc32 10y ago
        If you marry into a Japanese family then you have a "dead-end" entry in the Koseki system, otherwise as a regular foreigner I think you have to register in the Alien Registration registry --altho some of this may be changing, so I could be misrepresenting things. With regard to name, I'm unsure, though I believe what you stated has validity.
    - rz2k 10y ago
      I know nothing about Japan, but how about people of Burakumin descent? I recall reading that there was great effort made to make it difficult to look up, including the removal of labels on old maps that showed the blocks where they had been forced to live. Presumably there are legal restrictions on record collection to impede the possible future discrimination.
      - ue_ 10y ago
        I know such discrimination is unconstitutional, but I do not know if there is legislation to set up penalties.
  - laurieg 10y ago
    That is correct. It has some downsides. A recent piece of research into racism recently assumed that all Japanese nationals were ethnically Japanese so did not survey them on their experiences with racism. Considering around 1 in 50 children in Japan are 'mixed race' this seems a little off.
    - ue_ 10y ago
      Racism is one factor which is impacting my decision making with regard to teaching English in Japan. I have never experienced racism (other than comments when I was younger), so I don't know if I could deal with what I have anecdotally heard to be both institutional and xenophobic
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
enraged_camel 10y ago
"Middle Eastern" is not a race though. I'm Turkish and we are very Caucasian. :)
- TomSawyer 10y ago
  It should fit in nicely with "hispanic" which runs the gamut from white to black.
  - iambateman 10y ago
    Seems like a minor nitpick, but Hispanic is considered an ethnicity, not a race. You can be black and Hispanic. And my favorite...according to the federal government, it is entirely possible to be "Hispanic - White and Black." At which point we can all agree that discussions of race are almost always more confusing than helpful. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Source: worked on some USDA reports.
    - jdavis703 10y ago
      If the cops put out an alert for a Hispanic, or a black person I'm pretty sure you'd be able to identify them. Is it genetically scientific? Of course not! But other people will also categorise that person the same way, thus allowing their "racial" group to be targeted. Race might be a bullshit term, but we clearly assign people to such groups so it's just as valid as any other construction we've come up with (like the difference between a Canadian and an American).
- thequickeninger 10y ago
  no you're not.
- fallingfrog 10y ago
  Well, of course there's really no such thing as race to begin with, it's a big bag of various cultural and historical prejudices with all kinds of different people thrown together into arbitrary "races". Racism had to be invented to justify slavery and colonialism.

mc32 10y ago

It's not that unusual. The UK's IC codes[1] are more fine grained than those in the US. With all the information organizations have on people, I'm not sure the government having official classifications makes any difference. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_codes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_codes

ue_ 10y ago
If my memory is correct, the Japanese census does not collect data on ethnicity/race at all.
- mc32 10y ago
  Did they have need to, given they are pretty homogeneous? On the other hand you have to register with the local Koseki[1] and last names are positive indicators of ethnicity for the non-Japanese [except for haafu with ethnic Japanese fathers]. On the other hand, France by law does not track race characteristics, so they can't rely on census statistics to know how well or poorly a population is doing. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koseki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koseki
  - ue_ 10y ago
    The irony is that we don't know, other than anecdotally or non-official sources, how racially/ethically homogeneous Japan is, unless I am mistaken. Is it not true that non-citizens do not have entries in the koseki system? I may be misunderstanding. Is it not also true that on becoming a citizen, a "Japanese name" must be selected? Though I habe heard that such a name can be entirely in katakana, and simply a transliteration of a Western or Chinese name. I know however that one may select an entirely "native Japanese" name upon naturalisation.
    - mc32 10y ago
      If you marry into a Japanese family then you have a "dead-end" entry in the Koseki system, otherwise as a regular foreigner I think you have to register in the Alien Registration registry --altho some of this may be changing, so I could be misrepresenting things. With regard to name, I'm unsure, though I believe what you stated has validity.
  - rz2k 10y ago
    I know nothing about Japan, but how about people of Burakumin descent? I recall reading that there was great effort made to make it difficult to look up, including the removal of labels on old maps that showed the blocks where they had been forced to live. Presumably there are legal restrictions on record collection to impede the possible future discrimination.
    - ue_ 10y ago
      I know such discrimination is unconstitutional, but I do not know if there is legislation to set up penalties.
- laurieg 10y ago
  That is correct. It has some downsides. A recent piece of research into racism recently assumed that all Japanese nationals were ethnically Japanese so did not survey them on their experiences with racism. Considering around 1 in 50 children in Japan are 'mixed race' this seems a little off.
  - ue_ 10y ago
    Racism is one factor which is impacting my decision making with regard to teaching English in Japan. I have never experienced racism (other than comments when I was younger), so I don't know if I could deal with what I have anecdotally heard to be both institutional and xenophobic
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

enraged_camel 10y ago

"Middle Eastern" is not a race though. I'm Turkish and we are very Caucasian. :)

TomSawyer 10y ago
It should fit in nicely with "hispanic" which runs the gamut from white to black.
- iambateman 10y ago
  Seems like a minor nitpick, but Hispanic is considered an ethnicity, not a race. You can be black and Hispanic. And my favorite...according to the federal government, it is entirely possible to be "Hispanic - White and Black." At which point we can all agree that discussions of race are almost always more confusing than helpful. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Source: worked on some USDA reports.
  - jdavis703 10y ago
    If the cops put out an alert for a Hispanic, or a black person I'm pretty sure you'd be able to identify them. Is it genetically scientific? Of course not! But other people will also categorise that person the same way, thus allowing their "racial" group to be targeted. Race might be a bullshit term, but we clearly assign people to such groups so it's just as valid as any other construction we've come up with (like the difference between a Canadian and an American).
thequickeninger 10y ago
no you're not.
fallingfrog 10y ago
Well, of course there's really no such thing as race to begin with, it's a big bag of various cultural and historical prejudices with all kinds of different people thrown together into arbitrary "races". Racism had to be invented to justify slavery and colonialism.