For my research essay I will be examining the difficulty to accept people identifying as a different race, when it is accepted in society today to claim a different gender from your biological one. In 2015, former Olympic athlete Bruce Jenner officially identified as a woman and was applauded for this announcement. She was accepted as a popular transgender woman, but when others identified as a different race they weren’t accepted. Also in 2015, the former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Rachel Dolezal was revealed to not be biologically black. She “identifies” as black, but just identifying as a race doesn’t make you a race. Or does it? If Caitlyn Jenner can be a woman, why can’t Rachel Dolezal be black?
America separates race as White (non-hispanic), African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Alaskan Native, and bi- and multiracial. When check marking a box for who we identify as there is even an option for “other,” and we are expected to pick our biological race rather than what we identify as. Gender used to be: Female or Male, but gender today isn’t as defined. A male can claim to be female, or vice versa, or even gender fluid, but know that whatever they claim is accepted and respected. What makes gender identification more acceptable than race identification? Being born into a white family means you must also be white, but there are cases of adoption to consider. If a they were born Asian, but adopted into a white family, are they still Asian? Also, the benefits of claiming to be a certain race, such as applying for colleges and scholarships, make many disagree with the freedom to claim one’s race. This problem is confounding yet should be able to be answered as easily as a person’s gender.
1.The Transracial Adoption Paradox
The Essential Content: This article is about how by being adopted into a white family causes others to treat the adopted child of different race as if they are also white. Despite the “white privilege” Janine Bishop received as a Korean adoptee into a white family, she truly considered herself to be Korean, yet society categorized her as White because she has been Americanized and raised by her white parents. Transracial is usually described by domestic interracial adoption or international adoption. Transracial adoptees tend to show more variability in their racial/ethnic identities. Racial identities in transracial adoptees tend to vary due to age, race, and geography. Prejudice and discrimination during adolescence and adulthood cause their choice of racial identity to change whether it’s due to pride, discomfort or other wise.
What it Proves: I can use this article to explain the complications of choosing a specific race with the transracial adoption example presented in the article. At one point in their lives, participants mentioned in the studies of the article had claimed to be white at one point, yet changed their answer to their biological race in adulthood. The identity they chose was what they thought their race was at the time, but as seen, it can change for multiple reasons, such as discrimination or a growing pride in ones biological ethnicity.
2.Being Blackish: Race and Self-Identification
The Essential Content: Ethnic and racial classifications aren’t definite, but exist due to social conditions. All races have some example of changing or enhancing their appearance to look like another race, yet it is unacceptable for a woman like Rachel Dolezal to perm her hair and have a dark tan to appear black. Another example is how in the documentary Somewhere Between four Chinese adopted girls all felt white, but were considered to still be Chinese and were discriminated against for being Chinese. There is further personal information about Rachel Dolezal, her family especially in this article such as her having 4 adopted African American brothers.
What it Proves: I can use this article to help explain how race, like gender, can be a choice rather than a category. This article contains information that exhibits how adoption can create racial identity crisis.
3.Half of young people believe gender isn’t limited to male and female
The Essential Content: 1000 people from the ages 18-34 were surveyed to chose which category of gender recognition they believe in: Gender can only be male and female, Gender is a spectrum, or I don’t know. Half of them said that gender is a spectrum and believed in there being more than just the binary idea of gender. There are also ID cards in some cities like San Fransisco that have no specified gender.
What it Proves: I can use this article to show how supporting Americans, especially the current generation, is accepting of multiple genders and how society is making exceptions for people that don’t fall in the binary (male/female) categories. Society is willing to make ID cards for transgendered or otherwise people, so they should also be able to accept and support transracial citizens too.
4.Genetically white woman now claims self-identify as black: If you can choose your gender, can you also choose your race?
The Essential Content: Claiming race can create problems when applying for scholarships. Whites can identify as African-Americans in order to apply for a scholarship since there isn’t a need for genetic testing to ensure you are black if anyone is allowed to identify as whatever race they choose to identify as. This denies actually African-Americans from getting the scholarships they need to further their education.
What it Proves: This article provides evidence of negatives to allowing people to identify as the race they choose.
5.Race and Ethnicity confusion
The Essential Content: Most Americans have multiple racial and ethnic origins that over generations of possible interracial marrying, ancestry becomes less important as family trees begin to include more than just one race. One example mentioned is that many whites are multiracial, but often times they choose their ancestry or race based on a favored cuisine or culture. There are also times when people tend to act “color blind” and not separate people based on races because they want to avoid using race as a descriptive factor.
What it Proves: I can use this article to support how racial origins in America aren’t just separated into white, black, asian, or etc. but is more complex. Why should identifying as a specific race or races be so important that a person is denied being black because they’re biologically white when a white person can claim to be German or Irish if they feel like it. There is no difference in claiming one race from multiple and claiming to be a race is what this article can help explain.
Rowan Counterintuitive 