# Color or Race of Father? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 31, 2001, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-or-race-of-father/74368 "2001-07-31T18:56:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2001, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-or-race-of-father/74368/1 "2001-07-31T18:56:33Z")
Going through some of my documents after our move, I came across the file containing my children’s and my birth certificate. I was curious as to where I was born (wanted to find the exact address in MapQuest) but then I noticed an interesting question which appears on my birth certificate, but thankfully, not on my children’s: 7]Color or race of Mother? and 13] Color or race of Father? Now, my children were born in the mid to late 1990s in Ohio, I was born in the 1960s in California. My questions: Do they still ask for color or race on California birth certificates? If not, what ended this practice and when? Was this is a nationwide change? Is there any place in the United States where they still capture this information? If they do, is it required or can you skip over it? In my case my father sort of “fibbed” on this section, so it’s interesting to me to imagine how my life might have turned out if he had answered a little more truthfully. ---
**Author:** ![KenP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c0e974/32.png) [@KenP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KenP)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2001, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-or-race-of-father/74368/2 "2001-07-31T20:38:49Z")
This is related, but not a direct answer to your question. I have a friend, about 40 and “obviously” Black. However, his birth certificate says he is white. He had one white grandmother, which may be the reason. So, at least 40 years ago they were still classifying people by race (and making some non-intuitive decisions). ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2001, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-or-race-of-father/74368/3 "2001-07-31T21:57:49Z")
**KenP** , Your friend was not born in Louisiana. Any Black ancestor makes one Black. [aside] **ShibbOleth** : Just how do you pronounce your name? 😉 [/aside] ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2001, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-or-race-of-father/74368/4 "2001-07-31T22:34:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DrMatrix \* > \*\* > [aside] **ShibbOleth** : Just how do you pronounce your name? 😉 [/aside] \*\* **DrMatrix** As you are no doubt aware, it is equally important to know how _you_ pronounce my name. BTW, I have always loved your sig. ---
**Author:** ![Corrvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@Corrvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corrvin)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2001, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-or-race-of-father/74368/5 "2001-07-31T22:48:19Z")
ShibbOleth asks, \<\\> My ex-husband was born in California in 1968 and his birth certificate does not list his race. I was born in Oklahoma six years later, and mine doesn’t list my race either. I’m sure it doesn’t help the collection of data that my grandmother’s birth certificate did list her race (1910’s, Oklahoma). Now you’ve got me curious enough to call the state bureau of vital statistics and ask when the practice stopped. Corr (and “Sibboleth” would be right out, wouldn’t it?) ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2001, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-or-race-of-father/74368/6 "2001-07-31T23:01:30Z")
To be clear, my California “Certificate of Live Birth” does not list _my_ race, just the purported color/race of both my mother and father. Not sure exactly on the difference between color and race, but let’s not even go there. This was in the middle of 1962. And for the record, my color would probably be best classified as “none of the above” and my race as “human\*”. [sub]\*Not that I am always particularly proud of that.[/sub]