Step right up, meet the minority of one!

The BBQ Pit
1

I’m a minority of one.

I’m the only one of my kind you’ll meet anywhere.

I used to be part of a large group. Worldwide, even, and growing every day. But it was killed off by people with ulterior motives, axes to grind and fears to feed, and now I suspect I’m the only one left.

There may be others. I don’t know. If there are, they’ve all been lied to for so long they’ve taken on false group identities to blend in. I try to hold out hope that I am still part of a We, but recent events have caused me to lose faith.

For example, there is no place for me to mark my ethnicity on forms. Any forms. I always have to mark ‘Other’ and then, if there’s space, write in what my ethnicity is. It’s disheartening, but at the same time it’s invigorating. It’s a slap in the face to a world that has forgotten what it has lost. It used to be a fist in the air raised out of anger, but now it is a bottle in the stream of paperwork hoping for an answer.

What am I?

I am a Human.

I am looking for other members of the Human race, the race that calls itself Human to the exclusion of any false labeling. The race that knew no boundaries in time, place, culture, creed, language, or physical feature.

The race that categorically preempts racism.

This is The Pit, so I must be angry at something for this post not to be misplaced. I am angry at myself being misplaced into the categories of ‘Caucasian’ or ‘White’ or ‘European’. I am angry because I’m none of those things, and yet the world, from the Federal government down to the man on the street, insists on thinking of me as such.

Maybe Tiger Woods is a Human, too. He’s taken enough shit from people who categorize themselves in all of the common pigeonholes of the racial spectrum. Maybe it’s just me.

If the Human race dies with me, will any members of the other races care?

2

Quieres saber de donde soy?
Que te apunte algun lugar?
De tu propia tierra soy.
con la misma entrega voy.
Es la misma luz del sol que te vio nacer.

Tambien de que raza soy?
De que origen o condicion?
de la raza humana soy
siento que a tu lado estoy
un solo destino que nos vera crecer

Thalia - De Donde Soy

3

Que?

4

Franklin E. Kameny strikes again.

5

But, where you live is, like, 99% white humans, right?
Boos, catcalls, thrown rotten veggies

As for “white,” around this time of year I’m pretty mocha, or cinnamon, somewhat beige-brownish at present. I’m way darker than Michael Jackson, to be blunt.

You just need a lesson in rightthink. In order to make sure that race is not emphasized in society, we must all obsess over it constantly. The government must always ask your race, on every form, to make sure that race is not considered. Except when, of course, ameliorative racism is necessary - then it is considered a lot. Glad to be of assistance.

6

That’s all well and good, but if you happen to have dark skin I doubt that the skinheads will quit beating you or the cops will quit profiling you just because you claim your race is “human”.

7

apotheosis: Thank you for pointing out a fellow traveler. I’m not alone! :slight_smile:

Beagle: It matters not one bit what the color of the skin is on the people around me. Yes, Montana has a large majority of fair-skinned people, but, as you have said, some ‘Whites’ are far darker than some ‘Blacks’ (with Michael Jackson being at the extreme in this as in so many other things).

grendel: I don’t care about the motives for assault. I simply care about assault.

8

I usually leave those spaces blank or mark “Other” if it’s available. I always feel a twinge of annoyance that anybody is asking the question. I don’t know why people have a problem with folks like Vin Diesel and Tiger Woods identifying themselves as multiracial.

“To ignore race and sex is racist and sexist.” – Jesse Jackson

9

I think it would be fun to check off ALL categories, including male AND female. Perhaps I will do so whenever…

I met a guy who said he changed his last name to something like Valenzuela or Valencia so that he could obtain certain college grants that he could not get as a “non-minority.” That seemed somehow fraudulent to me.

*When the doors of opportunity swing open, we must make sure that we are not too drunk or too indifferent to walk through. - Jesse Jackson * [This has nothing to do with anything. It just makes me laugh, so I keep remembering it.]

10

Someone (possibly Dennis Miller) pointed out a while back that Michael Jackson and George Hamilton have officially passed each other on the color spectrum.

11

I mark every single race box on forms. This isn’t an attempt by me – fair-skinned and of European descent with a smidge of Native American – to scam the system. Since they generally word the question as “Please select the ethnic group with which you identify”, I figure I identify with everyone. My culture isn’t defined by my skin.

12

I mark every single race box on forms. This isn’t an attempt by me – fair-skinned and of European descent with a smidge of Native American – to scam the system. Since they generally word the question as “Please select the ethnic group with which you identify”, I figure I identify with everyone. My culture isn’t defined by my skin.

13

I think most of us contain multitudes. I am certainly a human, I am also a Greek, Irish, Cherokee, bisexual male.
It certainly sounds like you are asking non-majority groups to deny themselves in order to fit your definition of “human”.
Pretending that we are all the same is dangerous for those who are different. As I have said before, hate crimes do need to be prosecuted more strongly if only because there is a greater threat of recidivism. If you pretend to ignore differences, you are giving a loophole to those who definitely do not ignore differences.

14

I want to check every box on the nationality sections, I feel that it is wrong to statistically calculate grades. However, I happen to still be in high school and the teachers will literally go through and check every student’s sheet to ensure that all the “correct” boxes are filled in.

15

I’m black.

I’m woman.

I’m American.

I’m Southern.

I’m a scientist.

I’m Christian.
Some would say I’m wrong for identifying myself more specifically than “human”, but to me that label doesn’t really give a good picture of who I am. There’s nothing inherently wrong in labeling things.

Just curious…you’ve mentioned ethnicity or racial identifiers. How about gender? Sexual preference? Nationality? Occupation? Do you wish these identifiers would go away too? Do they define you more than the ones that you mentioned? If so, why?

I have no problem with my identity, because all of the things I listed are fact and indisputable. My problem is people who have problems with my identity. They can change. I cannot.