Racial boundaries drawn too thick
Madison Shelton
Issue date: 5/22/09 Section: Ed-Op
Now I must bring up the question, what was the problem with Paulo Serodio identifying himself as African-American? How closely do ethnicity and race relate? In my opinion, I feel that it was ridiculous of Serodio's instructor to treat him in that manner. I try to go through my mind and think of others who identify themselves differently then what they are perceived as. Think of the singer Seal, who identifies himself as British but is ethnically black. European pop star Samantha Mumba is also black, but identifies herself as Irish. For Serodio, who was born in Africa and now resides in America but is ethnically white, his original self-identification seems fitting. This issue of classification for race and ethnicity has been going on for decades.
Conversely, I think about what is the importance of this racial classification. In one instance, it helps us understand our own self-definition. The ability to identify with an entire group of people makes certain questions or cultural aspects even more relatable. From a governmental standpoint each person around the world can be issued a passport in order to identify where he or she is from and what country they have citizenship in. This is a document that does not have to relate with the heretical background of the person, but only the actual description of that person. In our self -perception, I feel that it has been ingrained into the understanding of us that when it comes to people, there are some who are similar to us and others who are completely different. This kind of mindset distresses me because there are many of us in this world who are not just "Black and White."
For the longest time in my personal education of my family, I thought that I was 100 percent African-American. On the contrary, after my grandmother died I found out that she was not African-American at all, but actually Native American. So for a portion of my life my self-perception was different from my actual ancestry, because I looked at the "typical" characteristics of what racially defined me, but not what was real. As an anthropology student, I am educated on all aspects of culture from the physical, to the social and to the spiritual. In this education you come to realize that in the human race there are so many amalgamations of people and culture and that in many respects they are so closely integrated and interlinked that there is no point in separating them. Instead, you make a different classification. In this world that we live in, instead of trying to find out what is politically correct we should realize that our understanding of race and ethnicity will never be concrete, but will always be in a state of change. Without this partnership of different cultures you wouldn't have great things in our society like the Creole culture in New Orleans or TexMex food in the Southwest. If we tried to divide these aspects into their smallest forms they would lose their character and charm. They would lose the truth in their own definition. In the case of Paulo Serodio, he may be more African than I am (because I was born in New Jersey), but the cultures that we identify with and what we choose to make up our personalities and the very fibers of our souls define us more than any label on a piece of paper. Maybe the next time you fill out a survey you will check "other" when it comes to race and let the other answers that you put down define the kind of person that you are.
Madison Shelton is a junior majoring in Anthropology. She can be reached at op-ed@thetriangle.org.
Conversely, I think about what is the importance of this racial classification. In one instance, it helps us understand our own self-definition. The ability to identify with an entire group of people makes certain questions or cultural aspects even more relatable. From a governmental standpoint each person around the world can be issued a passport in order to identify where he or she is from and what country they have citizenship in. This is a document that does not have to relate with the heretical background of the person, but only the actual description of that person. In our self -perception, I feel that it has been ingrained into the understanding of us that when it comes to people, there are some who are similar to us and others who are completely different. This kind of mindset distresses me because there are many of us in this world who are not just "Black and White."
For the longest time in my personal education of my family, I thought that I was 100 percent African-American. On the contrary, after my grandmother died I found out that she was not African-American at all, but actually Native American. So for a portion of my life my self-perception was different from my actual ancestry, because I looked at the "typical" characteristics of what racially defined me, but not what was real. As an anthropology student, I am educated on all aspects of culture from the physical, to the social and to the spiritual. In this education you come to realize that in the human race there are so many amalgamations of people and culture and that in many respects they are so closely integrated and interlinked that there is no point in separating them. Instead, you make a different classification. In this world that we live in, instead of trying to find out what is politically correct we should realize that our understanding of race and ethnicity will never be concrete, but will always be in a state of change. Without this partnership of different cultures you wouldn't have great things in our society like the Creole culture in New Orleans or TexMex food in the Southwest. If we tried to divide these aspects into their smallest forms they would lose their character and charm. They would lose the truth in their own definition. In the case of Paulo Serodio, he may be more African than I am (because I was born in New Jersey), but the cultures that we identify with and what we choose to make up our personalities and the very fibers of our souls define us more than any label on a piece of paper. Maybe the next time you fill out a survey you will check "other" when it comes to race and let the other answers that you put down define the kind of person that you are.
Madison Shelton is a junior majoring in Anthropology. She can be reached at op-ed@thetriangle.org.
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