Students find ambiguity in surveys
COMMENTARY
Monique Bhimani

Whether it be a job application or a general survey, I dread filling out forms. The first few questions are pretty basic: name, address, and phone number. Some might even ask you to bubble in your social security number. But then comes the tough decision: “Ethnicity: Please check one.”

For Generation Y, this has become a complicated question to answer. The usual choices (Caucasian, Hispanic, Black, or Asian) no longer suffice. There is an increasing number of individuals who are from mixed backgrounds.

Many of my friends back home would not be able to choose any one of these ethnic groups without leaving out half of their heritage. For instance, several of my friends have an Anglo parent and a Hispanic parent. A couple of other people I know are half Anglo and half African-American. How do they choose? Is it just a matter of turning to the next guy and asking ‘What do I look like to you?’ Is it the choice of their parents? Or is it going with whichever side has a darker skin tone?

It is because of these questions that I thank whoever thought of adding the choice “Other.” Although the addition of this choice has gained popularity, another option, which was done in the U.S. Census in 2000, that has been offered is to pick more than one racial category.

These options are by no means labels to alienate people of this diverse, new generation. On the contrary, this frees individuals from confining themselves to only one restricting label. The choice “Other” offers a way to show who you truly are, without having to choose a false identity from pre-defined labels.

American society is becoming increasingly diverse with each new generation, so it is only natural that the tons of paperwork we fill out in a lifetime also change with the times. For instance, a multi-racial relationship once meant a Caucasian individual was dating an African-American person. Now, multi-racial relationships can also bring to mind Asian, Native American and Middle Eastern individuals.

Many people never give a second thought to what they check on forms. At a young age, most students are told what to check and simply leave it at that. However, as you get older, you start to question everything, including who you really are.

When individuals recognize only one side of their background, it is like dividing everything that makes up their personality in half. Even if these forms ask for ethnicity for the sole reason of adding tally marks to a statistics chart somewhere, so be it.
Copy Desk Chief Monique Bhimani is a sophomore international communications/news-editorial journalism major from San Antonio. She can be reached at (m.s.bhimani@tcu.edu).