5 ms·

Can someone from the US explain what race even means in this context and how it is determined?

by krior 5mo ago

durkie 5mo ago
i believe it is self-declared.
BowBun 5mo ago
Yes, this is a common point of confusion when talking to Europeans about racial issues in the US (as I found out myself recently). Race in our contexts refers to your background/birthplace/heritage. On our government forms: "What race are you?" "White, black, hispanic, etc." This is fundamentally different by intent than in Europe (using french here) where we refer to 'la race humaine' which is the _species_. The nuance is critical during debates. While I was discussing racial differences to some Swiss folks, they thought I was talking Nazi propaganda! We are all part of the human species, the human species has many races. We are all equal!
- Ylpertnodi 5mo ago
  Most Europeans are NOT confused by this. Sheesh.
  - toasty228 5mo ago
    Try asking anyone in Europe what race they are, especially in an administrative context lmao
    - PearlRiver 4mo ago
      The government asking race questions on official forms would be rather unthinkable! We don't mention the war.
  - BowBun 5mo ago
    I am European, I have had this discussion with Europeans back home from various countries. This is a common point of confusion. Do you have something to add?
    - nothrabannosir 5mo ago
      [dead]
- krior 5mo ago
  > background/birthplace/heritage Are those slashes AND or OR?
- rf15 5mo ago
  > they thought I was talking Nazi propaganda! well, I mean, listen, if it's part of the census, that's... still government-level racial discrimination. It might not be a duck, but this thing has a certain duck-shaped silhuette.
_--__--__ 5mo ago
It is self reported according to the US census recognized racial categories: white, black, asian, native American/Alaskan, native Hawaiian or Pacific islander, and other (or two+ categories). Hispanic/latino identification is a separate box you check for reasons that are hard to explain without going over decades of bureaucratic decisions.
- krior 5mo ago
  > US census recognized racial categories Thank you for a googleable term. Are there any guides on how to decide which "race" you are? Because I cannot imagine that everyone knows exactly which part of the earth all of their ancestors originate from.
  - trallnag 5mo ago
    They can pick "mixed" or the race they identify with the most.
  - _--__--__ 5mo ago
    It is not a perfect or rigid system, but it's the one we have (and any attempt to improve it would get caught up in the weeds of how much 'racial science' can be endorsed by the US government). Practically speaking, most Americans over the past 300 years knew of specific near ancestors who came from somewhere else (with little interbreeding among immigrant populations) and answered based on that. The obvious exceptions were descendants of slaves and Native Americans, which is why those were the first non-white (where 'white' includes all Europeans as well as large parts of the Middle East and North Africa) categories tracked by the census.
nomel 5mo ago
All levels of the US education system teach (now at least) that race is a social construct. There's no concept of population-genetics taught, until much later, in hard science classes.
ButlerianJihad 5mo ago
There are various risk factors, and some lab tests, that differ among racial groups. For example, my labs include at least two that have different specified thresholds for "African-American" or "non-AA" patients. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sickle_cell_disease#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sickle_cell_disease#United_Sta...
stefantalpalaru 5mo ago
[dead]

Can someone from the US explain what race even means in this context and how it is determined?

by krior 5mo ago

Can someone from the US explain what race even means in this context and how it is determined?

durkie 5mo ago

i believe it is self-declared.

BowBun 5mo ago

Yes, this is a common point of confusion when talking to Europeans about racial issues in the US (as I found out myself recently). Race in our contexts refers to your background/birthplace/heritage. On our government forms: "What race are you?" "White, black, hispanic, etc." This is fundamentally different by intent than in Europe (using french here) where we refer to 'la race humaine' which is the _species_. The nuance is critical during debates. While I was discussing racial differences to some Swiss folks, they thought I was talking Nazi propaganda! We are all part of the human species, the human species has many races. We are all equal!

Ylpertnodi 5mo ago
Most Europeans are NOT confused by this. Sheesh.
- toasty228 5mo ago
  Try asking anyone in Europe what race they are, especially in an administrative context lmao
  - PearlRiver 4mo ago
    The government asking race questions on official forms would be rather unthinkable! We don't mention the war.
- BowBun 5mo ago
  I am European, I have had this discussion with Europeans back home from various countries. This is a common point of confusion. Do you have something to add?
  - nothrabannosir 5mo ago
    [dead]
krior 5mo ago
> background/birthplace/heritage Are those slashes AND or OR?
rf15 5mo ago
> they thought I was talking Nazi propaganda! well, I mean, listen, if it's part of the census, that's... still government-level racial discrimination. It might not be a duck, but this thing has a certain duck-shaped silhuette.

_--__--__ 5mo ago

It is self reported according to the US census recognized racial categories: white, black, asian, native American/Alaskan, native Hawaiian or Pacific islander, and other (or two+ categories). Hispanic/latino identification is a separate box you check for reasons that are hard to explain without going over decades of bureaucratic decisions.

krior 5mo ago
> US census recognized racial categories Thank you for a googleable term. Are there any guides on how to decide which "race" you are? Because I cannot imagine that everyone knows exactly which part of the earth all of their ancestors originate from.
- trallnag 5mo ago
  They can pick "mixed" or the race they identify with the most.
- _--__--__ 5mo ago
  It is not a perfect or rigid system, but it's the one we have (and any attempt to improve it would get caught up in the weeds of how much 'racial science' can be endorsed by the US government). Practically speaking, most Americans over the past 300 years knew of specific near ancestors who came from somewhere else (with little interbreeding among immigrant populations) and answered based on that. The obvious exceptions were descendants of slaves and Native Americans, which is why those were the first non-white (where 'white' includes all Europeans as well as large parts of the Middle East and North Africa) categories tracked by the census.

nomel 5mo ago

All levels of the US education system teach (now at least) that race is a social construct. There's no concept of population-genetics taught, until much later, in hard science classes.

ButlerianJihad 5mo ago

There are various risk factors, and some lab tests, that differ among racial groups. For example, my labs include at least two that have different specified thresholds for "African-American" or "non-AA" patients. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sickle_cell_disease#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sickle_cell_disease#United_Sta...

stefantalpalaru 5mo ago

[dead]