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Census Answers to Race

What did you answer to the race question?

  • The race the Fed would consider me to be

    Votes: 22 42.3%

  • The race I consider me to be but not the Feds

    Votes: 2 3.8%

  • A race neither the Feds nor myself would consider accurate

    Votes: 1 1.9%

  • Human

    Votes: 12 23.1%

  • Planet X

    Votes: 15 28.8%
  • Total voters
    52

Uncayimmy

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So, when I was filling out the Community Survey thing for the census, they wanted to know all about the races in my family. I checked other and wrote in human. Anybody else?
 
UncaYimmy said:
So, when I was filling out the Community Survey thing for the census, they wanted to know all about the races in my family. I checked other and wrote in human. Anybody else?
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Actually, "human" is a species, I would answer "none".
 
Normal Dude said:
Wow, you're clever.
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I wasn't trying to be clever, but thanks for making a personal comment about me rather than just moving on to a post that held more interest for you.

If they had an additional question that read, "Do you think these race questions are stupid and that 'race' is a human social contrivance?" I would have answered yes and answered the race questions accurately. Since they didn't, I did what I did.
 
Pardalis said:
Actually, "human" is a species, I would answer "none".
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Human is a species, but it's also a race in that we are a group of persons related by common descent or heredity. I think it makes the point a bit better, but to each his own.
 
But if the question was asked for a passport or the medic card, or the driver's license, I would answer "caucasian", because even thought the question is flawed, it's asked just a means to identify the person.

And it's probably illegal to nullify the answer.
 
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Pardalis said:
But if the question was asked for a passport or the medic card, or the driver's license, I would answer "caucasian", because even thought the question is flawed, it's asked just a means to identify the person.
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I would still pick a bunch of the options. Partly because it is true, partly because I just like to tick boxes.
 
UncaYimmy said:
I wasn't trying to be clever, but thanks for making a personal comment about me rather than just moving on to a post that held more interest for you.

If they had an additional question that read, "Do you think these race questions are stupid and that 'race' is a human social contrivance?" I would have answered yes and answered the race questions accurately. Since they didn't, I did what I did.
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I suppose you could have looked up the way the census defines race before getting snarky.

"The categories are designed for collecting data on the race and ethnicity of broad population groups in this country. They are based on social and political considerations -- not anthropological or scientific ones. Furthermore, the race categories include both racial and national-origin groups.”
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Cavemonster said:
I suppose you could have looked up the way the census defines race before getting snarky.
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Before you get all snarky, perhaps you should think for a moment about what it actually says and what I said.

1) The first part of my question that you quoted asks if I think the race questions are stupid. I believe they are stupid for precisely the reasons they give in their explanation. That they acknowledge the reasons doesn't make it any less stupid in my eyes.

2) It says that the categories are based on social and political considerations. It does not say that "race" itself is not scientific, only that these categories are not scientific. The implication is that there is, in fact, a scientific basis for race. I say there isn't, and that it's always a human social contrivance.

If you're going to be pedantic, do it right or don't do it at all.
 
My brother didn't want to fill it out so I decided to put him down as "gay" for race.

Of course there are many options such as purple, redneck, terran, Romulan, Vulcan, Borg, White and Nerdy, PinkSkin, Golden Graham Brown, Eurasian Afroamerican, etc.
 
UncaYimmy said:
Before you get all snarky, perhaps you should think for a moment about what it actually says and what I said.

1) The first part of my question that you quoted asks if I think the race questions are stupid. I believe they are stupid for precisely the reasons they give in their explanation. That they acknowledge the reasons doesn't make it any less stupid in my eyes.

2) It says that the categories are based on social and political considerations. It does not say that "race" itself is not scientific, only that these categories are not scientific. The implication is that there is, in fact, a scientific basis for race. I say there isn't, and that it's always a human social contrivance.

If you're going to be pedantic, do it right or don't do it at all.
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How utterly childish and tedious.
 
Edited by Tricky: 
Edited for off-topic and civility.
 
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UncaYimmy said:
2) It says that the categories are based on social and political considerations. It does not say that "race" itself is not scientific, only that these categories are not scientific. The implication is that there is, in fact, a scientific basis for race. I say there isn't, and that it's always a human social contrivance.
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Is there a "scientific basis" for spaghetti?

What do you even mean by a "scientific basis"? You can see the difference with your own bloody eyes.
 
Puppycow said:
Is there a "scientific basis" for spaghetti?
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Yes. I can quantify the chemical makeup, shape, and dimensions. I'd call that scientific. How about you?

What do you even mean by a "scientific basis"? You can see the difference with your own bloody eyes.
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So blind people know not of race? How empty their lives must be.

You might want to read this.
http://www.biologyreference.com/Ar-Bi/Biology-of-Race.html

If a Caucasoid and a Mongoloid (if you can find a "pure" one of each) have a baby, what it is? If that child grows up to mate with a Negroid, what is the child? When that child grows up and mates with an Australoid, what is that child? And when that child grows up to have a baby with a Capoid, what is it? I guess I should just look at the kid and say, "Gee, it looks like a Negroid, what with the nappy hair and dark skin! But wait...look at that epicanthic fold. Surely this is a Mongoloid. Then again, that nose is definitely that of a Caucasoid."
 
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