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California Bill Would Allow Multi-Ethnic Identification on State Forms

Posted on: Tuesday, 25 April 2006, 21:00 CDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ California is poised to become the first state in the nation to allow people of mixed ethnicity to officially identify with more than one race.

A state Senate committee on Tuesday approved a bill by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, that would allow people to choose more than one race when filling out official state government forms. It would also require the state to record and report the number of those who identify with multiple ethnic or racial backgrounds.

The federal government began giving people of mixed race that option in 1997 _ about one in six Californians identified that way in the 2000 Census _ but no state has since followed through in its own data collection.

California forms typically give a list of ethnic and racial designations and then ask respondents to "choose one." Proponents say that forces multi-racial Californians to deny significant parts of their identity, provides an inaccurate picture of the state's diversity and can lead to delayed detection and treatment of medical conditions that are prevalent among some racial or ethnic groups.

"This would put an end to state forms rendering multi-racial people invisible," said Jilchristina Vest, of iPride, a Bay Area multi-racial advocacy group. "It's about self-identity. I don't want to check black if that means I have to deny my mother," who is white.

"I want to claim 100 percent of me."

The bill was approved Tuesday by the Senate Judiciary committee but will need to go through a few more legislative hoops before it lands on the governor's desk. Because it could cost the state money, it would have to pass both legislative chambers' appropriations committees.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Dick Ackerman, of Irvine, voted against it, signaling GOP opposition when it faces a wider vote.

"It sounds good, but the implementation and benefits of it are illusory," he said. "The trend around the rest of the country is to get away from forcing people to identify what their race or ancestry is. This is a step in the other direction."

According to the 2000 Census, California has the most mixed-race residents.

Californians value diversity, Simitian said, but "it's illusory if it's not made real. It's a matter of accuracy, respect, and of life and death with respect to medical conditions."

A patient's interracial heritage can be crucial information for medical providers, said Curtiss Takada Rooks, a San Jose State University assistant professor who teaches a course on multi-racial experiences. Takada Rooks, who is African-American and Japanese-American, had his own dilemma in deciding how aggressive he should be in checking for prostate cancer.

"African-American males are at risk at an early age, but it can be non-aggressive," he said. "Asian males are at a lower risk-rate and get it later, but it gets aggressive. My urologist assumed I was a Pacific Islander, which is not at a high risk. I informed him of my mixed heritage and I was in his office quickly."

He and his doctor decided on an aggressive course of action, immediately undergoing a biopsy. They found no cancer, but the experience underscored to Takada Rooks the need for multi-racial awareness in medical records.

"An incomplete patient medical racial record places that multi-racial person at risk," he said. "In my story, my educational level . . . and activism gave me knowledge and confidence to push my mixed heritage on my urologist. But others less knowledgeable and more intimidated may well not have done so."

Of all ethnic groups, Asian-Americans have the highest rate of marrying outside their race, said Karen Kurasaki, of the Japanese American Citizens League, which means they have the most to lose if a multi-racial option isn't provided.

It would "deprive a significant portion of Asian Americans of being counted and considered by state agencies," Kurasaki said, "Being undercounted results in being underserved. It's in our best interest to make sure no group is left uncounted."

More information on those with mixed-race backgrounds can help identify needs in particular areas. For instance, a 2003 University of North Carolina study on 90,000 mixed-race adolescents found them to be at greater risk for depression, substance abuse, sleep problems and other health issues than their peers.

"The study gave us an empiric finding that there is a distinct mixed-race experience that plays itself out in different ways," Takada Rooks said. "One cause of stress among these adolescents is the way folks treat or don't treat people of mixed race, seeing them as an exotic other."

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(c) 2006, San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.).

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Source: San Jose Mercury News

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