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I get why the census asks. I do find the info helpful doing historical research, or even researching an area to live or visit.
I do NOT get why doctors offices ask.
Doctors' offices may ask about your ethnic ancestry because it helps in determining whether you may be more susceptible to a particular medical condition due to your genetic makeup, and that helps your doctor in determining the best course of treatment for you. For instance, women of Ashkenazic Jewish ancestry have been determined to be at a higher risk for breast cancer. You don't have to answer these questions about your ethnic ancestry but, considering the reason why doctors ask, it is wise to provide your doctor with that information. Of course it's kept confidential.
If you've ever taken a DNA test from a company that also supplies health information based on your DNA (such as the company 23&Me) you'll see how genetics help to determine what medical conditions you might want to be particularly aware of, and why your doctor may want to keep an eye on these genetic indicators for you.
I get why the census asks. I do find the info helpful doing historical research, or even researching an area to live or visit.
I do NOT get why doctors offices ask.
The census asks because the want to perpetuate the concepts of whiteness and color as a dichotomy.
This is quasi-traditional skin color based system continues to be used instead of geographic-ancestral terms terms.
We are trained at an early age to classify by skin color, hence take it for granted
Yet Asians and Native Americans are not classified this way. "Yellow" and "Red' are considered pejorative
"White" and "Black" is part of an older pre-genetics cultural classification used to separate
I have no idea what the link between collecting racial or ethnic data and keeping the 1st amendment is.
If you stop collecting the data then you have no idea of the relative sizes, so when someone/group brings suit agin the gummint for say discrimination by the abridgement of free speech on racial or ethnic grounds an important batch of information to sustain such a claim is unavailable.
There IS a reason why race/ethnicity question is on US census:
Local, state, tribal, and federal programs use these data, and they are critical factors in the basic research behind numerous policies, particularly for civil rights. Race data are used in planning and funding government programs that provide funds or services for specific groups. The info is trying to capture the changing demographic composition of the country from the federal and state levels down to neighborhood blocks and to help policy makers and demographers assess whether members of different racial groups have equal access to housing, education, employment and other services, as mandated by law.
Here, how is explained by USC: https://www.census.gov/acs/www/about...question/race/
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.. DING DING DING DING DING! In a nutshell! Bravo!
France and whoever may be in denial that certain demographic groups are at a disadvantage in society, or if not in denial, those governments may not be motivated to study it, report on it, or try to do anything about it. Too bad for their citizens.
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I always use "other" and clarify it by adding "human". I was only once questioned about it...
In essence, I am a "31 flavour" person, because I have from my father's side, Scottish ancestry and further back, Scandinavian ancestry. More recently Chinese and Javanese ancestry (Javanese grandmother and Chinese great grandmother). From my mother's side, I have German ancestry and later on Dutch ancestry.
So what am I really? I married a pure English person and all our kids are brown-skinned, where none of them even look closely like their mother! All our kids married pure white persons (we think) and all their kids again are mostly brown-skinned (different hues) and one of them has the 'slanted eye" feature, just like his father. That child and his father (also with the slanted eyes) are extremely bright and have been tested and have an IQ of 170 and up. It seems that the occidental influence is way stronger than any "white" (caucasian) influence. Of the 12 grandchildren, we have only one with "white" skin, but the colour is more of a healthy summer look all year.
In the end, what am I? If you were in my place what would you say you were?
Last but not least, since when is a religion tied to race? If you are a Jew, you probably also attend Jewish churches... If you are from Ethiopia, you are also probably Jewish... With dark skin???
Back to why keep records? Just to make sure rules are kept. In a perfect world, there would be no need to keep records, but we sadly do not live in such a world...
Last but not least, since when is a religion tied to race? If you are a Jew, you probably also attend Jewish churches... If you are from Ethiopia, you are also probably Jewish... With dark skin???
Judaism is a religion and not a "race" and I don't know of any U.S. governmental attempts to track Jews as though Jews comprised a distinct racial group. In fact Jews are leery of such government-initiated attempts, due to the reasons why Nazis historically attempted to keep records on Jews and where Jews lived (before they were rounded up for ghettos and death camps).
The concept of "Jewishness", however, historically comprises a cultural identity. And, in many cases, even a genetic identity.
There are many people who are Jews by birth yet who may not also be religiously observant. This is because Judaic Law views anyone who is born of a Jewish mother (who was either herself born a Jew or who had converted to Judaism) to be a Jew -- regardless of whether or not that person practices the Jewish religion.
But Jews have always, and always will, come in all colors.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rachel NewYork
Judaism is a religion and not a "race" and I don't know of any U.S. governmental attempts to track Jews as though Jews comprised a distinct racial group. In fact Jews are leery of such government-initiated attempts, due to the reasons why Nazis historically attempted to keep records on Jews and where Jews lived (before they were rounded up for ghettos and death camps).
The concept of "Jewishness", however, historically comprises a cultural identity. And, in many cases, even a genetic identity.
There are many people who are Jews by birth yet who may not also be religiously observant. This is because Judaic Law views anyone who is born of a Jewish mother (who was either herself born a Jew or who had converted to Judaism) to be a Jew -- regardless of whether or not that person practices the Jewish religion.
But Jews have always, and always will, come in all colors.
OK, I do understand better now...
Still, the question of why Jewish people are always labelled Jewish.
I assume it is the same as the Muslims and the Mormons.
They are always referred to with their religion!
OK, I do understand better now...
Still, the question of why Jewish people are always labelled Jewish.
I assume it is the same as the Muslims and the Mormons.
They are always referred to with their religion!
The word "Jew" comes from the name of the Biblical Jacob's fourth son, who is known as "Judah" in English, and "Yehudah" in Hebrew. Judah was the founder of one of the original Twelve Tribes of Israel, the other eleven tribes having been founded by Jacob's remaining sons and two grandsons.
The tribes of Judah and Benjamin came together to form the Kingdom of Judah in the south of Israel, while the remaining ten tribes formed the Kingdom of Israel in the north of Israel. The Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in the 5th century BCE, and this is where the expression "The Ten Lost Tribes" comes from, as these conquered tribes were destroyed through being exiled, scattered, and lost.
The Kingdom of Judah (Yehudah), however, managed to remain intact until the late 6th century BCE. These surviving former members of the Kingdom of Judah (Yehudah) were called Yehudi (which is Hebrew for "Jew") and this was the name by which we came to be known today as a people. Unlike the Ten Lost Tribes, the survivors of the Kingdom of Judah managed to remain cohesive even when exiled to Babylon at first, and other places later on. The name of our religion -- Judaism -- also comes from the name of the Kingdom of Judah.
So this is how the word "Jewish" describes both the religion and the historical people. Jews today are either descendants of the original Yehudim (plural form of "Yehudi"), or they are spiritual descendants through the process of religious conversion.
OK, I do understand better now...
Still, the question of why Jewish people are always labelled Jewish.
I assume it is the same as the Muslims and the Mormons.
They are always referred to with their religion!
Only if you are talking about that religious group.
I don't refer to "my Jewish friends," or "that Mormon doctor." I don't know my doctor's religion, and don't care, so long as it doesn't interfere with their work.
I hope nobody calls me "that lapsed-catholic woman." There's a lot more to each of us than religion.
Only if you are talking about that religious group.
I don't refer to "my Jewish friends," or "that Mormon doctor." I don't know my doctor's religion, and don't care, so long as it doesn't interfere with their work.
I hope nobody calls me "that lapsed-catholic woman." There's a lot more to each of us than religion.
Speaking for myself, I have no objection whatsoever to somebody referring to me as their "Jewish friend." Obviously, I don't attempt to hide my Jewishness, and I'm happy to be anyone's "Jewish friend," as it indicates that this expression of friendship also extends to acceptance of the Jewish identity and (hopefully, by extension) the Jewish people.
On the other hand, I don't see a need to attach "Jewish" to professional titles.
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