Do We Need To Define Race?

Introduction

During an event I recently hosted, someone made the observation about the diversity of my invited panelists.  By my count we had a succession of the following:

• White female

• Black male

• Black female

• Foreign-born female of Indian descent

• Black female

• A panel consisting of two white males, an Oriental female, and a black male

• First generation male of Indian descent

Did I make an intentional effort to diversify my panel? Was there a DEI initiative suggesting or mandating a specific panel composition?  Can we attribute the arrangement to randomness or serendipity? Before I address those questions, I’ll frame my point of reference.

Immigrants

My family emigrated to the United States from Panama. Our journey was unlike what we witness at the U.S. southern border today. Unlike many Panamanians who would make their eventual home in or near Miami, my father chose the heartland of America, St. Louis, Missouri. This is relevant since, at that time, the Spanish-speaking population of the area was scant. For many residents of the city, it was clear I was not born in the United States, perhaps by appearance, though just as likely since my command of the language was not on par. Idioms and slang phrases were the bane of my communication.

My visible differences made me the recipient of racially charged language, and at various times, discrimination in academics and athletics.  Never once did my mother or father suggest that I dwell on these outcomes or that government should remediate the discriminatory practices. My father remained focused on achieving the American dream and was appreciative of having permanent resident status. My father also had the expectation his children would succeed academically given that was instrumental in his own path to immigration.

His children fulfilled the expectation of academic success and eventually became naturalized citizens.

Early Employment

I remember a colleague in my first job post-college who often wanted to capitalize on the color of his skin rather than the merits of his skill. He suggested I do the same. That approach was anathema to me — as I noted earlier, I was not raised that way. That period was also my first exposure to government contracts with specification of minority participation. In my occupation, that was not easy to fulfill and often, the end customer received a higher-priced bid due to imposed sourcing requirements.

There was one instance that readers may find interesting. In a company-sponsored softball team/league, there was a game where we were short one player. The guy who managed the team (white, late 30s – early 40s) found a black male near our dugout and inquired about his availability. Fortunately for us, the man said he was available to play. Typically, I batted 4th in the lineup since I fit the profile of that position significantly better than anyone else on the team. To my surprise, our manager inserted the new arrival in the 4th position, for no other reason than he perceived him to be an outstanding player due to his skin color — he was not. After the game, the team manager received a good dose of ribbing even from a black player on the team.

Leading a Workshop

Later in my career (2010), my company selected me for an executive leadership training program. Within that program, I elected to deliver a workshop entitled, Subtle Bias Awareness. The workshop’s goal was to create an awareness of our biases and how it impacted hiring decisions and human resource practices. Naturally, one of the biases centered on race. While I had a script to follow, I thought it important to expand the discussion on race.

My theme centered on the dilution of racial definitions over time. For example, the world’s best golfer, at the time, was the product of a black father and Thai mother, yet everyone identified him as black. It was equally correct to call him Thai. Did Thai people feel slighted about his racial identification?

Another example was the 44th President of the United States (POTUS) who was the product of a black father and white mother. His identification remains as the first black POTUS, which is understandable given the history of civil rights, yet it would also be correct to identify him as half black/half white. As a practical matter, no one is likely to receive this appellation, and we default towards race instead of the person.

Why did I mention these two well-known figures in the workshop? The notion of race was, and is, in a continual state of dilution, particularly as people married others of different racial composition. My son is a good example. He’s the product of a Hispanic father and white mother, which makes him what? Is he white or Hispanic?  What racial labels should we assign to his offspring? In fact, who is a Hispanic?

Who Are Hispanics/Latinos?

This section may be the most important of the essay.  The term “Hispanic” typically refers to those people/cultures/countries related to Spain and the Spanish language. A “Latino” is generally someone from Central America, South America, and some Caribbean nations. Colloquially, the terms Hispanic and Latino are often used interchangeably.

Though my recollection is imprecise, the U.S. Census changed to accommodate the definition of Hispanic along racial and ethnic boundaries.  I remember the struggle to complete Census forms or other such forms collecting racial and ethnic information. For example, when asked about race, the United States Census Bureau identifies five categories (White, Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander) and the meaningless category of “Other.” For someone like myself, I fit exactly into none of those categories and frankly most people from my country don’t either.

What is the racial composition of a Hispanic or Latino? I’ll reference my home country of Panama though I suspect this applies to other nations as well.  The indigenous people of Panama (eight tribes) can be broadly associated with the term Amerindian, which are the indigenous people of the Americas. Latin American countries have their own tribes that are also grouped under the Amerindian label.

The colonizers of Panama and other Latin American countries were white Spaniards. This gives rise to the term Mestizo, who is a person that’s the offspring of white and Amerindian. No doubt there was also importation of black people who then bred with whites.  Their offspring are called Mulattos. Another combination is black and Amerindian whose offspring are called Zambo. Thus, in addition to the three “original” races (white, black, Amerindian), we have three derivatives (Mestizo, Mulatto, Zambo).

In the early 20th century, Panama imported thousands of laborers to assist in the building of the Canal including people from Asia (Indians, Chinese) and the Middle East. Their infusion created yet more derivations. As a child growing up in Panama, it always struck me as odd to hear a Chinese person speaking perfect Spanish with no accent and then pivoting effortlessly to Cantonese or Mandarin. By the time I was born, there were three generations of these other derivations and no doubt others not specifically identified.

My racial mix seems quite varied. My maternal grandfather appeared somewhat oriental, my maternal grandmother was quite dark skinned and I suspect her father was likely Zambo, and her mother (my great grandmother) looked very much Amerindian. On my father’s side, the inclination was definitely towards white ancestry and it was especially pronounced since they called my mother, “la negrita”, which was a reference to her dark skin relative to their own. I have an uncle whose skin color and hair texture closely approximate the 44th POTUS. Something that is consistent in my family is the uniformity of dark hair, which is an indication of what peoples did not migrate to Latin America prior to my birth.

Given what I noted about Panama’s general racial composition and my own, what race would you say I am? Not easy, is it? Moreover, does it matter?

Racial Identification in Workplace

I want to note three examples of how I’ve been labeled or not labeled in the workplace.

Example 1

In the aftermath of the Michael Brown incident, a client suggested I could not understand the events following his death due to my white privilege. I politely informed her of my ancestry.

Example 2

As a member of a board of directors for a non-profit organization, the president announced in a meeting that potential donors balked at the lack of board diversity. I politely reminded the board they had a Hispanic/Latino on the board, which candidly, most did not know. On a parenthetical note, I attended a conference of non-profit organizations where I continually heard from black leaders that they wanted people on their boards who offered meaningful contributions, irrespective of race.

Example 3

After presenting to a group of professionals, one in the audience had a follow-up meeting with me. This person, a black woman, confessed that when I presented she concluded that I was a white person, though something about my build suggested otherwise.

Perception

What is most fascinating about the previous three examples, is the shift in perception. When I was a youth and into early adulthood, it was uncommon I’d be identified as white, yet as I got older, somehow I morphed into something else. What changed? Though I referenced early struggles with idioms and slang, my accent in both English and Spanish is flat, I never developed one. My skin didn’t get lighter and my facial features remain the same. This would make for interesting research.

Discussions of Race

The United States has an obsession with race, and it is yet something else that divides us. If race continues to evolve through derivations noted earlier, why do we keep emphasizing something that is increasingly difficult to define?  There is a political component here and it involves control and dependency.

The United States no doubt has a checkered history in regards to race. Many feel we suffer from institutional and/or structural racism, which runs counter to examples of numerous famous personages in the world of athletics, entertainment, entrepreneurship, and corporate leadership. It also seems paradoxical we have untold numbers clamoring to immigrate to the United States, most of whom would be classified as minorities.

I’ll offer an analogy depicting how far we’ve come. Consider a journey to the top of Mt. Everest, the pinnacle of a climbing expedition. First there is an intercontinental flight to Nepal. After landing in Kathmandu, there is another flight to Lukla followed by a multi-day hike to Everest Base Camp at 18,000 feet.  The hike to the summit is a technical climb to 29,000 feet requiring life-giving oxygen.  Inarguably, reaching the top of the world’s highest mountain is a grand achievement.

If our nation’s civil rights journey follows a similar path, we had many Sherpas making our climb possible. This prestigious list includes Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Cesar Chavez, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and of course Martin Luther King Jr., just to name a few.

Where are we on our climb to the mountain top? I suggest we’re thousands of feet above Base Camp, with the summit in view. No, we’re not there yet, though by the judgement of some, we’re still in Lukla.  Concluding we’re still in Lukla is a pernicious orientation that continues to search for narrow racial definitions.

For example, a veteran journalist recently interviewed a man who immigrated to the United States from war-torn Vietnam in the mid-1970s. After extolling the virtues of achieving the American dream, he related a term I’d not previously heard. An organization assigned him the racial moniker of “adjacent white” since Asian academic and professional success must be associated with the approximation of his skin color to white. This attempt to create neo-racial classifications is yet another attempt to divide us.

Diverse Panel

So, what about my panel? What steps did I take or measures did I employ to ensure a diverse panel? Hopefully, after reading this essay, you’ll conclude that I did nothing and took no measures to ensure the panel’s diversity. There was no specific initiative promulgating the panel or used for panelist selection. In fact, I didn’t even notice diversity until someone mentioned it. My orientation was in selecting panelists who offered value to our audience, and that they did!

Oh, and I forgot to count myself within the panel’s diversity!