Missing the point, as usual

Unsurprisingly, George Will conpletely misses the point about being multi-racial in this online commentary.

To what race do they belong — besides the human race?

The racial privacy initiative rests on the premise that it is factually false — and morally obtuse — to force Americans to pick a racial identity.

Connerly is not black or white.

He is American. Period.

Actually, he is both black and white. The morally obtuse premise here is the one that if you can't pick either black or white, or whatever you happen to be a combination of, then you don't get to be either of them. You have to be an "American", some sort of bland future person living in a world where people like George Will don't have to worry about insulting what race you are, because you're not any race at all.

I have my Italian mother's resolve (some people call it a "firey temper", but what do they know,) and the bronze skin of my Black-Cuban father. I have the almond-shaped eyes of my Chinese great-grandfather and the thick curly hair of my Spaniard great-grandmother. I have all of these things, not because I'm an American, but because I'm Italian, Black, Cuban, Chinese, and Spanish.

My husband has his Irish mother's pale creamy skin and his German father's dark hair. He has those things not because he is an American, but because he is Irish and German. If we ever have children, they will share all of these attributes not because they were born in America, but because of who their parents are.

You know, I'm quite proud of being an American. Despite all the crap that entails, I don't do stupid things like pronounce the names of foriegn cities with foriegn accents. (Come on, you don't think the newscasters in other countries talk about Noo Yoik or Bahston, do you?) We gave the world Jazz and the Blues and Punk Rock. (Don't give me that Sex Pistols did it first crap. The Ramones beat them by a year and The Stooges beat them by neary a decade.) However, I don't think being an American has to also entail that I give up my racial heritage.

I am the decendant of poor immigrants who came to this country with just about nothing. I have no family heirlooms and know next to nothing about my family tree. I started watching Antiques Roadshow out of jealousy, longing to be the person who found a valuable masterpiece in their Grandmother's attic. Being able to say that I am Italian, Black, Cuban, Chinese, and Spanish is really all I have. How dare George Will presume to take that away from me!