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Multicultural families

What does the term 'ethnicity' mean to you?

14 replies

pacinofan · 20/10/2005 19:41

What does this term mean to you? I am currently 13 weeks pregnant and had my booking in appointment yesterday. My midwife asked what my husband's ethnicity was. When I read the 'menu' of choices, he actually didn't fit into any of the boxes and I realised I actually don't feel the need for our family to be put into a box either. I selected the 'declined to answer' box.

I chatted with dh when I got home from the appointment and it got us talking about what is actually meant by the term 'ethnicity'. By the way, I am white, my hubby is brown skinned, born in India and there is Burmese and Italian in our family. He was raised in the UK from infancy, which I suppose is why I don't feel the need to categorise him on skin colour alone. We have had similar upbringings and share the same outlook on life and, although other people have made comments(positive, I hasten to add) about skin colour from time to time, to us it just isn't an issue.

What does anyone else think, and am I alone in not wishing to answer these questions?

OP posts:
Redtartanlass · 20/10/2005 20:39

I never ever ever answer that question on form. My ds is not other He is my son!!!!

magicfarawaytree · 20/10/2005 20:47

I always reply other out of respect for all those who came before me. When the midwife came to do my booking for child no 3, she also did 1 and 2 she didnt not even ask my my ethnicity but put caucasion. I am mixed btw a light tan colour. Husband is white, my family ethnicity polish jew, jamaican, scottish, south american. By choosing other I belive I am choosing to respect all of those ethnic origins, indeed with out each of the individuals and their respective ethnic origins I would not be here. For me to call myself anything other would be to denigrate the respective contribution of one of my ancestors

magicfarawaytree · 20/10/2005 20:49

btw hope I am able to instill some love and respect for heritage in children as they look white. hope they continue to regard themselves as multicultural.

Hattie05 · 20/10/2005 20:57

I used to be one to tick other.

Until i started my job as a development worker! Which involves researching the local communities needs and ensuring our services are meeting the needs of all communities. The type of service we are providing can change drastically depending on the culture of the service user, therefore it is extremely helpful to me if people are prepared to tick an appropriate box to give me a rough indication of the numbers of service users from each group so that i can ensure the services cover the area they live in, and cater for those numbers of people.
I do tear my hair out from time to time with sheer frustration with not being able to cover every member of the community in the widely used list of choices to tick. Did ask for opinions here on mumsnet a few months back. The conclusion was mainly that there is never going to be a feasible way to do this fairly. I think if you complete these forms considering culture more than ethnicity. The cultures that i find need difference in their services are those such as Somalians, Travellers, Chinese and i mean those who are still living a very much traditional culture, not those who are British born.
I hope this makes sense!

Hattie05 · 20/10/2005 20:58

I meant to add - if i can't prove the numbers to my funders ( on stats forms) then i cannot get money to provide the service that those communities are asking for.

magicfarawaytree · 20/10/2005 21:03

I can see why that would be difficult with the 'boxes' but as both of my parents are mixed I would not want to tick an approximation. and each of them had a mixed parent.

motherinferior · 20/10/2005 21:03

I am similar to you, magicfarawaytree.

Cabe · 23/10/2005 00:52

Hi Pacinofan

must say your hubby sounds a lovely combination of culture/ethnicity/race

Not being too cheeky My DH is also of Indian and Burmese ancestry, though born in Kenya and also brought up in GB since early childhood

If I remember rightly he chose the 'other' box and qualified it by writing 'far-east Asian' for his ethnicity

I remember a lecture from my first year in Uni that described the difficulty of defining 'ethnicity' in official terms (ie for the census etc)

What exactly does it mean? Religeous training/race/cultural background/all of these???

But as your and my dps illustrate - a single answer does not describe who they are and the complex interweaving of cultures/religions/origins (past and present) that have made them the people they are

Oh and by the way... we made a beautiful, beautiful, BEAUTIFUL BABY!!!

Chandra · 23/10/2005 01:30

IME ethnicity forms are the perfect opportunity to realise how little about geography does the person filling the form knows. I have been checked under Mediterranean or Indian descent even when I established I come from Latin America. OK, we may well look the same but we are, from the other side of the planet!

I always find it a bit rude to be asked about my race, I understand that is for demographical data but I still find it a bit... racist? I think that as human beings we should not be categorised under racial origin, maybe about country of origin, or geographical area of origin but about ethnicity? Don't think so, people can be so far removed from the characteristics portrayed by racial parameters in demographical databases, that statitians stand a better chance by considering political regions than race alone.

In a way, most Native Americans descended from the Mongolian tribes that crossed the Bering strait (sp?), we later where colonised by the Spanish, had great influx of European/Asiatic/African immigrants and up to this point I believe that we have created our own identity that is clearly different to those of our ancestors: I'm obviously not Mongolian (too far away in time), I'm not Spanish, I don't even have direct links with any of the "purebred" ethnias that are slowly disapearing from my country, and I have no clue what other races are in myself as I'm not a royal so I only know that up to my great great grandparents parents all my ancesters but one were as Mexican as I am. but that doesn't make me a Mongolian, I'm certainly not a Spanish, and then what I am (a Mexican) is not even considered a race on its own right!

So, I'm with you, I don't like to answer those forms. Besides I have seen people filling them who later use the info to shut me up with terms like the country is forced to spend a lot in order to be "inclusive" WTF??? why do some people just assume that we are not giving/bringing anything to this country?

[Please excuse the premenstrualy induced intensity of this post ]

freakyzebra · 23/10/2005 09:34

I have done research looking at equity of access to public services and public amenities (like public parks). The thing is, we are comparing relative access between "ethnic" groups (self-identified).

I support someone's right to decline to answer or even lie... but if people don't answer these questions, then nobody can detect whether certain social groups are relatively better or worse off... if you can't prove the problem, you can't do anything to change the situation for the better. Alternatively, you wouldn't be able to tell if things had improved and a certain social group was no longer advantaged/disadvantaged.

I wish it didn't matter, but these things do matter.

Chandra · 23/10/2005 14:24

The problem I see with the forms is that belonging to certain race doesn't necessarily mean that you are representative of the social/educative strata of the group.

IE. there is a great number of Chinese young nationals (or any other nationals)choosing to study in this country. By the forms you may assume that a good percentage of members of certain minority are finally accessing/succeeding in higher education, which may lead statisticians to believe that their inclusion programs are highly successful within this group. In reality the program's outcome is not changing that much but its result is "masked" by the great influx of highly educated students coming into the country.

That's why I think info drawn from ethnicity forms is not really a reflection of what is going on. I would rather be asked about socio-economical background rather than race.

likklemum · 23/10/2005 22:18

When we moved, my DP and I were asked to fill out another booking form.
My DP is Mixed-Caribbean (Asian, Chinese and Afro-Black). We explained this to the Midwife, who then squinted her eyes at him and said 'Well, what shall we put? You look more Asian to me.' And marked him down as Asian!!! .
I was furious! And insisted that his full mix was marked down (much to his embarrassment!)

Chandra · 23/10/2005 22:41

See? race is in the eye of the beholder

JennyLee · 12/01/2006 19:10

I hate those forms I am hispanic/Scottish and my son is only a quarter hispanic but looks completly spanish what are you supposed to put?
also when people ask me where we are really from I say my mom is from Belize they have never heard of it and it is even more confusing as belize is predominately afro-caribbean, but my fmaily is descended from mestizos??? the average british mind boogles. so i tend to say My Mom is mexican and my Dad is Scottish- they have heard of mexico at least.

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