On the distant planet of Shades in a galaxy far away and long ago two Shadians talked. One belonged to a minority group called the Tones; the other belonged to the Plains. Their planet is gone now, blasted into nonexistence by their sun’s turning into a red giant and expelling its outermost layers of plasma.
Tone: “I see it’s time for the decadal census. No doubt there will be race categories on the form.” *
Plain: “Well, the government wants to know how to identify its citizens. I don’t see a problem in that. I mark the ‘Plain’ box.”
Tone: “But if we are all citizens under the same Body Politic, why do we need to distinguish?”
Plain: “Well, it makes sense if we want an equitable society. How would we know that rules, regulations, and laws are ‘fair’ unless we know the nature of the population or subpopulation that is affected?”
Tone: “Wouldn’t fairness equate to ‘treating everyone as indistinguishable equals’? If laws are to be ‘universal,’ there should be no distinction, no designation by shading.”
Plain: “No, the government is just trying to correct past inequities.”
Tone: “But how does separating by categories ensure ‘equity’?”
Plain: “Well, if the government knows which group is a Tone, then it can correct injustices perpetrated by Plains on Tones.”
Tone: “Such as?”
Plain: “Well, lopsided wealth, for example, and social class for another.”
Tone: “But where will this end, in an ever burgeoning list of categories? Won’t there be more and more categories, won’t the Grays be divided into the Light Grays, the Medium Grays, and the Dark Grays, and, who knows, maybe even into fifty different shades of Gray? And then, what about Grays who want to be identified as Greys? Or what of those who want to be recognized by age as ‘Faded Grays’ or ‘Faded Greys’? And then there are those who might want to be called ‘Grahs’ or ‘Grehs.’ There are even those Northerners who might want to be called ‘Grees’ and the Southerners who might want to be called ‘Graas’ to distinguish one from the other. Seems to me that the more we try to make things even, the more we make things separate and uneven.”
Plain: “But the wheels are turning. The government officials are determined to impose equity by distinction, and society seems to be going along with them, or maybe it's vice versa, that groups of citizens are motivating the government officials to comply.”
Tone: “Sorry, when my census form comes, I’m going to mark “Prefer Not To Answer.’ What are they going to do? Force me to self-designate? What if I don’t want to do so? What if I prefer to be known simply as a Shadian?”
Plain: “You can’t do that. If you do, people will know that you are a racist.”
Tone: “So, I’m a racist if I don’t acknowledge any race?”
Plain: “Yes.”
And so their society went, spiraling into ever smaller units until the census forms had a separate category for every member of society.
*For an Earthling’s take on the subject, see https://phys.org/news/2022-02-middle-eastern-north-african-americans.html Accessed February 20, 2022
Tone: “I see it’s time for the decadal census. No doubt there will be race categories on the form.” *
Plain: “Well, the government wants to know how to identify its citizens. I don’t see a problem in that. I mark the ‘Plain’ box.”
Tone: “But if we are all citizens under the same Body Politic, why do we need to distinguish?”
Plain: “Well, it makes sense if we want an equitable society. How would we know that rules, regulations, and laws are ‘fair’ unless we know the nature of the population or subpopulation that is affected?”
Tone: “Wouldn’t fairness equate to ‘treating everyone as indistinguishable equals’? If laws are to be ‘universal,’ there should be no distinction, no designation by shading.”
Plain: “No, the government is just trying to correct past inequities.”
Tone: “But how does separating by categories ensure ‘equity’?”
Plain: “Well, if the government knows which group is a Tone, then it can correct injustices perpetrated by Plains on Tones.”
Tone: “Such as?”
Plain: “Well, lopsided wealth, for example, and social class for another.”
Tone: “But where will this end, in an ever burgeoning list of categories? Won’t there be more and more categories, won’t the Grays be divided into the Light Grays, the Medium Grays, and the Dark Grays, and, who knows, maybe even into fifty different shades of Gray? And then, what about Grays who want to be identified as Greys? Or what of those who want to be recognized by age as ‘Faded Grays’ or ‘Faded Greys’? And then there are those who might want to be called ‘Grahs’ or ‘Grehs.’ There are even those Northerners who might want to be called ‘Grees’ and the Southerners who might want to be called ‘Graas’ to distinguish one from the other. Seems to me that the more we try to make things even, the more we make things separate and uneven.”
Plain: “But the wheels are turning. The government officials are determined to impose equity by distinction, and society seems to be going along with them, or maybe it's vice versa, that groups of citizens are motivating the government officials to comply.”
Tone: “Sorry, when my census form comes, I’m going to mark “Prefer Not To Answer.’ What are they going to do? Force me to self-designate? What if I don’t want to do so? What if I prefer to be known simply as a Shadian?”
Plain: “You can’t do that. If you do, people will know that you are a racist.”
Tone: “So, I’m a racist if I don’t acknowledge any race?”
Plain: “Yes.”
And so their society went, spiraling into ever smaller units until the census forms had a separate category for every member of society.
*For an Earthling’s take on the subject, see https://phys.org/news/2022-02-middle-eastern-north-african-americans.html Accessed February 20, 2022
RSS Feed