Feb 02 2008
100% Pure…Human
I’ve been helping my mom file for her social security benefits.
In order to collect social security she has to provide certified copies of her:
- Birth certificate
- Marriage certificate
- Dissolution of marriage
Mom gave me the records she had but some I have had to order her marriage certificate from the county clerk.
I am looking at my mom’s birth certificate. Birth certificates are oddly touching: a dry accounting of the facts for such a life-changing event.
“Certificate Of Live Birth” - that in itself conjures images of our squalling entry into the world.
My grandmother had written a few notes in the margin of my mom’s birth certificate.
“2 days in Hosp before”
“5 37 AM”
“6 lbs + 6 oz”
History is in my hands. I wonder what my grandmother was thinking. My mom was her first child. My Granny was 31 years old and probably thought of as a bit old for having babies back in 1941.
My mom. 6 lbs 6 oz.
Now she’s ready to collect Social Security.
My grandfather has a listed occupation of business owner. My grandmother was listed as “Housewife.”
There’s an entry for “Color or Race.”
Both my grandparents are listed as “yellow.”
This made me dig out my birth certificate. Different format but it also asks for the “Color or Race” of my mom and dad.
In 1965 their designation was “Chinese.”
Interesting to see how Yellow became Chinese over a couple of decades.
I found an article titled the “Historical definitions of race” on Wikipedia.
Yellow is for East Asians and Brown is for Southeast Asians. Someone named Friedrich Blumenbach created a race-color determination based on craniometrical research analysis. I’m leery of anything to do with measuring head size but was glad to read that he considered all races to be equal in intellect.
From the same article I learned that:
Lord Kames way back in 1774 believed that each race is a separate species.
Benjamin Rush believed that all races were equal. He also believed non-whites were really white underneath but they were stricken with a non-contagious form of leprosy which darkened their skin color
I think this is hilarious and probably many of you do as well. What is not so hilarious is that we’re still not colorblind.
Based on my family records, it looks like I’m 100% Chinese.
100% Yellow.
In the past, being 100% white was thought to be a good thing. Now, people insult each other by calling them “white on the inside.”
I’ve been called a banana.
Urban Observation has been called an Oreo.
You may have heard the phrase, “If you prick me, do I not bleed?”
The quote is from the play, “The Merchant Of Venice” by William Shakespeare. It is part of an speech by Shylock, a Jewish moneylender. Much is made of his being Jewish.
“If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrongs a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrongs a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.”
Yellow. White. Brown. Red.
Buddhist. Christian. Hindu. Muslim. Jewish.
Man. Woman.
We all bleed.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Thanks for letting me know about the comment thing. I fixed it. Sorry.
I like this article. The word yellow in my head links to a song by Coldplay and a memory as a child of watching a movie where the white mother scolded her daughter for having ‘yellow babies’. I didn’t understand why the mother was so cruel and in the world the babies were yellow… couldn’t she see they were just babies?
My mindset hasn’t changed much since then. I never pay too much attention to race or culture or religion. I pay attention to attitude.
Sue: no problem on the comment thing - Blogger seems kinda funky to configure from what I’ve observed.
Glad you liked this post! I wonder which Coldplay song you recall? Children learn prejudice from their parents and observing adults. A kid sees a kid that looks different and unless they were taught otherwise - the difference is not of note.
It’s great you never paid attention to the externals!
Don’t know what I meant by “in the world the babies were yellow…” … I confuse myself sometimes. I was just trying to say that, as a child, I didn’t think anybody was yellow.
Time has evolved society. Back to a comment about the “world looking like the window you peer out of”, we are now a people of spectrum The colors that describe are not viable, as there are an infinate variety of hues. Just as no color is shown in writing, no color is shown to my eyes. As we all bleed, we all bleed red. As humans, we all have the same souls.
I like the way you describe “history in your hands”. The past tells us a story of who we are, and how the trail of destiny led our lives up to the current point. Sometimes, I think our own history is as important to savor as the future of ourselves.
Sue: I didn’t quite “track” what you wrote but I understood what you meant - that you didn’t see “color” and only baby! I wasn’t confused when I was told I was “yellow” as a kid and I had to look at my skin and ponder this. I then saw that yeah, my skin had a yellowish undertone, a friend had a pinkish undertone and things like that.
Speedy! Nice metaphor (spectrum!) - you’re gonna have me expecting them from you from now on!
History and where we came from are important and while our past has defined who we are now, we have the power to create ourselves anew which is wonderful!
It is quite interesting to look at these things and read all the little details. I have my birth certificate and for some reason I’m listed as “white.” I don’t think that’s accurate.
I can’t stand the pressure various ethnic groups put on each other to act a certain way in order to be a proper Latino, black, Asian or what have you. Just be yourself.
Ricardo: white, huh? They may not have broken down the races more when you were born! I vaguely recall that it’s “White or Hispanic.”
I usually don’t fill in race when asked. Usually this is an optional question on forms. Of course people can guess at my race based on my last name. The would actually be wrong unless they stuck with “Asian”
I recall your writing that your Dad wanted you to be a really “Latin” type of man. I don’t feel pressure to be some proper Chinese woman but I probably fit most of the modern characteristics. Personally I think I am who I am but people always want to label others. From your latest series about Why Men Are Men, I know that women expect you to be what they think of as a “man.”
Indeed, we are all human. Life can throw blows at you and you either deal with them or ignore them. I’ve learned to use them as blogging material.
Color, Culture, Race: It’s all just something to keep us separate/different. At the same time, it can be what keeps us interested in learning about each other and growing together as a whole, in an ideal world.
UT: I like your comment color, culture and race! Yes, they keep us interested in each other, these differences. I try to appreciate the differences as opposed to allowing them to separate me from others.
Better to blog than to flog, huh?
I had my birth certificate out when I got my passport. My dad was listed as ‘laborer,’ which I felt didn’t adequately describe him at all.
delmer: “laborer’? that’s pretty generic! Forms sure know how to equalize everyone, put us in our little boxes.