The Multiracial Activist Newsletter 01
December 1997

December 1997
Editor, James A. Landrith, Jr.
http://www.multiracial.com/
email: 
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OMB's Decision
on the Multiracial Category

by James A. Landrith, Jr.
October 30, 1997

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10/20/97 Letter to Virginia Delegate Puller

The Honorable Linda T. Puller

Dear Delegate Puller:

I would like to discuss my interest in introducing legislation with regards to multiracial identity. Also, I have enclosed relevant materials and hope they will aid you in your decision.

I am a white man married to a black woman with 2 multiracial children. We live in Alexandria, VA. I am a member of an organization called Project RACE. Project RACE, founded in 1991, is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Roswell, GA dedicated to advocacy for the rights of multiracial Americans.

The concept of multiracial identity is nothing new. It's as old as the concept of race itself. Currently, in the Commonwealth of Virginia, multiracial children and adults do not have the option of selecting multiracial on forms that ask for their racial background. This oversight, whether deliberate or accidental, forces them to choose one race or parent over another. This choice can cause tension in families and is detrimental to the social development of children who already have a difficult time in American society. Children and adults with more than one race in their background should have the right to be all that they are and not be forced to choose one race over another for any reason.

Currently, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is considering the addition of new category, called multiracial, to the U.S. Census and all other government forms that collect racial data. Their recommendations will be announced the week of October 27, 1997. While it not known what their recommendation will be, it is widely believed that they will not add the category, due to intense lobbying and racial politics on the behalf of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). The NAACP and NCLR have taken the stance that allowing multiracials to identify correctly and accurately would somehow render all civil rights for minorities null and void. This is not an exaggeration. It is a lie based on Jim Crow ideology and not on any kind of scientific analysis. These organizations are not concerned with statistical accuracy, they are concerned with maintaining their political power at the expense of children and adults who are already discriminated against on all sides.

I am asking you as a member of Project RACE and more importantly, as the father of 2 multiracial children to help end the prejudice and discrimination against them. Take a stand for the children of interracial unions by allowing them the right to be who they are and not have to hide half their heritage and genetic makeup.

Currently, five states (Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio) have enacted legislation. Two other states (Florida and North Carolina) have adopted the multiracial classification by administrative mandate. Two other states (Minnesota and Texas) have introduced legislation to add the classification.

I have enclosed information from Project RACE and other sources that details the reasons why this category is necessary. I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you.

Sincerely,

James A. Landrith, Jr.

cc: Susan Graham, Executive Director, Project RACE

James Landrith is the notorious editor and publisher of The Multiracial Activist and The Abolitionist Examiner, two cyber-rags dedicated to freedom from oppressive racial categorization. Landrith can be reached by email at: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or at his personal website/blog.

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Daddy's House (or Knowing Who
Your True Friends Really Are)

by James A. Landrith, Jr.
September 1997

Those of us involved in the movement towards adding a multiracial category with racial sub-identifiers to the census and other forms that collect racial data are parents of multiracial children, multiracials ourselves or just dedicated to ending the oppression levied by the government and civil rights organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the National Council of LaRaza (NCLR).

These civil rights organizations have taken a hard line approach against multiracials and don't want to see a multiracial category. Their attitude is rooted in the one-drop rule, an old standby of racial separatists like the Ku Klux Klan, that states that if you have any black ancestors, then you are black and only black, so get over it. These organizations use the one-drop rule to "stack the deck" or artificially inflate their numbers. But they are not alone. Another participant in the racial Jihad on multiracials are white Members of Congress with apologetic attitudes for actions committed by their ancestors. This attitude is fine as a personal choice, but to force multiracials into one-drop compliance based on self-guilt for things their ancestors may or may not have done is disgusting and revolting. Yet another combatant in the war on multiracials are certain black Members of Congress who wish to keep in the good graces of the NAACP by telling multiracials to grow up and just be black. Jim Crow is alive and well in America and he has an NAACP membership.

On May 22, 1997, Harold McDougall, the Washington Director of the NAACP testified at a Congressional hearing on this topic and went on record about feeling uncomfortable about a 12-year old multiracial child (who also testified at the hearing) having the right to self-identify, because his own son could be mistaken for multiracial. Ah, we get to the heart of the matter, or let the black cat out of the bag, so to speak. An overwhelming portion of this campaign of resistance has been fueled by black elitists and their discomfort with accepting their own multiracial heritage and by Latinos who don't admit their African roots. The basic underlying reason for this opposition stems from the fact that most black Americans have white ancestors and that is an uncomfortable thing to think about. Acknowledging multiracials means coming to grips with a heritage they may want to leave buried. If multiracials get the category, then a basic belief of many in the black community will be shattered. Better to leave that white ancestors thing alone, than admit the truth. So the Office on Management and Budget (OMB) and the Interagency Committee for the Review of the Racial and Ethnic Standards (tasked with providing a recommendation for the collection of racial data for the next census) decided to ease their discomfort and instead stick it to the multiracial community. Who's gonna know? After all, only black people are qualified to discuss matters of race in this country, so no one else cares. Right?

It's time brothers and sisters. It's time to go all out against this racial onslaught against our families and ourselves. The longer we roll over and take it, the longer it will continue. The NAACP and NCLR are rejoicing in the knowledge that they got their way with the Interagency Committee and the OMB. This can be remedied, but you have to start getting vocal and stop treating the civil rights community like strict parents who are going to punish you for stepping over the racial line. They already have.

You are of age. Declare your racial independence and move out of Daddy's house. He's only keeping you around for the tax deduction anyway. Sure, he might get angry, he'll certainly call you names, he already has, but in the end you'll be able to call yourself by your own name - multiracial.

James Landrith is the notorious editor and publisher of The Multiracial Activist and The Abolitionist Examiner, two cyber-rags dedicated to freedom from oppressive racial categorization. Landrith can be reached by email at: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or at his personal website/blog.

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