William Safire writes a Sunday column in The New York Times called "On Language." I have always thought of him as a pretty smart guy who is generally right on about language usage. But, he's suddenly gone very wrong about multiracial terminology.

Safire says in a recent column about Senator Barack Obama, "In this recent book, 'Audacity of Hope,' the senator identifies himself as 'a black man of mixed heritage.'" Therefore, Safire concludes this:

"Mixed heritage, Obama's usage following black, suggests ethnicity more than race--like the offspring of British and Russian parents--which is why mixed race is the compound adjective to keep your eye on."

Huh? Because Barack Obama uses the term "mixed heritage," we all need to use the term "mixed race"? British and Russian are nationalities, not races, so how does this make sense at all? In fact, the only ethnicity recognized on the United States Census is Hispanic, so how does this suggest ethnicity? The terms race, nationality, ethnicity, culture, class, identity, character, and religion are not interchangeable, and are often used incorrectly, which William Safire has done. Perhaps he was thinking of "mixed metaphors."

If Safire had done the same amount of research on the term "mixed race" as he does on other terminology, he would have found that "mixed race" is offensive to some of us. He would have noted that the opposite of "mixed race" must be "pure race" and that many of us don't wish to go there. Or perhaps that is exactly where Safire wants to go. He would have learned that "mixed race" lends itself to "mixed up," "mixed nuts" and other terms found in Spike Lee movies. He also would have come across this definition of mixed: To mate so as to produce a hybrid; crossbreed. My son put it another way when he told a congressional subcommittee when he was 8 years old, "Puppies are mixed; people are multiracial."

Mr. Safire also would have learned that there are better words to use like "multiracial" and "biracial." If someone is of more than one culture, they are multicultural. If they are from more than one ethnicity, they are multiethnic. Then why is it that people of more than one race should be called "mixed"? Sorry, Mr. Safire, we just don't speak the same language on this one.

[Read Part 2 - Read Part 3]