Friends,

First, I want to sincerely thank all of you for your support. The letters to Chairman Horn made a HUGE difference!

We were thrown a curve at the onset of the hearing. Usually those who are advocating one position are on a panel together to present their testimony. The subcommittee decided to put advocates for the multiracial category on SEPARATE panels, which made it much more difficult for us. This, coupled with the fact that they did not allow our legal experts or psychologists to testify, put us at a definite disadvantage.

Panel 1

Senator Daniel K Akaka (D-Hawaii) - advocating for reclassification of Native Hawaiians in the same category as American Indians and Alaskan Natives, rather than in the current Asian or Pacific Islander category. Senator Akaka was not against the multiracial classification, but was not advocating for it.

Panel 2

Susan Graham, President, Project RACE (FOR): presented myths and realities about the multiracial classification, state legislation and other updates, statistical issues, presented proposed model for OMB Directive 15, associated costs for change, and political issues.

Ryan Graham, my son (FOR): Explained that he testified when he was 8-years-old, and was back four years later, gave a child’s view of having to choose between races, talked about the "other" category and why it does not work for him. Ryan ended his testimony with, "It is not how YOU see me, it is how I see myself that is important."

Harold McDougall, Director of the Washington Bureau of the NAACP (AGAINST): Discussed his view that a multiracial category would adversely effect enforcement of anti-discrimination laws, dilution of benefits to the African-American community, and spoke about the confusion that a multiracial category would cause. Mr. McDougall holds the belief that in order to have a multiracial classification, it must do away with segregation, discrimination, and hate violence. He claims, "There is no evidence they (multiracial people) have ever suffered discrimination." He states in testimony, "The proposed multiracial category poses such risks, as it would make the collection of useful data on the effects of societal segregation and discrimination more difficult, if not impossible."
(My note: Mr. McDougall was challenged on most of his assertions by Chairman Horn, and failed to come up with concrete answers.)

Eric Rodriquez, Policy Analyst, National Council of LaRaza (AGAINST): Basically, Rodriquez said that the Hispanic community needs data to assess and analyze the social, health and economic status of their community, but that information is not needed by the multiracial community. "The proposed addition of a multiracial category among the current racial categories threatens the accuracy, quality and utility of all federal race/ethnic data-collection efforts, and would undoubtedly hinder civil rights and other policy initiatives that rely on such data for Latinos. This is particularly troublesome." Rodriquez also testified to some kind of subversive plot by people who oppose civil rights initiatives who he actually believes are advancing the multiracial cause.

Panel 3

Ramona Douglass, President, Association of MultiEthnic Americans (FOR): Spoke about the "one drop rule," the inaccurate comparisons to Brazil and South Africa, important medical issues and discrimination.

Helen Samhan, Vice-President, Arab American Institute (NEUTRAL): testified on need for ancestry data.

Jacinta S. Ma, Esq., Legal Fellow, National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (AGAINST): "As the tests have shown, there is not adequate time left before the 2000 census for the government to fully determine the extent of the potential effects of a new multiracial category on the integrity of the collected data. Also, we believe it would require a massive expenditure of money and resources, even in the best case scenario, to educate the public to eliminate confusion and prevent inconsistencies, undercounting, and other adverse effects. Therefore, we oppose the addition at this time."

JoAnn K. Chase, Executive Director, National Congress of American Indians (AGAINST): Opposed for reasons of potential loss of numbers of American Indians and funding. "The Indian Health Service (IHS) has concluded that from a multiracial option, there would be a loss of Indian count in the census and on vital event records of approximately 25 percent. IHS believes this diminishment in Indian counts would translate to a total annual funding lost of $500 million and that Tribal health contacts would be curtailed to the degree that the data are diminished. IHS stated that overall, this would severely impair its ability to advocate for the interests of Indian people to the Administration and Congress."

Nathan Douglas, Interracial Family Circle of Washington, DC. (FOR): Spoke of his son, Anthony, and his need for a multiracial classification. Talked about the "one-drop" rule, identity, discrimination, and respect and acknowledgment of the multiracial community.

Panel 4

Professor Mary C. Waters, Department of Sociology, Harvard University (AGAINST): Professor Waters mostly quoted herself and studies she has done on racial identity. "What are the implications of these findings for multiracial reporting? One is that to the extent that lobbying groups pressing for a multiracial category are composed of interracially married parents who do not want to choose a race for their children, this does not necessarily mean those children will in fact want to report all of those races when they leave home. Parents report more detail on their children’s ancestries than the children do themselves as they age and especially after they leave home. To the extent that the multiracial movement is led by parents who are concerned about having to choose a race for their children, there may not be much of an issue if the children themselves will merely simplify to one race when they leave home. So one question to ponder is whether this movement is a result of parental preferences or whether there are large numbers of people who would like to self-identify as multiracial."
(My note: Professor Waters has negated all of the multiracial adults involved in the movement.)

Balient Vazsonyi, Ph.D, Senior Fellow, The Potomac Foundation and Director, Center for the American Founding: Against all racial categories

Harold L. Hodgkinson, Center for Demographic Policy: Against all racial categories

IN ATTENDANCE

Chairman Steven Horn (R-CA)
Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) Ranking Minority Member
Pete Sessions (R-Texas)
John E. Sununu (R-N.H.)
Danny Davis (D-Ill)
Eleanor Holmes Norton District of Columbia, Shadow Senator

THE BOTTOM LINE

In my opinion, it was a very tough hearing, although I think we did well. Congressman Davis was vehemently against the multiracial category. He made racist remarks against our community and went so far as to intimate to my 12-year-old son that he should identify as Black. Maloney, while trying to appear neutral, clearly was not—she is against the classification. Norton, who used to be with the EEOC gave a speech that set the multiracial community back 200 years in its vile contempt of multiracial people who do not identify as Black. Chairman Horn was extremely fair to both sides and gave us the opportunity to fully explain our position. Congressmen Sessions and Sununu were, I think, leaning toward our side. It is obvious that party lines are being drawn, with Democrats against and Republicans for, even though I gave examples of bipartisan support on this issue.

Further, the Democrats and opposing minority groups kept saying that the time is NOT RIGHT to add a multiracial category, even though three conclusive tests have been completed, and this is the second time hearings have been held. I feel they would like to drag this out for as many years as necessary until we go away.

Ramona Douglas met with the minority Census groups on Friday. They unanimously voted AGAINST the category.

I met with Sally Katzen of the OMB on Friday. The decision is in their hands, and will be made in July. We talked about the "nuts and bolts" of how a category would work, as well as the issues we have as a community. Ms. Katzen seemed to also feel that the classification may require more study.

Time is running out!!! The leadership of the multiracial community is meeting on June 7 to discuss further immediate strategy. We would welcome your ideas and input. Please e-mail me at projrace@aol.com and I will present your ideas at the meeting. I will issue a report after the meeting.

THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR SUPPORT

Susan Graham
Project RACE