Multiracial Heritage Week – June 7 to 14

 

Project RACE started Multiracial Heritage Week (MHW) in 2014 to try to get official recognition of the Multiracial community. We got proclamations signed by 19 state governors! Then COVID-19 started, and we had to cancel it last year. Unfortunately, we must cancel it for 2021 as well. People can celebrate MHW in their own virtual parties, but Project RACE is not responsible for any in-person celebrations.

MHW is important because it gets us seen as a real community. We are not only parts of other populations, but we are also a growing population in and of itself. We are proud to be able to state that we are Multiracial and proud. Children should grow up learning that they do not have to choose to be just one race. They can be multiracial or whatever they want to be. Self-identification is the key and MHW is one of the vehicles to getting schools, employers, and the healthcare system to remember to include us on forms, on surveys, on health records, and so much more.

Government Ignores Multiracial Community

The United States government has historically had a special committee on race, called the National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations. They have convened the committee for the last 30 plus years, changing names and faces every few years. The Multiracial community has, in the past, requested inclusion on the advisory board. We have been declined every time, except once briefly in the 1990s by someone who wanted to “build bridges” with the NAACP.

This committee is all-inclusive and includes the LGBTQ and MENA populations, for example. Most members are from the Census Bureau. Academics abound on this committee. Advocates, not so much.

We feel that the Multiracial community deserves a place at the table. How can they have every race and ethnicity represented except for us? Well, they can, and they do. And there is nothing we can do about it.

 

Lawsuit

The lawsuit against the Commerce Department, OMB, etc. is awaiting the judge’s dismissal or acceptance of a three-judge panel. Michael Van Cleve, Esq. will keep us apprised.

 

What You Can Do

Remember especially during MHW to be on the lookout for places and forms that ask for racial and ethnic heritage. Then take charge in getting them to change by including a Multiracial category. We are here to help you. Help us celebrate Multiracial Heritage Week during June 7 to June 14.