Two items of note today, race-wise (alas, of course, there are always more than that, but just two for this post).
First, as I’m sure will be widely remarked here and elsewhere, the head of the Spokane branch of the NAACP now stands accused of being white. Of course, you can be white and still be a member of the NAACP, but the claim is that this lady knowingly misrepresented her melanin content. Comparisons with faux–Native American Elizabeth Warren and faux-woman Caitlyn Jenner are, I am afraid, inevitable.
Second, there’s an interesting article in the New York Times today, “Report Says Census Undercounts Mixed Race.” It’s worth reading, even though I’ll be suing the Times for plagiarism:
The Times today: “Today, the United States is increasingly not only a multiracial country, but also a country of multiracial individuals, including the first biracial president . . . ”
Clegg in ScotusBlog, 2012: ” . . . as America becomes an increasingly multiracial, multiethnic society and as individual Americans are themselves more and more likely to be multiracial and multiethnic (starting with our president).”
I won’t really sue the Times, of course. Glad to have them on board with me in recognizing that, in such a country, it’s an “untenable legal regime” to give preferences to some Americans and discriminate against others on the basis of skin color and what country their ancestors came from. The Times does recognize that now, right? And this goes double if we can all choose our own racial identities, right?