Choice and Fraud in Racial Identification: The Dilemma of Policing Race in Affirmative Action, the Census, and a Color-Blind Society

73 Pages Posted: 18 Aug 2005

Date Written: August 14, 2005

Abstract

The article addresses the tension between views of racial identity that are premised on its inherent subjectivity (personal choice) and those that assume its objective (and verifiable) nature (fraud). The fraud perspective arises out of the administrative necessities for accurate racial classification in federal anti-discrimination laws and other programs that consider race. The personal choice perspective is a consequence of efforts to disassociate racial identity from the oppressive uses of race and recast it as a matter of personal autonomy. It has been championed most vigorously in the context of the Decennial Census.

Unfortunately, both approaches have had significant deficiencies. Even though self-identification allows the individual with the most complete information to make the racial classification, it also creates opportunities for manipulation and abuse. In contrast, third-party determination of race deals poorly with its socially constructed nature and is tainted by its historical association with the oppression and exploitation of various racial minority groups. Neither approach manages to address the contingency of racial identity over time and in different social contexts.

I argue that a functional approach that distinguishes between physically descriptive, expressive affiliative, and social/regulatory conclusive meanings would avoid the deficiencies of the choice and fraud frameworks. I apply this framework to race conscious and remedial programs, the Census, and a select number of instances that arise in non-governmental settings.

Keywords: Racial fraud, ethnic fraud, racial identification, racial classification, choice of racial identity, affirmative action, census, race, racial passing

JEL Classification: K00, K19

Suggested Citation

Yang, Tseming, Choice and Fraud in Racial Identification: The Dilemma of Policing Race in Affirmative Action, the Census, and a Color-Blind Society (August 14, 2005). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=783404 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.783404

Tseming Yang (Contact Author)

Santa Clara Law School ( email )

500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
United States
408-551-6037 (Phone)

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