In the last few days I've had to fill out a lot of forms. One set was for USC where I'm teaching a fall class (CNTV589) for the School of Cinema and Television. The other was for the local public school district where my son is enrolling for the fall. Both sets of forms wanted to know my race, sex and religion.
You remember that question often invoked in any debate about the death penalty? You know: "Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong?" It's one of those questions -- that no matter which side of the debate you're on -- still makes you think. Here's another question to ponder --
- Why do we classify people by race, sex and religion to show that classifying people by race, sex and religion is wrong?
I'm sure there are strong reasons people want to do so (and you're welcome to express and advocate them in the comments) but it just feels wrong to me.
Martin Luther King wanted us to construct a society where the color of someone's skin was not a factor in how we should treat them. I think he had it right.
On several of the forms, they had a check-off box -- "Decline to State" -- and I checked it. On the other form, they didn't even give me the option. I drew in my own box and checked it.
Decline to state. That, folks, is a statement in itself.
