Ok you got me -- I'll check that darned box!

I've always hated being identified as white, even when I was a little kid. Even now I avoid mirrors and avoid going out of my house, especially on MLK day and Juneteenth. When I found out that my extended family is mixed and we have distant African and Indigenous ancestry and Brown cousins I'd never met, I understood why I've always felt a way about being called white. Ancestors can be a very talkative lot, always telling you about how they see things and asking you to do this and that for them. So I've always checked "other" and wrote in "Louisiana Creole" or -- if really feeling snarky -- "human."

But now I see why those boxes are needed. Sheesh, I should have known -- I teach statistics at my local community college for gosh sakes! So I guess I'll take one for the team and check that darned box. Do my bit for science and justice. White my a$$. But that's what my immediate family thinks we are and that's how most people see me most of the time. So I may as well do what's needed so we can have proper data on the impact of racism on our society today.

Thanks for this wakeup call.