At the pediatrician today, I had to fill out a form about Eggbert. All was fairly routine until I ran into the following question:
"Race/ethnicity. Check ONE box [emphasis in original]:
White/caucasian___ African-American___ Native American___ Hispanic___ Other____"
Now color me sensitive (what, me?), but I think that asking a child to choose to acknowledge only one side of their ethnic heritage is wrong wrong wrong. It's like saying who do you love more, mommy or daddy?
Also, I have to wonder if they teach you about the existence of this place in doctor school. I heard it's kind of big and a lot of people live there, and the last time I checked, it wasn't called "Other."
4 comments:
Unbelievable!!
Jeez, seems like the practice would be more likely to have kids with Asian heritage than Native American. I mean, if they were listing fewer options to save space or something. Did you say anything?
Yes, I said "what box are Asians supposed to check" and the receptionist rather snippily said "that's 'Other'!"
I just hate, hate, hate that box-checking question (systemic racism). How does that help a Dr with medical history if they don't have the full story? I usually ignore the question. When asked, I just say, "We don't belong in any of those boxes".
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