Boxes

Molly Smith
Ms248805@ohio.edu

Ever since the 4^th grade I have been filling out the same box in all of my standardized testing. Caucasian. Because the color of my skin is white I fit in that box.

This past presidential election will be one of the most powerful probably in my life time. THE FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT. Yes, his skin color is not white, but he isn’t only black. The man has a white mother from Kansas and a father from Kenya. He is a combo platter most easily put in our fast food nation. He has more than one racial background and I think that needs to be said more often.

He is the first black president for all intents and purposes in that his skin is black, but he is biracial. Our first biracial president. I was really glad to see that written in the Quill article. My mother is of Scottish decent and my father is a European mutt (Polish, English and Welsh). I have not picked one of those and stood for it alone. I have adopted the fact that I am of a multi-cultural background. Not just one who plays bagpipes and wears kilts. I think it is time that we stop staying firsts black president and start saying first biracial president.

None of us want to be in the box, we want to be out of the box and think out of the box. Stop putting our president in a box. Now I have the theme song for the show Weeds stuck in my head. I think everyone should listen to it after reading this and they will understand.

The new movement in the world right now is consolidating. Why have 3 people get paid for doing 3 different jobs when 1 person can do it for half the price? That’s why I found the article "Rethinking the Race Beat" so interesting. I do agree with the idea that covering these racial topics on a daily basis cannot be left for one person. In the article the author said that there is a potential racial issue in almost every story, especially in places like Atlanta where the racial mix is more diverse, than lets say Burlington, Vt. It cannot just be dumped on the race reporter’s desk because another demographic other than white is mentioned.

But I also agree with what was said about uneducated racial reporters doing more harm than hurt. Race is something people in this world can become very educated on. Multicultural studies are prevalent in universities across the United States. If you don’t know how to approach a racial story you are trying to report on it could ruin you in the end. The race beat needs to be occupied by writers who are educated in the ideas and issues, but the responsibilities do not need to be restricted to one person. Can’t more than one beat reporter on a staff be of another racial background or have a strong understanding while also being knowledgable on another beat topic.

We are journalists. Multitasking is the name of the game.