She clarified that among the questionnaire prototypes offered to the Census Bureau is a multiracial category which includes sub-identifiers to preserve the consistency of the data. Ramona's written testimony also addressed various legal consequences and medical issues. 12 year-old Ryan Graham delivered his short, but very impressive statement with great aplomb. He had testified before, when he was only 8, so he was ready, Freddy. Finally, yours truly hastily edited his 8 minutes of testimony down to 5, in deference to a request made by the chair of the sub-committee because the hearing was running late.
Several highlights follow.
Regardless of what some would have you believe, race remains essentially a biological construct in our society. When my son was born and the Vital Statistics people wanted to know what race he was, the issue of culture was never mentioned. It did not matter how he was to be raised, or with which social group he might identify in the future, or even what type of music, literature, dance, folklore, etc., he might prefer. It was just about my wife's genes and my genes. I say to these folks, brothers and sisters, this is a civil rights issue, and you are clearly on the wrong side of it.