A Colorful Case for Outside-the-Box Thinking on Identity | Olivia Vinckier | TED

When I was in first grade,

I remember learning my colors.

We started by learning about the primary colors:

red, yellow and blue.

Our teacher taught us how they were the pure colors of the rainbow.

No two colors could be combined to create them.

Our next task was to mix them into something more complex:

green, purple and orange.

These secondary colors, especially green,

stood out to me.

I was fascinated by how two primary colors could be mixed together

to create something nuanced and completely unique.

When our teacher told us

that our next task was to draw a picture of our family,

I couldn't wait.

I started by drawing my stick-figure mom, dad and brother,

but then filled in the white space with something else.

I’d used the washable paints I had mixed just a few minutes ago

to create the colors of my family.

I colored my mom yellow, my dad blue

and my brother and I green.

Every time someone asks about my background,

I'm reminded of that art class.

My mom is 100-percent Ashkenazi Russian Jewish,

and my dad is 50-percent Korean and 50-percent Belgian.

So what does that make me?

How should I describe myself?

Where do I fit in among the color spectrum we were all taught in first grade?

By definition, race is a categorization of humans

based on physical and social qualities.

The term was first used to refer to speakers of a common language

or to denote national affiliation.

But by the 17th century, the term referred to physical traits.

So am I white or am I Asian?

The question of race has followed me around

for as long as I can remember.

Ever since I started taking standardized tests

or filling out online surveys,

I’ve been asked to select my race.

And every time, I take a pause to think about which box I should choose.

I'm white and Asian,

but I'm not allowed to click both.

So which do I pick?

Well, when I was younger, I would always choose white.

I simply concealed a portion of my identity

to make my life easier.

Instead of having to think about what "other" meant on those surveys,

I would compress my identity into one single box.

It was a quick and easy fix.

But as I got older,

I realized that "other" better reflected my multiracial background.

But that choice of "other" comes at a cost.

Even though I'm surrounded by loving and understanding people,

every time I go to check that box,

I'm forced to think of myself as "other,"

or someone who doesn't exactly fit in,

like I'm some sort of anomaly or evidence of something strange.

I don't want the world to see me as "other,"

or the given box on those surveys.

I know there's so much more to me.

But clearly, society doesn't see it that way.

They want a simplified view of who each of us are.

But these days, are any of us that simple?

One of my best friends says it perfectly:

"People are like an entire rainbow,

and shouldn't be defined by any one of their colors."

The one-box rule from test surveys

has confused multiracial people since the beginning of the US census.

For the longest time,

you could only select one box on being asked about your race.

The Census Bureau didn't start to allow choosing more than one box

until the year 2000.

2000. That was only 22 years ago.

Every multiracial person living in America before the year 2000

had to, at some point, fill out a form

stating that they identify as one, singular race:

white, Black, Asian, Indigenous, Pacific Islander.

For everyone in that situation, you probably chose one of those,

reducing your racial makeup into one box.

Or you chose "other," like me,

because you're an aware secondary color of the rainbow.

So what does "other" mean?

The definition is, literally,

someone who is different than one already known about.

But these people who choose "other" aren't different --

we're comparing apples to oranges.

10 percent of the American population is multiracial,

which measures out to about 33.8 million people.

Within that number,

there are so many combinations of cultures and races,

yet we're all forced to fit into one box.

Not only is a multiracial person's experience

different from those who are of one race,

but that experience also varies from person to person.

There's a wide spectrum forcibly contained into one small square,

an effect that minimizes the racial experience.

Look what just happened: the same color, but five different ways.

Categorizing all multiracial people as "other"

is just like saying that navy and periwinkle are the same shade of blue.

And that number, in America, is rapidly growing each year.

In the last 10 years, there was a 276-percent increase

of multiracial-identifying individuals.

At some point in the future,

there will be more people choosing "other"

than the handful of given boxes on those surveys.

Though this everexpanding rainbow is a beautiful thing,

having all of those people have to categorize themselves

as "other" in society is not.

That's why I introduce a new idea of racial categorization

in the form of an open-ended question.

It would recognize a spectrum that's lacking in our world today.

One study, done by scientist Alicia Tran and others,

showed that an open-ended question provided an experience once deprived

when being asked about race with only a few options.

An open-ended question would give people an opportunity

to express pride in their multiracial backgrounds.

As our world continues to racially intertwine,

we will reach a point where it will become impossible

to categorize people by a handful of outdated and predetermined boxes.

Even now, we're seeing a declining population

of reds, yellows and blues,

and an increasing community of oranges, purples and greens.

As such, we can no longer expect people to define who they are

by simply checking a primary color.

Although race is a social construct

built on a structure of assumptions and stereotypes,

we cannot simply get rid of race altogether.

However, the simplicity and ease of an open-ended question

could truly lead our society into a more inclusive and accepting world

that acknowledges the spectrum of racial identities,

a world where all the shades of greens, purples and oranges

are just as recognized as the reds, yellows and blues.

Thank you.

(Cheers and applause)