This event was more or less inevitable given that organizations can allow people to change their genders (a social construct) but won’t allow them to change their race (another social construct). That is, many people and groups approve of “transgenderism” but strongly oppose “transracialism”.
It’s a mystery to me why, if you feel you’re of a different sex or gender than your natal sex, it’s okay—and often approved by authorities—to be identified by your assumed gender. But if you truly feel that you were born as a member of the “wrong” race, as was, famously, Rachel Dolezal in Spokane, Washington, then you are not allowed to identify as a member of your chosen race. When Dolezal was outed as white by her family, she was demonized, universally excoriated, and then fired from her job as chapter president of the local NAACP.
Defending the idea that you could be sincerely “transracial,” philosophy professor Rebecca Tuvel compared transracialism with both transsexualism and transgenderism in an article in the journal Hypatia, and ignited a huge academic firestorm. As I wrote at the time:
. . . . more than 400 academics have signed an open letter to the editor of Hypatia calling for the article to be retracted. “Our concerns reach beyond mere scholarly disagreement; we can only conclude that there has been a failure in the review process, and one that painfully reflects a lack of engagement beyond white and cisgender privilege,” the letter says.
The journal’s Facebook apology responded to those concerns by saying that it would be looking closely at its editorial processes to make sure they are more inclusive of transfeminists and feminists of color, whom the journal said had been particularly harmed by the article. The journal also apologized for its initial response to the backlash, saying that an earlier Facebook post had “also caused harm, primarily by characterizing the outrage that met the article’s publication as mere ‘dialogue’ that the article was ‘sparking.’ We want to state clearly that we regret that the post was made.”
But Tuvel’s article wasn’t pulled, and it’s still up (see first link above). I defended her because I think Tuvel’s argument for tranracialism, assuming someone’s desire to change races is sincere, showed clear and strong philosophical parallels with transgenderism. But for some reason I still can’t fathom, even progressive whites oppose transracialism, including the kind like Dolezal’s in which one identifies as the member of a group said to be oppressed. The differential response must have something to do, I think, with an assumed “sacredness” of racial minority status.
Well, according to the New York Post, a Chicago cop named Muhammad Yusuf, who initially gave his race as “Caucasian,” but could easily be considered a person of color, has decided to change his racial designation so he can take advantages of perks given to PoCs. It’s not a ruse, for he really is a minority-group member, and after joining the force he realized that he might have been promoted faster had he provided a more accurate racial designation. Click on the screenshot below to see the archived Post article:
The cops, by the way, refused to change his racial designation even though Yusuf gave them the results of a 23andMe test showing his genome had a non-Caucasian origin. So Yusuf is suing them.
Excerpts:
A Chicago police officer is suing the city to change his race on his official records after the department said it would allow officers to freely change their gender to match their identity.
Mohammad Yusuf, 43, said in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed last week that he is looking to change from “Caucasian” as he “currently identifies as Egyptian and African American.” However, the Chicago Police Department is not allowing him to change his race.
The lawsuit comes as the department allows an officer’s “gender identity [to be] corrected to match their lived experience,” Yusuf’s lawsuit alleges.
And, the decision is impacting Yusuf’s professional advancement, he claims.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Chicago Police Department for a statement, and it said: “We do not comment on pending litigation.”
According to the lawsuit, Yusuf alleges that he has been repeatedly overlooked for promotions due to his “Caucasian” race. These promotions, he claims, have been given to other minority applicants with only very few going to Caucasian applicants.
The 20-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department points in his lawsuit to CPD’s promotion system that “particularly” benefits “minority candidates,” even if they did not score well on promotional exams.
Yusuf specifically claims he “scored in the first promotional tier” on the sergeant’s exam in 2019. But, he was not promoted then and has still not received such a promotion.
Since that time, he alleges in the lawsuit to have seen “over 75 Merit Promotions to sergeant,” with “less than five” going to candidates who identify as Caucasian.
“Despite Yusuf’s exemplary qualifications and the purported race-neutral policy of the Merit System, Yusuf has been repeatedly bypassed for promotion in favor of less qualified candidates, based on their race, specifically African American officers, some of whom had disciplinary issues and were not suitable for the responsibilities of a sergeant,” Yusuf said in his complaint.
Yusuf said he first joined the force in 2004 and, at the time, the department only offered three race selections: Caucasian, Black and Hispanic. He chose “Caucasian” and it was put on his official record, he said.Now, the department offers “over nine” different racial designations for incoming officers. But, it is stopping him from changing his race to more accurately reflect his identity due to a “blanket prohibition” against changing an officer’s race, the legal filing said.
. . . . After repeated rejections, Yusuf claims he was told he would first have to produce a DNA test before his race could be changed on his record. He then provided the results of a “23 and Me” genetic test, which showed his heritage and race, but the department ultimately said it was “not possible” to change his official record, he claims.
So Yusef is suing Chicago for a Title V civil rights violation. He has a good case, for if the Police Department allows a gender (or sex) transition, it should allow a race transition, so long as it’s sincere. And although Yusef is doing this for reasons of ambition, he nevertheless has a good claims, for he’s not really Caucasian. Further, gender is said to be a social construct, and so is race, so what’s the difference? (Race isn’t really a pure social construct, for even the wonky “traditional” races like black, white, and East Asian have diagnostic genetic/biological differences if you do a multivariant DNA test.)
At any rate, Yusef seems to have a valid claim and I’m curious about whether the Police Department, which surely does practice a form of affirmative action for promotion, will fold.
And speaking as an observer of human nature, I still don’t understand why transracialism, particularly like the case above—but also in the case of Rachel Dolezal—is considered a no-no by both members of minorities and white “progressives.”
Below: Rachel Dolezal (photo taken from Wikipedia), speaking at a civil rights rally before being outed:
h/t: Jez
I don’t see why he shouldn’t be able to identify as his chosen race, by analogy with changing one’s gender. I was quite sympathetic with Rachel Dolezal at the time and thought that she was treated poorly, as she seemed sincerely to identify as Black. It didn’t seem as though she were trying to perpetrate a scam. (But all I know, of course, comes from what I read and saw in the media coverage.)
The one caveat would be to change one’s race as a way to perpetrate a fraud. It *could*be the case that this police officer is attempting to change his race for this reason as he states that gaining a promotion is one of his motivations. But this will be up to the courts to decide. It’s a good time to be an attorney.
Well, even if the cop is asking for a race change on grounds of careerism, if he really is nonwhite then it’s only fair to DESIGNATE him as nonwhite. The 23andMe test, I think, tells the tale.
Agreed. If he’s non-white, he’s non-white. Done.
But what is he? He says he’s Egyptian and African American. Is he claiming the latter just because Egypt is in Africa?
Race preferences are a poor idea.
Also, the indigenous of Canada fight Pretendians tooth and nail, presumably because they’re taking benefits reserved for true natives.
Given that, under the Civil Rights Act, it is illegal to take race into account when deciding on promotions, there’s no way a court would find him guilty of fraud for IDing as the wrong race, unless it also found that the police were acting illegally. And if they did the latter there is then no way they’d uphold a fraud conviction.
What we really need in the above case is for an actual white person to sue for racial discrimination. Which is indeed illegal in the US.
Good for him. Why should Steve Martin be the only one who was born as a poor black child?
On the other side, there is Clayton Bigsby (aka Dave Chapelle), the black white supremacist.
Clayton Bigsby – nsfw
Effing Dave Chappelle is too much. I love him.
The grift works only one way. Case closed.
Besides, when sanity returns, we will look back on the transgenderism fad with the same nervous grimace that we now adopt when we reminisce about recovered memory syndrome, multiple personality disorder, and hysterical neurasthenia from retroverted uterus….and the lives ruined by all of them, not just of the sufferers but, in the first two, the uninvolved people injured as collateral damage.
Officer Yusuf’s entanglement in the CPD’s expanding race pigeon-holing shows why race preference needs to end, not follow transgenderism down the same mad rabbit hole. Besides, he needs to face the fact that no matter what race he is ultimately found to be, it won’t matter for his career if it is not Hispanic (not a race) or black. Unless, of course the CPD decides to purge the force of “white” officers. Stay tuned.
P.S. I gotta say, though. “Egyptian and African-American.”… that’s really good.
“we will look back on the transgenderism fad with the same nervous grimace that we now adopt when we reminisce about recovered memory syndrome, multiple personality disorder,”
— I think lobotomy, FGM and foot binding are closer parallels. I’m not as optimistic as you are though that we’ll ever see that kind of wisdom necessary to make a course correction on what Jon Kay calls “genderwang”.
D.A.
NYC
I missed that term somehow. That’s pretty funny, too. Bunch o’ comedians today. It’s great! “Genderwang”… I’m passing that one along
And KenS below, too. Feels good to laugh. Keep it coming.
Maybe the next thing can be transage. I, following the rule set forth in Groucho v. Marx “You are only as old as the woman you feel”, would like to posit that Dane Cook is, in fact, 24.
Age is not considered a social construct though.
The grouping of humans into categories such as “children,” “teenagers,” “adults,” and “seniors” is a social construct though. At what age are you an adult? It varies from culture to culture . I can see someone using this to his or her advantage. This is why God created lawyers. “My client identifies as a child and cannot be tried as an adult.”
But age of consent is, which is relevant, if not to your own age, to the woman you feel. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
All I know is, while the calendar may tell me that I’m 70 years-old, my stiff lower back makes me feel like I’m 80.
And since the athletic activity in which I engage breaks participants into 5-year age groups, I’m going to petition to be able to compete in the 80-84 year-old category.
I’m kidding. Well, not about the lower back stiffness. 🙂
It’s already here, although the law has rejected it (so far…): https://news.sky.com/story/man-69-who-identifies-as-20-years-younger-begins-legal-battle-to-change-age-11547764
Can’t fool the ageing process with that one, Emile.
Ah, transage has already happened! It appeared on REDUXX: a grown older man who loves swimming and hanging out in the changing rooms with 14yo girls’ swim meets.
“Melody Wiseheart”
https://health.yorku.ca/health-profiles/index.php?mid=571564
The nadir of Canadian academics?
Is this the same “person”? Looks like a man. Psychologist ?
Outrage as transgender woman Melody Wiseheart, 50, competes against TEENAGERS in Canadian swim meet ‘and shares changing room with terrified girls’ A 50-year-old transgender woman has sparked backlash among parents after she competed in a swim meet against teenage girls in Canada.
The same is he.
Under Canadian human rights law and Canadian sport governing policy (under which amateur sporting organizations get government money — in Canada everything is about your government grant), a person who identifies as a woman is a woman and can compete in whatever sex category he, she, or they feels most comfortable. There is no need for the athlete to declare his or her transgender status —it’s almost always obvious of course—and no basis to challenge whether an athlete is “really” trans. Hormone tests are old hat, discredited because testosterone doesn’t matter.
The aquatic centres and other sports venues where trans athletes compete have no legal basis to prevent a man of any age from competing and dressing with girls of any age provided he has registered with Swim Canada (or other national sport governor) as a woman, which he can do with no documentation of any kind. The venues are terrified of expensive human-rights complaints from trans advocates if they were to respond in any way to concerns by parents except to shame them as transphobic bigots. They simply state they are committed to inclusion and privacy. Parents who want their daughters to swim have to shut up.
The manager at one athletic centre was able to deny, “truthfully”, rumours that a man had been allowed to swim in a girls’ event. He showed a Rebel News reporter the race sheets where all competitors, including a 50-year-old, were duly registered on the records as female. So there! He told the reporter that they go by whatever Swim Canada says and that’s all he had to say.
The same reporter has also filmed an intercollegiate women’s volleyball game in Toronto where several players were obviously young men, including one who had played on the men’s team previously. The men played the whole game, leaving the women to sit out as subs. When he tried to interview some of the players after the game they called him a white racist piece of shit.
Most North Africans, including Egyptians, are Caucasians. Are there genetically identifiable subgroups within Caucasians? Yes– that’s why 23 and Me, etc., work, and also why human races, in the zoological sense, if recognized, must be conventional, because there are so many identifiable geographically structured subgroups. So, he correctly chose Caucasian the first time. If they have more choices now, he might better fit one of the others; I can’t see why they wouldn’t let him change to a more fitting one.
GCM
‘Hispanics’ are largely Whites as well, presumably. Those classed as Hispanic in the US and who therefore get privileged access to the Ivy League, would be classified principally as White in the UK, Australia, NZ. But my paler-then-me Egyptian neighbours would be classified as ‘People of Colour’ in the UK, Australia, NZ.
Consider a pair of Spanish or Portuguese twins born in those nations to parents who physically appeared ‘White’, and they were separated at birth. One continued to live in Europe, the other raised subsequently in Latin or South America. If both these twins migrated to the USA as adults, would they both be classified as ‘Hispanic’? Or would this apply only to the twin raised in Central or South America?
Many US Census Bureau defined Hispanics are white, but many are black, many are American Indian, and many have ancestry from two or more of the above. I suspect that the single largest group within Hispanics have both white (mostly Spanish) and American Indian ancestry (mestizos); the Census Bureau probably has data on this.
GCM
The humorist Richard Armour wrote a memoir, “Drug Store Days,” about growing up in California in the early 20th century. He worked at a segregated movie theater which had separate sections for “Spanish” and “Mexicans.” He had to direct them to the right section and Spanish customers would be outraged if they found themselves sent to the Mexican section. Of course, it was difficult for a Gringo like him to tell the difference. He learned that they pronounced the Spanish word for “apples” differently, so he would ask them in Spanish “Do you like apples?” and hope that they would answer in a complete sentence. He said that they must thought it was an odd question, but he didn’t care.
So, Anglos may see Hispanics as a single group, but they don’t.
He should have asked the question, “Help me out, how do you say ‘apple’ in Spanish?” Otherwise he’s likely to get only “sí” or “no” in response…
The forms that I see asking for demographic information usually address this with a two-part question. If you check “Hispanic,” you’re then asked if you’re white or non-white.
Pew Research says,
https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2021/11/04/measuring-the-racial-identity-of-latinos/
I wonder if Yusef would have had more success if he just stuck to his argument that his race had been incorrectly assigned and avoided diving into two hot-wire issues: transgenderism and racial preferences. If he explained that, as a Person of Color, being termed “Caucasian” was emotionally damaging, he’d fit right into the narrative of identity and would make no waves.
Instead, he brings up the change in policy about choosing gender and claims that there’s no difference between that and identifying into another race — which, regardless of the merit of the argument, is a can of worms. Then, to compound the problem, he apparently starts talking about how incompetent people are getting promotions just because they’re not white. Again, whether he’s right or wrong he’s triggered the DEI crowd. This combination means they’d be baying for his blood even if he was a black descendant of slaves with a public pedigree.
Bad strategy on his part — assuming all he wants is the correction.
As for why people can identify into a different sex (screw “gender,” they don’t have a coherent definition) but not into another race, it seems in part to do with privilege rankings.
A Caucasian identifying as black is an oppressor pretending to be one of the oppressed. A man who identifies as a woman, however, is automatically inside the oppressed group “transgender,” which is more oppressed than “cis woman.” They’re therefore demanding that the oppressors recognize and accept them. If you accept the framework, it’s technically different.
Agreed, but we probably also agree that that’s likely not all he wants. He’s making a point.
I suppose he might as well. He knows he’s not going to make sergeant no matter what he does.
I wonder a bit if this is a test case picked by some civil rights law org?
They may have an obvious interest in all these extra points: Can they get a precedent that somehow equates transgenderism and transracialism? Or conversely will the court have to decide that legal race really means whatever your DNA tests show, not a social construct then? Will the department be forced to open up their data on how they racially discriminate, as Harvard was?
If not, then I don’t see why he’s opening more cans of worms than he has to. He’s just so sick of it that he wants to watch the world burn? Doesn’t sound like that.
> ” . . .will the court have to decide that legal race really means . . .?
Someone correct me if I’m wrong but there is no legal definition of race, nor any legal criteria for belonging to any particular race, in the United States. Because public discrimination by race is illegal, any legal definition of race would have no practical effect. (“One-drop” rules in the former Confederacy have been ruled unConstitutional.) So as soon as you start digging into race-conscious programs, they will collapse.
In Canada there is similarly no legal definition of race, yet it is legal to allocate economic and political benefits unequally according to race (and various other protected groups. I know. We bring this on ourselves.)
A claim to be black, say, rests entirely on whether others give it uptake. There is no objective way to adjudicate it. Barack Obama is more white than black. He is half black by genetics and had an entirely white upbringing with a white mother, two white grandparents, and lived with her in white neighbourhoods. Yet he is universally regarded as the Nation’s first black President, not its 44th white one.
Aboriginal status is different because it is covered by various national laws conferring that special status on various genealogically defined groups. (I have to stick that in because indigenous people are about the same proportion as black people in Canada and far more widely distributed.)
Some cases of homosexuality and of transsexualism are likely genetic. Transracialism is entirely psychological. In other words, you can be born transexual, but you can’t be born transracial.