I don’t know whether the system is already rigged or not–I don’t have enough info to make such a judgment. But it seems to me as soon as people start pushing for P.C. requirements like this, they are trying to rig the system to fit an agenda.

Mike Melendez,

Actually, what I said is that “there is a very good argument that there is no such thing as race,” which is not the same thing as saying it doesn’t exist. Consider this from the OMB:

For purposes of collecting data in the United States, race and ethnicity are cultural concepts and social constructs. As stated in the current version of Directive No. 15, the racial and ethnic categories are not intended to reflect scientific or anthropological definitions of who should be included in a particular category. The definitions of the minimum set of population categories under Directive No. 15 include references to color, ancestry, and geographic origins in an effort to approximate social constructs of race prevalent in the United States.

In line with the subjective nature of the concept, research shows people change how they classify themselves with respect to race and ethnicity. There is significant inconsistency in the measurement of ethnicity particularly. Research shows different responses are summoned by the format of questions (open or specified categories), the number of categories, the examples listed, changes in self-perceptions within groups and among age cohorts, and the political climate.

As I noted, President Obama had a white mother and a black African father, and in the United States he is considered black or African American. I am not saying his “race” doesn’t matter to him or to the rest of the country. I am saying that race is largely a social construct. If Obama had married a “white” woman, his children would almost certainly still be considered black or African American. This is not because “blackness” is genetically dominant and “whiteness” recessive. It is, I would argue, the result of racism in a society in which, if you are not a “pure-blooded” white person, you are black.

If sexual orientation exists, then why does homosexuality “count” as an “orientation” but other forms of sexual deviance do not?

“Because I said so” and “if you have to ask, you’re obviously too ignorant to be worth answering” are the only explanations I’ve heard so far to explain why it’s just self-evident that there is such a thing as “sexual orientation” to describe why some people have maladapted and inappropriate sexual desires with regard to gender, but the same phenomenon does not and cannot explain why some people have maladapted and inappropriate sexual desires of various other types.

Until I hear an explanation that is actually capable of explaining this, I will assume that “sexual orientation”, if it exists, applies to all persons who are born with inappropriate, involuntary sexual desires – or else it isn’t real at all, but is just a political myth made up by a powerful, sexually decadent political lobby.

Thomas Aquinas,

According to Wikipedia, “Genophobia is the physical or psychological fear of sexual relations or sexual intercourse.” I don’t have a clue what you mean or how genophobia could have anything to do with race. I also don’t have a clue what it could have to do with homosexuality, although I am guessing your intention was somehow to mock gay people.

But if someone believes he was born of a certain race, has always had feelings that he belonged to a certain race, and can’t imagine his life without that self-understanding, and thus seems so integral to his character and identity, how can you say there is no such thing as race for him? Isn’t it somewhat arrogant to tell another person that what he believes to be true about himself is wrong? It seems so genophobic.

Carlo,

Of course there is such a thing as sexual orientation. But there is a very good argument that there is no such thing as race.

Entities are like people: sometimes they need to hit bottom before they see the error of their ways.

California was a nice place to live, once. When I first left there, people were astonished that I would leave such a place. I’d never met any other “expats”, and most of the people I met had never met anyone who’d voluntarily left California to come to the midwest. The idea was novel. Now, you meet former Californians all over the place, and when you mention being from California originally, people just laugh, and sometimes make a joke about how lucky I was to get out.

So many places run by liberals (unchecked) are either wrecked or on their way to being wrecked. I wonder how much more we’ll have to endure before people figure out that isn’t a coincidence.