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It is precisely because they feel under attack and in need of solidarity that many American minorities fear the blurring of racial lines. Congressional black leaders argue that adding a multiracial category to Census forms, which the Office of Management and Budget will be considering through June of this year, would make it much harder to detect and combat racial discrimination. For example, according to a recent article in Emerge, the black newsmagazine, in 1991 some 35,000 people chose "other" on Home Mortgage Disclosure Act papers meant to track bias in lending. Allowing people to opt out of traditional race categories, says Congressional Black Caucus chairwoman Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, "just blurs everything. [People pushing for a multiracial category] want to be seen for all they are, but I don't think they're making the connection about how it could affect how they're represented, or who's being an advocate for them when they get mistreated." Among the many programs administered on the basis of racial tallies: minority employment on government contracts, court-ordered school desegregation plans and protection of minority voting rights. All would have to be retooled, at great cost, if the categories change.
In the end, however, the impact of multiracialism will be decided not by the content of a Census form but in the hearts of Americans. Tiger Woods can proclaim his personal diversity, but if most people, like Zoeller, just see a "boy," it won't make much difference. Multiracial Americans will not get the right to define themselves as they choose without a fight.
--Reported by Tamala M. Edwards/Washington, Elaine Lafferty and Sylvester Monroe/Los Angeles and Victoria Rainert/New York