femmefatale

A recent news story has cited that Mississippi has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the country. It’s at a staggering 68.4 % currently for this state. New Mexico follows second place, with 64.1 %, and Texas with 63.1 %. Now, as much as the fact that any teens are getting pregnant let alone at those rates bothers me, there’s something else that is amiss. Why does it seem that any time there are some negative statistics, these researchers always label it a “minority” problem? For example, the article about teen pregnancy rates on Yahoo says that these states have a larger amount of Black and Hispanic teenagers which are noted by experts to have higher birth rates. Well for one, you need to know how statistics are done in the United States. Especially, when it comes to those characterized by race. What I’ve learned is that multi-racial or mixed race relationships and children aren’t categorized as just that. These “experts” label them one race or the other, instead of what they are, a mixture of the races of their parents. I can give you a good example, but first let me give you a little background on my family. My family is very racially mixed, as far back as anyone can remember. Unlike what many people would like to think that racial mixing in the USA only coming from slave ownership etc, our family is built on racially mixed marriages. Those relationships and marriages lasted and were faithful ones. Thankfully, my ancestors didn’t let ignorant stigma and prejudice stop them from having fulfilling relationships. It’s not a big deal to see these kinds of partnerships from my point of view. Actually, people just need to get over it, because I highly doubt you will see anyone in this world who isn’t multi-racial somewhere down the line.

 I don’t particularly buy into the statements that the government is doing racial statistics to help mankind either. So far, looking into the history of these kinds of statistics is why I don’t believe in any genuine human interest strategy. In the history of the United States government, racial statistics have been used mostly in an effort to cause separation between the races and spread racist propaganda. This is why I like the idea of DNA tribes, and other DNA related tests that people can take to identify all of the different races and regions in a person’s blood. People are more than what they appear to be on the surface, and all of us need to understand that about each other. We’re all human and need to respect each other. Now, getting back to how the statistics are done. I was helping my brother to get his daughter (my brother is African/Native American/Caucasian(Irish, Scottish)/Asian decent and his daughter’s mother is Caucasian consisting of Irish/Native American decent) and who knows what else may be in there somewhere. A worker at the hospital and health office where you take children for check ups, told me when I inquired about why they had my niece’s race down as white only that,”Well, for government statistical purposes they tell us to put the race of the mother regardless.” I have a bunch of problems with this, for one how do you even know what races someone is just by the look of their features or skin color? You can not tell, and therefor anything you put down would be wrong. Secondly, if you choose one race either way for a multi-racial child it is still wrong. Then, another office told me that they usually categorize mixed children (when one parent is of a darker skin tone or color) as African American or Black no matter that they are mixed. So, how can any of these statistics be correct? They aren’t, these experts are going on a generalization that is wrong. Multi-racial children should be labeled as such. Statistics shouldn’t be based on such ignorant old-fashioned methods either. I believe it is just something to further the amount of misinformation about other races, and to attempt to solidify the falsifications that “minorities have higher birth rates.”

How are the birth rates higher among people of color, if many of these children are being born to Caucasian mothers, but being listed as being simply African American, Black, or Hispanic births? What’s more is that “minorities” are called this because there are not near as many people of color in the United States as there are Caucasians. If these experts want to go so in depth for the good of mankind as they say, then they need to count both parents in multi-racial births and not just the race which they desire to count. Medical institutions should also follow suit with this, because the data is incorrect. The world needs to learn to accept that multi-culturalism of humankind will not go away, they can not make these children go away, and they can not solidify a stigma forever. The newer society, Presidential election, and attitudes of our current generations indicate this. One day, there will be no more of this nonsense. Concern should not be with race, but with what is happening in society that is promoting teen pregnancy in the minds of these youngsters. More education and prevention needs to be taught, rather than just abstinence. Waiting for marriage should be the ideal, but adults should face the fact that teenagers are not always going to wait. Once everyone decides to get real on the issue of teen pregnancy, maybe the numbers of young parents will decrease.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS