I’m Guyanese, hire me
Today I applied for a position at The New York Times Company. My choices for race/ethnicity were White, Black or African American, Latino or Hispanic, Asian or Other Pacific Islander, American Indian, Two or more races, OR Prefer not to Disclose. I have to choose an option to proceed with the application and unless I plan to lie about my race/ethnicity, I will have to choose Prefer not to Disclose for the sake of this job. I suppose I could be Two or more Races since my great-grandmother was half Portuguese. That counts, right?
These categories were not defined by NTYCO. They are categories as defined by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. How equal is it if my race isn’t even considered. It boils down to either lying about my ethnicity or falsely claiming that I prefer not to disclose. I prefer to disclose. I’ll be Indian if you want me to. South American. Caribbean. Western Hemispherian. I’ll even take OTHER. But please, for the sake of my equal-opportunity, journalistic future…GIVE ME A CATEGORY!
