Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Tim Davis, Jamey Hansen, Tim Frerking, Chris Mende and Keesia Wirt.

A group of multiracial Americans held a rally in Washington on Saturday as part of a continuing effort by mixed-race groups to lobby the government to introduce a multiracial category for the 2000 census.

“We stand for the struggle to gain acceptance for being honest about racial tolerance, racial acceptance, racial integration,” said B.J. Winchester, president of the Unity Multiracial Social Group of Jacksonville, Fla.

Trying to categorize anything, of course, is never easy, but if the government made room on the census for multiracial people it would be much easier.

This lets people remain proud of their heritage without having to choose between denying or lying about their heritage due to the inadequacy of the choices on the census and other forms like it which ask for racial information.

The lack of a category for multiracial Americans does not treat the people who fill out the forms equally, especially if it doesn’t at least have another category, and it forces them to choose between mixed areas of their heritage.

If a half-white, half-black person fills out the forms they must choose one heritage and deny the other. This is keeping people from being honest and putting themselves in categories which do not fit.

Steve White, a teacher, said, “When your child gets one of these dreaded forms, go to the principal and ask, ‘Which part of my child should I deny? What kind of a lie are you asking me to tell our government?'”

In order to make the census accurate, the government should add this multiracial category.