Be careful of this one. Hospitals use a set of questions like this. I enjoy
confusing them by describing myself as White, African, 'cos that's where I
was born and grew up. I think I faced a similar quandary in the Census
question.
Len McDonald
----- Original Message -----
From: Boardman, Carl - Cultural Services <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, July 12, 2002 9:01 AM
Subject: Ethnic monitoring
> In Oxfordshire we are being asked to show the relevance of our services to
> ethnic minorities by (inter al) reference to the number of ethnic minority
> users who visit the Record Office. This is leaving us with a problem on
how
> we measure such a thing. To ask everyone who enters the Office to tell us
> their ethnic group is potentially insulting, and at best sounds like
> something out of the darker days of the European dictatorships - we might
> have the best of intentions, but I could understand anyone from a
background
> which has experienced racial harassment getting very edgy about it. If we
> make it voluntary, any statistics will be meaningless. There are even Data
> Protection issues involved - for what practical purpose do we need this
> information, how are we going to use it, and when are we going to destroy
> it?
>
> Has anyone else faced this question, and if so how did they tackle it?
>
> Incidentally, I have suggested that different cultures have different
> attitudes towards history, and to expect a culture to conform to the
> intellectual justifications behind a record office network is in itself
> suspect - you can make available, as we have tried to do by printing
> leaflets in various languages, but have to be careful this doesn't spill
> into pressurising. Certain self-proclaimed proponents of racial equality
> seem to have difficulty with this one.
>
> Carl Boardman
> Oxfordshire Record Office
>
> Oxfordshire Record Office is a section of Cultural Services in Oxfordshire
> County Council. This message is intended only for the addressee, and OCC
can
> take no responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained
> therein, nor should the message be held as having any legal validity.
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