Dear Editor, I write to express my concern and disappointment in relation to question 11 of the census 2016 form which classifies people according to their colour i.e. ‘white’ and ‘black/coloured’ or ‘geal’ or ‘gorm’.
There is only one human race and any attempt to imply that there are two or more races is false and has led to discrimination and persecution in the course of recent history. In fact, the colour of one’s skin is, humanly speaking, as important as the size of one’s boot!
The classification of people according to ethnic background, language, nationality, religion or social class is quite in order from a human dignity point of view. Racial classification is based on biological and physiological traits which are generally inherited.
I am sure that the authors of the census 2016 form have included ‘race’ as a category for positive social policy reasons. Nevertheless, such classification is at best unwise and at worst very dangerous, in my opinion. Hopefully such categorisation will not be included in future census forms.
Yours etc.,
Micheál MacGréil SJ,
Westport,
Co. Mayo.