Kip

Race matters (but only if you’ve lived in Michigan)

Written by Kip on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 5:47 pm (EDT)
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While authorizing a third party to conduct a criminal background check (for my application to grad school), I noticed this:

Ethnicity: optional unless you have lived in Michigan

I clicked the “FAQ” link, expecting “why do you only need to know the ethnicity of Michiganis?” to be the most frequently asked question.  But it was nowhere to be found.

Maybe it’s like how they ask you if you have had gay sex with a man from the Congo since 1976 before you can give blood.  If you answer “yes”, they just assume you have AIDS and throw your blood away without testing it.  Similarly, if you are from Michigan and select the wrong race1, you must be a sociopath.

1 Note: I did not say what the “wrong” race is, lest everyone call me a racist.  But I think I know what you are already thinking. “Other”.  You filthy anti-otherite bigot.
4 Comments
# Jonah
May 8, 9:42 am

So are you going for a masters? Or a Ph.D.?

# kip
May 8, 12:25 pm

Masters in Computer Science at UNCC.  My company will pay for it! (with a few strings attached..)

I think the only reason they needed a background check was because I checked “yes” when asked if I had ever been charged with a crime.  I explained on the form that it was just a speeding ticket six years ago though.

When I applied for my co-op job at IBM I checked “no” to a similar question and they called me up and asked why I lied about a criminal history.  I asked what they were talking about and they said I had a speeding ticket.  I didn’t realize that counted.  So now I check “yes” unless the form specifically says “except for minor traffic violations.”

# Emily D
May 17, 10:53 am

I thought people from Michigan are called Michiganders?

# kip
May 17, 5:28 pm

Wikipedia says “Michigander” or “Michiganian”.  I guess I just assumed like most of the other “an”s I could think of (i.e. Pakistan -> Pakistani).

I like “Michiganite” too.

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