Recently I heard about Irish Latino people. The concept has to do with Irish immigration to Mexico. These people are genetically Ginger, politically and linguisticially Mexican.

Not to be confused with the Black Irish, which is any non-ginger or dark-haired Irish person, sometimes said to be descended from Spanish navy who were shipwrecked in Ireland hundreds of years ago.

They’re all fine people with valid identities. I like Irish, I like Mexican, I like gingers, I like the dark-haired. But, do you see where this is going? In today’s society you can be translucently pearl-white with family originally from Ireland – and, if you wish, claim Hispanic identity. Which is, supposedly, a “race” like any other.

“Race” is an example of an anti-category: A classifier that actually confuses people and harms rational thought, because it based on an arbitrary mix of concepts: part national origin, part skin tone, part birth language or language of your last name, and part personal choice. It’s as silly as if I were to categorize fruits based on whether they’re yellow, a type of apple, picked on a Tuesday, or something I like to cook with.

We should immediately drop all racial categories and move to a post-racial society.