Seven-year-old Keiton Knight is dead. Now, I know the first question that comes to mind is how could such an adorable child have died. Well, we killed him. Of course I’m speaking metaphorically, but because of the way we (society) view race, he died. Keiton had Acute Myeloidblastic Leukemia and desperately needed a bone marrow transplant. “Well, why didn’t he get one?” you may be asking. Keiton could not because the British Bone Marrow Registry, one of the largest in the world, failed to turn up a match. Contrary to popular belief, an individual’s race can come into play when it concerns biological matters.

If you haven’t guessed yet, Keiton is biracial. He was born to a black father and white mother. Up until the latter part of the 20th century society has generally labeled such children as solely black/African-American. Studies have shown that erroneous misclassifications imposes psychological problems on mixed-race children, it also hinders certain genetic based medical practices. You see, Keiton’s best chance of finding a suitable donor was among the mixed-race community, not the black one.

Peter Little, a Molecular geneticist from the University of New South Wales explains in his book Genetic Destinies that even though race is difficult for the public to discuss and that "liberals" put a taboo on the topic, it is a terrible mistake to do this because the science of genes has a great deal to offer on the subject. Of course no one is saying we aren't all one race, the human race, but until we realize that social and biological definitions on race are understood to be completely different, cases like Keiton’s will continue to occur.

This problem can be easily fixed. But only through educating the public on multicultural issues and the promotion that people of mixed race descent are distinct members within our society will the path towards it begin.

Keiton Knight: