The Washington Post, July 26, 1996:

Sandra and Tom Prather ... learned when they tried to enroll their 5-year-old son, T.J., in kindergarten [in Montgomery County, Maryland.] that, under state and federal regulations, they would have to decide whether the boy was white, African American, Latino, Asian or Native American. The form made no provision for the fact that T.J.'s mother is white and his father is black....

Under county regulations, the Prathers' refusal to designate a single racial or ethnic category means the school system will decide for them, and that could have significance to T.J. when school administrators assign students to classrooms or weigh transfer requests.

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