Finding a multiracial identity, in small numbers
By Mike Swift
Mercury News

When 18-month-old Luke Do was diagnosed with leukemia and needed a bone marrow transplant, doctors told his parents that his chances of finding a matching genetic donor were "slim to none."

"I had no idea it was so difficult for multiracials," said Luke's mother, Sarah Gaskins of San Jose, who is Japanese and Irish, while Luke's father Lam Do is Vietnamese.

Gaskins thinks the census should have a specific "multiracial" category. It would increase the profile of a group with distinct needs, and would encourage people to acknowledge their full racial heritage, she said.

Sarah Gaskins and husband Lam Do, sit with their children Luke Do, 8, and Hope Do, 6, in their home in San Jose, Wednesday Aug. 13, 2008. Do is of Vietnamese decent and Gaskins is of Japanese and European decent. Population projections being released by Census Bureau on Thursday say that multiracial population will actually drop between 2000 and 2010, and that just 3.7 percent of the U.S. population will be multiracial in 2050 (David M. Barreda/Mercury News) ( David M. Barreda )