Walter Hinteler wrote:aidan wrote:And Europe is much more evolved in terms of their forms. There are about ten separate categories: Black- African, Black- West Indian, White- European, Asian, Multiracial, etc.
In fact, it's kind of ironic, but the tables were turned there. I always had to check other myself because the one category they didn't have was White-North American or White/American.
Really? I live here now 59 years and never noticed that someone asked me for anything else than my nationality.
And there are really forms where you have to fill that out ...

I can only speak for the UK Walter. And yes, most definitely- for employment I know that I did fill out a form, where I was at least
asked to check a box describing my nationality and/or racial heritage. But if I remember correctly - it was optional for me to do so- in other words- I could have chosen to leave it blank, and no one was standing there pressuring me to assign myself into a category. I filled out more than one form asking for that - I can't remember if it was also on a medical form or if it was that I filled out more than one application for employment. But yes, I know that several times I was happy to see the option "multicultural" and that I had to check check "white" and fill in "American" under other.
I'm 100% sure of it.
I do think and did feel when I lived in England and traveled in Europe that all race, in terms of the color of anyone's skin, was much less of an issue.
There, my impression is it's not so much based on race as it is on nationality.
I felt like this ignorant American who could and did like all the Europeans equally, and I kept getting told how there was all this underlying animosity between the people of this country and that country-and this was even though everyone had the same color of skin. So there are issues everywhere - no place is a tolerant and accepting classless, borderless utopia.
On the medical forms, I can understand having to know a racial heritage. For instance, if both parents are
not Jewish - you don't have to worry about Tay-Sachs. If both parents are
not black - you don't have to worry about sickle cell as both those diseases are carried by recessive genes by those specific racial carriers.
So that woman calling my son black instead of interracial, if anything, would
cause confusion about his true genetic tendencies and not alleviate it.
If people are going to label others- they should be precise in their labels.
And if people want to label themselves - let them label themselves whatever it is they most feel they are- and trust that they know what the heck they're doing.