One more census rant...

[snapppyd]

It's not "offensive" to me at all, but I do find it bizarre. Of course, she should write that in, if that's what she wants to call her race, I am not suggesting anything different, but as far as I'm concerned, "American" is a nationality, not a race.

I'm sorry, I was speaking to Bumper, not you, however,

American = nationality
Caucasion = race

American Caucasion - why is that bizarre?

I realize you were asking Bumber, but this is a public board, and no one needs to be addressed personally to take part in the conversation.

I think I was pretty clear in why I find it bizarre. The census does not ask for nationality/race, it asks for race. I find it bizarre to answer the question "what is your race?" with "American caucasian".

I know what a public board is. I was asking HER why it was offensive to HER and you responded for HER. I quoted HER the first time. You are entitled to your opinion that it was bizarre, no need to get riled up.

 

[SplashMtnCrew]

OP, I believe you already know what you did was wrong. I do hope your aunt finds out what you did and looks at ways to press charges against you, I know I would. You didn't tell your aunt that you made decisions on her behalf, and I'm certain that you didn't tell the census worker that you have not been granted legal permission in a court of law to act on your aunt's behalf. You only told half of the truth, that a census worker came to the door... you lied by omission.

Anyone who has an issue with the census, its forms, its policies, its practices, etc., should address the goverment. Lay off the OP.

I never said I had an issue with the census. I see an issue with what the OP did. I included what I said so you could read it again

Wow, know the law before coming to a forum and looking like a fool...

The bolded areas of what I said are just for you
If possible, notice I said "and looks at ways to press charges" I never gave legal advice. I'll try to make it a more simple, if I were the OP's aunt and found out what had happened, I would seek legal council as to what options might be available to press charges. Wow, know what was said before coming to a forum and responding and looking like a (I won't include the rest of your fine comment) BTW, was the name calling a result of your inability to come up with something more clever to say? Have a terrific day!

 

[Mrs.Toad]

I know what a public board is. I was asking HER why it was offensive to HER and you responded for HER. I quoted HER the first time. You are entitled to your opinion that it was bizarre, no need to get riled up.

Perhaps you should take your own advice.

I responded because I agree with Bumber. It's pretty cringe-worthy to hear someone say her race is "American Caucasian". (I don't know if by "cringe" she meant she was offended or not, and won't make any assumptions on that.)

This is commonly done on message boards. I apologize for not typing "I'm not bumber, but...", but I thought it was pretty clear what I was doing.

 

[crashbb]

Perhaps you should take your own advice.

I responded because I agree with Bumber. It's pretty cringe-worthy to hear someone say her race is "American Caucasian". (I don't know if by "cringe" she meant she was offended or not, and won't make any assumptions on that.)

This is commonly done on message boards. I apologize for not typing "I'm not bumber, but...", but I thought it was pretty clear what I was doing.

What if they said "American Black"? Or "American Asian"?

 

[Toad_Passenger]

I didn't realize we could do this whole "race you associate with" thing this time around. DW filled it out and didn't let me in on it.

Personally, knowing how weird my friends think I am, I would probably have written in that I associate with the Neptunian race, or maybe Jupiterian?

Of course, I could have put in American-German-Welsh-Caucasian-Spiritualist-Soccer Fan, too.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

What if they said "American Black"? Or "American Asian"?

If used to answer "what is your race?", I would think that was pretty strange, too.

 

[snapppyd]

 

[Mrs.Toad]

 

[moburg]

Perhaps you should take your own advice.

I responded because I agree with Bumber. It's pretty cringe-worthy to hear someone say her race is "American Caucasian". (I don't know if by "cringe" she meant she was offended or not, and won't make any assumptions on that.)

This is commonly done on message boards. I apologize for not typing "I'm not bumber, but...", but I thought it was pretty clear what I was doing.

I was just asking Bumper, and I guess I can now ask you, which part you found offensive (or "cringe-worthy"), American or Caucasian?

Neither one are the least bit cringe worthy nor offensive to me, separately nor together.

 

[sbell111]

What if they said "American Black"? Or "American Asian"?

'American' still would not be a race.

I was just asking Bumper, and I guess I can now ask you, which part you found offensive (or "cringe-worthy"), American or Caucasian?

Neither one are the least bit cringe worthy nor offensive to me, separately nor together.

Given that 'caucasian' is a race (that would be covered with a simple check in the 'white' box) and 'American' is not a race, I would think that it's fair to say that everyone who cringed at that statement did so at the use of the word 'American'. I would go on to presume that not a single person was actually offended by it. Some might have been embarrassed for the poster, but not offended.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

I was just asking Bumper, and I guess I can now ask you, which part you found offensive (or "cringe-worthy"), American or Caucasian?

Neither one are the least bit cringe worthy nor offensive to me, separately nor together.

Neither term is cringe-worthy, strange or bizarre to me on it's own. Neither is the combination if it was used in a different context.

What's bizarre to me is using it as a term to describe one's race. In this case, it seems caucasian is the race, and I see no more need to qualify it with "American" than with one's state of origin. I'm sure if I said my race was "Californian Caucasian", most people would look at me as if I had three heads (not that there's anything wrong with that. )

 

[moburg]

'American' still would not be a race.

Given that 'caucasian' is a race (that would be covered with a simple check in the 'white' box) and 'American' is not a race, I would think that it's fair to say that everyone who cringed at that statement did so at the use of the word 'American'. I would go on to presume that not a single person was actually offended by it. Some might have been embarrassed for the poster, but not offended.

When did 'Mexican' become a race? Or Japanese? Or Chinese? Those are all nationalities as well, but are included on the Census form.

 

[FireDancer]

When did 'Mexican' become a race? Or Japanese? Or Chinese? Those are all nationalities as well, but are included on the Census form.

None of those are a race as far as I know, and neither is American unless you are an American Indian. They definitely have some consistency issues if nothing else.

As far as I am concerned I am a caucasian who happens to be an American citizen of Italian and Polish descent.

 

[crashbb]

None of those are a race as far as I know, and neither is American unless you are an American Indian. They definitely have some consistency issues if nothing else.

As far as I am concerned I am a caucasian who happens to be an American citizen of Italian and Polish descent.

Your government appears to think that they are a race - they are labeled as such on the census form posted earlier in the thread.

 

[FireDancer]

Your government appears to think that they are a race - they are labeled as such on the census form posted earlier in the thread.

The government is not immune from being incorrect. Why would Chinese be a race but not Estonian, or Cambodian, or Portuguese? Either every nationality is a race or they aren't. I also don't see why we have to select only one sub-category. Why does it matter if someone is both caucasian and Hispanic but not if someone is both caucasian and Scandinavian. Both are subsets of the overall race.

I just don't like the inconsistency, that is all. I do think that more data the better because going as deep in the class tree as you can yields more complete information but you don't only choose some sub-classes and not mutually exclusive sub classes. That is poor data collection.

 

[snapppyd]

When did 'Mexican' become a race? Or Japanese? Or Chinese? Those are all nationalities as well, but are included on the Census form.

This may be the crux of why the aunt said what she did. It seems certain nationalities are being singled out. Maybe it was sarcasm, maybe just trying to prove a point? Why not list Irish, Italian, etc.?

 

[snapppyd]

The government is not immune from being incorrect.

 

[crashbb]

The government is not immune from being incorrect. Why would Chinese be a race but not Estonian, or Cambodian, or Portuguese? Either every nationality is a race or they aren't. I also don't see why we have to select only one sub-category. Why does it matter if someone is both caucasian and Hispanic but not if someone is both caucasian and Scandinavian. Both are subsets of the overall race.

I just don't like the inconsistency, that is all. I do think that more data the better because going as deep in the class tree as you can yields more complete information but you don't only choose some sub-classes and not mutually exclusive sub classes. That is poor data collection.

Which is the crux of the argument. Why is it "cringe worthy" to want to be "American Caucasian", when the census allows similar combinations.

I mean, they all seem weird to be (as answer to the stated question), but why are some okay and others not okay?

 

[Mrs.Toad]

When did 'Mexican' become a race? Or Japanese? Or Chinese? Those are all nationalities as well, but are included on the Census form.

Apparently, enough Mexicans, Japanese, Chinese, etc, feel that their genetic origins are distinct enough to qualify as different races, and lobbied hard enough to get them all listed on the census.

Unless one is a Native American, "American" is a little different. I hope we never come to the point of putting German, Swedish, Italian, French, Belgian, Danish, Scottish, Portugese and Lithuanian on our census, too.

 

[moburg]

The government is not immune from being incorrect.

Actually, I think the government is immune from being correct. The are incorrect all the time!