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Race - Ethnicity and forms

deborah

deborah

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I had a doctors visit yesterday and was filling out forms. They all have this section and I know sometimes it's an option but I decided from now on to do this:

RACE: HUMAN

Ethnicity: WORLDLY

Yes I was being Snarky: But it makes me mad. All these categories compartmentalize us as PEOPLE. I am Prussian, American Indian, German, English, Scottish, Irish and American. And is there a difference between Race and Ethnicity? Someone needs to teach the doctor(s) definitions.

What is your take on this? If people united and did this everywhere what a move in the right direction. Yeah I know, difference races are predisposed to different illnesses but gessshhhh.
 
Good work, I totally agree. We do not have those kinds of questions on documents before seeing the doctor, and our country in Europe has people originally from all over the world, most likely myself too if I start to do research on it. I have reacted before on this in the US why one must fill in if one is white or of color. I guess it is something I just do not get.
 
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I'm also annoyed by this kind of thing. There are reasons, but I still don't like it. For the doctor I'll do it. For the rest of them I try to avoid it--none of their business and irrelevant, prying nonsense.
 
Those questions are absolutely forbidden in my country. I've never ever had to answer any question about race and ethnicity in my life.
 
While I' m actually interested in human diversity, the questionnaires in the United States are very limited and don't make sense. I think "Latino" is listed as a race... what?? Supposedly the difference between race and ethnicity is that race is your phenotype while ethnicity is your cultural background. It is still quite limited, sadly Alpine is not listed as a subrace. Back in the day apparently Italians weren't classified as "White" in the US and they had to fight for that status. I don't even know what they use these classifications for because first, people can say whatever, and second, there aren't enough options. Supposedly a Hispanic ethnicity is also anyone who was born in a Latin american country, even if your family is from somewhere else. So for the US government if you are Italian born in Argentina your ethnicity is the same as if you are an aborigine Peruvian who lived there for generations.
 
Deborah said:
I had a doctors visit yesterday and was filling out forms. They all have this section and I know sometimes it's an option but I decided from now on to do this:

RACE: HUMAN

Ethnicity: WORLDLY

Yes I was being Snarky: But it makes me mad. All these categories compartmentalize us as PEOPLE. I am Prussian, American Indian, German, English, Scottish, Irish and American. And is there a difference between Race and Ethnicity? Someone needs to teach the doctor(s) definitions.

What is your take on this? If people united and did this everywhere what a move in the right direction. Yeah I know, difference races are predisposed to different illnesses but gessshhhh.
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I agree with you exactly!
 
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