Count me Census!

I can't recall where I was the last time we had the census. I don't recall much, but I do recall that, like this year, I was keen to get selected to fill out the long from. Something about filling out those forms give me a feeling of importance.

However there weren't enough interesting questions on the form. Name, gender, birth date and then race. I get to select White. I'm not of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban or other Hispanic, Latina or Spanish decent. And why do we single out Mexican, Puerto Rican or Cuban? I mean, we don't count Colombian, Peruvian or Jamaican. Why are those three nationalities so special? And what if you're of Peruvian Native American stock? Do you fill out the Native American slot and say Peruvian, as that would be more accurate than Hispanic, right?

Likewise there is no interest if you're from Africa. My friend who is white, Jewish, South African descent... is he white or African American? And why should the Moroccans be lumped in with the Kenyan and Mali? Are they all the same race?

Then we come to the Asian breakdown. Suddenly we have a world of interest with Japanese getting to be different from Chinese & Korean. I mean those three countries boarder each other - that's like saying we need to have the British and Italian differentiate from each other. Are they really difference races?

At the end I realize how meaningless it all is. I check the last box, feel unfulfilled and tuck the form into the envelope to send back. There are more important unimportant things for me to fret over.