Since my high school days in early sixties I have always left blank

[Winterblues]

no matter what form I fill out any question dealing with race. It should not be asked EVER....There is no reason it would be pertinent in any manner. Not for Census either. I don't know if it has cost me jobs or ??? but it really is a question I never answer...I do understand there are special grants and loans available for "minorities" but it would only stand to reason only a minority would fill out the application if it were only applicable to minorities.. So I can't think of any instance it would be relevent.

[harkadog]

1. The information has been used to find practices based on race.

Hiring, firing, monetary grants to communities, minorities admitted to schools, etc.

[cap]

2. if you don't fill it out, EEOC doesn't have the data on discrimination

eom

[Bucky]

3. If we could all just *wish* hard enough, four centuries of socially engineered hatred will go away

While I agree race is a mostly silly topic that we, as a nation, are utterly incapable of speaking intelligently about, prejudice and discrimination are still concrete realities that millions of Americans don't have the option of avoiding. It would be a better world if employers, job seekers, and government agencies didn't have to deal with the problems that come with human diversity. It would also be a better world if we didn't have to deal with pollution, but it's still a problem.