How do you respond to the "Ancestry" census question?

[sparkey]

How do you respond to the "Ancestry" or "Ethnicity" census question on US census (or American Community Survey) forms? In particular, I'm thinking of the 2000 census format: https://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf

The 2000 census allowed a primary ancestry and a secondary ancestry, but no more. It also allowed "regional" answers, notably "American," unlike 1980, when "American" was not counted as an acceptable answer.

How about other members of your household? Are you all the same "ancestry"?

[sparkey]

I've spent too much time thinking about this, probably because I'm interested in ethnography.

My ancestry is basically from 3/4 colonial stock (mostly English but with some lines being Swiss, German, Scottish, Northern Irish, etc.), 1/8 more recent Cornish immigrants, and 1/8 more recent Welsh immigrants. But how to fit all of that into a census form? I favor "American" as primary and "Welsh" as secondary. "American" I feel takes care of the 3/4 colonial, and "Welsh" is the more recent of the remaining 2 (and the Cornish were once called West Welsh, amiright?), so that takes care of almost all of it.

It's weird though, that in answering the way I prefer, I'd be failing to have the census count the plurality ancestry I have (English), as well as the ancestral origin of my surname (Swiss).

[tik 🪀✨]

l identify primarily as an Inuit with strong European influences (sperm), although I also recognize ethnicity as a primarily useless societal construct.

[sparkey]

l identify primarily as an Inuit with strong European influences (sperm), although I also recognize ethnicity as a primarily useless societal construct.

So... can I mark you down for:
Primary: Inuit
Secondary: European

Or would you prefer:
Primary: Inuit
Secondary:  Strong European influences (sperm), although I also recognize ethnicity as a primarily useless societal construct (written really small)

[Oldiesfreak1854]

They didn't include that question on the 2010 Census, but my answers would be the following:

Primary: Scottish
Secondary: Irish

I also have some Pennsylvania Dutch, and Canadian, with possibly some Scandinavian and Scots-Irish.

[Хahar 🤔]

I'm not a special snowflake because I'm not a white person so this is very easy for me.

[Tender Branson]

A) we have a register-based census, which means the census is invisible (= no person has to fill out any census form)

B) ancestry is not part of the census anyway (just if you are a foreigner or foreign born).

[TNF]

I've never actually answered the census, but I will probably put 'American' or 'Scots-Irish' as my primary and Indian/Native American as secondary

[Bigby]

From what I know, I'm mostly Irish, English, and Italian, so I guess I'll go with which ancestry I have the most.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

White British

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Primary: American
Secondary: Canadian

I don't identify myself ethnically, tho I do enjoy the irony of being an American with United Empire Loyalist ancestry.

[rpryor03]

Primary: Irish
Secondary: Bahamian

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

Since only two are allowed, Italian and Asian Indian, I guess

[dead0man]

I often put "other" for such things ('cause reasons), but the wife filled out the last census and I'm pretty sure she put me down for German/English.

[Mechaman]

Ehh, I lived with my parents at the time of the last Census so I really have no idea how they responded.  They probably put "American" or something.

If the US Census Bureau persists I fill out their forms the next time I'm going to answer "Other" or "Decline to State" (sorry, I have never looked at one of those forms so I'm guessing here).  In a free country where individuality is so important, why does the government care so much about knowing my ethnic/racial stock?  That just sounds creepy and I won't give them the pleasure.

[Torie]

English (about 85% or so). Found a French connection recently (a great, great, great grandmother in Quebec who married an Anglophone, with a photo to boot), so the old gene pool finally got off the island and on to the continent.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Italian

[ilikeverin]

Primary Irish, Secondary German is what I think I'd say.  My dad's side has quite a bit of the "colonial" stock but that doesn't mean I don't know where a lot of them were from.

[VPH]

Portuguese. Easy because I can't find a drop of any other blood as far back as I can trace.

[Rockefeller GOP]

Primary: English
Secondary: German

[The Other Castro]

Primary: Ukrainian
Secondary: Polish

[DavidB.]

Jewish

This - though in the Netherlands we don't do censuses, because WWII.

[Frodo]

Primary: Japanese

Secondary: Scandinavian

That just about covers it.   

[angus]

I always put American.  I was born in the Americas and my parents were born in the Americas, although none of my grandparents were.  I think it's time to stop giving the government this sort of ammo, so I always make it a point of not putting anything eurocentric.  I'm here, I'm queer, and you overanalyzing jagoffs just need to get used to it.  Probably reactionary, but it's who I am.

For my son I always say mixed, but I don't specify the mixture.  Fuck 'em.

[RINO Tom]

I always put American.  I was born in the Americas and my parents were born in the Americas, although none of my grandparents were.  I think it's time to stop giving the government this sort of ammo, so I always make it a point of not putting anything eurocentric.  I'm here, I'm queer, and you overanalyzing jagoffs just need to get used to it.  Probably reactionary, but it's who I am.

For my son I always say mixed, but I don't specify the mixture.  Fuck 'em.

Fair enough, I guess everyone views it differently; I have always thought it was cool to take some pride/cling to where your ancestors are from.

Anyway, I am (oversimplified version) mostly German and part Swedish, so I would put German (my last name is "Heinrich").