My Ambiguous Ethnicity

I was filling out an on-line questionnaire from a London arts center the other day. I haven't been to Britain for a few years, but I bought my concert ticket on-line, so they still had my contact info.

.

When I got to the end of the questionnaire, they asked the usual demographic questions about age, race, and the like. But I was taken aback somewhat by the list of ethnicity choices. It says something interesting about the difference between Britain and the U.S.

.

Here's the list:

Which ethnic group would you describe yourself as being in?

• White British
• White Irish
• White Other
• White & Black Caribbean
• White & Black African
• White & Asian
• Other mixed background
• Asian British
• Indian
• Pakistani
• Bangladeshi
• Other Asian background
• Black British
• Black Caribbean
• Black African
• Other Black background
• Chinese
• Other ethnic group
• Prefer not to say
  

For the first time ever when filling out a questionnaire, I didn't know what race I was. I finally settled on "White Other," which seemingly could leave me Hispanic, Icelandic, or Italian.