I received my 2010 U.S. Census form in the mail today. I will probably wait until after April 1 to fill it out and mail it back, in case my living arrangements change before that day. (April 1, 2010 is the day of record for this year’s census.)

I will answer the questions about my name, sex, and age. I have utilized this data from previous censuses to track down some of my ancestors while researching my family tree, so I think these questions are reasonable.

However, there are two questions about race and ethnicity “Is this person of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?” and “What is this person’s race?” for every person on the form. I might just skip these questions. Or, more likely, I will check the box “Some other race” and fill in the word “HUMAN“  to be funny about my protest.

What business is it of the government to separate us into racial categories? Are they planning on treating us differently based on this information? Was not such different treatment prohibited by Amendment XV of the U.S. Constitution?

Or am I completely off base here?