# Is it ever to one's advantage to indicate ethnicity as "White" on a form? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 8, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ever-to-ones-advantage-to-indicate-ethnicity-as-white-on-a-form/549625 "2010-08-08T20:59:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ever-to-ones-advantage-to-indicate-ethnicity-as-white-on-a-form/549625/61 "2020-02-10T21:44:59Z")
Regarding the statement about Company X Is An Equal Opportunity Employer, I’m highly skeptical of the inference that it means the company favors non-white candidates. It might actually mean the opposite. I worked briefly in housing and employment discrimination, and it was a standard part of a settlement with an employer or landlord that they had to put up Know Your Rights posters and include a statement of nondiscrimination on their job or apartment listings. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ever-to-ones-advantage-to-indicate-ethnicity-as-white-on-a-form/549625/62 "2020-02-10T23:10:59Z")
I always put Native American. I mean I was born here. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ever-to-ones-advantage-to-indicate-ethnicity-as-white-on-a-form/549625/63 "2020-02-10T23:13:57Z")
Pretty old thread, isn’t it. Depending on who’s asking I’ll go with (in preferred order) - American (I don’t give a rat’s ass about skin tone, and I don’t feel the need to validate those who do) - Not tellin’ - White ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ever-to-ones-advantage-to-indicate-ethnicity-as-white-on-a-form/549625/64 "2020-02-10T23:29:14Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Whenever i see something like this, the smart money goes not on “insufficient diversity among the finalists” but more like their favored candidate somehow didnt get into the top three, so they are trying again. I saw that happen. There was an internal candidate who didn’t do as well so they reposted it and helped the person more. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ever-to-ones-advantage-to-indicate-ethnicity-as-white-on-a-form/549625/65 "2020-02-11T00:46:30Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I always put Native American. I mean I was born here. Only one you can get in trouble for, only one with a legal defintion. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ever-to-ones-advantage-to-indicate-ethnicity-as-white-on-a-form/549625/66 "2020-02-11T01:36:40Z")
I’m 67 years old and I don’t believe I’ve ever been asked such a NOYFB question on any kind of a form. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ever-to-ones-advantage-to-indicate-ethnicity-as-white-on-a-form/549625/67 "2020-02-11T03:15:33Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Pretty old thread, isn’t it. > > Depending on who’s asking I’ll go with (in preferred order) > > - American (I don’t give a rat’s ass about skin tone, and I don’t feel the need to validate those who do) > - Not tellin’ > - White It’s too bad that you don’t give a rat’s ass, because that data really is helpful. I’ve always thought the smart-ass answers like “American” or “Earthling” are a pretty sure indicator the applicant is a white person, quite possibly a white person who believes their whiteness will be used against them when the opposite is more often true and possibly a white person who will blame “reverse discrimination” any tine he’s denied a promotion. However, the reality is, as has been stated upthread, those sheets are detached and nobody doing the hiring sees them. All you do is mess up data and make it harder to track. Pointless and a waste of your time. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ever-to-ones-advantage-to-indicate-ethnicity-as-white-on-a-form/549625/68 "2020-02-11T04:34:42Z")
> [@GHO57](#): > > If you’re applying for a job with us… yes. The advantage being that your application doesn’t go through a shredder. “prefer not to disclose” is a trap, we use it to screen out people we don’t want working for us. If you think race, sexual preference, drug use… or even a criminal record is an issue, you wouldn’t fit in. What insidious trap is the “prefer not to disclose” candidate trying to ensnare you in? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ever-to-ones-advantage-to-indicate-ethnicity-as-white-on-a-form/549625.md?page=3)