The inability of some people to understand what 'ethnicity' means.

This annoyance links back to a part of my job, so bear with me.

One of the factors of my work is entering Workforce Survey data, one of the questions on this survey is about ethnicity, and a shocking amount of doctors don't seem to know what it means. Every time the census rolls around this misunderstanding happens on a much larger scale, with the whole public, not just doctors. They seem to think that 'ethnicity' is just another word for 'nationality' or 'cultural identity', which, as I'm sure you all know, it isn't. I don't know what the deal is with other countries, or if this even affects you, but in New Zealand we have two main ethnicities that cause the problem: New Zealand Europeans, and Maori (our indigenous people, for those of you playing at home).

The problem is, that a huge amount of NZE's and Maori people seem to think that this distinction between them in ethnicity questions is racist, or un-patriotic, or like, a metaphor for a divide in our national identity.. something like that.. anyway, whatever their reasons are, they are wrong. Every time the census rolls around, we hear the same thing, "Make sure you put 'Other: New Zealander' as your ethnicity, don't abide by their racist regime". And the people who say these things are the people who make me want to beat my face against a wall until I am dead. Don't get me wrong, I am all for unity within my nation, I hate the fact that some Maori peope are trying to push forward their rights to 'become equal' but are really just segregating themselves from the rest of us, as they already have all the same opportunities as a European person. I would love to see us all unite under one flag (literally, they have their own flag), but this ethnicity business has nothing to do with that! Ethnicity is about your ancestory and genes, not about nationality! So yes, if you are white, you may class yourself as a New Zealander, but your ethnicity is still New Zealand European, however you feel culturally does not change that. It goes for Chinese people in New Zealand too, I think it is fantastic that you see yourself as a Chinese New Zealander... But your ethnicity is still Chinese, buddy. Oh and as a quick note, 'Homo-Sapien' is not an ethnicity, you are just a dick.

This is something that always annoys me, some people just get so caught up in the thrill of causing a fuss, they forget to check if there is any logic behind the thing they are getting angry about. Before you get angry about something from now on, perhaps you should check a dictionary just to be sure you are actually getting mad about what you think you are getting mad about. And with this ethnicity business, all you are doing by rebelling against the question is shitting on your ancestors, come on, guys.