I’ve thought about the American response as the other poster suggested. When my son got his drivers license they said race was self identified. Meaning it was whatever my son considered himself.
So what would screw up their plans the most?
Would I classify for minority status if I referenced Irish or Polish ancestry on the form?
How about "human race?" we all belong to that.
“So what would screw up their plans the most?”
Probably nothing. Here is what I found looking around on the Internet. While written from the perspective of Sikhs, it discusses what happens when you try to write stuff in...
“We recently spoke with Karen Humes, Assistant Division Chief for Special Populations at the Census Bureau in Washington, DC. Karen’s job is to work alongside the Race and Ancestry branches to code the data that comes in on census forms from around the country. You can read a letter from Karen that confirms this information by clicking here.
There are 4 options for how a Sikh could possibly fill out the 2010 census form to try and be counted as a Sikh. Each of these options involves Question 9 – The Race Question – on the census form. Here’s what Karen told us about each one:
Option 1: Under the question “What is Person 1’s race?,” a Sikh could tick the box next to either “Other Asian” or “Some other race” and write in the word “Sikh” in the text space.
Karen was very clear that any attempt to write in the word “Sikh” in any text box on the census form will result in the person being counted as “Asian Indian.” As she explained it, the census’ computers are coded so that any write-in of the word “Sikh” results in the person automatically being dropped into the “Asian Indian” category. There is no “Sikh” category.
Option 2: Under the question “What is Person 1’s race?,” a Sikh could tick the box next to both “Asian Indian” and “Some other race” and write in the word “Sikh” in the text space.
If more than one type of race box is ticked, the person will be counted as someone of mixed-race heritage. If the person ticks both and writes in “Sikh” under “Some other race” then the person will be counted as mixed-race of Asian heritage.
Option 3: Under the question “What is Person 1’s race?,” a Sikh could simply tick the box next to “Some other race” or “Other Asian” and not write anything in the text space.
In this case, the Sikh would simply be counted as “Other Asian” or “Other race,” which are both reported categories in the Census data.
Option 4: A Sikh could leave the question “What is Person 1’s race?” unanswered on the census form.
If the race question is left unanswered, the Census Bureau will attempt to impute a race based on other information. For example, they will check back to match your return from Census 2000, if possible, or will check the race of others in your household. If all else fails, they could impute your neighbor’s race to you with the help of a stratification algorithm.
In sum, the message from Census Bureau officials is clear: There is no Sikh category that it counts and writing in the word “Sikh” under the race questions will have Sikhs counted as “Asian Indian.”
http://sikhcoalition.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/counting-every-sikh-in-census-2010/
Based off that, I’d guess writing in “American” will result in the computer either automatically tossing you in the “White” category, or else they will compare previous census data, or just merge you in with whatever is dominate in your neighborhood.
Also, deliberately providing a false answer can result in a fine of $500/answer, although it is very unlikely anyone would be prosecuted.
I also think they would have to prove intent to deceive, which would be tough given that categories include Pakistani and Filipino!
“I’ve thought about the American response as the other poster suggested. When my son got his drivers license they said race was self identified. Meaning it was whatever my son considered himself.
So what would screw up their plans the most?”
Keep going, I’m listening.