Originally Posted by
OCCP
What if you're not currently part of a tribe? I also wonder if a company is legally allowed to ask for you to prove that you are more than one race. Seems like they could be opening themselves up to a lawsuit since they're not allowed to discriminate because of race. It would be like asking to prove that you are Jewish, or Christian or whatever.
One of my ex girlfriends was full on Mexican (both parents came from the gdl area), but she was completely white and their last name was "Dan". She checked the Latino box and was never asked about it when she was job hunting.
If you aren't currently part of the tribe then you can't claim it for purposes such as those being discussed. If you are claiming minority status then they have every right to ask you to prove such status. I know you understand Affirmtive Action so I'm not sure how you can make such as statement as the one bolded above in your post. As far as your Mexican-American example above - I guess they don't have Mexican-American tribal rollcalls?
HSLD does a good job of explaining the issue in his post a few back (#43).