Why do people think a person's ethnic origin is any of their business?

i hate when filling in an application form and they ask you if you are white asian or african if you dont want to discrimenate dont ask. take the candidate for the cv thats written.

Personally it is interesting to me. I think it is a wonderful thing to know about a person. why is it so horrible to ask that? If you consider it no one's business, just say, "I'd rather not say what ethnicity Iam" Why are you annoyed that someone would want to know?

Is it really such an invasive, personal question? People ask me all the time what kind of music I like, what I do for a living, where I'm from, etc... it never occurred to me that asking about ethnicity wasn't in the same basic category. (Though, phrasing it as "What are you?" is pretty thoughtless, as it makes you seem like a different species...) I will admit to sometimes asking this question, though I don't only ask Asian people. Why? Well, I appreciate that I can recognize "Shinji Nakamura" as a Japanese name and "Mei Huang" as Chinese, while most other white Americans wouldn't know the difference... and neither would I if I never asked questions. I recently met a guy with a lovely voice, and because we talked about his background I now know what a Ghanaian accent sounds like. I'm glad of that, too. I'm glad that Mexican people and Puerto Rican people don't look the same to me. Overall it just helps me to feel less ignorant, like my world isn't so small. Americans so often get accused of being ethnocentric and acting like the rest of the world doesn't exist... it surprises me to hear that expressing an interest in other people's cultures and backgrounds is just as bad. =(

I think we may have a misunderstanding here. See, my point is that if you are born in a particular region, grow up in that same region, act like the people in that region, speak the same language in the exact same way as people in that region (i.e. no accent whatsoever), AND if you are also of Asian descent, you will STILL get people asking "what you are." However, if you are of another race (Black, White, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, etc) then chances are, no one will ask you "what you are" because you act in the same way as the people around you. Of course if you speak with an accent people will think "Oh, this person must be from somewhere else," and will ask questions to that effect. I'm focusing on people who speak with no accent (among other things) and still get that question.

I don't particularly think it's any of yours either, so why let it bother you...

They're curious. When I was in Korea, everyone asked me if I was mikuk (American). It's universal.

USA is a nation of settlers. Most people (indigenous peoples included) are descended from those who came from elsewhere voluntarily, and a minority from those who came involuntarily; but suffice it to say that chances are if you were born here then you are probably better off in a number of measures then you would be in the lands of your ancestry. Often persons of a particular stripe of national origin settled together in certain areas, such as the Romanians in Cleveland, the Norwegians in Minnesota, or the Chinese in the Chinatowns of SF and NYC. Such a pattern made them conscious of a commonality among themselves in terrms of their origin, as well as as their common affiliation as Americans. Those of an obviously different stripe are objects of obvious curiosity as far as being of different ethnicity but still of the common American affiliation. Some individuals are within a generation or two of their ancestral lands and are quite conscious of that affiliation. Some have no such exact knowledge. Some, such as myself, never particularly cared and have no desire to ever see whatever place that may be. When people ask, perhaps they see you as different from themselves (again, obviously) and somehow assume you would know your origin as they may; when in reality you may fit into the "know" category, the "don't know" or even the "don't care". In most cases they are merely curious and intend no offense. I suppose you could justifiably carry that origin-affiliation subcategory one step further, to that one known as "none of your business".

It's one of those things that I guess technically isn't anyone's business, but that there's no need to get angry over. Why not just tell them what you are instead of being so uptight?

Because that's what they have been told to do by various sources. News, tv and their dumb friends.