AMERICA’S RIDICULOUS “RACIAL” CLASSIFICATIONS: Speaking of East Asians and Covid, it would be useful if we could compare Covid rates among Americans of East Asian descent to other Americans, to see if there is an indication that genetics plays a role in infection rates. But the U.S. gathers health and medical data via the same unscientific categories it uses for civil rights enforcement and affirmative action programs. So we have an “Asian” category, but 40% or so of that category is made up of people with origins in the Indian subcontinent or the Philippines; both groups are genetically distinct from East Asians. I address the implicit racism and stupidity of the U.S. government requiring researchers to use racial rather than genetic classifications in medical research here, and I have a forthcoming article on the origins of our official racial and ethnic classifications. Want to know how Indian-Americans got lumped into the same category as Chinese-Americans? Read on.