Good point.
As a practical matter it makes many databases very confusing, and even useless in ethnic discussions.
For instance, the FBI combines Hispanics and whites in almost all crime statistics.
In California, on a per capita basis, Hispanics commit 4 times more gun murders than whites.
Does that number translate nationally?
Good luck winning that debate.
I believe the Census Bureau uses only Household Surveys and Self-Identification to determine race.
Therefore, I have never completely understood how the C.B. creates a “White non-Hispanic” number PLUS a “Latino or Hispanic” number PLUS a “White and Hispanic” number in the same survey.
The creation of the category, “non-Hispanic” white is ludicrous. Hispanic whites like George Zimmerman or someone from Spain, Portugal, or Argentina show how ridiculous such labels are.