It all depends what you mean by a joke...

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I read a comment from the ONS about the religion question on the census:

Glen Watson, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Census Director, said although putting joke responses on the national survey form was "not an acceptable thing to do", it could not be stopped. "As I say, it's a voluntary question. I'm not really saying that we can stop it."

Which is great I guess - until you ask what exactly we mean by a joke. After all the ethnicity question is compulsory - which presents a problem for those like me who reject as racist the concept of 'ethnicity'. After all this isn't a joke - I don't consider myself to have an 'ethnicity'or a 'race'. These are false concepts designed to segregate and divide.

A guy I know always ticks the "Ethnic Group - other" and writes in "Inuit". I guess that's a joke - or maybe not. Perhaps he is an eskimo?

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