On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog, or a Vietnamese, or a Scandinavian, or from Guam or Nigeria, except by reason of your expressions in type (so far) or in photos.

Point well taken, CC. Given that internet communication is essentially indpeendent of body appearance (in text forums, anyway), why should race have any part in it? IT is bound to come up as a topic, of course, but discussing race issues (if that is what they really are) as a topic) can be done without rancor, or hurt, amongst people of good intent.

This does not make race and ethnicity less important in terms of how each of us decides to identify him/herself.

I think (as I guess I have made clear above) that is really, really important to recognize that cultural identity or the meaning of ethnicity are very much agreements you make with poeple, not givens that you are stuck with. The critical issue, I believe, is not what race I am, but what I decide that means.