Nakamura Reading

In the opening pages of "Menu Driven Identities" the author makes a point to mention the limiting choice of ethnicity online by stating that users are given no choice to modify or define their race when they have to click a box with predefined ethnicities.  I feel as though clicking a box online is no different from having to fill in the ethnicity bubble on a scantron.  While some users may feel limited as Nakamura states, I feel that by clicking a box to define race the experience of users is not drastically changing.  It's not as if by clicking a box online the entire website design changes to accommodate that race.  And some websites do change their layout or information I feel as though it is supposed to be just another way for designers to appeal many different types of people.  For example, if one women marks that she is Caucasian on when signing up for a beauty website profile and another marks that she is African American wouldn't both be interested in beauty products and tips that specifically cater to their ethnicities?  It is not necessarily a "limiting" thing.

There was one particular statement that Nakamura made on how racial minorities have less access to the web and because of this they are underrepresented.  Going along with Nakamura's idea that ethnic check boxes are horrible (to paraphrase) it seems that usually the United States along with other countries try to accommodate for everyone.  Yes, there are certain ethnic groups that use the internet more than others, but the minorities are accommodated for.  Ethnicities vary especially in the US and while whites were favored we are entering into a time where more accommodations are made to bring everyone to equal level.  The web is a leader in trying to accommodate for interests and sometimes different people have different interests.