what i've learned from the forms ...

racial category ... turns out, according to the feds, i'm asian (and not pacific islander).

asian as follows: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.

native hawaiian or other pacific islander as follows: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.