Honestly, sometimes it's very arbritrary. Other times, I spend a significant amount of time looking up information.
For example, the Roma or Romani, also known as gypsies. The Roma live all over the world, with significant populations in Asia, Europe and the Americas. From what I understand, however, the Roma were originally from the Indian subcontinent. Generally, peoples from that area are considered either Asian or East Indian. Therefore, I placed the Rob Thurman books featuring Roma protagonists onto the Asian & Pacific Islander page. And by the way, in many places, "gypsy" is not a nice name, although here in the States many Roma have accepted and use the word -- but not all. So there's always a fine line to tread when addressing someone's race/ethnicity/nationality.
As another example, how do you place a mixed race protagonist? Well, that depends. In the United States, while a person may be of mixed race, if they're part Black, they're considered Black. If they're part Native American, especially if they're a registered member of the tribe, all the rest doesn't matter, they're Native American.
And why did I place Jewish, Arabic and Middle Eastern peoples all into a Middle Eastern page? Well, the Middle East is a region. However, the Jewish peoples that I personally know, no matter what their race, ethnicity, national origins or religious beliefs all relate themselves to Israel in one way or another. As I didn't want to put Jewish fantasy or sci-fi on the Everybody Else page, I made a command decision and put them onto the Middle Eastern page.
People take great pride in their heritage and race/ethnicity, so I just do the best that I can. What a person looks like, plus how he/she self-identifies is an important part of our culture, for both a Person of Color and the surrounding society. Naturally, everyone is free to disagree with me and if you have a great argument why I'm wrong, well, let me know. Maybe I am and I need to move those books to a different page!
For example, the Roma or Romani, also known as gypsies. The Roma live all over the world, with significant populations in Asia, Europe and the Americas. From what I understand, however, the Roma were originally from the Indian subcontinent. Generally, peoples from that area are considered either Asian or East Indian. Therefore, I placed the Rob Thurman books featuring Roma protagonists onto the Asian & Pacific Islander page. And by the way, in many places, "gypsy" is not a nice name, although here in the States many Roma have accepted and use the word -- but not all. So there's always a fine line to tread when addressing someone's race/ethnicity/nationality.
As another example, how do you place a mixed race protagonist? Well, that depends. In the United States, while a person may be of mixed race, if they're part Black, they're considered Black. If they're part Native American, especially if they're a registered member of the tribe, all the rest doesn't matter, they're Native American.
And why did I place Jewish, Arabic and Middle Eastern peoples all into a Middle Eastern page? Well, the Middle East is a region. However, the Jewish peoples that I personally know, no matter what their race, ethnicity, national origins or religious beliefs all relate themselves to Israel in one way or another. As I didn't want to put Jewish fantasy or sci-fi on the Everybody Else page, I made a command decision and put them onto the Middle Eastern page.
People take great pride in their heritage and race/ethnicity, so I just do the best that I can. What a person looks like, plus how he/she self-identifies is an important part of our culture, for both a Person of Color and the surrounding society. Naturally, everyone is free to disagree with me and if you have a great argument why I'm wrong, well, let me know. Maybe I am and I need to move those books to a different page!
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