Maybe I don't have a real place in this discussion, since I'm 3/4 Scandinavian and the rest is Swiss and English/American. I still feel like my heritage is mixed since my father immigrated from Norway, but the English part of my heritage traces back to the Mayflower (and there is speculation about some Native American ancestors in that line - it's probable that there is at least some in any line that has been in America that long). I hate checking those boxes too. It's just not a representation of who I am, or who anyone is. The only box that really makes sense for me to check is white, but I'm always tempted to check other. Actually, sometimes I have written in "Viking."

I have light brown hair and hazel eyes, and I'm really glad that I'm not entirely blonde and blue-eyed. I love dark hair and eyes - I think they are so beautiful. One of my sisters has dark hair and darker skin than the rest of us, and is also taller. She is the one who is envied for her looks. I had such a preoccupation with Oriental cultures as a teenager - hung around with them, dressed like them, and took a semester of Chinese - a couple of times someone told me that I almost looked a little bit Oriental, and I thought that was the greatest compliment!

There is a science fiction book I read once, called Ghost , and it's set in a future where the prevailing attitude is that all races ought to be blended together and unified. Therefore, a perfect couple consisted of two people at opposite extremes in skin darkness, and the ideal child was mixed-racial, medium in color, and lacking any feature that would identify any particular race. You might find that book interesting. I thought it was sad that cultural identity was lost and that nobody was interested in learning about their ancestors or preserving all those wonderful cultures.

I'm also very sad that I was raised separate from my father's culture, and was not taught their language and their ways, and I have been doing what I can to learn about it on my own, including getting to know the relatives he left behind, and who are entirely members of that other culture. So maybe I relate to you on this more than you would think possible for someone who is essentially all white. Every one of us is a multicultural individual with a unique heritage.
Wendy