Reply #14: Because ethnicity is still important in many ways. [View All]

[Orsino]

Even if one can grow beyond it, it's still one's "home." Everybody's* got one, you see, so we look for it in other people first. Right after gender, and tight up there with age, we key on easy identifiers when we meet new people.

*Obviously, some people have more than one, or identify with none, and this is becoming more common and more accepted--but it's not the default yet.