White isn't white

I was talking with someone the other day about what to tick on those boxes when you’re asked what your race/ethnicity is on forms.  He stated if you’re from Spain, you’re white.  Wait, what?  Spanish = Hispanic.  Right?  Well, nope.  He said I was being racist and short sighted.  People from Spain are just as white as everyone else from Europe.  Hispanic refers only to those who are Spanish mixed with whatever indigenous people Spain conquered.  Thus, those from Mexico, Latin America, some parts of South America were Hispanic.  However, people from Spain were white or Spanish if that was an option.  Wow, talk about loving your home nation a little too much.  Since, I’d never heard this before, I did a quick google search after our conversation.  Seems like this may not be his view alone.  We in America view this issue very differently than those in Spain view it.  We want to put labels on people, put everyone in a neat little box.  But in Spain, it appears this just is never an issue that comes up.  It’s taken for granted people look different yet are still Spanish – be they lighter skinned or darker.  Hum, okay – they may be on to something here.  In America, we do tend to put too much emphasis on what makes us different and not on what makes us the same.  Personally, I tend to not focus on what color/race a person is but rather on who they are and what their personality is.  To me this is far more important.  So how about you?  Do you want to have everyone define you by what box you tick?  Or do you want to have people define you by what you are made up of inside?