Why are Americans so obsessed with race and curious on this subject?

Question

This is not a racist question!

I just observed that race and racial identity means a lot to Americans whereas even Europeans rarely approach the subject. In fact in France , Germany and many European countries, race is not even an issue in census matters. In the UK, most people are not bothered what your race is.

Recently I learned about an American singer called Sanjay who is being heralded as a popular singer I guess. But I think people are just way too curious about his racial identity (half-Indian, half-Italian).

I had stayed in US for 3 months last year and almost everyone I met when I told him, I am Indian asked how much percentage?

WTF - I am 100% Indian but why should it matter? No - I mean I am 1/8 Irish, 1/8 Cherokee, 1/8 Italian and the remaining Anglo! Well Americans are most lousy when it comes to Math, but they do remember these statistics quite well I must say!

I was also in Europe and not even a single person ever asked me what my race was!

Is it not that by LEARNING about a person's race, Americans are able to form their preconceived judgement on the person's character?

For example, if I say I am 3/4 Anglo even though I look dark, I can expect better judgement compared to if I say I am 4/5 Afro-Carib even I look light!

Answer 1

I live in a rural community and we don't have much cultural diversity. So if someone here asked your race or ethnicity, they may not mean it as a slur. They may just be curious because you seem exotic to them. Also, most natives of this area have some degree of Native American heritage. Maybe they would like to meet someone from a similar heritage.
There are racists here, yes. But for myself, I judge people on the way they treat me and others, not by their personal appearance, skin color, etc.

Answer 2

I'm American and I can tell you that since childhood we have all been taught how badly our white ancestors mistreated Native Americans and African Americans. Since the time of equal rights for these groups we have been taught to feel shame for the actions of our ancestors and to try with all of our might to over compensate and try to make up for those actions somehow by being "politically correct".
I think we are getting to the poitn where the later generations are starting to mellow out a bit and look less at race than we did before - hopefully we will soon mature enough as a nation to be more like you're country.