No I would not provide such information. Date of birth? Not neaded, and what do they mean State ID# is that the same as a driver's license? Race--I think that is illegal, not sure.

I thought it was illegal to ask a person race for any reason. It's a good way to end up in court for discrimination.

Who accepts cheques from anyone anymore?

Marie...state ID and Driver's License are the same thing. I have a State ID, because I don't drive...never have!

Debby..a LOT of places here still take checks!

I'm sure it's illegal. You can tell the store owner that, and refer it to the local District Attorney.

There is NO reason a store would need to know a person's race.
Would a caucasian not bounce a cheque, or someone oriental be more or less likely?
Sometimes I do, when talking to someone, just because I'm interested in their birth-place.

But for ID purposes.....nope. Any more than they ask on applications if a person is married, or their sex.

I would call the ACLU, personally.

I believe that is very, very illegal. The district attorney..right on.

Go back in a few days and see if the signs are gone.

My friend saw this when she was in the checkout and yes..she was offended! She went to the Mgr. ans questioned it and he said she needed to talk to the OWNER! Turns out the wife of the owner was right there and she said they did it because they "want to know who they're taking checks from"! Seems the License/State ID would cover THAT! lol

It is racist to judge a person's ability to honour a cheque according to their race.

Complaints should be made.

I think you may be reading too much into it. I don't think they are going to judge your ability to honor a check based on your race. I think it may be used more to track someone if a check is bounced.

At some places, they used to just take a copy of your driver's license, so that info (male, female, race, etc..was sort of there). Now they don't ask for a copy of your license but still want the same info. It doesn't sound right to me, what they are doing..but they may be able to do it. Unless I'm reading it wrong, the bottom link suggests they are legally allowed to.

Here is a link that might be useful: Checks

I totally agree with everyone. I would feel so offended and would not come back again.

When I meet someone new, if I detect an accent or see a non-caucasian look, I politely ask his/her origin of nationality. I like people of different cultures and backgrounds. My question is more out of curiousity and want to learn rather than discrimination. I find cultures of different nations so fascinating. Although a US citizen, I was borned in Asia, grew up in Europe and most likely grow old and die here, in the US. My inner personality is sure of a mixture cultures.

Living in this country for over 30 years, I still do not understand discrimination in this country. I mean, of any places in the whole world that people should know how to happily live together, it should be the USA! For centuries, this is the place where people of so many different nations ran away from their own and chose to reside here. Shouldn't we all understand automatically why the other person is not like us or why he/she is here? The fact is, how many of us are truly really like ourselves? Whether one likes it or not, this is a country of mixed backgrounds and cultures.

I'm for one, love the idea of living among the diversity of peoples. It's all come down to one very important fact to me: A diverse world of food right here, all around me. How can anyone complaint or discriminate about that! Ok... I just made myself hungry, gotta get some spaghetti (Italian) or chicken tortilla soup (Tex-mex?) or chicken lettuce wrap (Asian). All which are ready to be reheated and consumed :o)

If your state ID/license is like ours in Calif., it has your photo, hair and eye color, height and weight, birth date and address. That ID plus your phone number should be all they need.

To specifically ask what race you are seems odd, not to mention insensitive. I would object.

Yesterday I went to the E.R. and the computers were down so they had to write everything. I was asked what race and if you saw me you'd know in a heartbeat that I'm very white with blonde hair. lol

Nothing to get bent out of shape about. As said, it's on the DL & ID anyway! LOL

How could it be illegal to ask someone's race? States require it on a driver license or state ID. Your doctor asks for it. Is s/he "racist"? Don't be ridiculous. The store obviously knows the risks of taking checks. They probably know that there's a lot of bad checks. They obviously are looking to have the identification information on a check and there's nothing said that they won't take a check from a particular race so quit jumping to conclusions.

I don't know about your state or province, but here, I can ask you your height, weight, race, religion, sexual orientation and whether your farts smell and a whole lot more. Whether you'll answer me should I ask this is unknown. And I can't ask you that during the course of an interview or something like that but geez folk, calling a district attorney? Come on!

FWIW, it's perfectly legal most places to even require a fingerprint to cash a check. Sam's Club requires a photo of you to be a "member" - how about *that*? Geez people, try decaf.

Personally I wouldn't cash checks at all if I were business, not even for employees. And I would not even accept checks for payment in many cases. One place I used to work required a credit card with a check. Talk about ticked off people! But it cut the bad checks tremendously.

This hypersensitivity over race and many other things is a big part of the problem.

You can't be asked about race, religion or sexual orientation here where I live.

I suppose I would be upset if I were a non-caucasion and was writing a check at that store and when asked for my race I told them I was black (or native american or shiite--you get the idea) THEN they refused to honor my check. THAT would be illegal. But as others have stated, all of that information is on your driver's license anyway. If you don't like it, have complained to the owner and the sign is still up, don't patronize that store.

I would suggest that it's not illegal to ask. It's illegal to discriminate on the answer. It is bad judgement to ask, but not illegal. I think, in this case, it's very insensitive and offensive.

what with all the check fraud and like these days, i guess it's a matter of safety? but a picture id seems like it would be enough, unless...

some hacker got into a local pizza and bar place my kids go to..what a mess...the owner had it set up he could scan checks and cc's from home to do the books..this what the guy did...took the cc #s put them on phoney cards and went on shopping sprees..they were out $1500 (bank covered it) but meanwhile they had no cards, or atm card...and no cash! dil had to go down to the bank to withdraw money...

Asking that in a job interview is illegal. Like others have said asking fro the checks may not be discrimination unless they refuse to take the check.

Around here if you asked someone's race, they would be as likely say Italian or Irish as the would be to say white.

My race is NOT listed on my State Issued ID..but it WAS listed on my husbands Drivers License!

My husbands race is listed with a "W"! I'm assuming had he been black, there would be a "B" there! Which makes me wonder in the case of a BI-RACIAL person...what do or would they put! I'm thinking a "B" wouldn't work! A friend checked her DL last night, and race is NOT listed on hers (or she didn't see it).

Everyone should just put Other.

They're pretty good if they can tell what a person's race is by looking at them. I have an old chart here that lists Ethiopians as Caucasian. Apparently race is not determined by colour of skin alone.

I don't know that asking is illegal, I believe that it is what one does with that information that may get one into hot water. And tho asking is permissable it cannot be held against a person should they choose not to answer. My race is not listed on my DL (PA) either, nor is it on my boss' DC license.

After reading the post from Zeetera I had to look up the definition of Caucasian.....it has nothing to do with skin color, but is purely genetic type.

I would not have a problem being asked to show that information..but to have my all of that information WRITTEN on my check along with my bank account number..now that is where I would drive the line...That is just way to much information all grouped together in one place.
Matter of fact the last time I ordered checks I was advised to leave our DL# off of them.

littlebit

I also have issues with it being written on the check! Really...what does it matter? A girl I know use to work at the store mentioned above and they HAD to write the persons race and sex on the check. She said they didn't ask..they just wrote it! Even that seems better than posting a dang sign saying it's REQUIRED to be on there!

I also had my State ID# removed from my checks..and now they only have my 1st initial and my last name printed on them. My account is in my first and last name..and that's the way I sign them. But, if I were to lose a check, the person finding it has no idea what my name is or how I sign checks.

it is not against the law here in FL. inorder to write a check at the company i work for you MUST provide all that mentioned info (filled out when you initially contact us & fill out a new cust info sheet) which is what the state's attorney's office requires from us, to collect bad checks. of course most checks we get range from $1000-20,000 and in recent yrs we have had a significant increase in bad checks. i wouldn't be surprised if very soon many companies do not take checks period. i know our office manager wishes we didn't and we try our best to discourage new customers from doing so as they are the worst offenders...we can almost predict the bounces lol. if you have the $$$$$ to deal w/ our company don't make us suspicious of your abiity to pay and use a credit/debit card. personally i think it is much more dangerous to write a check, w/ your address, bank acct #'s, routing #'s and signature than using a credit card. i write maybe 5 checks a yr mostly to childens school fundraisers for co-workers and always use a security pen so the ink can not be removed. ~ liz

Race and gender have absolutely nothing to do with one's credit-worthiness. I cannot imagine this question is remotely legal, and it's certainly unethical! (There is no mention of race on my license--why should there be??)

race and gender don't have anything to do w/ credit worthiness. it is perfectly LEGAL to ask that info as the state's attorney's office REQUIRES all that info and actually more including the social sec.# in order to file in court on bad checks. if someone doesn't like it they can either not pay by check or go somewhere else...it's their choice. every person who writes a bad check causes prices to increase. ~ liz

When they ask you your race it;s because they want to put your name with your color or race.Just like they ask "are you male or female"If I said "my name is OJ Simpson" and I was white ,They would think twice before cashing.If I said I was Mrs.Findstine and I was black they would take a second look too.If you want their money you have to follow their rules or take your business across the street.People are tired of being ripped off/

I understand, but I can't imagine it's the vendor's responsibility to file the person's race or ss#. Can't say I understand why 'race' has anything to do with it, especially since so many of us claim many as our heritage.

I would think there would be a problem if the store limited it's acceptance of checks from only scertain "races." Do they refuse if you're something other than Caucasian? That is where I think the problem would be.

I write maybe one check a month and it's usually to St. Jude's or the Komen foundation. I don't even carry a check book with me.

Ah yes, I agree. It's alright to ask but alright to judge.

I think it's the word 'Race' that is getting some of us sensitive about this since the word is closely realted to 'Racism' or 'Racist'. Perhaps, it should be changed into "What's your nationality" rather than "What's your race". Wouldn't that be more specific and less intense?

Do correct me if I'm wrong, English is still my 2nd language and I haven't conquered the English dictionary yet!

Sorry, I left out the word NOT. It should have been: "It's alright to ask but NOT alright to judge."

Nationality is American, unless the check writer is a citizen of another country.

Drop a call to the local chapter of the NAACP, and they'll send someone to have a talk with this incredibly stupid and insensitive store owner.

actually anyone who takes a check and does NOT get that info is incredibly stupid & will quickly be out of business in this day and age LOL! i'm sure the business requires that info be written on the check as they don't have the means to create & maintain a data base on every check writer, as my employer does. it can costs hundreds of $$$ to collect a single bad check (when you can charge either $25 or 8% of value), we have collected on every single bad check but we always end up in the hole as far as work that goes into doing so. it can take months and if you don't have deep pockets to float $5000+ a week in unpaid check(s) over weeks added up you will go under in months. we are also lucky that hundreds of nurseries have gone under in the last few yrs so garden centers, nurseries and landscapers have few places to go to and we all share bad check info w/ each other. you write 1 bad check at any well known seller of landscape plants and that will be your last you ever write in this industry LOL ;-) we are drowning in business and we can be selective as to who we sell too. ~ liz

Liz, you are awfully defensive of this practice. What does race have to do with credit worthiness or tracking down someone who writes a bad check?

Race is asked for often. Mostly it is used for census type information. It is on my drivers license,school,medical records etc. I am often asked for my birth date when paying with a check. It is just another way to cross check ID. Not everything is a conspiracy. The only place you CAN'T ask race is when applying for a job. Businesses have the right to payment. They are only attempting to have the best chance at collecting. You have the option to not pay with a check if you don't like the policy. I hate the places that scan your check and hand it right back to you then and there. Do I rage and get all uppity about it, no I use a credit card. It costs them more, and saves me a check floating in my purse. There is a way for you to be happy not giving the information, and for them to have their policy.

I have certainly never in my life been asked my race when handing over a check and would probably fall over if that did happen. After showing your id, there's NO reason to have to give someone your race to write on the check! I'm in California. Where do you live that this happens??

ASKING the question and DISCRIMINATING against someone because of the answer are two different things. They are only ASKING the question.

WHY?: to be able to track people down if a bad check is written. It's the same reason a policeman asks someone to describe a bank robber...(Is he discriminating --Is it ok for him to ask race?). They need a description so they know who to track down. Is Chris Smith who wrote a bad check a white male or an Asian woman? Keep in mind too, some of the checks may be stolen and are being presented by people who are not the name on the check. Let's say a short Hawaiian lady is going around town writing bad checks...they can know to be on the lookout for her.

They are NOT using the physical info. info to deny credit or sales to people of a certain look or nationality -only to track down bad guys/girls after the fact.

sorry didn't mean to sound defensive LOL but it is a very common business practice and if everyone could just see a different point of view they would understand alot more in life i believe. from a business point of view the info is needed for that occassional bad check. enough bad checks to a business and they can legally stop taking check payment. check writing is a privedge not a right. i'm sure lots of businesses would rather not take checks period but out of convience to customers they do.

sushipup #1 i do not ever see any customers of our's. i handle shipping millions of $$ in landscape plants frm VA to TX. those customers are not exactly going to drive to one of our locations to meet us LOL. our customers fill out a new cust paper on which they fill out all the info on their driver's lic. we do not require a photo copy of said ID, just that they fill out the info. It is entirely up to them if they want to, if they don't they can either pay green cash or use a credit card. that info is entered into a secured data base and never used unless they bounce a check. anyone entering an order in our office can see a notation about ea custmer in their card about whether they can or can not write a check but nothing on the private data. #2 as i stated twice Race is a REQUIREMENT by the FL state's attorney's office in information we give them to collect bad checks we have not been able to collect on our own. in the past we have had a couple of cases where we did not provide that info and the state's attorney would not file till we verified the race of someone. i BELIEVE they require it to match up to info on state ID's and when someone serves the bad check writer they need to know they have the corret race of the person so they are sure of serving the correct person too.

honestly we don't care if we are selling to aliens as long as their $$ is good LOL and money is money to us no matter who it's from as long as it's not fake bills or a rubber check...~ liz

The only time I'm asked my race is when I'm doing product or marketing surveys. I never know what to say. I did a phone survey last week and the last question was "What is your race?" I told her honestly I don't know. I'm German, Irish, Eskimo and Puerto Rican. There was a silence and then she said, I'll just write it all down. :-)

Jodi-

I certainly do not see Liz as being "defensive" of it, but I see people who apparently are defensive of writing bad checks! LOL Liz is pointing out some things that should be common sense but here, yet again, illustrates an example of how many people have absolutely no idea what businesses go through. Businesses do not have to absorb bad check costs and I would think anyone with common sense would want to stop bad checks since bad checks cost everyone money. Don't you understand that a business gets a double whammy on a bounced check. Triple whammy actually. First they lost the profit, secondly they lost the cost of the item stolen and thirdly, they get a bounced check fee. Sadly, people won't look at what it does to the business. There's this myth out there that a mom & pop store is a "big business making tons of money - they can afford it". You don't think stores just absorb these costs and they don't affect their bottom line and even employees? I've got news for you, Mom & pop stores don't and stores the size of Walmart don't. It's too bad more people don't have experience in the business field at least a bit to get an understanding of the true cost of shoplifting, bad checks, gas drive-offs, coupon fraud, belligerent customers, etc. Some people constantly squawk about the high cost of things but when someone tries to do something about it, out pops the proverbial "race card". Incredible.

Some of you just seem to refuse to "get it" (as is the popular phrase around here lately!) LOL Why are you so defensive about identification? Is there more to this? I just can't see how a few of you are going off the deep end apparently just to defend check bouncers. And let's call it what it is, check bouncers are vandals and thieves. They vandalize a business' smooth operation and steal from them, you and I. I personally am opposed to vandals and thieves.

At no time has it been suggested that race factors into credit-worthiness. This has been pointed out several times. So why do some of you persist in swinging tossing that red herring into the pot? Basing credit-worthiness on race is not the topic and has nothing to do with identifying people who write bad checks.

Many who are experienced in unspoken languages think that someone who would throw a fit over being asked for identification would very possibly be in a higher risk area. You do not have a God-given, Constitutional right to write checks anyplace you want. Checks are not legal tender, at least in the US. It can be minimally insulting to ID someone who has written checks and never bounced one, but if that person can't comprehend why it's being done, especially these days, it's amazing. This is no more "offensive" than being asked for ID at a bar, liquor store or cigarette seller. Booze/smokes sellers only need age proof so they don't need to identify a person other than age. However if they write a check for those smokes or drinks, they *may* need to identify the person down the road if the check bounces.

I'll bet that those of you who are so defensive about giving identification would change your mind if your daughter were raped and they're investigating it. Let's see, you can't give the race of the person. That's "racist". You can't ask for that, right? You can't give the age of the assailant. That's "age discrimination" and offensive. You can't give the sex of the person, since that's "sex discrimination". And any such information used to locate an alleged perpetrator is "racial profiling" right? Let's call out the troops!

Nobody has thrown a fit over Sam's taking pictures. Why not?

Nobody throws a fit about driver licenses taking pictures. Why not?

Etc, etc.

This is something that seems so simple. So basic. And *so* misunderstood.

Several years ago, when I was working for the bank, I had to go to court to represent the bank for bad checks. Person came in, judge said you wrote a bad check --why-- some answer, judge said you must pay a fine and pay business--person--OK. Out the door not to be seen again until next time. Next time, same story, just promise to pay check OK and business never get the money, and person did it again and again. This is why many businesses won't take checks it cost them too much money and time wasted just to hear person promise anything and do nothing and not get punished for it. It is true , I do not know the rules now, but if I owned a business, I would not accept any checks.

Well...I can see BOTH sides now! About the only time I write a check is when I mail my utility bills..so I haven't had to deal with this personally.

someone probably has already said this - I didn't take time to read all...but I'd just say HUMAN

jann

Well, I can tell you as a small business owner that Carla, Bigfoot Liz and Cynic are spot-on. A lot of small businesses are barely able to keep going, mine included. If we have no way to control theft of any type, a lot of us will go under. Then you will have no choice but to shop at the dreaded Walmart. Please help us out by not trying to have it both ways.

In no way is it intended to single out minorities. It is only to give law enforcement something to go on to catch the perps in the event a crime has been committed. I don't know why this is so hard to understand.

But if a business was to use race for hiring practices, then yes, that is racism and totally unacceptable. Hiring should be based on qualifications and experience. Period. No one should be excluded because of their race. Conversely, a business person should not be forced to hire according to race (quota). It should be color-blind and based upon qualifications. But this requires common sense, something that knee-jerkers are sometimes short on. Please take a deep breath, calm down and think clearly about the ramifications of tying the hands of business owners and law enforcement. In order to be truly fair to people, we must also include the consumer-at-large. They are paying some of the cost of theft, but business owners sometimes go under even before the cost can be passed on to the honest customers.

The next time we complain about large chains and corporate retail taking over, please consider all the reasons this is happening. The small businesses are finding it harder and harder to stay in business, and they really don't have any chance if there isn't some degree of fairness directed their way.

Those questions sound awfully close to a credit card application to me. I would just use cash there.

It's too easy to take that info and do nefarious things.

Dances.

Ok, I'm not in any way suggesting bad check-writers shouldn't be sought and prosecuted. I suppose I thought that anyone accused of criminal behavior can easily be checked out through law enforcement who would surely have access to the ss database, and therefor the race description. Bump's friend was not ordering hundreds or thousands of dollars in merchandise; if the owner of the mom/pop store has had a history of recieving bad checks, why accept them at all? I have never in my life been asked to declare my race by any store personnel nor have I ever heard of this practice. Does it vary by state?