I do not think that is right Mike, at least not in the US. Or at least not what I learned, back when humans still came in races, which seems to be entirely gone today.
Race is the grouping of humans below the 'species' level; all humans are of the same species but can be of different races. When I was a kid, there were three: Caucasian, Mongoloid and Negroid, in alphabetical order. I believe another was added before the entire concept became 'non- P.C.' in the U.S. entirely, and it was the Aboriginal peoples (not sure of the name of that race).
I think what you are describing is nationality, which is defined by a combination of national borders as well as linguistic and common heritage (learned heritage, not inherited heritage). For example, Germans and Austrians are different nationalities but generally have the same race, although of course an Asian person born or possibly raised in, say, Germany would still be of German nationality and yet of Mongoloid race.
But the great majority of, say, Dutch and German people are of the same race but different nationalities. Ethnicity becomes a little bit more blurred; I think of it as a matter of how far away one stands (from 1,000 meters, Dutch and Germans <are> the same, but speaking with each one yields a different ethnicity of course).
Just to show you how off- kilter things have become in the US regarding issues such as these, my oldest son (34 yrs. old) told me w/in the last year that 'all humans have identical DNA'. Absolutely amazing that he said that, and he really believed it. So I asked him what he thought the chances of he and his significant other (also American, she is of European extraction as is he) of having an Asian child..... and he stuttered and stammered for a while. Then he realized that his initial statement was just plain wrong, our DNA is different.
None of which makes me or anyone else a racist of course, no more than thinking a Dachshund and a German Shepherd Dog are different makes one hate dogs. But we have moved so far away from anything even remotely potentially offensive to anyone that we cannot even state obvious facts anymore.
Brian (to the best of my knowledge: race, Caucasian. Ethnicity, Western European (mostly). Nationality: American. See sig. line for species information.)
Race refers to a person's physical characteristics, such as bone structure and skin, hair, or eye color. Ethnicity, however, refers to cultural factors, including nationality, regional culture, ancestry, and language. ... You can have more than one ethnicities but you are said to have one race, even if it's "mixed race".
So as a "Race" it is possible to identify as French, Portugese etc as there are certain characteristics that they have
Welsh is a race ( of Celtic Origins if you want to be pedantic) whilst my nationality is British.
Your Nationality is American, but what would you describe your racial heritage as?