AHC: radically different racial zeitgeist in US

Hi. I didn't know quite how to phrase my challenge in a one-line title. Let me explain what I'm after.

In the United States, OTL 2016, there are very clear ideas about race. It seems that the main four are whites, blacks, asians, and hispanics (all of which are considered as census categories, right?) -- with a newer category of "arab"/"middle-easterner" also taking hold. No matter what one thinks about these categories, most Americans do split people up into them.

But what if it were different? My challenge is: with a POD of no earlier than December 31, 1900, create a radically different racial system in the US by 2016. For instance, I'd be interested in one where people of Chinese origin are considered to be in the same racial category as people of French and German origin (legally and socially), but Jews of eastern European origin are, for the most part, considered to be in a very different racial category (again: legally and socially). Bonus points for interesting alternate civil rights movements and affirmative action programs.
 
Categories of "white" and "black" have rather unfortunate very deep roots, so there's nothing that can be done there post 1900. It might be possible to do away with "hispanic" as a separate category, with them being considered either "white" or "colored"; and it might, might be possible for Asians to be considered either "honorary whites", "colored", or some kind of other, if there are few enough of them. And if there were more surviving native people and/or enduring nations, we might see that survive as a distinct category.
 

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I could see that instead of black/white/yellow/whatever split we would have civilized/savage split. China with their undeniable cultural heritage would be seen as one. POD: 1911 Chinese republican revolution results in a country that actually works. Thirty years later it becomes a second tier great power, and around 196-70 a first tier great power. Part two of POD. A shorter Great War. Entante succeeds in Galipoli, Somme and Jutland forcing German Empire to its knees. Surviving Russian Empire keeps the Jewish minority oppressed with Black Hundreds running about. The USA never enters the war.
 
It's only relatively recently that Jews, Irish, Italians, Greeks, and most southern/eastern Europeans became "white" in the US; it's very much plausible to keep them as separate racial categories (including possibly merging them all into a single unwashed light brown horde).

Getting Chinese to be considered the same as French and Germans is much, much harder, especially since the above will probably make the "whiteness scale" stricter. One thing that might help is no large-scale Chinese migration as laborers in the 19th Century; ensuring that only education professionals come over will improve their standing. Possibly especially so if there's already a different large East Asian population group in the States, so that the Chinese may be contrasted against them.
 
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