Insurance agent, 90% European by test, seeks minority certification

In 2013, a self-proclaimed “visually Caucasian” insurance agent in Seattle attempted to apply to get his insurance agency certified as a minority-owned business by Washington state’s Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises.

Ralph Taylor had in his hand an AncestryByDNA test result, which told him he was 90% European, 6% indigenous American and 4% sub-Saharan African — an assertion that he said warrants that his insurance agency fits the bill for a minority-owned business, according to an article in Tuesday’s Washington Post.

“I’ve always known that I’m multiracial,” Mr. Taylor, 55, told The Post, in an article documenting his struggle to obtain status as a minority-owned business, which would give him an advantage when competing for lucrative government contracts, the newspaper reported.

When he was denied, he sued and his case is now pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, The Post reported.