Hi Craig,
I wrote a rather extensive meditation on the relationship between race and genealogy as part of my article
Genetics of the oligarchs on the Wordpress site. Basically, constructs like 'White' are fuzzy categories. Some people are going to be more 'White' than others, but on the other hand some people are obviously not. In general, I think 'Caucasian descent' is used as a synonym for 'White', but there could easily be shades of meaning, and opinions could differ. To my eyes, 'Ashkenazi Jews' look pretty indistinguishable from 'White', while 'Sephardic' are verging on 'Hispanic', but that's just me.
Why do you say we are using the term 'White' in a legal sense? The thought really didn't enter our minds. We didn't consult a legal dictionary, and I don't know much about legal dictionaries. When I've gone to read statutory law (which I don't do often) I usually find that important terms are defined right in the statute. What legal standing do legal dictionaries have? They aren't statutes and they aren't appellate court decisions that are regarded as precedents, so what are they? Is there one accepted legal dictionary, or are there several?
In the earlier discussion, I mentioned Wiktionary as a source, but I also mentioned that the definition there seemed consistent with other commonly-used dictionaries. I feel that the clearest communication results when words are used in their common, ordinary meanings. On the other hand, I have no problem with neologisms or special definitions, as long as they're used clearly also. Such as, for example, 'Richardsonian Democracy', or 'Legally White'. (Does the legal dictionary have an entry for 'Legally Blonde'? Sorry, I couldn't resist.)
You're indicating that you feel 'thrown for a loop', that you're 'slamming down a question' and trying to decide if it's 'even worth responding'. And in all honesty, I don't understand the emotional animus behind this. I don't understand why you're so upset when we use words according to their common dictionary meaning.
I spent an hour or so at Richardson's website when this first came up. I couldn't find anything about the 'two languages' concept, but maybe I just didn't look hard enough. My impression was that he is basically a Libertarian. To some extent I would apply some of the same criticisms we make in the article regarding Koch-funded Libertarianism in general, but certainly he has his own unique viewpoint as well.
It would help me understand where you're coming from, if you could explain some of the basics of this idea that two different languages are being used.