Well, no, the generic label of 'white' doesn't tell you very much about any of those things. On the other hand, that's almost the point -- you and I can't choose whether we identify as white or not, because we are, and that has a continuous impact on our lives, the same way that being brown or yellow does. Institutionalised racism doesn't pay a great deal of attention to the nuances of your heritage (unless they make you a member of an oppressed group in another sense) -- we're white, and we benefit, and if you're not white, you lose out. Being white doesn't tell anyone the whole story of where I come from, but it makes a pretty big difference to my life whether I want it to or not.