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Census and Race vs Hispanic origin questions
I am white as white can be so never really paid attention to these things before, but I now have a hispanic husband and obviously bi-racial children and am just confused!
WHY are Hispanic origins not races??? Are my husband and children considered white then?? But Hispanics are different than whites. I just don't get it. And seriously, why split it up into Mexican, Puerto Rican or Cuban? It seems they also split up several of the Asian races into country origin too, but if you're going to do that why not do that for everyone?
Any insight?
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Re: Census and Race vs Hispanic origin questions
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When 3 Became 4
I don't know. I'm very confused about the whole thing, too
In Detroit, you are more than just White. You're Italian, Greek, Albanian, Mexican, Mascodonian....
Then I move to Texas and I'm just another White girl. But all the Mexican girls I worked with called themselves Brown. But whenever you check a box for race, its either Caucasian, African American, Hispanic or Other. So Hispanic gets its own race, there.
I'm not entirely sure, but here are my thoughts.
You have to remember that race is a made up concept. Human subspecies don't exist. Therefore, country of origin is just that, where you came from. Why that information is needed or how it can be used is probably a hotly debated topic. I'm guessing using other historical data they will use it to forecast such things as birth rates for other future needs. Statistically speaking Hispanic families reporoduce younger and have more children (demands on the education/healthcare systems). Certian ethnicities have higher rates of STD's (healthcare demands).
They're also trending data from eons ago so even if it doesn't make sense anymore to collect data in those buckets, they have to collect them the same way (or break them out even more) for the past data to correlate with the new data.
I can't remember their name (sorry!) but a nestie at a recent GTG heard I was from a suburb of Buffalo NY (Cheektowaga) and immediately asked "Tell me. Is it true? Are you Polish". I AM !!!
LOL Detroit has a big Polish population, too. Do you do Pouncki Day?
Tell the truth, the whole Race thing annoys me. People who say I'm Italian or I'm Whatever. But they were born in American, their parents were born in America...hell usually their grandparents were born here, too. Give it up! You're American! You've never been to Italy, you don't speak a word of Italian, you don't even know how to make spaghetti!
(All meant very light-hearted. I say that I'm Greek but the only thing I can say is Mustache)
Country of origin does not necessarily = race either. I had a teacher in elementary school who was from South Africa. He'd basically been exiled from the country for his vocal anti-apartheid beliefs. He was white. He was, therefore, African-American, in that he was an American citizen of African ancestry, born in Africa after his family had been there for generations, but again, he was white.
Meredith, 6-1-06 and Alex, 11-5-09
Hispanic is considered an ethnicity. For instance, some Hispanic ethnicities identify as Hispanic, but black. My BFF's BIL is Hispanic (grew up in Mexico City), but is white (down to his blond hair and green eyes). So using Ali's example, he would not self-identify as "brown".
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Hispanic is an ethnicity, not a race. Hispanic people are caucasian. As far as I know, there are only three general races of human that we all fall under, then it gets broken down into ethnicities, nationalities, etc.
:-)
Meredith, 6-1-06 and Alex, 11-5-09
6-yr-old Elena and 4-yr-old Julia.
My Blog! All about my girls and quilting
POLISH NESTIES UNITE!!!
True....but what classifies you as "American"? Your residency? The country of nationality on your passport? Your heritage?
The point of the Census is just to count the people we have living in this country. Until the powers that be can figure out how to handle the different "statuses" of people living in the U.S. (nationals, permanent residents, illegal residents, etc.) then I think the really random & arbitrary boxes kind of make sense. If this served another purpose....like my taxes or something....it would probably be overkill.
I'm not trying to start a debate (really....this is just a light-hearted discussion).
No worries!
But yes, it is indeed to count the people we have living here. Which then begs the question on why ask any race or ethnicity questions in the first place? They would then just be fine with Question No.1: How many people were living or staying in this house ...on April 1, 2010? If they are trying to determine residents, illegals, nationals etc based on race/ethnicity questions that would be all sorts of wrong!
6-yr-old Elena and 4-yr-old Julia.
My Blog! All about my girls and quilting
I'm in the Hispanic is a CULTURE corner, not race.
DH and I are not in a Bi-Racial marriage, however, our cultures are very very very very different.
(Just a side note... his grandmother does think we're in a bi-racial marriage because I am just another 'white girl'.) sigh.
Anyway, I think we are of different cultures - not races. Althought I don't feel right calling DH 'white'. (Does that make sense??? probably not).
Similar to Italians, we're the same race - but different cultures.
"The House We Built."
A journey of building the dream.
I had a very good Hispanic friend in college who used to always tell me he felt sorry for me and other whites because we had no culture!
6-yr-old Elena and 4-yr-old Julia.
My Blog! All about my girls and quilting
How are Hispanic people different from white people? Frankly, I think we should do away with race categories all together, but historically Hispanic has been used to identify a ethnic group, not a race. Frankly, I find your wording offensive.
On my birth certificate, my race is "White". I have a Mexican mother and a half-Hispanic father. My race is still "white". My ethnicity is Mexican and Spanish as well as German, French, Austrian, and Lithuanian.
Interesting wiki answer on why race/ethnicity are part of the census...
https://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_is_race_and_ethnicity_groups_important_to_the_US
Different races and ethnic backgrounds hold our society together. The United States government has collected statistics on race and ethnicity. The data has been used to study changes in the social, demographic, health, and in economic characteristics of various groups that are in our population. Federal data collections, through censuses, surveys, and administrative records, have provided an historical record of the Nation's population diversity and its changing social attitudes and in policy concerns. They are also important because race and ethnicity have been used extensively in civil rights monitoring and enforcement covering areas such as employment, voting rights, housing and mortgage lending, health care services, and in educational opportunities.
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Because then it would be too easy.
I don't think they are trying to "determine" anything from the Census, but I thnk when it comes down to creating their demographics they would rather have too much information as opposed to not enough information.
It's not a race... it's a culture/ethic heritage.
"The House We Built."
A journey of building the dream.
Okay, I really don't get the offensive part. Different in the same sense that blacks and whites and asians and american indians are all different. Obviously all people are people and the race/ethnicity distinctions are just political and social constructs. Based on little check-box forms I usually see, Hispanic is a different box from the ones I just mentioned and that's why I said that.
It of course begs the question of why bother with the questions in the first place, whether it be on the Census or on college applications and why it is thought identifying yourself as one race or ethnicity vs another is beneficial in our society.
And now you're going to make me check out the girls' birth certificates. I honestly don't remember that information being on them!
6-yr-old Elena and 4-yr-old Julia.
My Blog! All about my girls and quilting
Thanks for clarifying. That didn't come across to me in your original post. I have to remember that it's hard to infer intent and tone on the Interwebz
Seriously, it all confuses me too. I don't know what to "mark" for my kids for future things. You have to consider too, that heritage does not equal race. Think of all of the people that immigrated to Mexico to escape political problems and/or for business reasons. For example, the richest person is Mexican, but he's Lebanese. Dh's best friend is German, but grew up in Mexico City and still lives there. My FIL and MIL moved to Mexico city from Europe to build their business. I don't think any of us fit in a box anymore!
ETA: to vs. too. Shees.
This made me think about school and the TAKS scoring and the "grade" that Texas schools make every year. It is broken down to ethnicity/race...It is sad, but "they" look at how things break down education wise by ethnicity/race.
On another note...and I hope this doesn't offend anyone, I always wondered why there was no Euro-American. I mean, there is Asian-American and African-American...why can't my status be Euro-American? My ancestors are from Europe... Just a thought. And, as someone mentioned the white man born in Africa is indeed and African-American, my mom has this black friend who is Hatian and is bothered/offended when he is called African-American. In the end, why do labels matter? It's interesting to know where you are from, but in this day and age, does it really make someone better than another person (at least in America)?
I am mexican with some spanish descent. That said, my ancestors always denoted white as their race. my birth certificate as well as my great grandparents say WHITE. there are only white, black, asian
you could be black but be hispanic or white and hispanic. So if you are from puerto rico or cuba, you could be white with hispanic nationality or black with hispanic nationality. you can't say that for americans here...i guess some could argue that though.
if you watched face of america on pbs, kristy yamaguchi's great grandfather didn't have asian on his birth certificate as they didn't have 'asian' term back then. very sad...
this is exactly the way to look at it. I get annoyed when people ask me if I am first or 2nd generation. Uh, my family has been in America longer than most...
I am saying I am mexican, but really i am white, american with mexican and spanish roots.
This. Except that the 3 race theory has been largely expanded and some ethnicities are now also called "races".
I am half Anglo-saxon Texan and half Hispanic, ethnically speaking. But I identify with "Hispanic" because I was raised in the Mexican culture.