2010 Census
The Census Bureau is currently in the process of revising how it addresses the race of Latino respondents. In the 2010 Census, Americans were asked if they were of Latino/Hispanic/Spanish origin and then asked to identify their race as White, Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, or Hawaiian/Pacific Islander. Oh, yeah, there was one last choice: “Some other race”. Not surprisingly, 18 million Latinos — or 36 percent of the Latino population — selected this option.
The poor Census people must be racking their brains trying to come up with better race choices for Latinos. What they need to understand though is that, unless they offer a full page of racial options, it’s just not that simple to narrow down a Latino’s racial profile to one selection.
Take me, for example. Sometimes not even other Latinos can pinpoint what I am. I am part Puerto Rican and part Jewish. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, but while living there, I was asked a few times if I was Spanish — which, of course, is in my genetic makeup — and I even got asked if I was Italian. I’ve been living in Orlando, Florida, for the past nine years. On one occasion, after asking where I was from, a white American told me, “You aren’t like any other Puerto Rican I have ever met.” I’m not sure exactly what he meant, but the sentiment has been echoed by Latinos.
When I go to the Latino supermarket, I am sometimes spoken to in English or people will look at me like “what’s she doing here buying plátanos?” Also, when I tell other Latinos here in the States that I’m Puerto Rican, every single one has told me they thought I was Colombian or Venezuelan. So I’m guessing there’s also a cultural component to this. I think maybe people, including other Latinos, think about the stereotypical image of the nuyorican woman, and are thrown off when they see I don’t wear humongous hoop earrings, a gold chain around my neck with my name on it, or tawk like Rosie Perez. There can be a distinct difference in the appearance of Puerto Ricans raised on the island and those raised on the U.S. mainland.
I asked five people, four of whom know me and one of whom is a stranger, if they would think I was Latina if they saw me walking down the street. Two people said yes; one person said they would think I was from some European country; and the other two, including the stranger, said they would think I was a white American. My husband and his family are Dominican; to me they look black, but they do not describe themselves as being black. I have three children of three different colors: my daughter is fair with dark blonde hair and green eyes; my middle son is café con leche; and my youngest son is dark.
Good luck, Census Bureau people. Hopefully, in 2020, each of us will find an accurate description for our race. But at the end of the day, we all belong to the human race.
By Taína Haiman, special contributor
About Being Latino Contributors
Why is it such a point of consternation? To people I am white, but actually, I am German and Swiss with some Irish mixed in the generations. No one cares and thats fine.
People people people….We are the rainbow people!!!! I am 100% Puerto Rican and believe me, I have had people ask me; what are you I/we cant figure it out? lol no matter, an international look is fine
Most state, I look like I am from a third world country….
My parents immigrated from Mexico. I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I am Jewish since birth but that’s my religion. It has nothing to do with race although following traditions, eating certain foods is cultural. It confuses a lot of people because they don’t understand how a Mexican-American can be a Jew when the two are distinctly different.
Marissa
Everyone always asks me if I’m Filipino, even people from the Philippines. I’m Salvadorean. lol
I’m guilty of the “Some other race” option… I am Puerto Rican… My parents, grand parents and great grandparents are also PR etc… with that being said I am not mixed and always felt that white/black etc was for anyone with mixed heritage, so cuando pongan “Hispanic”/Puerto Rican I will make another selection! Lol
Let me repeat … I am an American with Mexican descent annnd THAT’S how I roll!
There is a distinction between Ethnicity, and Race… Why do we need these little checked boxes in the first place? Shared culture is one thing, but skin color can vary even in immediate families.
I am albino
I’m Hispanic and I have people ask me all the time if I’m from Nepal…I didn’t even know what or where that was until I looked it up. Lol
lol I hate it! One time, this girl said to me “people dont look like what theyre supposed to anymore” and I was like “uhhhhh, really?”
Great article. People always say I don’t “look” Puerto Rican either. As if we all have one distinct look. My Mother is afro Puerto Rican and my father Spaniard and Irish. I put “other” also. Lol
We are not Hispanics you either Caucasian Indian Asian and Black or Albino I’m Cuban from Spaniards and Irish but I’m white but like Stephanie said skin color vary even in brothers and sisters
I never answer the question because when they say white they don’t ask them if polack ,Irish, germen, they just say white please and if they are all three most of them ain’t american
Franchesca you don’t look like you are from Nepal we need extensive Geography in the educational system North Americans confuse the entire world you don’t need to be a north American to be White or an Afrucan to be Black or and Indian to be one there’s Indians from India and Indians from America the continent it’s not only USA I’m a Latin Anerican why because I was born in Cuba that is in the continent of Anerica but I speak Spanish derived. from Latin
omg~i always get asked if im indian,pakistan,chinese,full mexican,..ive even been asked by a complete stranger:what am i ???” lol,answer ~HUMAN BEING,U?” seriously im mexican,my mother is from mexico,her mother was from spain,and her mother was red haired w green eyes,all very beautiful and my father is full indian~
I’m Panamanian and Guyanese but I look Black. Nobody every believes I’m a Latina and on top of that I “speak like a White girl.” As a kid I was told I was confused and just trying to deny that I was “just Black” by complete strangers. SMH. I’ve also gotten weird looks when I check off Hispanic on job apps and my White boss looks at me crazy. In HS, my demographic was CONSTANTLY being put down as Black because how I looked. Even when I changed it to Hispanic, it would be changed back. I’m of Central and South American descent….sounds pretty Hispanic to me. What I’ve learned though, is just because I don’t fit into a “typical” Latina box, doesn’t make me less of an morena!
In grade school, kids used to pick on me because I was one of the few blanquitos in school. I looked like one of the Judio kids from the other side of town. I’m Puerto Rican.
This is familiar. I have gotten so many similar comments. On the one hand, it’s difficult to know your own identity but have others fail to see you for who you are, and on the other hand, it’s a little bit nice to ‘fit’ among many different groups due to a certain ambiguity. However, the other side of that is many will forever consider you ‘too ______’ or not ________ enough’, especially if you have some mixing in your background (I have Italian on my mother’s side).
No one is racially pure.. People have migrated all over the planet for centuries now. Ask me to describe my skin color I am pinkish-white (lol), Ask me to describe my heritage? culture? what languages I speak? I’m “other” as well.
Well let’s see here…Tego Calderon is Puerto Rican and he’s of mostly African ancestry. And um, Celia Cruz, RIP, was Cuban and she was of msotly African ancestry…I mean most Spanish speaking people know who Celia Cruz is, right? So it’s no shocker that Spanish speaking “blacks” exist. Carlos Ponce was born in Puerto Rico and I believe his parents are Cubans? And he’s mostly of European descent. Ricki Martin doesn’t really look “brown” to me, he looks of mostly European ancestry and he is Puerto Rican. The original people in Puerto Rico before the Spaniards invaded were people of color. Based on racial classification Tainos would be consider an Asian subgroup? Soemone correct me here, I don’t feel like researching. I don’t think there was one in this group who looked like Celia Cruz or Carlos Ponce before Columbito got there. So one is either from one of these “race” groups or a mix of two or three. Puerto Rican isn’t a race much like a USA American isn’t a race. Duh.
Also, I am aware that I am speculating on these people’s racial background since I don’t have their DNA test result on hand.
As long as you know who you are!!!
And you know what makes the people I mentioned Puerto Ricans and Cubans??? They were actually BORN there.
I remember when my parents filled out the 2010 census. For themselves, they checked the box for Latino and wrote “Mestizo” under it. For me, they just checked the box for White. True story.
I’m sure most of us here have at least heard about the Spanish classifications for racial make up.. criollo, mestizo, mulatto… this is the American version of the same thing perhaps.. depending on how “white” you are or how “black” you are you will have more or less rights? IDK.. I would like to know why the government cares so much which categories we all fit into by race and ethnicity. Except for the Native peoples living here still, we are almost all immigrants from somewhere.. and most of us are mixed from other parts of the world.
Latino is an ambiguous term. You can be of any racial descent and be latino. And since our primary descendants were Latin Europeans, chances are of you’re a light skinned latino, you are caucasian. So, all you hispanic honky’s best start marking it off on your census forms, lol.
*if
Yep…some have blond hair, fair skin and light eyes.
Latinos can look like just like anyone else because all this Latino stuff is kinda made up.
My mother is Dominican and Puerto Rican with a Chinese grandfather thrown in for good measure; my father Cuban with a strong Italian ancestry. I grew up in the Jersey suburbs before they became populated with latinos. Can’t count the number of times I was asked “What are you?” Amongst the white people and black people there I was often considered to be a light skinned black girl or maybe mixed (I didn’t have an accent of any kind), while my green eyed blond haired little sister blended perfectly as a gringa. I married an Italian Irish American whose family all share the same blue eyes. In the winter, my kids are very fair and pink (think Snow white), in the summer they tan better than I do. I once was asked if I “take care of that boy” while playing with my son in the park (it was Spring, so he wasn’t dark yet). In the summer, if the kids are with my husband only, people will often ask him where is their mother from. I’ve never known what to fill in for myself on any Race question, and now with my kids, I get even more confused. All I know is they are beautiful!
Dillz Clinton, that is not the way to go based on skin color, many caribbean hispanics are light skin but have negroid features like a flat nose and huge lips, they are called jabaos in their island. There are many native americans in Latin America who are light skin also, some even with light eyes and light hair, according to you, they would have to mark themselves white because they have those traits.
According to you, she should would have to mark herself white lol
http://i2.listal.com/image/3152812/600full-carmen-solomons.jpg
According to you, these natives from Mexico would have to mark themselves white because of their light skin even thought they do not look white but mixed
http://s16.postimage.org/fe1of8per/Weaver.jpg
Excelente articulo!!!
Taina… what are you talking about? Do you even know what RACE means? Stand on a corner of downtown Los Angeles, a city with the largest “Hispanic/Latino” population in the United States, and look at the “Hispanic/Latino” faces. But what do you look for when you expect to see a “Hispanic/Latino” face? In fact, there is no such thing as a “Hispanic/Latino” race. Every race of the world exists in Latin America. There are Asian “Hispanics/Latinos.” There are Black “Hispanics/Latinos.” There are Caucasian “Hispanics/Latinos.”
Take me for instance. I’m an American who happens to be of Mexican, Spanish, Italian and German descent. I was born in 1961… there was no “Hispanic”… there was no “Latino” back then. My birth certificate indicates that I’m caucasian. Then in the 1970?s, the term “Hispanic” became the government’s word of choice for people of Spanish origin. It was Richard Nixon’s administration that came up with the notion of the “Hispanic”. During President Nixon’s administration, federal bureaucrats (which included Grace Flores-Hughes) divided the nation’s population into five: Native American/Eskimo; Asian/Pacific Islander; White; Black; “Hispanic”. 42 years later we see and use the word “Hispanic” routinely. The term was first placed on the 1970 Census form. But it gets even better. Then a segment of the “Hispanic” community didn’t like the word “Hispanic” and decided to embrace the word “Latino”…. kinda like I say tomato, you say toMAHto… just two different words to describe the same people. Matter of fact, The term “Latino” was officially adopted in 1997 by the United States Government. By the way… I think it’s way over due that the “Hispanic/Latino” community erect a statue in honor of President Nixon… after all he is responsible for your identities. The terms “Hispanic/Latino” seem to unite those with nothing in common other than backgrounds vaguely related to countries where the Spanish language is important. Just because Richard Nixon decides to stamp “Hispanic” on your forehead doesn’t make it a racial identity. And just because a segment of the “Hispanic” community decides to embrace “Latino” doesn’t magically create your family history/heritage. Your history didn’t begin 42 years ago and yet you guys put a great emphasis on artificial identities that were created in the 70′s. In my lifetime, I’ve seen a whole population of people morph into these artificial identities with such pride that it’s mind boggling.
You seem to be under the false impression that “Puerto Rican” is a race. It’s NOT. It’s a nationality… not an ethnicity. I’ve been to Puerto Rico and I have Puerto Rican friends there and here in the U.S. and they’re not all from the same race. Even my American friends who are of Puerto Rican descent don’t all share the same race. Judaism is not a race because Jews do not share one common ancestry. For instance, Ashkenazi Jews and Sephardic Jews are both “Jewish.” However, whereas Ashkenazi Jews often hail from Europe, Sephardic Jews often hail from the Middle East. People of many different races have become Jewish over the centuries. “Jewish” is neither a nationality.
All living humans belong to the same “hominid subspecies”, “Homo sapiens sapiens.” However, when you talk about race, the world population can be divided into 4 major races, namely White/Caucasian, Mongoloid/Asian, Negroid/Black, and Australoid. You’re confusing “race” with “ethnic groups.”
Hi,Sweetie. Like they say: Hija de gata casa raton! Llevas la inspiracion de tu mami en la sangre. Congrats!!!!! Lv u all
Marin