My son and husband are Californios, a designation that refers to certain families associated with the Portola expedition of 1769. These families explored large swaths of what was then Alta California, founded several missions and cities, etc.
Though the ancestor in question was born in Mexico in the 1700s, it’s a point of pride among the families to identify as Spanish, not Mexican (some 300 years of intermarriage and family photos where certain ancestresses are obviously Chumash notwithstanding).
So while there’s no question that my son is Hispanic, we’re at a bit of a loss when certain forms want to narrow it down to Mexico vs. Spain. I think S should check Mexico because it’s been 400 years since anyone was born in Spain. Certain older members of the family would be aghast by this, and S isn’t sure what to mark.
I have never seen forms that require anything more specific than “Hispanic” or “Latino.” I’m curious which forms require the distinction between Spain/Mexico.
While on a regional level Californio/Hispanic or Hispano/Hispanic distinctions matter with respect to identity and genealogical claims, in this context, I imagine that Spanish would refer to recent migration from Spain, not those that date from the Spanish colonial era.
Thanks, mamaedefamilia. I’m trying to find the exact form, but it was online and if it’s the one I think it was, the portal is closed now and I can’t access it anymore.
The issue was that after one checks Hispanic or Latino, there was a subsection of boxes where the options were different geographical areas. Spain was an option by itself. Central American countries were listed separately from South American countries, Brazil was separate from South America, etc. The line for Mexico said something like “Mexican, Mexican-American, Chicano/a” and I think one other option that I can’t remember what it was.
My son said none of those words fit him. He doesn’t think of himself as Mexican or Mexican-American and he’d never heard Chicano before. He thinks of himself as mixed white and Californio.
I said he was being too specific on the semantics because he’s never going to find Californio as an option unless he checks Other and writes it in himself, and even if he does, the chances of anyone knowing what that is are pretty small even here in California.
I agree with you about recent migration from Spain vs. the colonial era. I’m still thinking that if he has to specify, he should pick the option involving Mexico.
Update: whatever form it was, the subsections under Hispanic / Latino look like they were taken from census forms for the year 2000, so maybe it was an outdated form.
Maybe we won’t encounter this sort of thing all that much?
@mamaedefamilia - My son applied for an internship at one of the UC’s and checked the Hispanic box. He received a letter in return asking him which of the following he identified as – chicano, latino, other_______.
My daughter attends a CC and when she filled out the application, under hispanic it had several choices to select which you identify as.
I have seen this on forms also, the request for a specific country background. Most recently, I think it came up on a web page to reserve a spot on a campus tour.
I think this question is becoming increasingly common in California, where Latino enrollment is going up every year.
