My husband is Brazilian and I’m Chinese - what ethnicity should my daughter pick in the application? Latino only, or Latino + Chinese? Would picking “Latino only” give a slight edge (over the Asian half)???
The Latino/a question is different from the question re: race. Latino/a is ethnicity. Race would be Asian/White/whatever applies. So, one could easily include both Hispanic/Latino as an ethnicity and Chinese and whatever as race.
However, there is debate on whether Brazilian is latino/hispanic because that is typically defined as one coming from Spanish culture or origin. By the US Census definition, Brazilians don’t fit that description.
@doschicos According to what I learned online and from my spanish classes, Brazilians are not Hispanics because Brazil was colonized by Portugal, not Spain. However, Brazilians are Latinos because Brazil is in Latin America.
The US Census definition doesn’t differentiate between hispanic and latino/a @peach0v0. There are many definitions of the words, hence my use of the word “debate”.
Bottom line, an application can check the box because there is also a space to indicate country of origin thereby leaving it up to the admissions office to consider it in whatever context they want.
Ethnicity Is cultural, is not by race.
If she was raised with the cultural customs of both parents, she would be Brazilian and Chinese.
But, for example, if her father is Brazilian but he is not living with her, and she’d grew up just with his mother cultural customs, she is Chinese.
In this case the father’s ethnicity should take precendence. Although Brazil has a significant number of people of Japanese descent and if the father’s last name is not obviously Portuguese that might be an issue.
Or maybe not since there are Brazilians with surnames that are German or Italian.
@peach0v0 Brazilians aren’t latinos because Brazil is in Latinoamerica. Brazilians are latinos, same as the rest of countries of latinoamerica, because theirs lenguages (spanish, portugues and french) come from Latin.
Here is the University of Minnesota’s definition of Hispanic and Brazilian is part of it:
https://admissions.tc.umn.edu/apply/definitions.html
Although if the definition is of Central/South American origin, countries in Central/South America where Portuguese/Spanish is not the official language, for example Belize, Guyana, and Suriname should follow the same definition.
the term Latino is not based on language here in USA. If it were, it would have to include French/Italian/Romanian/Swiss, half of West Africans and some more.
“Hispanic or Latino: A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.”
This quote from the UMinn link above is the same definition as the US Census definition. Note “other Spanish culture or origin” hence the debate re: inclusion of Brazilians or not.
Wow, this thread went off in an interesting direction!. Going back to the original question whether OP’s daughter should describe herself as Latino only for purposes (I assume) of the Common App and ignore the possibly over-represented Asian half, my advice would be to check all the boxes that apply and look for an opportunity to explain. My son has a complicated ethnicity that includes both Asian (overrepresented) and Pacific Islander (underrepresented) and this is the approach he took. He also wrote about his identity in one of his essays. It was my sense that the kind of cultural/ethnic/racial diversity he described was attractive to many of the schools he applied to. Chinese/Brazilian is a pretty interesting background, and if your daughter doesn’t talk about her Chinese half, the schools won’t have the benefit of her real story. Regarding the question of whether Brazilian counts for Latino, my recollection is that once you get into the Common App form, there are drop-down menus in the ethnicity question that allow you to answer at some level of granularity. I can’t remember if there is also a box where you can add some sort of textual explanation, but you might want to go in and look at the way that section works as you think about how to respond.
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Hispanic could be defined culturally as well.
Carlos Slim and Salma Hayek are Mexican by citizenship/birthright but have Arab roots. Alberto Fujimori was President of Peru even though both his parents were Japanese.
Carlos Memem and Abdalá Bucaram were presidents of Argentina and Ecuador with Syrian/Lebanese roots. And Pope Francis is of Italian ancestry on both sides of the family.
Just some examples so YMMV. But they obviously identify as Hispanic/Latino by culture and birth.
Yes, as mentioned upthread, hispanic/latino/a is ethnicity therefore culture not race. It’s a two part question. Are you Hispanic/Latino? Yes or no. Then, what is your race which could be one or more things.
Man-o-mighty, some complicate this.
Don’t overthink. Adcoms will decide if her Brazilian ancestry is of interest to them. I agree that the Brazilian/Chinese duality is somewhat unique. But it will depend on how active both influences are in the applicant’s life and perspective.
Most colleges use the Census definitions.
The National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic and Other Populations, under census.gov, boils it down to this:
“The Census does not classify persons of Brazilian descent as Hispanic, but there may be a need to explore this issue further.”
Bottom line: choose what YOU feel applies and let adcoms decide if her heritage and experiences interest them for diversity purposes, as doschicos said.
Don’t second guess. More importantly, imo, no one should second guess for another family.
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if any
There are so many latino/hispanic people applying these days, that it won’t make that much of a difference when all is said and done.
The adcoms know what kind of diversity they are seeking to add to their classes.
If the student is also low-income, and has succeeded, despite the surroundings, then it is an edge only IF the rest of the “package” fits with the school’s need.
Chinese/brazilian makes for an interesting essay.
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Thank you for all the feedback so far - very interesting!
Our family is very proud of our mixed heritage, but the competitiveness of the college application that I’ve read here is freaking me out.
I realize that my DD should be proud of this heritage, rather than “hide” it for the sake of college admissions!!!
Thank you!!!
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For what it’s worth, the National Hispanic Recognition Program includes Brazil in its definition.
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt-psat-10/scholarships-and-recognition/national-hispanic-recognition-program
But that’s not the colleges and NHRP isn’t necessarily a tip.
I think, in this case, the combo outweighs just trying for Hispanic as a tip. The essay isn’t necessarily where one conveys sentiments about this mix. Look at the supp questions for a college. And the essay is meant to show various traits a kid offers. Not just proclaim. Nor explain.
And not only are lots of Hispanics applying, as Aunt Bea points out, but more are applying with highly competitive stats and ECs.
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I would suggest the users not get caught up into what bucket Brazilians get placed in. For starters, it’s been discussed before on this site (many many times). Secondly, there appears to be no consensus. And finally, and most importantly, each college will take the information and decide for itself (where not constrained by law) how, or if, to use that info.
As noted above, let’s not conflate race and ethnicity; Latin@ is an ethnicity and Asian is a race. For the Common App, at least, the questions of race and ethnicity are asked separately. Also note for the Common App, when asking about Latinx background, one of the options is “South America,” not “South America (excluding Brazil)”
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@“International Dad” I am extremely confused by your statement: “Brazilians aren’t Latinos because Brazil is in Latinoamerica.” I originally said that Brazilians are generally considered latinos. Did you misread my comment/can you clarify what you said?