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<p>Source? I’ve always heard that Brazilians ARE considered Latino, but not Hispanic (for obvious reasons).</p>
<p>Hey, when they ask me for race, I tell them the truth: Mongol-Semitic (I’m descended from Ghenghis Khan!) My Lithuanian-Jewish silk merchant was denied entry into the U.S. after World War I, because, with a Turkish passport, he was considered “Oriental”. He later illegally entered the U.S. as a French-Canadian. Of course, if you go back far enough, we are all African.</p>
<p>Actually, it’s 200 meters.</p>
<p>Seems the Texas census does that thing where Hispanic/Latino is a secondary option after race. Most Hispanics/Latinos select “white” as their race which is why the %White is just slightly lower than %White, not Hispanc + %Hispanic: because some of the Hispanic identified as a different race.</p>
<p>I am VERY aware that hispanic/latino can be of any race including White. I’ve never seen a Miss Venezuela who isn’t White.That is the point. </p>
<p>If they are White, then why do they need preferences?</p>
<p>Why do preferences have to be tied to race? There can be underrepresented minorities defined by things other than U.S. Census categories.</p>
<p>GMTplus7: The Texas census does NOT allow you to pick Hispanic without another race. They must mark themselves as white/black/Asian/Native American first, and THEN check a box that says Hispanic/Latino. So most pick White.</p>
<p>It does not mean they are light-skinned, nor does it mean that they are English-speaking, nor does it mean that they enjoy the privilege and socioeconomic comfort of most fair-skinned European white people.</p>
<p>Mini, my family lore was also always that we were descended from Genghis Kahn. Til we recently got the Nat Geo results back.</p>
<p>GMT, they’re NOT white… they just don’t have any other option to pick!</p>
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<p>luisarose, I am really appreciating your posts on this topic. I am pretty sure my college boyfriend was one of the people you describe above–a dirt-poor kid from a small farm town in the poorest county in one of the poorest southern states, where he was one of only a handful of white kids.</p>
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<p>This is exactly right. ALL kids have a story to tell. A kid who spends 15 hours a week in a dance studio and has to work part-time to pay for her expensive lessons and thus has no time for other ECs is going to be considered in the context of her overall situation. By contrast, a kid who doesn’t work, isn’t especially committed to any one time-consuming activity, and comes from an affluent zip code–and yet STILL has mediocre EC involvement and meh grades–is not what most colleges need more of. Certainly not public institutions whose mission is to serve ALL the people of their state and reward those who demonstrate a commitment to hard work and overcoming obstacles.</p>
<p>GMT as another white hispanic, the comment also really rubbed me the wrong way.</p>
<p>Hispanic is not a race, it’s an ethnicity. The census does not allow you to identify your race as Hispanic (not a race), you have to pick white, black, etc. So they are not trying to take advantage of anything by saying they are white and hispanic. </p>
<p>Affirmative action does not only exist for race! Historically it has existed for sex, race, but also ethnicity.</p>
<p>For example, jewish people can also be white, but declare their ethnicity as jewish. </p>
<p>“Ethnicity is the term for the culture of people in a given geographic region, including their language, heritage, religion and customs. To be a member of an ethnic group is to conform to some or all of those practices.”</p>
<p>[Race</a> and Ethnicity - What’s the Difference | Race vs. Ethnicity | LiveScience](<a href=“http://www.livescience.com/33903-difference-race-ethnicity.html]Race”>http://www.livescience.com/33903-difference-race-ethnicity.html)</p>
<p>psych Brazilian and Portuguese people I know… Along with learning in several HS classes about census classifications. Census classifications sometimes differ from how individual people and cultures identify themselves (north Africans are also classified as white when their lineage/DNA says otherwise). I will admit I’ve never had to look at a census form.</p>
<p>CPU, I linked one a few posts back.</p>
<p>To add to salander’s post, in the scope of ALL of the benefits of affirmative action, white women benefit the most. Will try to find a link but I’m using a mobile phone right now.</p>
<p>Edit: thanks romani ill go look</p>
<p>The census categories are a result of political decisions. I know, because I dealt with them professionally in the world of health statistics. In 1990, the Bush Administration decided to water down the number of people who would check the African-American box by introducing the “mixed race” category. The idea was that because, while it used to be the case that if one had even “one drop of Black” blood one was considered Black (hence, our first Black President Warren G. Harding ;)), now those in the lowest caste role in American society might be enticed to check this box. This would decrease the power of the Congressional Black Caucus, and also result in fewer expenditures in certain areas. In public health, it meant less funds available for sickle-cell anemia programs - after all, “mixed race” folks don’t require them, do they?</p>
<p>And folks like me are no longer “Oriental” (I guess.)</p>
<p>Well, the census form doesn’t explicitly state Portuguese or Brazilian as an example. </p>
<p>Brazilians often have White roots or Black/African roots. I have friends who are half sisters, same mother but their dads are different kinds of Brazilian. Different skin color, hair texture, facial features. My African/Black Brazilian friend and I used to be called each other’s names before we even met (I am African American with close Native American lineage). </p>
<p>As a side note… Why is there Black, Afr. Am, or <em>Negro</em> as census options. Since when do we use “Negro” to classify people anymore. Even civil rights leaders rejected the use of the word. It’s funny/sad how some people I meet don’t understand that African American is Black but Black isn’t African American… Black is an umbrella term. </p>
<p>Back to the discussion at hand.</p>
<p>African-American is also a sort of unspecific term…Charlize Theron is African-American since she’s from South Africa, but it doesn’t get much whiter than her.</p>
<p>I sincerely hate the census and think it’s a terrible thing to look at. Living in three different countries and through 5+ censuses in America, my mother’s race has “changed” several times (4 that I can think of) and might change again if they do away with “Hispanic” (ie Spanish) in the next census or two. (And, as an anthropologist, you can guess how much race boxes get on my nerves)</p>
<p>I just think it’s really disingenuous to use the numbers in the way that GMT is trying to.</p>
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<p>If someone has one black parent and one white parent, I think it is more accurate to call him “mixed race” than black or white.</p>
<p>@Beliavsky it is more accurate, but it also decreases the # of people who call themselves black, which leads to the marginalization of the black community politically.</p>
<p>Theron is not African American. The category is South African American. I don’t know her citizenship.</p>
<p>And, if you are mixed race, the goal is to learn what identity groups those are.</p>