Hispanic or not?

Student Lounge Hispanic Students
61

I was born and raised in Hawaii. My parents were born there was well, as were my grandparents. But my race is still not Hawaiian. I had friends who were part (or fully) Native Hawaiian, I lived there, I ate the food, I experienced the culture, and my family had lived there for generations–but that doesn’t change my or my family’s ancestry.

Having a parent who lived in Spain, having close friends (even if you consider them family) who are Spanish, speaking Spanish, and growing up in a predominantly Latino/a neighborhood are all great things, but they don’t make you Spanish. I have a friend who lived in Mexico, speaks fluent Spanish, has a lot of friends who are still in Mexico, and knows a lot about the intricacies of Mexican culture–but she still says that she is not hispanic/latina when asked because…she’s not.

Yes, the question can be weird and confusing. It can sometimes be difficult for students to choose which box they want to put themselves in (and I get it–I’m of mixed race too). And your daughter can check whatever box she wants to check. But in my opinion, she shouldn’t say that she’s Hispanic/Latina because–as you said so in your original post–she’s not. I think you and your daughter know the answer here or else you wouldn’t be asking this question.

I’m sure this is not where you are coming from and that you and your daughter are just a part of a large number of people who identify with cultures that they may not have been born into, but it does sound like you are grasping at straws here. I’m really sorry, but I can’t help but wonder if you would be debating the same issue if the situation were reversed. If you were Hispanic “by birth” (as you call it) but you and your daughter identified more strongly with a different culture (like Chinese, for example), would you be wondering if you should mark “No” for the question asking if she were Hispanic? Why is this suddenly an issue now when it wasn’t an issue when your daughter was filling out her SATs?

If this is the only concern, then I think it depends a lot on how this is addressed. If she randomly mentions her “Spanish family” with absolutely no context, then I think anyone would be confused, regardless of what she put as her ethnicity. But if she introduces it in another way–perhaps, discussing friends who she considers her family and how important they were in her discovery of culture and race and origin–then I don’t think it’s an issue at all. She should be writing her essay so that people who don’t know anything about her or her background will understand who she is and where she’s coming from. If the way she has written her essay makes it so that she needs to change her ethnicity in order to make it make sense, then something is very wrong there.

Perhaps, she could have her essay read by a teacher or counselor who can act as a third party and see if her essay reads well and makes sense to someone who doesn’t know details about her personal background. If the essay is really the issue here, then you might be able to get good responses from people who have actually read her essay.

62

DS and I had a good laugh about this thread over brunch. I was born in South America, and Spanish was my primary language. My parents did not speak English until the family moved to the U.S., and I learned it at school (don’t get me started on how ESL was taught in the late 50s). I was a citizen of my birth country until my twenties. One graduate school even wanted me to take the TOEFL.

As I understand it, the College Board would find it acceptable for my children, as 1/2 Hispanic (their classification, not mine), to check the box, and even more interesting, my *grandchildren/i to check the box. I didn’t, my children didn’t, and I’m pretty sure that my (as yet non-existent) grandchildren won’t either.

I understand the motivation, and we all want what’s best for our children, but at some point …

63

My oldest d did not check the box. To her, being Hispanic meant Spanish speaking at the least and believed the whole URM classification was to help non-whites who were poor, faced discrimination and needed a boost. So despite having a white Argentinian grandmother, she did not use this designation.

So she arrived at college and took a special scholars class about race and identity in America. The end result was that she was shown that she did not identify as Latina or Hispanic because of her own pre conceptions and prejudices. Thinking that Hispanic meant underprivileged or non-white was viewed as biased. If there were a Russian scholarship–and one needed one Russian grandparent to qualify-- d would not hesitate to apply even though she has never been to Russia and never spoke a word of Russian

So why not Latino? Almost 80% of Argentinians identify as white. So why the reluctance?

After this class, d identified as Hispanic and white and felt comfortable doing so. She identifies as Russian and Austrian, too. When younger d took the PSAT and applied to colleges she checked white, Hispanic and other.

64

No, your daughter is not Hispanic. She does have a close affinity to Spanish people and culture but that alone does not make her Hispanic. You also overestimate the effect of declaring herself Hispanic (from Spain) may have on your daughter’s college applications. Universities are looking for URM candidates, which means Mexican and Puerto Rican students (especially males) are the most sought after. I say this as somebody with plenty of personal experience with mixed race, ethnicity, cultural identity and affinity issues.

65

back to the original issue the OP was asking for strangers on college confidential to green light her gaming the system.

66

Zobro,
You should reread my original post and my follow up comments. How would she be "gaming the system ’ if she clearly spelled out her background in the Additional comments section as originally stated? She’s got nothing to hide from the Adcoms. As it stands, she’s decide to leave her essay as is and leave the Demographic section blank, and let the Adcoms figure it out.

Thanks for everyone’s inputs; it’s been enlightening

67

By the way Uskoolfish, your views expressed in post no. 55 about Central America are inaccurate. There are significant and longstanding populations of Black people in Central America, as another poster indicated. Look to Honduras, Belize and Costa Rica for examples. In fact, further up the coast and into Mexico, Vera Cruz has more in common with Afro-Caribbean communities than it does with Mexico City.

68

I don’t think the essay is a problem. But I think checking Hispanic is a problem.

69

just re read your OP and it clearly is asking by a twisted logic if
"can she also mark “Hispanic (Spain)” so yes you are trying to game the system . the first part of the post is a bend over backwards pitch,followed by the question which you clearly asked. do what you please, the system sucks and gives more or less value to a person based on a box checked on an application. but, just because the schools are doing a morally reprehensible thing does not mean you should too. perhaps you should think of it like this, if they do not want your child for who they are only if they are something else…that school is not a place she should want to be. there are plenty of schools in the country who do not play games with ethnicity, gender, race and origin. it is mostly the elitist schools.

70

And adcoms do frequent this site. I’m sure some will take note reading this.

71

@LakeWashington I was referring to the poster who said her son was 100% Mayan, but considered himself black because his friends were black (not Mayan.)

Mayans are indigenous natives to the Americas and have a different classification than blacks with African roots. I know that Africans were brought over to the Caribbean area and the Americas, have settled in many areas and have influenced its cultures.

72

Lately, CC has come up with a lot of admissions examples using folks who long since applied, graduated, married, became parents, sent their own kids off to college. Let’s admit those were another era.

I don’t think any of us fully understand how the govt uses reporting data,where the grey lines are. But the colleges are aiming for some diversity, we get that. That doesn’t just mean some aspect of your birth line, it means the perspective and experiences you bring. Having empathies for another group is great. Nice. You’ll get along with others. By all means, explain it somewhere. Lots of kids have, when they answered the question about your community or groups (separate from the identity check boxes.) Use that. Adcoms will notice and, depending on how you word it, can appreciate it. (They can also appreciate when it’s your own born heritage group or something else. It’s an open question and the kid should make a well thought out choice.)

But for the check boxes, the general advice is to at least try to fill out the section by govt expectations. Usually, that goes back to the Census, which goes back to other concepts.

As skieurope noted, “Definition of Hispanic or Latino Origin Used in the 2010 Census: Hispanic or Latino” refers to a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.”

The Census folks further say, "Hispanics or Latinos are those people who classified themselves in one of the specific Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino categories listed on the Census 2010 questionnaire -“Mexican,” “Puerto Rican”, or “Cuban”-as well as those who indicate that they are “another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin.” You can find the rest of the wording.

I think, if we take a breath and think, the key word is “origins.” Not “alliances” or happy memories or “most of my friends.” I think the safest bet is to aim to be pure about this, not get your baggies twisted.

I do know of a case where a kid was credited for an identity she was not born to. But she was far more heavily involved in that culture, its challenges, traditions, etc, than hanging out, taking trips, etc. She had become a youth mover and shaker of sorts. I also know cases where the true ethnic background was of little admissions significance because the kid had no involvement beyond the labels.

I think that’s what OP was missing- the more holistic view of this. Use her friendships and comfort level in the app or supp. Sure. Show them you can move easily among groups, are open minded, have done something in those communities, etc. But understand the diff between an assumed ethnic identity (or even preference) and the intent of the check box question. That’s all.

73

Interesting at some UCs, not sure if most, they track Filipino as a separate category. I wonder why. Not Asian. Not Hispanic.

74

Yes Dr. Google, I 've been curious about that myself for quite a while, having many friends in the Filipino community. Some Filipino friends can trace their heritage to a relatively recent ancestor (think grandfather, grandmother) from Spain. And yet, in the wet spaghetti and figure eight politics of identity in the U.S. today, Filipinos are somehow not considered Hispanic. Of course, there were significant rebellions against Spaniard rule in the Philippines during the colonial era. Maybe that has something to do with it.

75

Based on some of the responses, I’m curious if posters would consider White (i.e., of European descent) Mexicans and their descendants, etc., to be Hispanic? I think that people tend of the assume Hispanic means of that someone is of indigenous Mexican, Central American, or South American background moreso than they think it means “of a Spanish-speaking ethnic/cultural background.” Then you have people like my friend’s son who are both multi-racial and ethnically Hispanic (half Native American, a quarter [indigenous Mexican] Hispanic, and a quarter Caucasian [European]) but who “look White.”

76

Hispanic can be ANY race.

Google the Common Data Set for any school, and look at section B2:

There’s:
Hispanic/Latino
Black, non-hispanic
White, non-hispanic
Native American, non-hispanic
Asian, non-hispanic
Pac Islander, non-hispanic
Two or more races, non-hispanic

77

Yes, I know, but based on the responses here, I think many posters wold consider a someone of White Hispanic decent to be “unfairly” identifying as Hispanic. There’s also the question of if people on non-American/Canadian indigenous descent (e.g., people of Central/South American indigenous decent, people of Maori descent, etc) can or should identify as Native American or if people from non-federally recognized American tribes can do so. For example, I had a friend in undergrad who is from a non-federally recognized (state-recognized) Native American tribe and is heavily involved in and culturally identified with it but nevertheless didn’t qualify for a Native American scholars program because she wasn’t from a federally recognized tribe. People on CC get slammed for asking these questions, but for many people, the answers aren’t that simple.

78

^Maybe an adcom or school official can do better than CCer opinions and anecdotes. And it makes sense some awards are dependent on tribal enrollment or the Dawes list or other recognition.

79

"like my friends son who are both multi-racial and ethnically Hispanic (half Native American, a quarter [indigenous Mexican] Hispanic, and a quarter Caucasian [European]) but who “look White.”’

I think a comment like that show a little to much obsession with race and ethnicity. perhaps just seeing someone as a human is better.

80

Hey, here’s a radical thought. How 'bout colleges stop shoe-horning kids into arbitrary racial buckets and just give special consideration for economic disadvantage?