<p>I'm sorry. I know I've seen dozens of these threads, and I have read all of them, but they do not answer my questions. So here we go again. How should I handle the race question if I am Latino? I know someone is going to say 'hispanic isn't a race, It's an ethnicity!?' and I get that, I do, but that doesn't help me.</p>
<p>I'm not White, I'm not Black, I'm not Asian, I'm not a Native Alaskan or a Pacific Islander. The Common App says "American Indian" and means "a person having origins in any of the original people of North and South America" and I guess that would be me, even though my family has not had ties with said original people in like a hundred years probably and we're mixed with White like every other Mestizo.</p>
<p>My question is what do I put when they ask for a tribe? I obviously don't have a tribe. My father's family says most of our Indigenous blood is Nahua and we all have Nahuatl first or middle names going back generations and I don't know what I am on my mother's side (I can probably ask around), but we are definitely not solely European.</p>
<p>I've been taught it's disrespectful to claim to be "Indigenous" just because of blood, you have to also be culturally whatever group you're trying to identify as. I've also been raised to believe that my race is Latino, but if this stupid country wants me to check the American Indian box and the White box because that would be the closest thing to what I am, then okay, but what do I put for tribe? Will I get in trouble for this? Will this hurt my chances?</p>
<p>I really don't want to just skip the question. It's insulting enough that I don't have an option, I'm not going to leave it blank as if I am nothing. </p>
<p>It seems to me that you’re Hispanic. Don’t overthink it! Remember that the CA asks for what race you IDENTIFY with (no pressure). You were clearly raised as a Latino, so it would make sense that you’d identify as a Hispanic.</p>
<p>I am Mexican American with a little Native American, so my historical background is mainly Hispanic, but overall, we are considered a “white” race. You ain’t black, you ain’t oriental, you were mixed with Caucasian at some point. The schools are not going to label you as “white” because you are Hispanic first.</p>
<p>You cannot use “Native” American because you did not originate from one of our US North American tribes. Your logic, that 600 years ago, our Spanish ancestors mixed races with Native Americans from South America and this makes you a native-American, is really a stretch. See, now you’re stuck trying to come up with a tribal affiliation.</p>
<p>If you are stuck on one of the first questions, you’re in bad shape for the rest of the application.</p>
<p>I’m not stuck on the first question, the question is flawed as is the us census that it complies with. I’m simply asking how to best answer the broken question. It’s not my fault they don’t have my race listed and I have no place to write it in. Obviously marking down that my ancestors were white people and people native to North America (Idk where you got the idea that the native people of Mexico are South American) would be the next most accurate thing. I’m not trying to say I’m NA, I’m going by the census bureau quote I saw on this website saying that ‘American Indian’ can mean a “person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America”.</p>
<p>There is no hispanic option for race, nor is it a race, nor is it what I am. Unless you’re advising me to put hispanic or mixed ethnicity as my tribe? Which just sounds dumb.</p>
<p>On this last census they advise us to write in ‘unknown’, ‘de-Indigenized’, or ‘Mestizo’ (or something like Maya or Huichol if they knew which group) under the ‘American Indian - Other’ box white also checking white, but I don’t know if they same thing is advised on the common app? Does anyone know??</p>
<p>You can select more than one race on the application. Since there’s a separate question asking if you are Hispanic/Latino, I would just put white as I’m guessing that’s what most do. However, you could also select both American Indian and white.</p>
<p>Angry? Look, no one is asking any person who fills out the CA or the Census or some job app, to go back and trace every ounce. They are asking how you identify. Sounds like that’s Latino, Mestizo (which your friendly adcoms will understand,) and maybe Nahuatl. You can ignore the box. You can fill it out as you feel best. And/or you can add one line in Addl Info that explains why you identify with the Nuahatl. If you were taught not to identify without the cultural connections, you decide if you have those. Not all the American tribes go by that. Figure it out. Make a decision.</p>
<p>OP: A lot of Hispanic applicants leave the race box empty, since no matter what race, colleges will simply label us as Hispanic/Latino. It won’t make a difference as long as you select “yes” on the Hispanic question, so don’t over think it.</p>
<p>Wow, rude much? Your question has been answered multiple times. If you’re still struggling with this, then there’s no helping you. Quit complaining about the “flawed” question and just pick an option. There’s nothing wrong with the question or the U.S. Census. </p>
<p>Well you see? Until I made a bitchy comment, the only ‘answers’ I got were just telling me to pick hispanic or latino as if I had asked if I were hispanic or latino.</p>
<p>Now I know I can, in fact, write down Mestizo or Nahuatl under tribe; that the race question will be completely ignored since I’ll also be checking Latino, so it doesn’t matter anyways; and that there are still people who think there is nothing wrong with the US Census race categories.</p>
<p>Turns out you may be able to attract more flies with honey than vinegar, but you attract more replies by being quasi rude than polite. Thanks guys.</p>
<p>Just put down Hispanic. you are not Spanish (from Spain),you are not likely Majority white,you are not likely majority Asian, you are not likely majority black, and you are not majority Native. There is absolutely NO REASON WHATSOEVER for you to be fighting over A WORD and if you want it changed start a petition. Just because the census says Hispanic instead of Latino is like getting POed over someone calling a white person a Caucasian or Anglo-Saxon.</p>
<p>Besides, in the end, who really cares? who is ever going to pay that application a second thought after they read it? unless you are planning to go to 20 different schools the only people that are going to see it is the admissions officer and maybe some board interns/paper pushers and possibly some scholarship committees. </p>
<p>What word? What “you people?” The CA question last year was “Are you Hispanic or Latino?” It gets a yes/no answer. And you are free to check as many subsequent boxes as apply. The Census says this: *There are two minimum categories for data on ethnicity: “Hispanic or Latino” and “Not Hispanic or Latino.” * </p>