Question on minorities

<p>I asked a few times around before but never got a clear answer. If I have French and Spanish nationality, can I put myself down as White/Hispanic? My mother doesn't have any French blood at all, and is very well Spanish, culturally and litterally.</p>

<p>spain spanish is not hispanic. </p>

<p>Hispanic/latino = south america/caribbean</p>

<p>uh, you forgot to add central america and mexico, but yes spanish doesn't qualify as hispanic.</p>

<p>central/mexico is south america</p>

<p>I have talked to admissions people from top colleges and Spanish counts as Hispanic. If you don't believe me, fire off an email to an admissions office and ask them.</p>

<p>And no, Mexico is not in South America. You think North America ends at the Rio Grande?</p>

<p>YES! That's what I hoped. So on my application, I'm gonna check both hispanic and white races. Thanks.</p>

<p>Did you actually send that email? Or did you wait until you got the answer for which you were waiting anyway?</p>

<p>kk (we can't agree on anything, can we?), my wife is from Spain and we have 2 kids. I got very quick and clear responses from the admissions people I corresponded with that our kids would qualify as Hispanic (they speak perfect Spanish, have Spanish names, and spend each summer in Spain...how much more Spanish do you want?). Though I would suppose that there are a few admissions offices out there that disagree, and it would be wise to confirm on a case-by-case basis, the ones I've heard from had no doubt that Spain Spanish can qualify as Hispanic.</p>

<p>It seems highly doubtful. Affirmative-Action programs exist because of various racial injustices that occur in this country against people of color, primarily African-Americans, Hispanics (Latino/Chicano) and Native Americans, although also Asian-Americans.</p>

<p>Europeans do not face that sort of discrimination.</p>

<p>-I would guess that this is something that could, and probably would, change from college to college. In general, people from Spain are not "Hispanic" as we think of it; they are white. Again, you should ask the schools to which you are applying.</p>

<p>kk -- people who are hispanic are white (caucasian). White is a racial classification while hispanic is an ethnic classification.</p>

<p>The US Census bureau defines hispanic as: "Hispanic Origin. Persons of Hispanic origin were identified by a question that asked for self-identification of the person's origin or descent. Respondents were asked to select their origin (and the origin of other household members) from a "flash card" listing ethnic origins. Persons of Hispanic origin, in particular, were those who indicated that their origin was Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or some other Hispanic origin. It should be noted that persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race." <a href="http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hispanic/hispdef.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hispanic/hispdef.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>It does not specifically include or exclude Spain. To me, the definition of hispanic is "of Spanish origin" and that would include Spain. It seems open to interpretation of the individual college -- however, if it were me and I was partially Spanish, I would mark the box hispanic without hesitation.</p>

<p>I am well aware of how the census bureau classifies “Hispanic”. If “Hispanic” is only an ethnic classification, then why would colleges list it on applications? How many other “ethnic classifications” are listed on a college application? </p>

<p>“or race: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and White.”</p>

<p>-Theses are races. The op is a white person, plain and simple. According to the census bureau, ANYONE can be “Hispanic”. </p>

<p>“People of Hispanic origin may be of any race and should answer the question on race by marking one or more race categories shown on the questionnaire, including White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and Some Other Race. “Hispanics are asked to indicate their origin in the question on Hispanic origin, not in the question on race, because in the federal statistical system ethnic origin is considered to be a separate concept from race.”</p>

<p>I know that colleges say that they don't rate URMs all together as a clump, but I think that they probably do, and is it fair to include people who are essentially Caucasian in the same group as people who aren't? I am Hispanic; my mom is white, but my dad is Mexican and I have grown up with that influence and culture all my life. Even though I'm only half-Mexican, I should classify myself as Hispanic, right? Being Hispanic to me isn't about a more lenient admissions process or better scholarships, its about the fact that I didn't even know people bought tortillas in stores until I was ten (I thought everyone made them at home) or that I didn't know the English versions for certain Spanish words even though I grew up speaking English. It's about speaking Spanglish with relatives and a probably stereotypical work ethic and view of money and being entrenched in Hispanic culture from day one. One of the above posts about discrimination is true...I don't "look Hispanic" because I take after my mom physically, but my dad surely has faced some discrimination because of his race. Is it fair for me to classify myself as Hispanic? Or am I being like the OP, who, in my opinion, may be "Hispanic" by bloodline far back but completely lived it?</p>

<p>maybe they should just forget about race classifications on applications. i don't see any point in it. it does nothing to relieve racial tension, if anything it just creates more tension.</p>

<p>the whole racial thing is complete bs, there are plenty of rich mexican/black kids, and plenty of poor asian/white people.</p>

<p>I don’t want to start this again…..</p>

<p>Yes, there are rich Black people. Yes, there are poor White people. Colleges look to diversify their student bodies, plain and simple. Most look for geographic, gender, racial, ethnic, sexual, religious, and economic diversity. An applicant to college is not defined solely by his stats. If this were the case, all colleges would set cutoffs for applying, and take applications on a rolling basis, using a computer to choose their classes. Face it: race is a part of the human experience. Granted, it’s a larger part for some than others, it is, still a part Thus, colleges ask about it when making decisions about whom to admit. </p>

<p>Before anyone raises any further questions/concerns about race in college admissions, I advise everyone first to look at the old thread “Affirmative Action ethics”. One can find this thread by using the “search” option in the forum.....</p>