Should my kids check the "Hispanic" box?

Parents Forum
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<p>We're weighing a decision in my family, whether our kids should check the "Hispanic" box for the PSATs.</p>

<p>Technically, I believe they do qualify. Their father is 1/2 Hispanic, his family tracing their roots back to Mexico-- when Mexico included much of what is now the US Southwest (now Arizona and New Mexico). When those territories became part of the US in 1848/1853, those great-greats became Hispanic-Americans.</p>

<p>But some on my side of the family (very caucasian) thinks there is something "shady" about having them check that box. They claim that because my husband went to college and graduate school never having checked that box, that our children shouldn't either. They also claim that the kids will be "stigmatized" or "labeled" as minorities and that we should be trying to avoid that.</p>

<p>Has anyone else had this dilemma? Is there an ethical issue here? Is it as simple as "if you qualify, check the box?"</p>

<p>Thanks for your comments/feedback.</p>

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<p>No…being Hispanic these days is nothing special in admissions terms
No longer a small minority plus Latinos have done very well in business</p>

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<p>Actually, I just reread your post. If I understand correctly, you are saying that your children’s father’s family was in Mexico-- or even part of the US that is considered Mexico-- 150 years ago.</p>

<p>Honestly, I would say no, they’re not Hispanic. It’s not about the parents’ level of education, which is a separate factor. Certainly, there are poor Hispanics, rich Hispanics, educated H and uneducated H. However, in as much as Hispanic is an ‘ethnic group’ and not a race, kids can be raised in an environment where that culture is a part of their lives or not. It doesn’t sound like your children lived that experience.</p>

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<p>Very true about Latino successes, but there are a large number of scholarships available for Hispanic students, a special National Merit award status for them, and certain colleges do actively recruit Hispanic and Latino students if they are underrepresented on their campuses. </p>

<p>Given the tremendous competition for rare scholarship funds and admission spots these days, will my kids be missing out on opportunities being given to others of their ethnicity? </p>

<p>These are, of course, opportunities based on ethnicity alone, and not on any financial need, ESOL, or recent immigrant status.</p>

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<p>My friend who is Ecuadorean and whose husband is not had her kids check the box for Hispanic. If your kid is applying to small LAC definitely I would really encourage it as they are URM’s there. My son is Asian (adopted from Korea) and is considered an URM at small LAC.</p>

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<p>Technically that makes the children 1/4th Hispanic.</p>

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<p>Yes, you children will be missing out on opportunities as being URM can be a key to get into top schools looking at the acceptance rates…</p>

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<p>If I had children with one Hispanic grandparent (and even that is stretching the definition, it seems) who did not have any Hispanic heritage as part of their lives, I could not in good conscience check off that box.</p>

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While I wish colleges wouldn’t ask about races/ethnicities, since I don’t think it should be relevant in college admissions, if they ask, and if they make decisions on it, and if one qualifies, then why not play their game? As far as I know there’s no officially defined method to even determine what constitute’s the definition of ‘hispanic’, ‘AfAm’, etc. so it seems to be left up to the applicant to decide - is 1/4 hispanic ‘enough hispanic’ to qualify?, is the fact that there might have been no actual ‘identification’ with the hispanic culture throughout their life, does it still count?, etc.</p>

<p>On the checkbox when your H went to college - did they even have one then? A lot of this profiling is more recent but I guess they might have had it back then. However, it might have been less significant back then because I’m not sure so many colleges tried to architect their student body based on race/ethnicity back then as they do now.</p>

<p>On the stigma - what stigma? How would anyone even know about it other than your family? If the kid will always wonder “gee, would I have been admitted if I didn’t check the box”, well, that’s one of the downsides to this. If that’s important to him then he can always check the ‘decline to state’ box (if there is one).</p>

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<p>Many colleges do offer special summer programs to their Hispanic and URM acceptees, for remedial academics, study-habit improvement, and cultural programming. Often the URM programs continue throughout the four years. Would your child be comfortable with these special services and profiling?</p>

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<p>^ Really? I don’t know of any colleges that offer summer remedial academics just for ethnic minorities.</p>

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<p>2collegewego: the College Board, which administers the PSAT, the National Merit Program, and the National Hispanic Recognition Program (NHRP), states that “Hispanic” is an ethnic designation, not a cultural or racial one. It does not matter if my kids speak Spanish, know how to make tortillas from scratch, or eat tamales (which they do) or in any other way “live the cultural experience” of being Hispanic. The US Census Bureau only recognizes 4 races: White, Black/African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, or Asian. “Hispanics” can be from any of these racial categories.</p>

<p>Here is the definition they provide to qualify for NHRP:
“To qualify for this program, you must be at least one-quarter Hispanic/Latino. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnic category, not a racial category, and you may be of any race. For purposes of the NHRP, you must be from a family whose ancestors came from at least one of these countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay or Venezuela.” </p>

<p>Students who qualify for NHRP are not removed from the National Merit program. This is an additional distinction and opportunity to apply for scholarships or to be brought to the attention of college admissions staff.</p>

<p>My kids are from a family whose ancestors came from Mexico, and they are 1/4 of that ancestry. So they do qualify to check the box. My question is whether they <em>should</em>. </p>

<p>Personally, I feel it is like checking a box to say if you are male or female. They are 1/4 Hispanic, so they should check the box. I’m just wondering if there really is some kind of “stigma” that would follow the kids if they do that.</p>

<p>In addition to some on my side of the family worrying about that possibility, some in my husband’s family do too.</p>

<p>My husband was told by his family never to check the box and he was never taught to speak Spanish or allowed to speak Spanish in his home. His mother remembers growing up Hispanic in the US and being told she was not allowed to swim in the public swimming pool or drink from the same drinking fountain as white children, and she was discriminated against because of her Hispanic accent. She never wanted her children to have any accent or call attention to their Hispanic heritage. </p>

<p>I’m hoping times are different now?</p>

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<p>Is this the first time your kids have ever had to check a box describing their ethnicity? If not, what have they been checking for the first 16-17 years of their lives?
Your reasoning sounds a little murky- maybe a relative was born in Texas but Texas used to be part of Mexico, so that makes that relative Mexican/Hispanic. If your kids apply for programs such as national hispanic recognition through national merit, and they get an award, how will they feel when it’s announced publicly that they got this award and they’ve never self identified as Hispanic? It sounds to me like you know you arer gaming the system and you want validation for it.</p>

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<p>to fauve: I think it depends on what programs/scholarships you are applying for. We wouldn’t be applying for any that target ESOL students. And many of those offerings are optional, I think.</p>

<p>to SmithieandProud: yes, I know that those programs do exist and know many from my college days who greatly benefitted from them.</p>

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<p>to prefect: there has been no need to check any boxes before this, other than on the Census, which we did identify them and my husband as Hispanic. Also, that doesn’t matter, as the NHRP has a specific procedure for those students who didn’t check the box on their PSAT form but do want to be considered for the program. So it is possible to never check the box yet still benefit.</p>

<p>Their ancestors were born in Mexico. The fact that the part of Mexico they were born in is no longer part of that country is irrelevant. And there is no timeframe listed in the criteria to say how many generations removed the ancestor must be.</p>

<p>Most of these replies are arguments about whether you feel my kids meet the criteria or not or if we are trying to “game” the system by checking the box, rather than answering my question of whether or not there are negative consequences for doing so.</p>

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<p>To Smithie&P- I suspect they are never titled specifically for ethnic minorities. They were/are packaged with vague titles like ‘campus challenge’ phrases, offered quietly to accepted URMS/internationals/etc. for a few weeks or month. At Princeton, those students arrived weeks early for the program, settled into their permanent dorm rooms and so are rather easily identified by the later arriving students. (Academic ace-URMs would obviously not bother attending.)</p>

<p>There are also pre-frosh programs specifically aimed at URMs at most of the top schools.</p>

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<p>Yes. Doing so will provide them with some opportunities (such as the National Hispanic Recognition Program) that would otherwise not be available to them.</p>

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<p>I don’t believe they will encounter any institutional stigma. Whether there is a stigma in your social circles is something you know better than I can. In college, Your kids might be stigmatized based on the color of their skin, their behavior or some other external characteristic, but not based on a checkbox they marked on the PSAT.</p>

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<p>So your children have had their identity repressed due to external factors. I say marking the Hispanic box on the PSAT is a first small step in reclaiming their identity.</p>

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<p>I would be surprised if today you could find a college that specifically offers summer remedial academics and study habit assistance just to students who are ethnic minorities on the sole basis that they are minorities. If someone can find such a program at a college or university and would care to prove me wrong, I’d be interested in knowing where they exist.</p>

<p>I know there are pre-orientation and orientation programs aimed at minority students. These are not however remedial academic study programs or study habit programs as far as I know. Just programs aimed at helping minority students meet each other, learn about cultural organizations on campus, and do some bonding. That’s very different than what fauve was saying. He was suggesting the existence of programs that would point to the school believing that minority students and ONLY minority students are pre-disposed to suffer academically for no other reason than because they are minorities. </p>

<p>To your original question, there’s no stigma or additional difficulty attached to checking that box. If you feel you meet the criteria and you want to, then check it. If you don’t meet the criteria or feel it’s not relevant, then don’t.</p>

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<p>In ordinary social situations, no one is going to know what box was checked unless you tell them (others might assume something which may or may not be correct, based on other characteristics like appearance, language accent, culture-based habits, etc.). So any stigma or lack thereof in social situations will not be affected by what box was checked.</p>

<p>And if a school offers whatever programs targeted to students who checked the “Hispanic” box, the student can always ignore them if s/he is not interested in them.</p>

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<p>Re the OP’s remarks at post 14, she has already decided that the children are entitled to check the box, and we are not being asked to comment on that. </p>

<p>As to negative consequences, isn’t this always in the eye of the beholder? You will always find people who don’t like this or that group, whether it is a racial, religious or ethnic group. This is called prejudice…</p>

<p>I can understand feeling sensitive based on your MIL’s experience. In fact many other immigrant groups faced prejudice when they came to this country because they had accents, dark skins or whatever. Many grandmothers and great grandmothers told the kids not to speak the language of their home lands. </p>

<p>My advice is to own the heritage that you choose, and be proud of it. Why do you care whether people will think less of your children if they are hispanic? Isn’t it self defeating to identify with a heritage that you feel ashamed to express? Sorry if you think ashamed is too strong a word, maybe someone else can think of a better word for the feeling.</p>

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<p>DEverly, Yes, that is exactly to what I’m referring. Since it is an ethnic group, your children do NOT belong to it. If it were a race, it sounds like they would be 1/4. </p>

<p>Here is the definition of an ethnic group:
"pertaining to or characteristic of a people, especially a group (ethnic group) sharing a common and distinctive culture, religion, language, or the like. "</p>

<p>“To qualify for this program, you must be at least one-quarter Hispanic/Latino.” </p>

<p>From what you wrote, half of your husband’s ancestors are native Texans and the area used to belong to Mexico. That does not constitute making your children today 1/4 Hispanic. It sounds like you’re going to do it, no matter what. But, as a Hispanic, I can honestly tell you that I don’t think your kids are – not because there’s a litmus test regarding language, but because, by your account, they don’t live in that culture. </p>

<p>As far as is there a stigma? Probably not. As far as who will know… at my kids’ schools, that information seems to have been shared with admissions and student groups related to the minority group-- don’t know if anyone else.</p>