Should my kids check the "Hispanic" box?

Parents Forum
61

<p>When I said “racially Mexican”, I was referring to the native people of Mexico that are the descendants of Mayas, Aztecs, Toltecs and the like, as well as those people of mixed Spanish/Native descent (a.k.a. mestizos.) I hope I did not offend anybody with my loose terminology.</p>

<p>Thanks for mentioning the Tejano culture. I think it makes it easier to state my point:</p>

<p>We know the MIL self-identifies as Mexican, but perhaps she could be best described as Tejano.</p>

<p>Wikipedia says “Tejanos may variously consider themselves to be Mexican, Chicano, Spanish and Hispano in ancestral heritage.” You say “Tejano culture is absolutely not ‘Mexican’ … [It is it’s] own fusion.” That may very well be the case, but the question is not whether Tejanos are Mexican but rather whether they are Hispanic.</p>

<p>Let’s see how the Federal Goverment defines “Hispanic”:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I contend that Tejano is in fact a Spanish culture, and I am sure that when the Census tells us that more than 10% of the US population is Hispanic, that includes most Tejanos. If Tejanos are Hispanic and the MIL is Tejano then the MIL is clearly Hispanic. 100% Hispanic, in fact.</p>

<p>Finally, we come to the question of whether the OP’s kids are 1/4 Hispanic. Granted, the whole concept of “1/4 Hispanic” is somewhat ridiculous. That is, however, the standard that OP’s kids must meet in order to mark the Hispanic checkbox on the PSAT and qualify for the NHRP. I can’t imagine how this determination can be made unless we assume, for the purpose of this computation, that being Hispanic is something you inherit from your ancestors. One grandmother equals 1/4 blood. Ergo, the kids are 1/4 hispanic.</p>

<p>For the record, I am a white Hispanic similar to those Chilean girls described in an earlier post. Both of my children are 100% Hispanic and checked the box on the PSAT.</p>

62

<p>2collegewego,</p>

<p>One of my colleagues adopted a child from South America. She was adopted as an infant. She has no idea who her biological parents were --and neither do her parents. She grew up in a white, upper middle class Jewish family in suburban NYC. She has a name that reflects that. Religiously, she is Jewish. </p>

<p>By your definition, she’s isn’t Hispanic because she grew up with no exposure to “Hispanic culture.” </p>

<p>By your reasoning, this young woman is not “Hispanic” because you cannot, according to you, “inherit” ethnicity. I assure you that she “checked the box,” and was proud to do so. Nobody has ever questioned her right to do that.</p>

63

<p>

</p>

<p>How come White Hispanics are accepted but not Asian Hispanics? Also if White Hispanics are valid then why not White African American?</p>

64

<p>

</p>

<p>The usual definition of “Hispanic” in the US allows for any “racial” ancestry, including European, Asian, Native American, African, etc…</p>

<p>And a lot of African American people have some European ancestry.</p>

<p>It all basically comes down to the honor system, though.</p>

65

<p>Definitely check the box. I went to school with a Hispanic kid named Kalashnikov - his parents were from Russia, but he was born and raised in Argentina. He was part of the Hispanic Student Union at my school and was admitted as an URM. My freshman roommate was 3rd generation Mexican-American and could not speak any Spanish.
EDIT: almost forgot - he spent the summer before freshman year on campus with many of the other hispanic students as part of the early enrichment program.</p>

<p>My grandmother was born on an indian reservation and I would have checked the box if I could have, even though I was raised in suburbia and never felt the least bit tribal. Unfortunately, the reservation is within the boundaries of Canada and does not count among the recognized US tribes.</p>

66

<p>I would check the box. Your kids qualify based on the definition. My daughter is 1/2 hispanic and has been raised as such. She checked the box. Smithie&Proud–she was offered a earlier preorientation program at Bowdoin that included a stipend to take a class & engage in research. I wondered if it was in part because of her heritage?</p>

67

<p>

Maybe because a lot of, probably most, ‘white’ hispanics can trace roots to Spain but many, perhaps most, ‘Asian’ hispanics cannot trace back to Spain or the indigenous peoples of the area. Just a guess on my part. What a person from a latin American country of Asian (or anything other than Spanish/indigenous) ancestry can do and be ‘accepted’ I don’t know and it probably depends on the context and the perception of the individual or group doing the ‘acceptance’. </p>

<p>This thread illustrates just how ridiculous all of this is.</p>

68

<p>

</p>

<p>As I explained in an earlier post, Asian Hispanics ARE accepted.</p>

69

<p>I think about somebody like Alberto Fujimori, whose parents emigrated to Peru, where he was born. He actually became President of Peru. So he was born in Peru, speaks Spanish fluently (although he spoke Japanese at home), and certainly is closely connected to a Latin American country. So, would his kids be “Hispanic?” Well, I guess so, certainly if they also were born in Peru and speak Spanish. But my answer would be different if Fujimori had grown up on South Africa, and his kids wanted to say they were “African-American.” Is this a fair distinction? I’m not sure, but it’s one I would make.</p>

70

<p>I haven’t seen it mentioned yet in thread, but there is a huge Japanese population in Brazil. Before & during WW2, Brazil offered incentives (land & cash) to Japanese farmers to settle there & start developing the land. I hadn’t known about this before, so I was really thrown meeting Japanese looking people in Brazil that spoke and acted just like typical Brazilians. Many of the large rodizio (steakhouses) have huge sushi bars that are excellent. </p>

<p>Brazil is a huge melting pot of people - lots of Europeans moved there during WW2 and you find indiginous people in the North. I wonder what sorts of ‘boxes’ their universities have to check?</p>

71

<p>

</p>

<p>How many rifle jokes did he get from his name?</p>

72

<p>Here are the Federal definitions of Hispanic and African American. There is no parallel between Alberto Fujimori being Hispanic and a hypothetical Fujimori being African American: </p>

<p>– Black or African American. A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. Terms such as “Haitian” or “Negro” can be used in addition to “Black or African American.”</p>

<p>– Hispanic or Latino. A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. The term, “Spanish origin,” can be used in addition to “Hispanic or Latino.”</p>

<p>The definitions are contained in this document from the OMB:</p>

<p>[Revisions</a> to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity | The White House](<a href=“http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg_1997standards]Revisions”>http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg_1997standards)</p>

73

<p>“Money for being brown”</p>

<p>W-T-F? Somebody needs to leave the farm every 50 years or so!</p>

74

<p>

</p>

<p>This is certainly true…yet…when one of those well-to-do African American fathers is standing on a street corner in Manhattan, does he still have trouble hailing a cab?</p>

<p>As Cornel West pointed out, when he stood on the proverbial street corner in Manhattan in a 3-piece suit, none of the cabbies seemed to see a Harvard professor. They just saw a black man.</p>

75

<p>One day, we had some work being done in our front yard. The owner of the business was bragging to my wife (tall, svelte, and blonde) that he doesn’t use Mexicans on his crews. Just then a limo pulled up our driveway, and my wife introduced the business owner to her mother (4’ 11’', speaks little English) who was just arriving from her home in Mexico for a visit. Never saw that guy again. Check the box!</p>

76

<p>There are scholarships for kids who are of Greek, Polish, etc ancestry, and we have an Ancient Order of Hibernians scholarship around here which has recipients of all sorts of hues. I am guessing they have Irish family background like your family has Mexican—esp. when I see names like Siobhan DiDonato. </p>

<p>I know people who consider themselves African American, and when I see them I think, where, their right big toe? </p>

<p>Does your family consider themselves of partly Mexican origin? You don’t have to be making your own tortillas – just, do you tell the kids that the US came to your family, not the other way around?</p>

<p>Check the box.</p>

77

<p>

</p>

<p>I had a young girl on a problem-solving team one year who was bi-racial and looked black. But she said that her race always confused her.</p>

<p>Additionally, I have two acquaintances whose father-in-law or mother-in-law is of Spanish decent. They both have their children check the box for Hispanic. I would do the same thing, but my ancestors are Western Europeans all (not Spain though!)</p>

78

<p>Jonri, You’re right, I wouldn’t consider the adopted girl Hispanic but it looks like a lot of other people would. Part of the definition of an ethnic group is that people share the same culture and it doesn’t sound like she has any connection to Latin America other than being born there. </p>

<p>Honestly, I don’t like the idea that this considers Hispanics some permanent underclass. To me, it’s fundamentally different to say someone has a parent or grandparent who came from a Latin American country versus someone had a grandparent who was the descendant of Spaniards, lived in a territory that once belonged to Mexico (and has a grandmother whose grandmother was perhaps born in Mexico) or was born somewhere but has no connection because she was adopted to a different country. Frankly, it is even amusing that people think you can identify a Hispanic on a street corner. I think that is more true for immigrants and first generation but most Hispanics look like-- well, anyone, since it encompasses over half the Western Hemisphere! (And certainly, 1/4 Hispanics can look like anyone.) Hispanics can look like indigenous Americans, Europeans, Asians, African-Americans, etc. because they are. That is one of those ways that, to me, ethnicity is it is fundamentally different from being AA or NA or Asian or white although, of course, there are people of mixed race and people whose race isn’t clearly identified. </p>

<p>I guess I’m on my own. No offense intended to anyone and I greatly appreciate the time some of you took to respond to my thoughts.</p>

79

<p>I’m 1/2 Mestizo (we are from New Mexico, have been for centuries and/or a millennium or two) and I thought I was checking the box for statistical purposes only. I was really sad when I got a scholarship for my ethnicity, because I didn’t want to be favored for that. Since then I have never checked that box unless it was anonymous. It always bothered me that I got money for that when I didn’t work for it, since in my <em>particular</em> case I didn’t feel I’d been discriminated against. I also wondered if I was accepted ONLY because I was a minority, though I don’t think so since I had better statistics than other white kids who were also accepted from my high school.</p>

<p>So I haven’t checked it since then. I don’t want to feel like a token. I don’t want to wonder if I would have gotten in on merit alone. I have a white last name and I want them to see me and be surprised and know that brown does not mean I need extra help or allowances.</p>

<p>I definitely don’t look white but I’ve gotten everything from Italian to Chinese to Arab to–okay, this was from a third-grader but still–“part black”. Er, no, but that would be an amazing genetic feat!</p>

<p>Good luck with your decision.</p>

80

<p>80% of the current population of Argentina is racially white. The majority trace their ancestory to Italy and Spain. More recently, to Germany–post-war. Argentina also has the largest Jewish population in South America with most originally of Polish descent.</p>

<p>These immigrants to Argentina came in waves, over the last 100 years or so, at the same time that America was accepting similar immigrants. Argentina is a nation of immigrants just like America. Surely, no one would question that all of us in the United States who are of immigrant descent are now “Americans.” </p>

<p>Argentinians are considered Hispanic (certainly by the US’s definition.) So those who live there (or have immigrated from there) are Hispanic and have a unique, common cultural experience, just like all Americans do (regardless of where their ancestors originally came from.)</p>

<p>My MIL was born and raised in Argentina. So was her mother. The family originally came from Poland in the late 1800’s and were some of the first Jewish immigrants to Argentina. They lived alongside all of the other European immigrants who came to make up the current nation. The family came to the US when my MIL was about 20. She spoke Spanish fluently and was definitely Hispanic culturally. Therefore my husband is 50% Hispanic and my D’s are 25%.</p>

<p>Since my mother-in-law did not marry someone who spoke Spanish, the culture was not brought into my H’s household as much as it would have if she married another Hispanic. But nonetheless, it does not negate her background and cultural identitly.</p>

<p>We checked the box after an very long discussion with the people who administrate the National Hispanic Recognitiion Program. Lucky we did, because D should be getting that designation based on her PSAT grades.</p>

<p>I am sure there may be a few raised eyebrows in my community, but the truth is that those same people would not hesitate to claim awards if they were given for Italian, Polish or Russian descent. It is our (racial) stereotype of Hispanics that seems to make a white, non-Spanish speaking child seem non-Hispanic, despite their qualifying background.</p>