A web search for “NHRP scholarship list” produces various links, although many of the scholarships in some lists are general ones that NHRP (semi)finalists may be interested in seeking or have a reasonable chance of getting. Some of the more pertinent lists do not appear to be allowed to be linked to here, so you may have to search yourself.
I’m not disrespecting the GI Bill scholarships, just saying that those benefiting from them do not have to identify or agree with the military to receive the benefits. They don’t have to like that a parent was in the military or even have been raised in a military environment. The parent from whom the student is receiving the benefit may have left the military many years ago or the student may have lived with a non-military parent. A boy my daughter dated was sort of anti-military, rebelling against his parents and upbringing as he was finishing high school. I found it very normal and I’m sure that he wasn’t really anti-military, just more of a phase he was in as a 17-18 year old. He was still entitled to the benefits.
If an Hispanic individual qualifies, I don’t think it is ‘just plain wrong’ to apply for and receive the scholarships. If the child of a military member is a conscientious objector or a not-so-silent objector, he’s still entitled to those benefits. My sister got a DAR scholarship and I’d say when she was 18 she was rather anti-establishment, anti social class and social register type organizations, but she met the DAR requirements. (our family is not DAR eligible)
There was a student in my area who applied for a scholarship and received it. It was a MLK scholarship and when the organization found out the student wasn’t black, there was a big stink made of it that of course he “should have known” that it was for black students only. There was no such requirement, and this student didn’t claim that he was, but he was never asked. When the organization objected, he (I thought graciously) withdrew. I found it very sad that a group awarding an MLK scholarship, honoring a man who had preached that he hoped one day we’d be a nation that judged a child by his character and not by the color of his skin, was doing exactly that-judging a student by the color of his skin.
People can be, or can appear to be hypocritical without meaning to, as demonstrated by twoinanddone’s example post 61. I suspect that is the concern of the Op that later in Grandma’s life, all thoughout the daughter’s life, and now nearing adulthood of the grandkid’s life the Hispanic part of the heritage was brushed back by choosing “Americanization”. Now, suddenly, grandma sees what may be an advantage to claiming that heritage, and there is uncertainty over the ethics of claiming it now.
Clearly, some here say to disregard ethics concerns, and if the kid qualifies, go for it.
The point that many of us are making is if the designation were “Eastern European” or “Scandinavian” there might be a lot less guilt using one’s heritage to gain a scholarship. But because it is Hispanic, and many people assume that a true Hispanic should be Spanish-speaking and from a needy background, that it is unfair to use the designation.
Whoa! I didn’t realize I’d get such a response on my question. In fact, I forgot I even wrote it until this afternoon. I find amusing the characterizations of my mother (a person none of you know) by some, as someone trying to work the system and take advantage of a classification. We live in the deep, deep South. I don’t ever remember knowing one other parent whose parent spoke another language. In fact, as a child, it was different–and middle schoolers and teenagers certainly never want to feel different. It just wasn’t anything we identified with–and she certainly didn’t know anyone who even spoke Spanish other than her family, and they lived in Honduras. However, as she got older and people became more aware and accepting of other ethnicities (and the population grew), her cultural identity returned. Now, my daughter thinks it is neat that her grandmother is from Honduras. She has many friends whose parents were not born here, and she is tickled to call herself a Latina with her friends whose parents are from Central and South America.
How about the possibility that my mother’s cultural identity skipped a generation. I have a Jewish friend who is very observant; however, she said her parents are not at all observant because it wasn’t the thing when they were growing up. It is sort of the same thing here. Maybe it is possible that my daughter can identify as Hispanic on a form–and in doing so, isn’t she honoring and recognizing her grandmother? All of these comments have made me think about this–Thanks!!!
My father is Hispanic (Mexican and Spanish), his parents’ native language was Spanish. Dad wanted to assimilate as a child, didn’t want to be “different,” and so lost the language. I never learned it.
I’m Hispanic nevertheless, regardless of my SES or language. The Hispanic based scholarships I applied for never mentioned any criteria about speaking Spanish, about NOT having blonde hair or blue eyes, living in a shack, “feeling Hispanic,” having made my heritage known to anyone prior to application, or anything of the like. They were simply merit scholarships for students who had ancestors from any one of a group of named countries. Period. I had very good stats, but not spectacular, so I didn’t get that scholarship. My brother, however, did have elite stats, received a very nice scholarship, and went about his life guilt free, also speaking no Spanish. Whoever said the max scholarship is $500 is wrong, however. My friend’s daughter received thousands from her Hispanic Scholars scholarship.
There is NOTHING wrong with the OP’s child applying for any kind of Hispanic “advantage” because she is in fact Hispanic.
@robinnjones thanks for coming back and responding. I whole-heartedly understand and agree with you! Here’s another thought: remember, the form simply asks to check off a box (or not). It does not ask anyone about their identity, life story, social class, ability to speak Spanish, etc… Your daughter IS hispanic, whether she identifies as such, or not, and whether or not others identify her as hispanic. No matter what she decides to check-off, she is hispanic.
@Nrdsb4 my dad was similar, though he kept his Spanish to use with his parents and in business. Many from older generations recognized the need and took pride in assimilating in the US. They understood when you come to a new country and want to be successful, you have to learn the language in which business is conducted.