What race am I?

<p>So this may sound like a silly question, but it's something I've been wondering for a while, and I've tried searching online for answers with no avail, so alas I pose this question to smarter people than I. According to the dictionary a Hispanic person is someone from Latin American or Spanish descent. My grandfather was Spanish, making me 1/4 Spanish, so does this make me Hispanic? I consider myself white and my first language is English. I read somewhere that if your great grandfather is African American, that makes you African American, even if your other ancestors aren't. So what's the answer?</p>

<p>you're white</p>

<p>If you consider yourself white, don't say you are Hispanic. The questions ask how you identify yourself.</p>

<p>Just my opinion...</p>

<p>ok, then what's the requirement of being considered hispanic.</p>

<p>youre of spanish decent, that is caucasian</p>

<p>If you identify as being white, you are white. Do you go around saying your hispanic? If being a race other than the one you are has just now occured to you -- thanks to the college selection process -- then you're probably not whatever race you want to be.</p>

<p>edit:
I'm pretty sure someone asks this question weekly, if not more frequently. It's absurd.</p>

<p>if your grandfather was Spanish from Spain, I would go with white.</p>

<p>(granted, there are many white Hispanic people, but their families generally have a connection to some latin american country)</p>

<p>Hispanic is an ethnic, not a racial category. Here is the definition used by the National Hispanic Recognition Program. Sorry I can't provide the web address, I copied this info to a file a while ago and I can't Google it right now for some reason.</p>

<p>"To qualify for this program, the student must be at least one-quarter Hispanic, according to the following definition: A person of Mexican-American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish cultures or origins. For purposes of this program, this does not include persons from Brazil or Portuguese culture/origin, nor persons from the Philippines. Hispanic is an ethnic category not a racial category and Hispanics may be of any race."</p>

<p>Given this definition (and it's not necessarily a universal one), I would include someone with ancestry from Spain as Hispanic.</p>

<p>Thanks entomom, I guess that clears things up a little, but I still don't know the answer. Saint paul, if this question is asked so frequently then why isnt there a consensus on what qualifies a person as hispanic. Just because a person doesnt act like a hispanic person or identify himself as one, doesnt mean he isnt. The same goes for African Americans. This is a bad example but even though Condoleeza Rice or Colin Powel "act white" doesn't mean they should put their ethnicity as white.</p>

<p>What if you are asian, but were born in Texas? Never spoke an asian language, grew up in an Americanized home, didn't celebrate asian culture? Does this mean you should mark Caucasian on the form, since that's what you identify yourself with?</p>

<p>Technically, Hispanic was meant to mean cultures and people associated with the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal). However, today, the meaning is unclear because of Spanish and Portuguese expansion into the new world, so in America today, you think of Central and Southern America as "Hispanic". People from Spain are white, so I don't think you could mark Hispanic.</p>

<p>Actually, hispanic is meant and understood to encompass all spanish cultures. Latino is the word that is associated to mean people from central or south america. Should I take this advantage as a leg up on college admissions? Would you?</p>

<p>This is just my personal point of view, so please no flaming, although open discussion is always good :) </p>

<p>I look at the boxes as being more a question of biology, which in most cases pretty clear cut. And if you're not comfortable like the OP, why not put other or multiracial and specify exactly what you are. The colleges can then interpret it with whatever definition they choose to use. </p>

<p>The part that is harder to define is what culture you identify with beyond race or ethnicity. I think that comes out in your personal information such as essays, teacher recommendations and EC's.</p>

<p>PS - I hope I can make one thing clear, Hispanic has nothing to do with color no matter what definition you use, it is an ethnic category. What color do you think people in Argentina are? They are white with the vast majority originally coming from Spain and Italy; there are actually more people with Italian surnames than Spanish. This doesn't mean they aren't Hispanic. Do you know that many Japanese immigrated to Peru around WWII? They even had a president that was of Japnese descent. He was a Japanese Hispanic, this is not an oxymoron because Japanese is a racial and Hispanic is an ethnic category.</p>

<p>If you've identified yourself as white your whole life (and Spanish desecent IS white), it wouldn't be the most ethical thing to do. But I'm sure there are people who have done worse things to get into a top college, so it's really all up to you.</p>

<p>wheres your proof that Spanish people are classified as white? And I guess it is up to me, but if I put myself down as multicultural and described that I have a Spanish ancestor, I feel as though it would be viewed as silly. Let's face it, ethnicity could be a deciding factor for many top colleges. I'm not sure I should just throw away something that could help me achieve that. Yes that sounds really selfish, but if all of you had some great oppurtunity to help you along, I'm sure most all of you would take it.</p>

<p>It's your choice. No one is stopping you. Spanish people as in people from Spain are European and therefore white.</p>

<p>"Spaniards are a European and predominantly Mediterranean people originating in South-Western Europe. Genetically, they are similar to other Southern and Western European populations such as the Portuguese, Italians and French." </p>

<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_people%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_people&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>People from Spain are European, and thus are white. End of argument, enough said.</p>

<p>I don't think you are Hispanic. I have a good friend who was born in South Africa and came to the U.S. 5 years ago. He is not African-American, he is White. For all intended purposes, you are white. </p>

<p>I am 1/8 Mexican and DO identify with Hispanic culture (history, cooking, dance, etc.) and have lived in C.A. for the past 2 summers attending school. Latin American Studies & Spanish are also my intended major/minor. Having been born in the U.S. to parents who were also born here, I am white and checked the white box. I am also planning on joining all the Hispanic clubs and associations at my university because I am interested in it. But, I am still considered white.</p>

<p>It's your choice. No one is stopping you. Spanish people as in people from Spain are European and therefore white.</p>

<p>It offends me terribly that people automatically assume that being a Hispanic automatically makes you a non-White.</p>

<p>The Hispanic ethnicity includes all races of man. The difference between Hispanic and the other ethnic categories is that Hispanic is not a racial category while African-American/Black, White, and Asian clearly are. However, if you are racially either African-American/Black, White, or Asian and you identify yourself any Spanish culture then you are a Hispanic.</p>

<p>So to the OP, mark Hispanic if you want.</p>

<p>I am 1/8 Mexican and DO identify with Hispanic culture (history, cooking, dance, etc.) and have lived in C.A. for the past 2 summers attending school.</p>

<p>Well that is nice because Mexican is a national identity, not a racial one. Kind of like French, Italian, and German are national identities as well.</p>

<p>dolphins you're White. Why would you say you're Hispanic when you're only 1/4 Spanish and the rest of you is White.
BTW Spanish people are White so you're 100% White.</p>