race realizations

Right now at work we are trying to tackle the very thorny subject of racially categorizing Hispanics/Latins. As part of this work I had to study some of the findings of the 2000 census. The way they organized the racial categories took me by surprise because they were different than I thought they would be. Here are the definitions according to the 2000 census bureau:

How are the race categories used in Census 2000 defined?
“White” refers to people having origins in any of the original peoples
of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa . It includes people who
indicated their race or races as “White” or wrote in entries such as
Irish, German, Italian, Lebanese, Near Easterner, Arab, or Polish.

“Black or African American” refers to people having origins in any of the
Black racial groups of Africa . It includes people who indicated their race
or races as “Black, African Am., or Negro,” or wrote in entries such as
African American, Afro American, Nigerian, or Haitian.

“American Indian and Alaska Native” refers to people having origins in
any of the original peoples of North and South America (including
Central America), and who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment.
It includes people who indicated their race or races by marking
this category or writing in their principal or enrolled tribe, such as
Rosebud Sioux, Chippewa, or Navajo.

“Asian” refers to people having origins in any of the original peoples of
the Far East, Southeast Asia , or the Indian subcontinent. It includes
people who indicated their race or races as “Asian Indian,” “Chinese,”
“Filipino,” “Korean,” “Japanese,” “Vietnamese,” or “Other Asian,” or wrote
in entries such as Burmese, Hmong, Pakistani, or Thai.

“Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander” refers to people having
origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii , Guam, Samoa , or
other Pacific Islands . It includes people who indicated their race or
races as “Native Hawaiian,” “Guamanian or Chamorro,” “Samoan,” or
“Other Pacific Islander,” or wrote in entries such as Tahitian, Mariana
Islander, or Chuukese.

“Some other race” was included in Census 2000 for respondents
who were unable to identify with the five Office of Management and
Budget race categories. Respondents who provided write-in entries
such as Moroccan, South African, Belizean, or a Hispanic origin (for
example, Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Cuban) are included in the Some
other race category.

The census found 12.5 percent of the US population was Hispanic but only 2.4 percent of the US population could trace their origins to two or more races. This doesn’t make any sense to me. Most people that are Hispanic/ Latin are a mix of at least two races. Genetically speaking we are what happened at the crossroads of several racial groups. The indigenous peoples were colonized by the Spaniards and Portuguese as well as other European groups. They mixed and interbred with the indigenous populations, athose they didn’t decimate anyway. Then also brought hundreds of thousands of Africans as slaves who interbred and mixed with the indigenous and mixed European and Native populations. Then add to all of that the numerous but largely uncounted immigrants from South Asia, Japan and China that came to South America and the Caribbean as well as the Filipinos that are just as Hispanic as anyone. All of this has lead to a very genetically mixed and very aware and enlightened population amongst Hispanics or at least it should have. According to the 2000 census of those that answered that they were of Hispanic/Latin origin only 6.3 percent put that their origins were in two or more races. It’s strange when you see what they did answer about their race. 47% answered that they were white only. I can sort of understand this because of the terrible racism in Latin America that sees white skin as a sign of class status and beauty and devalues indigenous mixes or other origins as being inferior and low class, but 47% is high for self delusion. Another surprising statistic amongst those that answered Hispanic/Latin was that only 2% saw themselves as being Black or African-American. I know that it’s higher than that, way higher. My only thought as to how this happened is that some Hispanics of African origin wanted to highlight their mixed race heritage instead of only Black because of the same racial problems that lead so many others to put white only.
The Native American category must have gone unnoticed by many of the Hispanic/Latins as well because anyone with origins in the indigenous groups of Central or South America is also considered part native American/ Alaskan according to the definition. Despite this fact and the fact that there are tons of indigenous people in Latin America only 1.2% of respondents answered Native American only.
The other oddity is more than 42% of the respondents to the Hispanic question said they were some other race altogether. Could we really be our own race? I am not sure that would apply. It’s been too short a time since the first Hispanic/Latin might have been born in the 15th Century to have become a distinct race in the way the other four are defined. I think it is true that as an ethnic group we are very distinct culturally and in other ways but the census puts those of Arabic decent into the same category as White Europeans, very ironic considering the way they have been ostracized as of late, but it shows that cultural difference was not part of the considerations of race. We may speak the same language but most people in China speak mandarin, and they are not their own race despite being 12% of the world population. I have gone through this problem a lot. I know that race is a largely social construct that is so flawed as to be useless outside of very specific and non-universal applications. But I can’t help reexamining it constantly. I would probably change my entry on the census in light of studying the new definitions. I think I chose white and black last time. I think I would mark four if not all five of the racial categories if I had to do it over again. I am pretty sure that I have White, Black, Native American and Asian heritage in my family and I couldn’t rule out having Pacific Islander heritage as well. That would put me in the .6% of the population that chose 4 Races or the .1% that chose 5 percent. I truly don’t think that I am nearly that rare. I think that a lot of factors have lead to a check one box mentality among Americans. I think that if the census got to the truth and people had access to their ancestry, probably 80% of the US would be mulit-racial. Definitely the 13% that are now identified as Hispanic/Latin would be. Then I wouldn’t feel so all alone in my .6% which works out to 38,408 people.