I have to give the U.S. Census Bureau a bit of credit for the way they try to acknowledge the fact that Latinos aren’t a unified group. But naturally, their effort just isn’t sufficient.
The Census report that gets distributed to people next year when
the federal government does its population count is trying to figure out not only how many Latinos exist in this country, but also how we break down in terms of ethnicity.
ALL PEOPLE WHO indicate they are “Hispanic, Latino or Spanish” origin will be asked if they are of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban or other ethnicity.
While Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban comprise the bulk of people who say they are Latino, the people who fall into the “other” category are now upset.
The Wall Street Journal newspaper reported this week that Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is pushing a measure through Congress to amend the Census form to include “Dominican” among the categories – as people whose ethnic roots lie in the Dominican Republic don’t like being reminded that outside of New York, their ethnic brethren are scarcely found outside of the local major league baseball stadium.
The problem is that “Latino” is a label that covers so many different ethnic groups (more than 20 countries comprise Latin America). If the point of the Census is to get a detailed breakdown, it seems ridiculous to lump so many different ethnicities (Brazilians, Venezuelans, Salvadorans, to name a few) into the “other” category.
YET I CAN also envision how burdensome the Census form would be if all 20-something ethnic groups that comprise Latinos were included. The form could wind up devoting more space to trying to detail the Latino portion of the population than it does trying to figure out what the rest of the population is made up of.
So I suppose a judgment call has to be made as to which Latino ethnicities are worthy of being specified, and which have to fall under the category of “other.”
If anything, there’s one aspect of the Census form layout that I think is more ridiculous than the concern over whether or not Dominicans are included as a separate ethnic group.
It relates to people whose ethnic origins go directly to Spain.
AS THE CENSUS form is laid out, it asks people if they are “Hispanic, Latino or Spanish,” wording it that way so as to indicate that federal officials (and myself, to be honest) view all three terms as meaning the same thing.
Then, in asking if someone is “Mexican,” “Puerto Rican,” “Cuban” or “other,” the form indicates that “Spaniard” is among the ethnicities to be included.
So after acknowledging in the first part that “Spanish” is a full-fledged label, they then reduce the people from Spain to being an “other.” It strikes me as being too much of a contradiction, although I suppose someone who is purely Anglo-oriented wouldn’t catch it.
Let’s be honest.
THE ONLY PEOPLE who identify themselves as “Spanish” are either those whose ethnic roots are from Spain, or those of an older generation who think that emphasizing some European tie makes them better than someone who would think of themselves as some form of “Indio” (the reality is that most of us are a mixture).
It is one of those quirks that will cause Latinos to smirk at the silliness of the people who put the Census form together, while also causing the Latinos from ethnic groups that were snubbed to feel doubly insulted.
Personally, this issue doesn’t affect me because I fit into the bulk of the Latino population in this country.
Three of my four grandparents were born in Mexico and came to the United States so many decades ago. I will have no trouble marking myself as a Latino of Mexican ethnic background.
BUT THE ATTEMPT to put us into a simple category is what will cause some Latinos to feel snubbed. I only hope they don’t get stupid and decide to snub the Census back by ignoring the form.
Because as I have made clear before, Latinos need to show as large a count as possible next year in order to justify our status as a growing population. There already are too many elements of our society who would like to see as small a count as possible so they could justify their hostile actions in the political realm.
There is one plus to the issue of Latinos being upset about their ethnic group not being respected sufficiently. At least we’re not back to the issue of whether the federal government is wrong for using the term “Hispanic” instead of “Latino.”
That issue is so old, and not worth getting worked up over anymore.
-30-
EDITOR’S NOTE: How long will it be until someone gets offended at the concept of only three Latino ethnic groups being recognized, compared to nine different ethnicities for (http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/05/18/were-complicated-so-is-the-census/) people who identify themselves as Asian?
The Census report that gets distributed to people next year when
the federal government does its population count is trying to figure out not only how many Latinos exist in this country, but also how we break down in terms of ethnicity.ALL PEOPLE WHO indicate they are “Hispanic, Latino or Spanish” origin will be asked if they are of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban or other ethnicity.
While Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban comprise the bulk of people who say they are Latino, the people who fall into the “other” category are now upset.
The Wall Street Journal newspaper reported this week that Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is pushing a measure through Congress to amend the Census form to include “Dominican” among the categories – as people whose ethnic roots lie in the Dominican Republic don’t like being reminded that outside of New York, their ethnic brethren are scarcely found outside of the local major league baseball stadium.
The problem is that “Latino” is a label that covers so many different ethnic groups (more than 20 countries comprise Latin America). If the point of the Census is to get a detailed breakdown, it seems ridiculous to lump so many different ethnicities (Brazilians, Venezuelans, Salvadorans, to name a few) into the “other” category.
YET I CAN also envision how burdensome the Census form would be if all 20-something ethnic groups that comprise Latinos were included. The form could wind up devoting more space to trying to detail the Latino portion of the population than it does trying to figure out what the rest of the population is made up of.
So I suppose a judgment call has to be made as to which Latino ethnicities are worthy of being specified, and which have to fall under the category of “other.”
If anything, there’s one aspect of the Census form layout that I think is more ridiculous than the concern over whether or not Dominicans are included as a separate ethnic group.
It relates to people whose ethnic origins go directly to Spain.
AS THE CENSUS form is laid out, it asks people if they are “Hispanic, Latino or Spanish,” wording it that way so as to indicate that federal officials (and myself, to be honest) view all three terms as meaning the same thing.
Then, in asking if someone is “Mexican,” “Puerto Rican,” “Cuban” or “other,” the form indicates that “Spaniard” is among the ethnicities to be included.
So after acknowledging in the first part that “Spanish” is a full-fledged label, they then reduce the people from Spain to being an “other.” It strikes me as being too much of a contradiction, although I suppose someone who is purely Anglo-oriented wouldn’t catch it.
Let’s be honest.
THE ONLY PEOPLE who identify themselves as “Spanish” are either those whose ethnic roots are from Spain, or those of an older generation who think that emphasizing some European tie makes them better than someone who would think of themselves as some form of “Indio” (the reality is that most of us are a mixture).
It is one of those quirks that will cause Latinos to smirk at the silliness of the people who put the Census form together, while also causing the Latinos from ethnic groups that were snubbed to feel doubly insulted.
Personally, this issue doesn’t affect me because I fit into the bulk of the Latino population in this country.
Three of my four grandparents were born in Mexico and came to the United States so many decades ago. I will have no trouble marking myself as a Latino of Mexican ethnic background.
BUT THE ATTEMPT to put us into a simple category is what will cause some Latinos to feel snubbed. I only hope they don’t get stupid and decide to snub the Census back by ignoring the form.
Because as I have made clear before, Latinos need to show as large a count as possible next year in order to justify our status as a growing population. There already are too many elements of our society who would like to see as small a count as possible so they could justify their hostile actions in the political realm.
There is one plus to the issue of Latinos being upset about their ethnic group not being respected sufficiently. At least we’re not back to the issue of whether the federal government is wrong for using the term “Hispanic” instead of “Latino.”
That issue is so old, and not worth getting worked up over anymore.
-30-
EDITOR’S NOTE: How long will it be until someone gets offended at the concept of only three Latino ethnic groups being recognized, compared to nine different ethnicities for (http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/05/18/were-complicated-so-is-the-census/) people who identify themselves as Asian?
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