I took a family history class in college. During the class, which I really enjoyed...mostly due to the fact that it was a cool class and partially due to the fact that I sat next to a super cute boy :-)...we learned how much information you can find out about deceased family members through studying census records. You can find out so much about a person's life just through tracking them through the census - where they lived, if they owned property, how many children they had, if they had other people living with them, about how long they lived there, etc., etc., etc.
So, it was with great anticipation that I waited for our census form to come in the mail...imagine, I get to fill out this form that may one day be used by searching predecessors to learn about my life. It's kind of a cool thing (yes, I realize the fact that I think it is cool makes me uber super dorky!). Yesterday, the form arrived. I pulled out my pen and greedily began to fill it out - somehow convinced that Wil might fight with me for the opportunity (yeah, like that's gonna happen!).
Person 1
Name: Wilfredo Gonzalez
Gender: male (man, I'm good at this form!)
Age: 27
Is person 1 of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin: YEP!
What is person 1's race: Errrch...(imagine a screeching tires sound here). The form said, for the purposes of this census Hispanic origins are not races. Huh, didn't realize...so the options for Wil on this question that I was required by law to fill out were White (no, not really), black (yeah, definitely not), American Indian (nope), Japanese (not the last time I checked), Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, Samoan, other Asian...
Yeah, so my husband is not any of those, because believe it or not he actually is hispanic - just like the many, many, MANY other people in this country who also happen to identify themselves as Hispanic - whether or not the United States government seems to think that is a valid race.
I'm not sure Wil was quite as upset about this as I was, but I was pretty annoyed. I was tempted to check Japanese just to throw them off, but then remembered the possible future posterity and did not want to confuse them because I am annoyed with the census people, not my future children's children's children.
So instead, I checked other and wrote in Hispanic, because yes, I really do think it is a race and the one that most correctly identifies my husband. So to the people who wrote this year's census questionnaire (none of whom, I'm guessing, were Hispanic) I think you missed the boat...in a BIG way!
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6 comments:
I am extremely excited to fill mine out, too! So call me dorky, too! I guess that makes my kids half "others", too?
I got mine yesterday too, and you're right, that is ridiculous. Because if you are Guatemalan, it's considered under the "Hispanic or Latino" category, but if your Laotian, it's your "race." Same qualities, different questions. Dumb dumb dumb!
Also, Mark's grandma was Mexican, so he marked "Yes" on the Hispanic thing. But he's definitely "White." And Maren? I really don't consider her to be of Latino descent, so I marked "No" on the Hispanic question.
That might confuse some future posterity... I guess I'll just keep a good journal. :)
That's funny you mention that! Craig and I were discussing how they left "Hispanic" out of the race category. How strange! So what are you supposed to be?? I would have checked "other" too. I wonder who thought of that bright idea?
Anyways, I was pretty excited about it because my dad told me it was cool when I was 13 so it must be cool now too! It's in the mail!
Okay, I just had to fill out a little survey for my job, and it was the same thing. I don't get it. What's the difference between race and ethnicity, and why is the "Hispanic or Latino" different. You've made me curious Jessica. Look what you've done to me! :)
Get this. Brad HOGGED our form. (Honey that was my job.) And put DOSEN'T MATTER next to race. I was kinda mad. It is for records babe, no need to make a political statement. I'm afraid a census worker is going to like come to our house...Brad said to tell them we are black...not funny!
Other was not my choice. At this time there's no pure race. In our case my wife and I are descendants of Mexican Indians (what tribe?) and Spaniards. So we are a mix-up of Indian-Americans and whites and chances are from blacks. So at this point I choose white for the 3 of us in this household. As of for other Mexicans? Since there's no room for Mexican Indians, I would say they're whites.
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