Thread: Millions of Latinos Deny Their Own Ethnicity on Census Forms, USC Study Says

laweekly.com
Opinion
By Dennis Romero
Mon., Jan. 9 2012 at 7:06 AM
Categories: Race and ethnicity

What race is Latino? We've pondered the issue before, and the correct answer is any of the above: Latinos can be black, white and almost anything in between, because Latino isn't a race, it's an ethnicity.

That makes things difficult enough for the folks who tally data for the U.S. Census, but now it appears there's a growing number of Latinos who don't even identify themselves as such.


A recent USC study says a lot of folks failed to check the Census' "Hispanic" box -- people who could have done so, given their background -- and that this is not good for the brown nation. According to a statement from the school:

As a result of some Latinos' propensity to not check the Hispanic race box on the census, a correct analysis of Hispanic achievement and mobility in America is undermined.

USC researchers are concerned because the Census is used to draw congressional district lines and help determine government spending. Latinos could be under-served as a result.


Boo-hoo, said Lou Dobbs.


But seriously, the study by USC's Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, published in the journal Social Science Research, found that about 6 percent of people with Hispanic or Latin American ancestry failed to check the "Spanish/Hispanic/Latino" box on the Census.


That's 2.5 million people, almost enough to fill up the county of San Diego -- and scare the hell out of the anti-immigrant suburb of Escondido.


But who are these people who don't think they're Latino? What are they? Aguileran?


Christina Aguilera


Maybe they're those Latina Kim Kardashian wannabes you meet at the club who say they're "Spanish." (These types used to be called coconuts -- brown on the outside, white on the inside).


According to the school:

Non-Hispanic identification was most common among U.S.-born Latin Americans, respondents with mixed ancestries, those who speak only English and those who identify themselves on the race question as black or Asian, the study found.

There are also those folks who claim a clean and unfettered lineage that leads directly back to Spain (think Steve Lopez). (We call them people from New Mexico, where it's hard to find a Mexican, ironically). Why should they be Hispanic or Latino ethnicity when they're no different than someone with French or German heritage?


Laker Pau Gasol could certainly quality to be part of the group with Hispanic ancestry but without Latino (a.k.a Latin American) ties. He's from Spain. And note that he's almost whiter than Conan O'Brien.


That's why West Coast Latinos have always embraced the term Latino. It ties the ethnicity to having indigenous, Latin American roots, not just Spanish ones. It differentiates people who are, say Mexican American, from Pau Gasol (no offense to either side).


If the Census did away with its ridiculous menu of ethnic options and stuck with Latino, as defined above, we'd clear up some of this.


USC seems to agree:

... Respondents' confusion with the terms ethnicity, ancestry and race often result in inconsistent answers on the U.S. Census surveys, the study found. Oftentimes the lines among these categories are blurred. And as immigrants assimilate, their identities shift.

But researchers think that using "ancestry" as a measure of ethnicity is a better tool. (As we demonstrate above, however, it might confuse Spanish with Latino).


Jody Agius Vallejo, assistant professor of sociology, blames assimilation for the disparity:

Scholars and politicians question whether and to what extent Latinos are assimilating. Some Latinos are not identifying as Latino and disappearing into the population.

Given the national debate on illegal immigration, though, maybe "disappearing" is the wrong word. Some folks see us everywhere they look, even if some of us are hiding behind words.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2...survey_usc.php

The "coconut" slur is just stupid. Mestizo Hispanics will always have white heritage and in some mestizo families not everyone is brown.

Some white Hispanics do admit their ethncities on cenus forms.

Originally Posted by diane85

The "coconut" slur is just stupid. Mestizo Hispanics will always have white heritage and in some mestizo families not everyone is brown.

Some white Hispanics do admit their ethncities on cenus forms.

I remember the first time I heard the slur "coconut" used. I was a speaker at an event called Unite To Fight held in Las Vegas back in 2005 and 2006 I believe.

A Hispanic supporter of secure borders named Vince walked with me to the police barricades to see the illegal alien goon protesters.

I had seen them many times in videos out of Lost Angeles, but back in 2005 I had never seen a big mass of illegal aliens protesting before.

We stood at the barricades listening to the barrage of racist and anti-American slogans coming from the large mob of illegals. They saw Vince and started chanting "Coconut!" "Coconut!"

I was honestly confused at first and had no idea why this had happened. So on the way back into the Cashman Theater I asked Vince and he told me it was a racial slur and that 'coconut' meant brown on the outside white on the inside. I said oh, sorta like the 1970's slur Oreo for black people that adopt white culture? And he said yep.

Before that moment I never knew that some Hispanics criticized other Hispanics for agreeing with or working with white people. But then again, about 15 years ago I had no concept of how much genocidal rage and hatred is being directed at white Americans.

Now, I know.

W

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

I remember the first time I heard the slur "coconut" used. I was a speaker at an event called Unite To Fight held in Las Vegas back in 2005 and 2006 I believe.

A Hispanic supporter of secure borders named Vince walked with me to the police barricades to see the illegal alien goon protesters.

I had seen them many times in videos out of Lost Angeles, but back in 2005 I had never seen a big mass of illegal aliens protesting before.

We stood at the barricades listening to the barrage of racist and anti-American slogans coming from the large mob of illegals. They saw Vince and started chanting "Coconut!" "Coconut!"

I was honestly confused at first and had no idea why this had happened. So on the way back into the Cashman Theater I asked Vince and he told me it was a racial slur and that 'coconut' meant brown on the outside white on the inside. I said oh, sorta like the 1970's slur Oreo for black people that adopt white culture? And he said yep.

Before that moment I never knew that some Hispanics criticized other Hispanics for agreeing with or working with white people. But then again, about 15 years ago I had no concept of how much genocidal rage and hatred is being directed at white Americans.

Now, I know.

W

The group that I see that has very hateful attitudes towards white Americans are mestizos from Mexico. They are pretty bad and even some mestizo Hispanics whose families have been in the US for several generations have very hateful attitudes towards anyone who is either non-Hispanic, non-mestizo Hispanic, and they are some that hate blacks quite bit.

The dumb thing about racist mestizos is that they forget that they have European heritage. I sometimes laugh at some of the stuff they say. I'm a mestizo Hispanic and some of my relatives are just dumb about their mixed backgrounds. For example, I have a cousin who named all of his children with Spanish names. He once said that he would never give his kids "white names". I felt like laughing at him, because any first or last name that originates in Europe is a white name. I also know some mestizo Hispanics who really think dark skin, hair, and eyes are a requirment for the "Hispanic look".

Some mestizos from Mexico or who have ties to Mexico have pretty hateful attitudes towards other Hispanic groups such as Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Cubans. The hatred towards Cubans is mostly because Cubans are white or black/mulatto Hispanics. A good example of Mexican hatred towards Puerto Ricans is what happened back in the 90's when Jennifer Lopez was selected to play Selena for the biopic. Communities in Texas were outraged because a Puerto Rican actress was chosen to play their "Mexican Madonna".