Thread: What Is A “White Hispanic”?

What Is A “White Hispanic”?

01/10/2017 02:01 pm ET | Updated 6 days ago



In the immediate aftermath of the shooting rampage at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, journalists and law enforcement officials were scrambling for details. Yet even as the news broke that five people were killed and six others wounded, the social media universe had another, odd preoccupation. After early reports described the suspect, Esteban Santiago, 26, as a “white Hispanic,” Twitter users and alt-right sites seemed to lose their collective minds. “What is White Hispanic? Fort Lauderdale shooters ethnicity sets Twitter abuzz,” noted the International Business Times. “White Hispanic” became one of the top-trending Twitter terms of the day.

Although it is not a phrase we hear in everyday use, “white Hispanic” is an accurate description of Santiago. The term does not reflect a political agenda; it reflects reality. The rush to condemn media outlets over using it is a wholly unnecessary distraction from a horrific event that still has many unanswered questions.

Thousands of social media users certainly took issue with the term “white Hispanic.”

“What’s a white Hispanic? Is that the same kind of thing as a black polar bear?” tweeted one commenter. Another asked, “So after white Hispanic, can white African American be far behind?”

These folks are apparently unaware of the nuances of Hispanic identity. The U.S. Census Bureau defines Hispanic/Latino as referring to “a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.”

They key words here are regardless of race. In fact, Hispanics can be white, black, Asian, or multiracial. That’s because the term “Hispanic,” like “Latino,” refers to an ethnicity, not a race. And a majority of Hispanics actually self-identify as white. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 53 percent of Hispanics chose “white “ as their race, while 36 percent chose “some other race.”

The confusion over “white Hispanic” is understandable given that it is not a term in common usage. Many Americans are likely used to thinking of race, literally, in black and white terms, without grasping where Hispanics fit into such categories. But it is also important to keep things in context. The term was used when a breaking news story was unfolding in real time, when very little was known about Santiago. Journalists and law enforcement were simply trying to fill in the blanks surrounding the suspect’s identity.

That didn’t stop some far-right outlets from inventing political motives. “Apparently “white Hispanic” is a term the liberal media lays on a person of Hispanic descent who does something bad,” wrote a columnist in BizPac Review, “otherwise the person would be a proud Hispanic or a “hard-working Hispanic, or even just Hispanic.” Other conservative commentators accused news outlets of lightening a photo of Santiago, to make him appear whiter - an allegation debunked by The Daily Beast.

If this controversy sounds familiar, it is because we have been here before. In 2013, George Zimmerman, then accused of shooting Trayvon Martin, was called a “white Hispanic” in the media, and similar outrage erupted. Yet even then, the clunky term fit. Zimmerman, the son of a Hispanic mother and a white father, could indeed be considered “white Hispanic.”

On a broader level, these debates over ethnic and racial terms perhaps reveal a level of discomfort with the changing face of America - as well as some flat-out bigotry. After author Tariq Nasheed tweeted that the Fort Lauderdale suspect was “white Hispanic,” he received a torrent of online abuse, including the N-word and other race-based insults. Why does a term like “white Hispanic” upset some people so much, while using the N-word does not?

Unfortunately, arguing over whether the Fort Lauderdale suspect should have been classified as “white Hispanic” distracts from more important issues. What was the suspect’s motivation in gunning down innocent people in a crowded air terminal? Given his history of mental health problems, why was it so easy for him to access deadly weapons? Was he suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder related to his time serving in the military in Iraq? Every one of these questions warrants more discussion and consideration than Santiago’s race or heritage.

Whether Esteban Santiago is white or any other race should not matter so much as understanding what happened in Fort Lauderdale and why. In the wake of a tragedy, we should be searching for facts and answers - not online enemies and media conspiracies.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/raul-a...hp_ref=latinos

LOL!!! Most Hispanics are white, because most are Caucasian. There are black Hispanics and even some Asian Hispanics, but Hispanics are largely Caucasian and thus white by definition. Hispanic is not a race, it's not a color, it's a language.

Excerpt:

Federal policy defines “Hispanic” not as a race, but as an ethnicity. And it prescribes that Hispanics can in fact be of any race. But these census findings suggest that standard U.S. racial categories might either be confusing or not provide relevant options for Hispanics to describe their racial identity. They also raise an important question long pondered by social scientists and policymakers: Do Hispanics consider their Hispanic background to be part of their racial background, their ethnic background or both?

A new Pew Research Center survey of multiracial Americans finds that, for two-thirds of Hispanics, their Hispanic background is a part of their racial background – not something separate. This suggests that Hispanics have a unique view of race that doesn’t necessarily fit within the official U.S. definitions.

This distinctive view of race is consistent across demographic subgroups of Latino adults. For example, 69% of young Latino adults ages 18 to 29 say their Latino background is part of their racial background, as does a similar share of those in other age groups, including those 65 and older. Similar views are held among Hispanics who use Spanish as their main language (67%) and those who use English as their main language (66%).

This finding sheds light on some of the challenges the Census Bureau has faced in asking Hispanics about their ethnic and racial background in surveys. Since 1980, the Census Bureau has asked everyone in the U.S. about their Hispanic origin separately from their race, and since 2000 it has allowed people to select more than one race in addition to their Hispanic background.

But attempts by the Census Bureau to reduce the use of the “some other race” category in the 2010 census by adding a note on the questionnaire explicitly stating that “Hispanic origins are not races” had limited impact. That year, 37% of Hispanic respondents selected “some other race,” not much smaller than the 42% who said the same in 2000.

To address these challenges in preparation for the 2020 decennial census, the Census Bureau is considering asking everyone living in the U.S. about their race or origin in a combined question. In other words, the form would ask people to identify their race or origin and would include Hispanic along with black, white, Asian, American Indian and Pacific Islander.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank...icity-or-both/

According to the above, the majority of Hispanics do consider their Hispanic background as part of their racial background.

Maybe someone should ask them what the word "race" means before they ask them what race they are. This whole thing started under Jimmy Carter who made a deal with the Hispanics, Brown Berets and Chicanos), to declare them a minority group based on a minority language heritage (right, they didn't have to speak Spanish, just have relatives who did at one time somewhere). This entitled them to the same affirmative action benefits that had been established for blacks. This gave them priorities in education and the work place. Colleges would admit Hispanics instead of Blacks and employers would hire Hispanics instead of Blacks to meet their quotas. Hispanics started calling themselves "brown people".

This actually hurt black Americans. It also encouraged illegal immigration and massive legal immigration from Mexico.

The dumb and cruel things the Democratic Party has done to our country and citizens and continue to get away with to this day just blows the mind.

See what "la raza" can do - make up a race and have people believe it - duh...the power of deception.

Big League, artist. Probably biggest most absurd con game ever pulled on Americans by our government.

South and Central American countries are some of the most racist in the world when it comes to real race. In relations with countries outside of the US, they don't identify as racial minorities.

Hispanic preoccupation with racial identification in the US is really just a way to prevent them from being identified with African Americans or Asians and at the same time to protect them from criticism against their presence outside of South and Central America.

Originally Posted by pkskyali

South and Central American countries are some of the most racist in the world when it comes to real race. In relations with countries outside of the US, they don't identify as racial minorities.

Hispanic preoccupation with racial identification in the US is really just a way to prevent them from being identified with African Americans or Asians and at the same time to protect them from criticism against their presence outside of South and Central America.

And make them eligible for affirmative action benefits.