One day when I was teaching ESL, I was working with a group of students from Mexico and Central America. Pencils scratched the paper, the energy was electric, the excitement palpable: we were filling out their applications for a program at a community college that would allow them to take a class over the summer.

And the, we got to the demographic section:

“Miss, am I white, black, Asian, or American Indian?” asked a young girl from El Salvador. The group burst out laughing and some said she should write in “brown,” while others told her to check the “Hispanic” box. I read over the sheet… The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) that collects federal data on race and ethnicity in the workforce uses five racial distinctions: American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian; Black or African American; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; and White. Separately, they include one ethnicity category: Hispanic or Latino.

I didn’t know which race the students should mark, so I called the college later that day for clarification. The person who answered told me that the students should choose from the choices given. I explained that the students were from Mexico and Central America, and didn’t feel they fit into any of the categories. In a hushed tone, she told me “if they’re not black, have them mark white and then Hispanic for ethnicity.”

When we reconvened, the students were outraged:

“How can you tell us we’re white when our whole lives in the US we’re told we’re not!?”

“Teacher, look at my skin!!! Does it look white?”

“I’m marking American Indian. México es parte de las Américas, no?”

“I’m not putting anything for race!”

The race conundrum is not new, and it’s not going anywhere. Many Latinos view this categorization as a question of culture and language, not of race. A percentage of the population will leave the race box blank, while some will check the “other” box. Others ask “why is it important for the U.S. government to know the racial background or ethnicity of their citizens?”

It all comes down to money: $400 billion of federal money (from our taxes) that needs to be allocated annually, based on population demographics to pay for schools, transportation, public health and other vital social programs, such as English-language education and job training. When people do not check a box, a computer “guesses” their race, based on the neighborhood and other factors.

In 1977, the federal government declared “Hispanic” would be considered an ethnicity, not a race. They decided that citizens could identify with being “Hispanic” or “not Hispanic” and after identifying themselves as one of the five recognized “races” white, black, Asian, American Indian or Pacific Islander. (note: though indigenous people are genetically related- from the northernmost point of the Arctic to the southernmost point of Argentina- the American Indian box was reserved specifically for the 564 tribes residing in the U.S. that are federally recognized).

Multiple ethnic groups felt misplaced: which box should a Bedouin from North Africa or Egyptian check? Where did a Peruvian of Quechua descent fit? (the U.S. Census said both should choose “white”). What if your mom was Japanese, and your dad was Jamaican? (at that time, the U.S. Census said “pick one”).

For the first time, on the 2000 U.S. Census, multiracial people were allowed to check more than one race, and about 3% of the nation did so. In fact, multicultural families are one of the fastest growing demographics groups in the nation, as interracial marriage is growing.

In the same census, about 18 million Latinos (around 37%) checked the “Hispanic” box and when asked about race, self-identified as “some other race.” Some other race… In fact, Latinos have a mixed heritage that might include European, indigenous, African, and Asian ancestry.

Latinos were perplexed again by “race” choices in the 2010 census: White, Black, American Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Native Hawaiian and Samoan. With these choices, where did Latinos fit in?

Now, for the 2020 U.S. Census, the Census Bureau is thinking about combining ethnicity and race questions into a single “race or origin” category. If so, “Hispanic” may be a choice. While some groups argue that “race” is invented by man, a social construct, others are thrilled the Latinos are being considered and included. As a multicultural family, we will be marking several boxes on the next census, though knowing that we are all truly one race: the human race.

What do you think about the possible changes to the census?

{Photo by  moodboardphotography }

The creators’ passion, perseverance, and love for learning about other languages and cultures shines through their product Tonji: The Musical Ambassador by Mommy Americana.  Designed to engage a child through international music, if you go to their website you will see that they have put together popular and traditional lyrics from around the globe. Each song includes language & visual repetition suited for specific age groups. For instance, my two-year-old daughter loved pulgarcito. She would mimic Tonji’s fingerplay and try to sing along. In fact, when I played the CD in the car she would ask for “más nene (Tonji), más avión.”

I am always so curious to share a product review with my daughter. I analyze the product from a bilingual educator’s perspective and from a mother raising a multilingual toddler. Most importantly, though, I look closely to how Sabrina will respond and to how I can play a part, too. This is definitely a product where parent and child will interact with the songs and eventually one where you will find your little one independently singing along and moving their body to the rhythm of the music!

One of the perks this Ipad app offers is the opportunity to record yourself and your child singing each song! Though the app is user-friendly, there is a link on their website that explains the purpose behind each icon. This is definitely a product worth exploring which will include songs in nine different languages from around the world!

I hope you enjoy the beautiful music Tonji (which means unity in Chinese) has to offer. What I loved most about sharing this experience with my daughter was how much the importance of exposing our children to other cultures, while nurturing the ones they come from resonated from the information I read about Karina Garcia Neffs’ MommyAmericana, the creator of Tonji.

The Giveaway!

We’re giving away a 25 CD set of Tonji: The Musical Ambassador to TWO winners to share with their classrooms or playgroups! That’s a total of 50 CD’s!

But that’s not all, all of you can download the Tonji: The Musical Ambassador app FOR FREE while this giveaway is running! Just click HERE .

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was one of the lucky journalists to cover the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver when Barack Obama became the party’s first African-American nominee for President. I say I was lucky because I’ll never forget the feeling of hope I shared with the Latinos I was working with. There was a kind of magic in the air… as if anything was possible!

This is exactly the premise of Yanitzia Canetti’s book, I Can Be President, Too!/Yo También Puedo Ser Presidente. Each page features a photograph of a child explaining why he or she could be president. The best part is that each child looks different from the next. They’re different ages and races. Each boy and girl seems to represent a slice of  our diverse population. Their reasons for why you should vote for each of them includes stuff like: “Yo amo la paz” and “Yo cuido el planeta.”

I think the idea is for our children to see themselves in these photos and realize that anybody can be president. If anything, it’s a great way to start talking about this subject with your children.

Canetti wrote the book in both Spanish and English — no translations here. Besides being an award-winning author, Canetti is also responsible for the translation of more than 100 children’s book, including classics like Dr. Seuss, Berenstein Bears, Amelia Bedelia and Curious George. Yo También Puedo Ser Presidente is published by BrickHouse Education, an educational publisher with lots of Spanish and bilingual titles you should all check out, particularly if you’re homeschooling.

I don’t know if it’ll happen in my time, but it would be absolutely grandiose for our bicultural children if a Latino ever became president of this great country! Can you imagine what that would do for our children’s pride in their heritage?

THE GIVEAWAY!

We’re giving a way an autographed copy of Yo También Puedo Ser Presidente to one lucky winner. To enter please visit the BrickHouse Education website and come back here to tell us which books caught your attention.

That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway. If you want to up your chances at winning, then this is how you can get additional entries (only after you’ve completed the step above):

**Please leave a separate comment for each so we can count them and avoid mistakes.

1. Subscribe to our feed via email or RSS and leave us an extra comment letting us know you did so or that you’re already a subscriber. Make sure to leave the comment using the same email you subscribed with.

2. Follow us on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway including a link to the post and @SpanglishBaby. Copy the link to the tweet in an additional comment on the giveaway’s post.

This giveaway ends Sunday, February 6 at midnight EST and you must have a valid US address to enter.

Disclosure: We received a sample to review the product.  All opinions are our own.

Check out the Giveaway Rules.

Global Wonders:  México “Wall of Heroes”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cmoZZzRzD4