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 }

I don’t know if you’ve watched it, but it was really difficult to watch a bunch of both white and black 6-year-olds — in other words, kids Vanessa’s age — talk about how the color of your skin matters when making friends. It was even harder to realize how unrealistic it is for parents to think that little kids are color-blind. The way these children were speaking about race, it’s obvious that they can totally see that we’re not all the same color and, sadly, many of them start having negative views based on skin color at a tender age.

If you haven’t watched the first segment, I hope you do, so you can see for yourself what’s on the mind of these first-graders, whom I believe are a good representation of all children in this country.

The one point that I found extremely interesting is that the majority of black kids had much more positive views on race and believed black and white children could be friends. While the majority of white kids felt the opposite. According to Dr. Melanie Killen, a renowned child psychologist contracted by AC360˚ to explain how race influences a child’s world, the reason behind this disparity is that most black parents talk to their children about race early on, whereas most white parents think that it’s better not to talk about it so that their children grow up being color-blind.

I haven’t spoken extensively about race to Vanessa, but we have had a few conversations. Sometimes I feel like she’s still too little to understand but, as evident from the CNN special, I might be wrong. What Vanessa and I have talked about mostly revolves more around the fact that the color of our skin doesn’t make us better or worse than anybody else. I’m not sure exactly how Vanessa sees herself. I mean, I’m sure she’s noticed that she’s the only dark-haired girl in her very non-Hispanic white kindergarten class, but I don’t really know what she thinks about that.

Race is an interesting topic within the Latino community. Many non-Latinos mistakenly think Latino is a race, but we know we come in all shades and colors. For many of us, in fact, it’s actually difficult to identify with just one race. That’s definitely the case with my own children who have traces of all races (except maybe Asian) running through their veins. After watching this first segment, I think I might be talking about race more regularly at home.

I’m really looking forward to watching the rest of the series (it didn’t air tonight because of the presidential primaries). Tomorrow’s segment on the judgments we make about other people based on their race and how early we start doing that shall be real interesting in the wake of Trayvon Martin‘s killing.