84% of El Paso Hispanics marked 'white' on census form. (Alternative title: The white man is still king)

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At least 84 percent of Hispanics in El Paso County marked the "white" box on their 2010 Census forms. Less than 73 percent of Hispanics checked that box in 2000.

County officials and advocacy groups reached out to Hispanics in advance of the latest count to explain that most Hispanics in El Paso are white.

"We are becoming more and more educated," said Christina Bennett, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, in El Paso.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_17438938?source=most_emailed

[Danno 1,228]

And another study showed, half of the white teens males, between the age of 15-19 think they are black.

[Zero Sum 305]

[peejay 327]

84% of El Paso Hispanics marked 'white' on census form. (Alternative title: The white man is still king)

Hispanic is a culture...not a race. There's not vey many blond, blue eyed Hispanics though. It's kind of a grey area.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Prior to around 1930, hispanics were considered white on California census forms. People were more concerned with the "other" dominant ethnic group at the time, the Chinese. After 1930, "hispanic" started to show up on census forms and "hispanics" started to be viewed as different because their population was growing.

Edited February 25, 2011 by Harpa Timsah

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

From a scientific standpoint, there are only 3 races:

- Caucasian (Indo-European), which includes native Europeans, Middle Easterners (both Arabs, non-Arab Muslims and Jews) and Indians.

- Negroid, which includes native Africans (except Arabs of North Africa) and natives of Australia.

- Mongoloid, which includes Asians, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans (American Indians), and some small northern Nations such as Eskimos.

In this strict definition, Middle Easterner would be considered of Caucasian race. However, the way this question is presented on most US forms is not accurate. This list is really a mix of races (such as Black or Asian) and ethnicities/ethnic origins (such as Hispanic or Pacific Islander) which are either part of one of the separately mentioned races or a mix of such.

That creates most of the confusion - while people of Mongoloid race get to choose between Asian, Hispanic and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, basically based of their country of origin; Middle Easterners, Indians and people of native European decent get all piled up in one broad category "White". Plus, there is no accomodation for people of mixed race.

Some forms go even further into the world of political correctness nonsense and feature such ridiculous terms as "White (non-Hispanic)" or "Black (except Black Hispanic)" and so on. This just makes my head hurt...

Edited February 25, 2011 by Just Bob

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From a scientific standpoint, there are only 3 races ...

Actually, from a scientific standpoint -

DNA studies do not indicate that separate classifiable subspecies (races) exist within modern humans. While different genes for physical traits such as skin and hair color can be identified between individuals, no consistent patterns of genes across the human genome exist to distinguish one race from another. There also is no genetic basis for divisions of human ethnicity. People who have lived in the same geographic region for many generations may have some alleles in common, but no allele will be found in all members of one population and in no members of any other. Indeed, it has been proven that there is more genetic variation within races than exists between them.

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However, the way this question is presented on most US forms is not accurate.

...

... while people of Mongoloid race get to choose between Asian, Hispanic and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, basically based of their country of origin; Middle Easterners, Indians and people of native European decent get all piled up in one broad category "White".

I'm not sure what US forms you're referring to, but the US census explicitly says people with origins in the Indian subcontinent are Asian, not White. The US census defines white as people with origins in Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.