Hispanics in “ Is being Hispanic a matter of race, ethnicity, or both?” by Ana Gonzalez-Barrera

English 101

Dr. Cressman

February 1, 2018

Pew Research On Hispanics

In “ Is being Hispanic a matter of race, ethnicity, or both?”, Ana Gonzalez-Barrera argues that when Latinos are asked about what race they identify as, it makes it difficult to assimilate within the United States definition of Latino. Hispanics in the United States, have a identity that is hard to define and varied. Many define it most by where their parents come from like: Dominican, Mexican, or Cuban. Others define it as Latino or Hispanic, indicating the assimilation between diverse communities.

According to Ana Gonzalez-Barrera, racial identity among Hispanics is challenging. It has been challenging for the census Bureau to estimate the full racial identity of Hispanics. Presently, the Hispanic category is described on the survey forms as not a race, but an ethnic origin. However when Latinos are asked about their racial identity, they stand out from other Americans. Barrera displays that when surveyed Latinos stand out from the rest of the community. Barrere states, “94% of the U.S. population selected at least one of the five standard, government-defined racial categories – white, black, Asian, American Indian or Pacific Islander. But among Latinos, just 63% selected at least one of these categories; 37% of Latinos, or 19 million, instead selected only “some other race,” with many offering write-in responses such as “Mexican,” Hispanic” or “Latin American.” (Barrera 1).

Barrera displays that when Latinos are asked about their race on the survey forms, they do not pick out from the standard racial classification within the United States. Rather, Latinos state that their race is either Hispanic, Latin American, or Mexican. This data presented depicts that several Latinos stand out from other Americans because they do not identify as a race, but by cultural experience, such as ethnicity. When asked in the 2010 survey: Do Hispanics consider their Hispanic background to be part of their racial background, their ethnic background, or both? Hispanics respond to being multicultural. The Pew Research survey displays some Hispanics consider themselves as multicultural. Barrera states, “ 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” (Barrera 2). Many Latinos within the United States define themselves as white or black, however they only do so because this is how the United States defines them as. This makes it difficult for them to choose from a category, which is why they stand out from the data. Ana Barrera expands on the difficulty of identifying as a racial identity. This is what makes Latinos stand out from the rest of the diverse community. The Latino community has a different view of race that does not assimilate with the United States definition. They instead identify themselves by their parents origin or cultural experience.