Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The point of the change is that Hispanics will have their own racial category. That won't preclude them from identifying as black or white in addition to being Hispanic. I think it's a good thing. I think we should also have a category for middle easterners, and a question about sexual orientation.
As it stands today, Middle Easterners are considered "white." But the average american wouldn't put them in this box. If we are continuing using the racial categories, this is a good step.
We aren't anywhere near being "beyond race" and we need to acknowledge this so we can move on and ensure everyone is treated fairly, regardless of how they identify.
As it stands today, Middle Easterners are considered "white." But the average american wouldn't put them in this box.
9/11 brought about a pretty big change on that front. I've had a few conversations with some Arab-Americans i know, and it's been pretty sobering for them.
I think the path to "whiteness" will be easier for Hispanics in the coming decades than it will be for Arabs.
The Census Bureau is not recommending that anybody be treated as anything. The Census Bureau is a branch of the Department of Commerce, whose mandate is to provide the Capitalist Free-Enterprise workings of the USA with the data that marketing asks for. If cable companies and junk food chains didn't want to know the heritage of their customer base, the Census Bureau wouldn't bother to find out for them. The Census Bureau's mandate, as an arm of the Department of Commerce, is to serve as a source of data about America's people and economy, on behalf of those engaged in commerce. If WalMart wants to know whom they should treat as a Hispanic, it is the job of the various branches of the Department of Commerce to find out for them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OICU812
This obsession with race by the US government is disturbing to me. Our own government seeks to divide us into separate and dispirit groups. Why, so we can be treated differently from each other by our own government?
It is marketing corporations, not the government, who are obsesses with race. Watch an evening of television commercials, and pay attention to the actors hired to appear in the ads who represent recognizable racial or national identities. Is it the government that is forcing advertisers to pitch certain products to minorities?
How is it possible that so many people have elevated themselves to an economic and professional level at which they can buy computers and enjoy the leisure to be forum posters without learning anything at all about how anything works in the world.
There are white Hispanics, and black Hispanics. And a few in-between. Not an easy thing to classify ... "Hispanic." It's not a color-based description. It's about cultural heritage.
Should hispanics include themselves as black or white for the next census?
Hispanic is not a race so it has no place in the race catagory. As for ethnicity, which is the current catagory for Hispanics only that needs to be eliminated also. Only the defined 5 or 6 races should be choices. Or at least have two new ones which would be "mestizo or mulatto". That would end all of the questions of what you are racially.
Hispanic is not a race so it has no place in the race catagory. As for ethnicity, which is the current catagory for Hispanics only that needs to be eliminated also. Only the defined 5 or 6 races should be choices. Or at least have two new ones which would be "mestizo or mulatto". That would end all of the questions of what you are racially.
The race choices should be: Human; Elf; Wookiee; Romulan and Klingon
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
