# Is My wife Hispanic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 13, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888 "2008-08-13T20:42:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/1 "2008-08-13T20:42:10Z")
I am puzzled about the classifications that the US government uses. they say a hispanic person is someone who comes from a culture which is that of the Iberian peninsula. my wife was born in Brazil (now a naturalized US citizen). her ancestry includes dutch, english, french, and Swiss. Should she indicate here ethnic group as “hispanic”? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/2 "2008-08-13T20:44:39Z")
Does your wife regard herself as Hispanic? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/3 "2008-08-13T20:52:30Z")
Given that Brazil’s origins lie with Portugal (as I’m sure you know) and Portugal is part of the Iberian peninsula (as I’m sure you also know), I wouldn’t have any objections to her refering to herself as Hispanic. If she didn’t want to, that’s kopacetic with me as well. I tried to call my wife who was born & raised in Peru to get the opinion from the left side of South America but she’s not at her desk. I’ll report back later. ---
**Author:** ![Nuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea666f/32.png) [@Nuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nuke)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/4 "2008-08-13T21:01:05Z")
My wife who has blond hair, blue eyes, was born in Peru and lived there until age 29, and has a German maiden name considers herself Hispanic. It’s the speaking Spanish thing, I think. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/5 "2008-08-13T21:01:24Z")
She can essentially call herself whatever she THINKS she is. It’s up to her…the government won’t really care unless she is applying for 8A status or something like that…and even then they don’t exactly do a full scale DNA exam. My kids are half hispanic (their mother is of German/Irish descent)…and the ‘half hispanic’ part is actually a melange of native indian, black, spanish and gods knows what else. However, when asked my kids list themselves as hispanics because that’s what they identify with. (ETA: And they don’t speak a word of spanish between them) So…up to your wife. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/6 "2008-08-13T21:08:55Z")
**xtisme** , my husband is like your kids…Irish/German on one side, Hispanic (Cuban) on the other. And like **Nuke’s** wife, he’s blonde and blue-eyed. He is of course considered Hispanic by others because he has a Spanish last name (although it does cause some confusion). He doesn’t speak Spanish, and I think that while he of course considers himself Cuban (his father was born & raised there), I’m not sure he thinks of himself as “Hispanic.” I think personal identification as Hispanic does have a lot to do with speaking Spanish and feeling part of the culture. But to answer **ralph124c’s** question about government classifications…I would say yes, if your wife has indicated (say, on the census form) that she is from a South American country, she will be classified as Hispanic. The census does not ask you if you are Hispanic in those words, it asks where your heritage is from, and then they classify you. But as **xtisme** points out, for the most part it’s immaterial what the government thinks. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/7 "2008-08-13T21:22:08Z")
My wife is also Brazilian and would not self-identify as Hispanic or Latina, to my knowledge. Brazilians are in a sort of grey area here in the U.S., as far as classification. I suspect most would prefer to say “we’re not anything, we’re just _Brazilian_,” if asked to classify. Thankfully my wife is also dark-skinned enough to be considered “black,” and so ticks that checkbox whenever a choice is required. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/8 "2008-08-13T21:22:53Z")
I think with Brazilians it’s a bit different. I believe that some self-identify as “Hispanic”, but I know a few Brazilians and none of them do. Maybe they just like to distinguish themselves from the Spanish speaking parts of the Americas. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/9 "2008-08-13T21:27:39Z")
The thing is, just because a person doesn’t consider themselves Hispanic, it doesn’t mean the government won’t. Which of course doesn’t obligate anyone to consider themselves something they aren’t. Oh, and **Vinyl Turnip** , that’s why the census asks about whether you have a parent or grandparent from a Latin American country…they don’t want people to confuse the race issue with the ethnicity issue. So, on the census, first you answer whether you are white, black, asian, etc., and then they ask the separate question to determine if you are Hispanic. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/10 "2008-08-13T23:25:03Z")
The wife reports that, as far as Peru is concerned (yes, she speaks for all of Peru now) the fine folks of Brazil are Hispanic. Also, they produce superior _telenovelas_ than the Spanish speaking nations. She started to justify Brazil being Hispanic by noting that it was part of South America to which I asked her if the people of French Guiana are Hispanic. Then we got distracted looking up French Guiana’s major exports and other fun facts. We’re pretty sure they’re not Hispanic though. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/11 "2008-08-13T23:32:28Z")
Do any countries other than the US (and maybe Canada) recognize an Hispanic ethnicity? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/12 "2008-08-13T23:46:20Z")
I just don’t answer questions like that. My kids are 1/4 Mexican 1/4 Blackfeet, 1/4 Irish/Scottish something and 1/4 European Jewish something. “Decline to Answer,” or “other” usually works. No one has forced me to pick an ethnic group yet. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/13 "2008-08-13T23:55:45Z")
[QUOTE=Procrustus] I just don’t answer questions like that. My kids are 1/4 Mexican 1/4 Blackfeet, 1/4 Irish/Scottish something and 1/4 European Jewish something. “Decline to Answer,” or “other” usually works. No one has forced me to pick an ethnic group yet. [/QUOTE] I welcome your kids the world of mutthood. We’re a proud bunch! ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/14 "2008-08-13T23:58:46Z")
I always put other, mixed, or decline to answer. I honestly don’t know what I am beyond some native American, some Irish, and probably some German. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/15 "2008-08-14T00:24:23Z")
I used to have as neighbors a family with the last name “Gonzalez,” or “Gomez,” or something equally Spanish-sounding. I’m pretty sure the school system classified them as Hispanic for desegregation purposes. Thing is, the dad’s first name was “Adolph,” a German name. The mom was very obviously as Irish as Paddy’s pig – red-headed, green-eyed, pale-skinned, freckled, etc. All were thoroughly as American as you could think of except for that last name. Yet they were counted as part of a “disadvantaged” group. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Shecky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@Shecky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shecky)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/16 "2008-08-14T12:01:11Z")
Ralph124c, my Brazilian wife is in the same situation. According to the Hispanic community around this half of the state, no. They absolutely don’t like Brazilians to be in on “their” minority status. Whenever she applies for jobs, however, she absolutely classifies herself as one, if Latino is not available. The real fact of the matter is that both Brazilians and Puerto Ricans are cut from the same cloth, unless yoour wife is from Sao Paulo on south. Both have a wide mix of european, african, and indigenous blood going through their veins. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/17 "2008-08-14T12:59:38Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Do any countries other than the US (and maybe Canada) recognize an Hispanic ethnicity? [/QUOTE] We don’t in Britain. We break down ethnicity (at least according to national government statistics) as: White (sub categories: White British, Irish, Other White background - which I’m guessing is where your hispanics would fall) Mixed (White and Black Carribean, White and Black African, White and Asian, Other mixed background) Asian or Asian British (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Other Asian background) Black or Black British (Caribbean, African, Other Black background) Chinese or Other Ethnic Groups (bit of a catch-all there. Perhaps in older, less PC times, this category would have been ‘oriental’) ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/18 "2008-08-14T13:23:59Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Do any countries other than the US (and maybe Canada) recognize an Hispanic ethnicity? [/QUOTE] Australia doesn’t. It would regard people as Brazilian, Chilean, Portuguese, Spanish, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/19 "2008-08-14T14:16:37Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Do any countries other than the US (and maybe Canada) recognize an Hispanic ethnicity? [/QUOTE] Not in the [2006 Census](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=10096773). The term there was “Latin American.” ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888/20 "2008-08-14T14:34:18Z")
I asked the question because selecting “hispanic” or “latina” status is the ticket to special consideration for jobs, assistance programs, etc. Which is kinda weird, if special consideration is to be given to a medical school graduate, with ancestry similar to most americans. Heck, the legal industry must be pleased with these ethnic classifications-more fule for lawsuits! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-wife-hispanic/459888.md?page=2)