# The Census, Hispanics and Race. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 7, 2010, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614 "2010-03-07T12:09:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/41 "2010-03-08T00:28:55Z")
Wow. Not home. Hope I don’t get thrown in jail if I was selected for the census this year. Of course, I have the same worry about being called to jury duty. Just out of curiosity, my household is “mixed race.” Is that even accounted for in the census forms? Me? White. Wife? One of those brown people who apparently can’t describe herself as hispanic, according to this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/42 "2010-03-08T01:00:41Z")
Assuming that you’re a US citizen or resident, of course you’ll be selected for the census this year; it’s not a random sampling but is supposed to be an actual headcount. On the other hand, you’ll almost certainly not be thrown into jail. I’m not sure how the census bureau counts overseas and other expat Americans, but I assume that they have a process for that. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/43 "2010-03-08T01:21:09Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Wow. Not home. Hope I don’t get thrown in jail if I was selected for the census this year. Of course, I have the same worry about being called to jury duty. > > Just out of curiosity, my household is “mixed race.” Is that even accounted for in the census forms? Me? White. Wife? One of those brown people who apparently can’t describe herself as hispanic, according to this thread. As **Dewey Finn** said, you’ll definitely be selected for the census, because everyone is selected. If you are mixed race, you can check mulitiple race boxes. It get’s tricky when you’re not sure what race you are, which is what the OP’s problem is, as I understand it. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/44 "2010-03-08T02:12:02Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Sapo, tell us about your wife. Where do her ancestors come from, going back as far as you know? Are you saying that she is darker-skinned than you? The usual bit. Her family names can both be traced back to Spain at some point in the 18th century. This doesn’t cover the ton of black and indian blood all over both sides of her family. She is definitely darker skinned but not by much (she just tans a lot better. Curse you, Friulians!). Her father is a lot darker and she has some great aunts that are simply black. Still, what you see when you see her are the Taino features. Which is probably the case of most Latinos. We all share the same Spaniard and the same black ancestry with varying amounts on the mix. It is the indian ancestry that differentiates us and what we look for when we meet someone and we guess their nationalities. It is also the most noticeable on most people’s facial features and skin color. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/45 "2010-03-08T06:53:04Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > You’re 50% Hispanic, so it could go either way. 100% Hispanic. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/46 "2010-03-08T14:53:10Z")
I don’t understand what you’re saying, Nava. Why do you think that he’s 100% Hispanic? One of his parents is descended from Italian immigrants. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/47 "2010-03-08T15:03:59Z")
I don’t know if that matters. I’d consider a blond blue eyed girl whose grandparents immigrated to Venezuela from Germany after the war to be Hispanic. Hispanic -as defined by the United States government- is not about ancestry or race it’s about cultural identification. OF course, it’s the census. You’re free to write anything down on it you want. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/48 "2010-03-08T15:13:20Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Assuming that you’re a US citizen or resident, of course you’ll be selected for the census this year; it’s not a random sampling but is supposed to be an actual headcount. On the other hand, you’ll almost certainly not be thrown into jail. I’m not sure how the census bureau counts overseas and other expat Americans, but I assume that they have a process for that. I seem to recall from the last census (my first census as an adult) that it _was_ randomly selected. There were people that got the huge, long questionnaire, more people that got the short, quick questionnaire, and people that didn’t get anything. Granted it was 10 years ago, but I seem to remember being disappointed that I wasn’t selected for a questionnaire. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/49 "2010-03-08T15:26:54Z")
Some people have suggested that a random sampling might be more accurate or cheaper or both. But I think the Constitution requires an actual headcount, so everyone is supposed to get a form, either short or long. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/50 "2010-03-08T15:46:03Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I don’t understand what you’re saying, Nava. Why do you think that he’s 100% Hispanic? One of his parents is descended from Italian immigrants. Because Hispanic is not a description of genetics. He’s from Venezuela, his first language is Spanish, he’s Hispanic. Shakira is 100% Hispanic. Antonio Banderas is 100% Hispanic. My great-grandfather with the Italian lastname was 100%… no, not Hispanic: Catalan. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/51 "2010-03-08T16:19:06Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I seem to recall from the last census (my first census as an adult) that it _was_ randomly selected. There were people that got the huge, long questionnaire, more people that got the short, quick questionnaire, and people that didn’t get anything. Granted it was 10 years ago, but I seem to remember being disappointed that I wasn’t selected for a questionnaire. Just to expand on my previous reply, one sentence from the constitution reads, “The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.” Enumeration means a count, so even if a statistical sampling _might_ be cheaper and _might_ be proven to be relatively accurate, the Constitution doesn’t allow for it. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/52 "2010-03-08T16:32:20Z")
I feel your pain, **Sapo.** It’s a slightly different pain, but more or less the same category. I had a debate about ethnicity/national origin with a census enumerator who called me a few years back. I am your basic Central/East European Ashkenazi mutt, yet there is no good choice to describe my ethnicity, although it is a rather culturally cohesive one. My ancestors are from places that are now located in at least four difference countries, depending on how you want to consider the country borders - at the time they left, or the borders as they are now? (If the latter, it’s Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, and Belarus. If the former, then Austro-Hungary, Kurland/Latvia, possibly Prussia, and…well, you know how much the borders have shifted in that neck ofo the woods over the past 150 years, and we’re not sure about the precise ultimate origin about some of my forebears.) And yet, I am not Russian, Latvian, Ukrainian, Austrian, or Polish, and it took me a good half hour to explain to the census enumerator why not. So what am I supposed to pick? ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/53 "2010-03-08T17:03:53Z")
**Sapo** , why not check off white, black, and American Indian? That seems to cover your bases. No need to choose just one. If you’re interested to see the various choices people have made on this form, check out the very complicated table here: [ipums-usa](http://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/codes.do?mnemonic=RACE). IPUMS provides public use data to whoever wants it. Years 1940-2000 are from the Census, years 2001-2008 are from the American Community Survey, which has replaced the Census long form. As you can see, lots of people choose multiple races - and a substantial portion choose other. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/54 "2010-03-08T20:09:34Z")
Some of you seem to be confusing race with ethnicity. Identifying yourself as Lebanese is to identify yourself ethnically, not racially. Generally speaking, racially (by today’s definitions), someone from Lebanon is ‘white’. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/55 "2010-03-08T20:26:57Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > Sorry I didn’t see you the first time around. I think that if you get too creative they call you. I want to help and be counted but I don’t care to spend more time on this than I have to. I just read this whole thread. I think you would have spent less time on this if you had let them call you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/56 "2010-03-08T22:00:00Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Some of you seem to be confusing race with ethnicity. Identifying yourself as Lebanese is to identify yourself ethnically, not racially. Generally speaking, racially (by today’s definitions), someone from Lebanon is ‘white’. Except, of course, in many places in society, even if what you say is true, people will still exchange both of them. If a Lebanese person, _even if they identify themselves racially as “white”_, goes to a store or interacts with others, many of those around him/her will not consider he/she “white”. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/57 "2010-03-08T22:13:25Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Except, of course, in many places in society, even if what you say is true, people will still exchange both of them. If a Lebanese person, _even if they identify themselves racially as “white”_, goes to a store or interacts with others, many of those around him/her will not consider he/she “white”. It’s been my experience that most “people” are either ignorant or willfully stupid. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/58 "2010-03-08T22:44:45Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I seem to recall from the last census (my first census as an adult) that it _was_ randomly selected. There were people that got the huge, long questionnaire, more people that got the short, quick questionnaire, and people that didn’t get anything. Granted it was 10 years ago, but I seem to remember being disappointed that I wasn’t selected for a questionnaire. You must be remembering wrong. You either got the long form or the short form. That was randomly selected. There should not have been anybody who got nothing. The census is constitutionally required to go to to every single person. This year, there will be no long form. Everybody will get the short form. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/59 "2010-03-08T22:53:54Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > You must be remembering wrong. You either got the long form or the short form. That was randomly selected. There should not have been anybody who got nothing. The census is constitutionally required to go to to every single person. > > This year, there will be no long form. Everybody will get the short form. Yes, but to clarify a bit, there is still a long form Census. It is now called the American Community Survey and it goes out to 250,000 households each month, every month, all year long on a perpetual basis. So many people raised a stink about the long form in 2000 that the 2010 ten year count is short form only. Sometime during the 10 years between census counts everyone should recieve the long form ACS too. If you haven’t already had the dubious honor, you will. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614/60 "2010-03-09T07:28:30Z")
Nava writes: \> Because Hispanic is not a description of genetics. He’s from Venezuela, his first \> language is Spanish, he’s Hispanic. Shakira is 100% Hispanic. Antonio Banderas \> is 100% Hispanic. My great-grandfather with the Italian lastname was 100%… \> no, not Hispanic: Catalan. I think that he did not say that he was from Venezuela. I think that what he said was that he was born in the U.S. I think that he said that his father was born in Venezuela and was partly of British ancestry and partly of native American (and possibly African) ancestry. I think that he said that his mother was born in the U.S. and was entirely of Italian ancestry. However, the more I read over his posts, the more I realize that I can’t figure out what he’s saying. Sapo, you should have started this thread with a more clear explanation of your ancestry. Please tell us the following: Where were you born? Where were your parents born? What is the ancestry of each of your parents? Please, let Sapo answer these questions and no one else. Please, I don’t want anyone else telling me, “You are an idiot. The answer to these questions are obvious and you are just too stupid to figure them out from Sapo’s posts.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-census-hispanics-and-race/531614.md?page=4)